“Apple will use the Worldwide Developers Conference starting today in San Francisco to debut Mac computers with high- definition screens, as well as features for the software that powers its iPhone and iPad,” Adam Satariano reports for Bloomberg. “The success of Apple’s App Store has helped create an economy for downloading mobile applications that will reach $58 billion in sales in 2014, according to Gartner Inc. More than 25 billion apps have been downloaded from Apple’s store, and developers have received $4 billion from the sales, according to Cupertino, California-based Apple.”

“At this week’s event, Apple will probably signal a bigger screen for the next iPhone, its best-selling product, by telling developers to write future applications that can work on a larger surface, said Andy Hargreaves, an analyst at Pacific Crest Securities Inc. in Portland, Oregon,” Satariano reports. “Apple also plans to announce a deal that lets users quickly post pictures and other content from phones and tablets to the profiles on Facebook Inc.’s social network, people with knowledge of the matter said.”

Satariano reports, “Last year’s event, where co-founder Steve Jobs introduced Apple’s iCloud service, was the last Apple event he led before he died in October… This year’s conference, running June 11-15, will give Chief Executive Officer Tim Cook a chance to outline his vision for why developers should continue to build for Apple rather than competitors, said Carl Howe, an analyst at Yankee Group… Apple will use the event to introduce a new mapping application that would replace Google Maps, which it has used since 2007, a person familiar with the plans said… At today’s event, Cook and other Apple executives also will showcase the latest lineup of Mac computers, including MacBook Pro laptops that will sport high-definition screens and speedier chips made by Intel Corp, people familiar with the plans said last month.

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