When Apple’sWorldwide Developer ’s Conferencekicks off this week , there will be one large change from age past : No Steve Jobs .
But do n’t anticipate developer on hand to expend much conference time mourning the man who guided Apple ’s vision for so many years before passing away in October . Instead , they ’re sharpen on the futurity — and desire to see where the party is going with its ironware and software . It ’s chief operating officer Tim Cook who has their attention now .
“ I think everybody will miss ( Jobs ) , ” enunciate Craig Hockenberry , senior software locomotive engineer forThe Iconfactory , which earn applications for iOS and Mac . “ But I think we all feel the company leaders is more than up to the task at hand , [ and ] enjoy mind to Tim Cook speak — not as much as Steve Jobs , but there are croak to be a portion of nerveless product proclamation , and I look forward to hearing those . ”
“ As the quarterly program line show , that company is doing quite well , ” notedRogue Amoeba’sPaul Kafasis .
Here ’s a quick overview of what developer trust await to see at WWDC :
•An upgrade to the Mac Pro line : “ My No . 1 wish is for Apple to at long last update the Mac Pro with the fastest processor available , ( as well as ) bombshell and USB 3 , ” said Gus Mueller ofFlying Meat Software .
Hockenberry agree that the Mac Pro line is in penury of spruce up up . “ I ’ve got two of them sit around in the office , and they ’re huge , ” he said . I think developers like the horsepower of a Mac Pro , but not the size of a Mac Pro . ”
Other Mac line of work may also see some updates . “ There ’s been a hatful of hypothesis about portable and laptops that are due for a refresh , ” said Rich Siegel ofBare Bones Software .
• A firm launch date for Mountain Lion : Developers have had their hands on previews of Apple ’s modish version of Mac OS Xsince February . And the developers we speak to say they believe the software is ready to go public .
“ It will be soon , ” Siegel said of Mountain Lion ’s exit escort . “ Not before the end of June , but belike not much after . ”
In a related to development , some updated Macs might come with Retina displays — the mellow - definition screens have been uncommitted only on iOS hardware so far . “ Mountain Lion seems quick for that , ” Hockenberry said . “ We ’ll see some hardware that takes advantage of the Retina displays . ”
• A trailer of iOS 6 : Do n’t look this to gain the market until Apple release a new iPhone , probably later this summer . But developer hope to get a peek at the upgraded software — and they particularly need to see how Apple changes two related features — Siri and Maps .
developer allege they go for Siri , the iPhone ’s voice - activated digital helper , emerges from beta — and becomes available for third - company developer to incorporate into their offerings . But they also expect that Siri may advance in baby footstep .
“ I ’d call back there will probably some ( Siri ) support added in iOS 6 but I ’d look that they ’ll be pretty curb , ” say Guy English , aMontreal - based developer . “ A full API for Siri is unbelievably complicated on many levels and would involve extending the operating system in really cock-a-hoop way . ”
As far as Maps , it ’s beenwidely reportedthat Apple plans to bring the feature article in - theater or else of rely on rival Google for geographic datum . “ We have been waiting for some time to see what Apple will do with its various mapping acquisition , so it will be interesting to see if we get some salutary news program on that front , ” enjoin Daniel Jalkut , the founder ofRed Sweater Software .
•More give-and-take of sandboxing : Apple ’s deadline for sandboxing offerings in the Mac App Store arrived at the origin of this month , and some developers are still murmur about the development , saying it reduces the functionality of their apps . They expect it to be a red-hot topic at WWDC .
“ I expect that there will be a destiny of discussions around how to fix the inherent clangor between strict sandboxing and the powerful feature sets and mechanization that Mac exploiter have come up to look from their products , ” Siegel said .
Other developers do n’t expect the conversation to get far , however .
“ I ’m not expecting any surprises there , ” Hockenberry said . “ Apple does n’t want to take a leak off developers — if you start change the rule for sandboxing now , you ’ll piss off a fate of developers . A flock of developers have worked firmly to get their apps in the sandbox . ”
Kafasis , though , was promising — point out that Apple is n’t sandboxing its own apps .
“ If nothing else , I hope to see Apple make do with sandboxing too , ” he say . “ Perhaps when they have to deal with it , they ’ll best interpret the matter . ”
The developers agreed on one thing : As common , speculation about Apple ’s motion might end up wholly wrong once the conference gets roll . “ I ’m expecting a whole lot of hearsay sites to be wrong , and many of them to take that their sources were right but that something interchange at the last second , ” Kafasis said . “ You really ca n’t go incorrect with that bet . ”
That ’s part of the spell , Hockeberry said .
“ I ’m sure there will be some other surprises , ” he say . “ It would n’t be a developer ’s conference without it – that ’s why we love going . ”
WWDC kicks off in San Francisco on Monday , June 11 with a 10 a.m. PT keynote .
