WWDC 2011: Gaj-it’s Top 8 Apple Predictions

Apple's World Wide Developers Conference is less than 4 hours away so we thought we'd give you 8 predictions of what Apple might have up its sleeve.

Now were cheating a little as we already know that Apple will unveil Mac OS X Lion, iOS 5 (although according to the latest rumours no new iPhone) and of course Apple streaming service iCloud. But what else might Cuppertino have planned.

Other than those, we expect Apple to announce a completely revamped widget and notification system for iOS 5, the possible use of Siri & Nuance voice recognition for iOS 5, Remote Access to all your files through a new and improved Airport and Timecapsule with the new iCloud, Wireless synching, iOS 5 social integration and of course Mac OS X Lion – the latest version of the desktop Operating System.

1. iOS 5 New Notifications & Widgets

iOS is need a major re-vamping and is going to be a major focus of today’s announcement. Apple has been left a little behind compared to some of the snazzy new features of Android. So we expect the iOS to have an all-new lick of paint and this will include a completely new design for Notification and Widgets.

Over the weekend, Techcrunch suggested that Peter Hajas, creator of one of the most popular iPhone jailbreak notification apps, has been snapped up by Apple. Perhaps Cupertino has finally come round to his way of thinking.

The current thinking is your home screen will no longer be a static page of icons, but a dynamic stream of social and news feeds which are taken from your apps. We have no idea what it will it look like - but it's a dead cert that Apple will revamp them today.

2. All-New Voice Control Via Siri

This is a bit of a long shot but Apple might be planning a new version of voice control, but it would be baked in from the ground up and could see your iOS 5 device searching sites from the power of your voice.

In April 2010 Apple acquire Siri and artificial intelligence startup and may plan to intergrate this tech into your iPhone. The technology will allow you to use your voice to get mapping directions, restaurant reservations and movie reviews.

This could transform the iPhone from a mobile computer to a smart device with the capability to assisting you in almost any situation.

3. A4/A5 Chips For AirPort/Time Capsule ?

The latest rumour bubbling around is that Apple may begin to put their processor chips into their Airport Routers and Timecapsules.

When Apple is planning new product the one's it’s planning replaces become scarce like gold dust. And this is true of Airport and TimeCapsule.

A powerful A4 or A5 processor in a Time Capsule or Airport wireless router, along with iOS 5, could help Apple in a number of ways, including simplifying the update process for iOS and apps for iPhone and iPad owners, as well as integrating the products for better iCloud service.

4. Universal Remote Computer Access Via iCloud

If iCloud is going to be the big new announcement from Apple we would suspect that iCloud and a new Timecapsule would combine to present you with you desktop of your home-based Mac over the internet. After all if your computer is connected to the web – a version of universal remote access 2.0 should become a reality.

This could be used to take on Google Chrome Notebook functionality as you’ll be able to access all your files, settings and apps from any Mac device on the iCloud from you home Mac or new TimeCapsule.

5. iCloud Bringing Your Files From The iCloud

Some have speculated that iCloud would shift the focus for syncing iOS devices from iTunes to the cloud. Based on this thinking we could expect "audio, movies and TV shows, iBooks e-books, App Store apps, contacts, calendars, bookmarks, notes and any sort of files shared between iOS apps" would all be synced through iCloud. Making a must for all Apple customers and give the new service the traction it needs.

iCloud is going to be a major announcement for Apple and the music industry – what it will do is allow you to upload of your favourite media to an online storage locker so you can access it anywhere in the world from a compatible Mac computer or iDevice running iOS 5.

Apple has, of course, received  backing from the major music labels and is attempting to derail Spotify’s chances of making it big in America. We’re not totally convinced about the Cloud, but we can see it being massive in the future, just not in 2011.

6. Updates Via Wireless Synching – Say Goodbye to Wires

Apple is taking a step into the unknown with its next iOS 5 update as reports are suggesting it plans to do away with compulsory iTunes cable synching and will allow users to do the update wirelessly.

Now we know what your thinking, how many times have we heard of updates borking phones, especially with Android - wouldn't wireless updating just be too risky? After all what's wrong with a cable? It seems to work well enough.

This has never been done before to our knowledge on Apple products and of course it's not that hard to do, but what happens if you internet goes down mid-update - the thought of a bricked handsets has always been a major concern.

We've got a sneaking suspicion that the updates will be shrunk down as much as possible and will come in incremental stages, so not to risk an update failure.

7. Social Integration Baked Into iOS 5 From The Ground Up

Multiple sources have said that Apple's, soon to be announced, iOS 5 will have the new image service "baked directly into the iOS" with a "send to twitter" option similar to the way Youtube is intergrated into iOS5.

Many commentators are also now thinking that the new version of iOS 5 could also come with even more Twitter integration - don't be surprised if you start seeing dynamic feeds on the homepage with Twitter and Facebook being be a major part of this - much like the dynamic feeds that have been the main selling point of Windows Mobile 7 and Android.

If Twitter sharing was added at a system level, you could see some nifty features like the ability to switch between texts and tweets in the Messages app and share links to Twitter directly from Safari.

Though there have been plenty of clues that Twitter is coming to iOS 5, there were similar whispers about iOS Facebook integration (and even clues in developer previews) around the launch of iOS 4 which never came to pass. So expect to see social aspects in iOS 5 and  being them being major focus for the new iOS.

8.  Mac OS X Lion & iOS To Eventually Converge Into One OS

Apple’s latest version of Mac OS will be unveiled, expect it to be quicker, smaller and should see a release in mid-june. There’s already been a developer version out for a while, but we’d expect a few new improvements.

The main concept that Apple is working towards is a convergance of Mac OS X and iOS – with OS X making a move towards the way iOS is presented – so there’s a continuity between the two.