Apple announced today that it plans to introduce the next generation of its mobile platform, iOS 5, as well as a new cloud service called iCloud at the Worldwide Developers Conference next week on Monday, June 6. This is a highly unusual move for Apple, which normally tries to keep their centre-ring announcements secret until the scheduled event.

In the press release below, Apple says that iOS 5 will be unveiled alongside iCloud and OS X 10.7 Lion. However, there are no follow-up details on any of the software; the only official tidbit on iCloud is that it is an "upcoming cloud services offering." It seems that Apple is not too worried about the recent down time by Amazon Cloud.

There have been unofficial trickles of information on all three products over the last few months. iCloud is rumoured to be a "digital locker" type service, not unlike Amazon's recently released cloud services for storing music. iOS 5 is expected to be a major overhaul to the operating system and may include features like over-the-air updates and a new mapping capability, though it will likely not make its way to related devices until this coming fall.

The week before any Apple event is often a time of rabid speculation and digging on the part of news outlets because Apple usually tries so hard to keep its new products under lock and key. Now that Apple is trying to take control of the information flow nearly a week before WWDC starts on June 6, we wonder if we'll see more official details emerge on iOS 5 and iCloud in the next few days.

UPDATE: The Wall Street Journal said today that Apple has likely finished negotiations with the four major record labels, but similar licensing with music publishing companies is still underway. Furthermore, Apple also appears to be working on deals for streaming movies and TV shows via iCloud.

So it looks that Feature films are part of Apple's iCloud launch next week. In the past several weeks, Apple executives have stepped up their attempts to convince some of the major Hollywood film studios to issue licenses that would enable Apple to store its customers' movies on the company's servers, two sources close to the negotiations told CNET. Apple began discussing a cloud service with the studios over a year ago, Read more...

Apple to Unveil Next Generation Software at Keynote Address on Monday, June 6

CUPERTINO, California—May 31, 2011—Apple® CEO Steve Jobs and a team of Apple executives will kick off the company’s annual Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) with a keynote address on Monday, June 6 at 10:00 a.m. At the keynote, Apple will unveil its next generation software - Lion, the eighth major release of Mac OS® X; iOS 5, the next version of Apple’s advanced mobile operating system which powers the iPad®, iPhone® and iPod touch®; and iCloud®, Apple’s upcoming cloud services offering.

WWDC will feature more than 100 technical sessions presented by Apple engineers. Mac® developers will see and learn how to develop world-class Mac OS X Lion applications using its latest technologies and capabilities. Mobile developers will be able to explore the latest innovations and capabilities of iOS and learn how to greatly enhance the functionality, performance and design of their apps. All developers can bring their code to the labs and work with Apple engineers.

For more details, visit the Apple Worldwide Developers Conference 2011 website at developer.apple.com/wwdc.

Apple designs Macs, the best personal computers in the world, along with OS X, iLife, iWork and professional software. Apple leads the digital music revolution with its iPods and iTunes online store. Apple has reinvented the mobile phone with its revolutionary iPhone and App Store, and has recently introduced iPad 2 which is defining the future of mobile media and computing devices.

Comments

Name (required)

Email (required)

Website

Enter the code shown above:

Notify me of followup comments via e-mail

Technology Blog Comments

Sony Next-Generation Portable To Include Arm Cortex Two Quad-Core Chips
http://multiplayer.it/forum/hdtv-home-theater/6566... by Anonymous User

May be I was wise for not upgrading to iPad2 and wait for 3D iPad 3!
http://dotnetnuke.co/technology/2011/07/15/more-3d... by Anonymous User

Remember Apple Newton in 1990s - 15 million iPads sold in 3 quarters- Did you predict this number?
I agree that tablets are very fun and useful, and ... by Andrew

More 3D Patent details released - This time Microsoft with a "3D Desktop Interface"
I assume you are referring to this post in the sci... by Salar Golestanian

More 3D Patent details released - This time Microsoft with a "3D Desktop Interface"
Do you know what intel's patenets are related to t... by kebin

Remember Apple Newton in 1990s - 15 million iPads sold in 3 quarters- Did you predict this number?
Thank you for your comments. Newton like many othe... by Salar Golestanian

Remember Apple Newton in 1990s - 15 million iPads sold in 3 quarters- Did you predict this number?
I don't think that consumers weighed off an onscre... by GENGHIS

About Technology and Science blog by Salar Golestanian

These are various Salar Golestanian Blog some long and some short about the latest topics that interest me about Technology, Design, Mobile or Desktop Internet and all that is within its jurisdiction. Probably the best place for these would have been in SalarO.com, However, some Blogs have less of a commercial or corporate genra, so here they are placed in my personal site. These Blogs help me explain a little more then normally allowed in the 140 character real estate of Twitter posts. They may also link you to the actual news or site that expands further on my comments.