SAN FRANCISCO — Apple's Worldwide Developers Conference kicks off Monday morning, and we'll finally learn whether a swarm of tantalizing product rumors emerges as fiction or fact. Apple will definitely reveal reveal iOS 6 -- this much is certain now that iOS 6 banners are appearing outside Apple's event venue. But the company is also expected to show off a bunch of new Mac computers, and even unveil a new Apple TV platform that could supercharge the company's home-entertainment aspirations.
The Gadget Lab team will be on hand to feed you the big news right as it happens, liveblogging the WWDC keynote from San Francisco's Moscone Center. The event is scheduled to begin at 10 a.m., and we'll begin posting as soon as we take our seats. Please visit the front page of Wired.com on Monday, June 11 to check out our coverage -- and refresh your browser often during Apple's keynote for the latest updates.
Gadget Lab staff writer Christina Bonnington (@redgirlsays) and senior editor Jon Phillips (@JonPhillipsSF) will be at Moscone to cover the action in real-time, while staff writers Roberto Baldwin (@strngwys), Alexandra Chang (@alexandra_chang), and Nathan Olivarez-Giles (@nateog) will provide blogging support from Wired HQ.
If all pre-event rumors come true, Monday's keynote will include a new version of iOS that includes 3-D maps, system-wide Facebook integration, and the deployment of Siri on Apple's latest iPad. The rumor mill also has Apple releasing no fewer than four updated computers -- a new MacBook Pro with Retina display, a Mac Pro desktop with upgraded Xeon-class Intel silicon, and changes to the MacBook Air and iMac lines.
But the biggest reveal -- at least in terms of its novelty factor -- could be a reboot of Apple TV. Currently, Apple's set-top box isn't much more than a passive conduit for iTunes video content, a few premium apps like Netflix and Flickr, and iPad screen mirroring. But the scuttlebutt from BGR has Apple announcing an SDK that would allow third-party developers to create custom Apple TV apps, and a "control out" API that would allow third-party manufacturers to handshake with Apple TV.
Our take? Apple may not ever release a physical television, after all. Via an improved Apple TV platform that integrates with apps and existing HDTV products, Apple could provide the software platforms (iTunes and a new Apple TV OS), and interface controls (think Siri and gesture control) to reinvent the living-room experience.
Intrigued? Once again, join us on Wired.com's home page at 10 a.m. Pacific time this coming Monday -- and follow @Gadgetlab or @Wired on Twitter for 140-character highlights of what’s going down.
