Our WWDC predictions
Looking forward to seeing you guys! No ticket, but will hang.
Here are our crazy WWDC predictions. First the negatives:
No new iPhone yet
Not for a few months, so devs will have time to incorporate new iOS 6 features like the (rumored but widely expected) improved mapping technologies. There's no pressure to release a new iPhone. There never has been.
No Apple HDTV announcement
And no sessions on TV app development either. We expect there to be very few actual TV apps. Ever. Most likely, only the big-time TV networks, movie studios, (former) cable channels, streaming content providers, and big-name game developers will be allowed to create apps for a the existing Apple TV and any possible Apple HDTV set. And they'll probably have direct development support from Apple, as in dedicated engineering teams. Especially for iAd. It's imperative for Apple to give their HDTV strategy the best possible launch. Whatever form that strategy might take.
No NFC / mobile contactless payments
Market adoption isn't big enough yet. There is very little demand for it, at least in the US. Better to wait until mobile payment does actually begin to take off, then to roll it out while the iron is hot. Over the decades, Apple has learned, sometimes through painful experience, when to wade into a market. Too soon and people won't "get it" (e.g. Macintosh TV.) Too late and they're just a me-too (e.g. Ping.)
And now for the positives:
Siri API preview
Siri is Apple's interface of the future. Not the only interface, but a crucial one. In large part because it will allow developers to create nearly chrome-free apps. Apps that you don't even need to look at.
Even apps that do have complex visual interfaces can benefit from Siri, so it could become a pervasive technology on iOS and OS X. Any Siri API unveiled at WWDC would need to be a "preview" because Siri is still in beta, and apparently will be for quite a while. Apple will probably want to carefully screen the first Siri-enabled 3rd party apps. But it's such competitive advantage that Apple should leverage it as soon as possible.
New maps API(s)
Apple has acquired several mapping technology companies over the past few years, and has already deployed OpenStreetMap in iPhoto for iOS. And they might be ready to roll out public APIs for all that. Will be interesting to see if and how Apple creates a unified API for all underlying mapping technologies (Apple, Google, Bing, etc.) And whether they'll allow users to switch mapping engines.
New Macs (maybe).
A new, thinner MacBook Pro just might be announced. And/or the new Mac Pro.
We'll see in a few more days...
[Edit: almost forgot: Photo Sharing API Instagram Shminstagram.]