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Apple’s WWDC kicks off June 2: What to expect

By May 30, 2014Tech

Apple will indeed grace us with a live stream for its World Wide Developers Conference’s (WWDC) keynote address on June 2, 2014, the company announced in an update to its Apple Events page. The stream will kickoff at 10 a.m. PT (1 p.m. ET) after those lucky enough to procure a ticket have filed into San Francisco’s Moscone West center.

Sticking to its standards, Apple will ask that users tune in using its Safari browser to view from the Web or mobile devices, and Quicktime 7 for Windows users. Alternatively, you can use its Apple TVstreaming box to project the livestream onto the big screen.

It’s that time of year again, when the Apple faithful descend on San Francisco’s Moscone Center for the company’s Worldwide Developers Conference.

The Cupertino, Calif., electronics giant from June 2 to 6 will give the world a glimpse of what’s coming this year. Apple has used its WWDC keynote as a chance to introduce new products in the past, but more recently has focused on software, saving new mobile device announcements for separate events. This year’s conference — and the two-hour keynote at 10 a.m. PT on June 2 — likely won’t be any different.

“Apple needs to keep the momentum going on development for iOS and to a lesser degree OS X,” Gartner analyst Van Baker said. “That’s what’s going to be the focus of the event.”

The company, in typical Apple fashion, is being coy about what it will announce this time around. Its WWDC app lists many of the developer session topics as “No Comment,” “This One Is Sealed,” and “Shhhh, Can’t Tell You Yet.” That has caused some blogs to speculate Apple could have something “really big” in store. The big news about Beats Music? Apple already made that official.

So what will we likely see in June? Mostly, a lot of software. CNET has heard there won’t be new hardware at WWDC, but there always could be a few surprises from Apple.

Sure Bets

iOS 8

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WWDC is Apple’s annual chance to talk to developers, and most of its announcements will be geared to app makers. An update to Apple’s mobile operating system, iOS, is all but guaranteed. iOS 8 likely won’t be as dramatic a change as iOS 7, but it should have some nice tweaks to keep app makers and users happy. There is some speculation, however, that many new features could appear in iOS 8.1 instead of iOS 8.

 

OS X 10.10

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Apple also likely will use WWDC to show off its latest Mac software. The prior version — Mavericks — unveiled at the conference last year, featured improved battery life, many new applications, better power management, tabs in Finder, and the ability to add tags to file names so they’re more searchable.

Possible

 

Mobile payments

Several clues have surfaced over the past few months that point to Apple working on its own mobile payments business. We’ve seen patent filings, rumors of secret meetings, executive hires, and analyst predictions.

Home automation software

Apple plans to launch a new smart home platform at WWDC that will allow iPhones and iPads to control a home’s lights, security system, and other connected appliances, according to a Financial Times report.

Long Shots

  • Macs

  • Beats

  • iWatch

  • Apple TV

  • iPhone and iPad

 

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