WWDC 2011 Rumor Roundup: iPad 3, OSX Lion, iOS 5

Apple has announced that its annual Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) will be held June 6 through June 10 in San Francisco, at the Moscone West convention center. At the five-day event, Apple plans to unveil "the future of iOS and Mac OS," it said in a March 28 statement.

It’s widely expected that Apple will share details about Mac OS X Lion, the newest incarnation of the Apple operating system, which Apple CEO Steve Jobs introduced in October 2010, along with the newest line of MacBook Air notebooks. Apple is also expected to focus on iOS 5, the newest version of its mobile OS. However, while Apple is expected to release an iPhone 5 this summer, which presumably would ship with the new iOS, a new report says iOS 5 will instead follow behind it, not becoming available until the third quarter.

Citing two "solid sources," Tech Crunch reported March 26 that Apple’s plan is "to wait to launch iOS 5 until the fall," breaking its tradition of introducing new software in the spring and launching it during the summer with new hardware.

Still another rumor, circulated in February, is that Apple is planning to surprise WWDC attendees with the introduction of an iPad 3.

What’s for certain, however, is that developers at WWDC 2011 can expect more than 100 technical sessions presented by Apple engineers; access to more than 1,000 Apple engineers offering code-level assistance into "optimal development techniques"; and to be a part of one giant opportunity to mingle with fellow iPad, iPhone and Mac developers from around the globe.

Apple will also present its Apple Design Awards to developers of outstanding iPad, iPhone and Mac applications.

"If you are an iOS or Mac OS X software developer, this is the event that you do not want to miss," Philip Schiller, Apple’s senior vice president of Worldwide Product Marketing, said in a March 28 statement.

For more, read the eWEEK article: Apple WWDC 2011 Rumors Include iOS 5, OS X Lion, iPad 3.