WWDC 2012 is on. Apple confirmed the keynote, released this year's app, and posted the talk schedule for attendees first thing Monday morning, officially sending the lucky 5,000 attendees (and a smattering of media folks) into full WWDC-planning mode. As usual, the keynote will take place the first day of WWDC: Monday, June 11 at 10:00am Pacific Time. Apple did not explicitly confirm who would be speaking, but it's a safe bet that CEO Tim Cook will take the lead.
Apple made tickets available for this year's WWDC a month ago but sold out in the blink of an eye—about two hours. The company had not posted much in the way of further information, however, until now. But don't go thinking you'll find out anything juicy by looking at the latest materials. Only registered developers have access to the online version of the schedule, and the WWDC app for iOS is largely geared toward attendees with things like maps, news items, and descriptions for each talk. Still, if you are attending, we have heard from many developers that the app can be a lifesaver, so it's worth a download so you can begin favoriting the sessions you want to attend, among other things. (And as usual, not all sessions have been announced yet—Apple usually waits until after the keynote to release the names of certain NDA'd sessions.)
WWDC is important enough for Apple that it bring its CEO on stage, Gottheil continued. "That's worked for them well in the past, and I don't see them changing it."
While the conference schedule is available only to attendees -- who ponied up $1,599 in April for tickets -- the confab will focus on Apple's two operating systems, iOS and OS X.
iOS 6, which will power this year's iPhone, will be front and center, said Gottheil, along with OS X 10.8, aka Mountain Lion, the desktop operating system slated to ship later this summer.
"They'll maintain that pace," said Gottheil, referring to last year's WWDC, where Apple unveiled iOS 5 to developers, and the October 2011 launch of the iPhone 4S, which ran the new operating system. "It's still a young enough OS that it shouldn't be a terribly great challenge for them to focus on new features the iPhone needs."
Tops on Gottheil's iOS 6 wish list is an API (application programming interface) for Siri, the voice-controlled, talking assistant that debuted on the iPhone 4S. An API, or multiple APIs, would let third-party developers call on Siri within their own apps.
"They may have over promoted Siri, but I don't see that that hurt them," said Gottheil, talking about the often-odd, often-mocked answers the service gives. The time since last October, Gottheil added, was well spent, as it gave Apple plenty of data it could use to shake out problems and bugs.
"There are going to be some horrible apps [that use Siri]," said Gottheil, if Apple does publish APIs for the service. "But there are going to be some winners, too, that will change how we examine and think of apps."
Officially, Siri remains in beta seven months after its launch.
Also on the WWDC agenda will be sessions devoted to Mountain Lion, the upgrade to last year's OS X 10.7.
Apple has only said that it will release Mountain Lion "late summer," but some clues earlier this month seemed to point to a sooner-rather-than-later debut, perhaps at the conference itself. Apple has not issued a new build of the OS X 10.8 developer preview since April 18, however, putting those projections in jeopardy.
Of course, the company could use WWDC to unveil not only more features in Mountain Lion, but also its price -- as it did last year -- and an on-sale date.
Unless Apple departs from its usual practice, the keynote will not be webcast to the public, but will be accessible only to attendees and a small cadre of the media.
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