“Apple hosts its Worldwide Developer Conference next week, and while the event has delivered bombshells in the past it’s largely gone as expected in recent years,” Chris Ciaccia reports for TheStreet. “That may be about to change, though, especially as it relates to software and services.”
MacDailyNews Take: Swift was totally unexpected and a shocking bombshell just last year.
“This year’s WWDC, held in the Moscone Center West in San Francisco, as it is most every year, largely will focus on updates to the next version of iOS, as well as Mac OS X,” Ciaccia reports. “The look of Apple’s iOS was drastically redesigned when iOS 7 was released, so this year Apple is likely to continue improve upon the look and functionality of the operating system. Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster said the system could include an updated version of Apple Maps with transit directions and the ability to split screen apps.”
“‘We wouldn’t be surprised if Apple announced advancements in Cloud Services at WWDC,’ Jefferies analyst Sundeep Bajikar wrote in a May 31 research note,” Ciaccia reports. “‘We believe the Apple TV is likely to see a software update that will make it a HomeKit hub,’ J.P. Morgan analyst Rod Hall wrote in a note. ‘As a result we expect further partner announcements at WWDC and potentially some expanded HomeKit functionality in updated iOS/Watch/OSX SDKs.’ …Despite the hype surrounding the new set-top box, Apple may not show it off on Monday. The New York Times first reported the product was not ready to be unveiled, leading to a change in Apple’s plans.”
Much more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: There will be more than enough to digest on Monday, even without new Apple TV hardware.