WWDC Predictions

1807 days ago in Articles, Contributors by Brent | 5 Comments

On the eve of the Stevenote, I think it’s only fair that I join in with the rest of the blogosphere and speculate on what cool, exciting, “insanely great” new products/features will be announced and (hopefully) released at WWDC tomorrow at 10AM PST. So without further ado, here are the new products that I hope/want/believe will be released tomorrow.

1) Leopard: This one’s a given. Apple has confirmed that it will be announcing the “top secret” features of Leopard. No one knows exactly what these features are, but there are a couple of rumours floating around. To begin with, there are rumours that apple will integrate the multi-touch UI that the iPhone uses into the new UI of Leopard. Others also predict a new Finder, an interface redesign, ZFS as the default file-system, integration with the iPhone. Whatever they announce, I’m sure Leopard is going to be a solid release, coming in October. I’m definitely going to upgrade!

2) iPhone SDK: This is another prediction that has been floating back and forth ever since Macworld ’07. At the “D” conference, Steve Jobs confimed that Apple was working hard to strike the perfect balance between a ability to develop third-party apps, yet keep the phone very stable and very reliable. I suspect that Apple will be aiming to release a SDK (Software Development Kit) for the iPhone that allowed the developers to develop for the iPhone in a very structured way in order to keep the iPhone a semi-open and stable platform.

3) New Redesigned iMacs: It’s definitely time for an iMac redesign. There are two reasons for this. The Santa Rosa chipset is out. And the current iMac design is getting kind of old. Apple really needs to make another “wow” design to show that they haven’t lost the Apple touch. Plus, the rumour mills have gone mad predicting new iMacs. I think the time is right, and it would be a perfect addition to WWDC (especially if it incorporated the multi-touch features rumoured in Leopard).

4) Totally new .Mac with Google integration: This is another thing that Steve Jobs hinted at at Walt mossberg’s “D” conference about 2 weeks ago. He mentioned that they haven’t been keeping .Mac competitive to other services, and they’re getting ready to make some “dramatic” enhancments in the “near future”. Considering this was said two weeks ago, the only Apple event I see anywhere in the “near future” is WWDC. I don’t know exactly what this bundle package would entail, however, I know personally, I’m dying for an online hub that incorporates RSS, email, storage, hosting, blogging–everything. If Apple does this right, and incorporates with Google in areas like Youtube and Google Reader, they can make a really killer online web-app software bundle that can be accessed from anywhere. This feature might be bundled into the upcoming operating system–Leopard–and be integrated seamlessly with the desktop. That would be awesome!

One more thing…

5) Macbook Ultraportable: While this so-called Macbook Thin may not be specifically exciting to myself, this does represent a hole in Apple’s laptop line-up. They really don’t have a small ultraportable laptop smaller than 13″. If they can find the perfect balance between weight, size, and power, they could have a killer produt on their hands. And ater just a few days with my 15″ MacBook Pro (review coming soon), I can see the appeal of a small, light, and long-lasting notebook that you can take anywhere and connect to the in internet from anywhere. I think that if properly implemented, Apple could have a really hot product on their hands.

So that’s all for me. I am super-excited about the keynote tomorrow (well, I guess it’s today now). Whatever is announced, I’m sure it will be awesome, and I’m sure that I will be persuaded to buy it. Just a reminder that the Keynote is happening at 10:00AM PST or 1:00PM EST on Monday, June 11th, 2007. There are many sites that will be carrying live updates throughout the keynote. And don’t forget, no matter what is released, the amount of great mac devs that develop great software. After all, they are who this whole event is about. So have a great WWDC, and enjoy having your mind distored by Steve Jobs ‘Reality Distortion Field’ and enjoy whatever’s released!