Event could hold surprises

WWDC attendees have been lined up in front of San Francisco's Moscone Center since Sunday night, photos and video show. The attraction is not WWDC itself so much as Apple's keynote, which is scheduled for 10AM Pacific time today, or 1PM Eastern. CEO Steve Jobs will be hosting, giving developers and the public their first look at iOS 5, as well as iCloud, the company's new set of cloud services.

iCloud is generally expected to replace MobileMe, with major additions such as remote media streaming. A late rumor suggests, however, that in many respects iCloud may serve to replace iTunes sync for iOS devices. Combined with anticipated iOS 5 features such as automatic app sync and over-the-air firmware updates, there may be little or no reason to tether an iOS device to a computer in some cases.

The keynote could hold bigger surprises. Apple revealed the existence of iCloud last week, an unusual move in that the company prefers to keep products close to the vest until they can be shown in detail. If the announcement was not meant simply to draw people to a potentially iPhone-less keynote, it could be that Apple has more impressive things in store.

by MacNN Staff