Apple Rumors

Behold the Brilliance

Apple, Inc.’s Worldwide Developers Conference is expected to release Mac OS X 10.6, named Snow Leopard, and launch a MobileMe online service to replace Apple’s .Mac service. WWDC is also expected to see the release of an Apple 3G iPhone able to synchronize with MobileMe. A Windows version of MobileMe is also expected.

What would an Apple developers conference be without rumors? The upcoming Worldwide Developers Conference in San Francisco, beginning Monday, is no exception.

One persistent rumor is that the conference will see the announcement of a much-awaited 3G iPhone. Certainly, the iPhone is a major part of the conference, with nearly a third of all sessions devoted to the popular mobile device. Apple is now up to its sixth beta release of the software developers kit for the iPhone. Until recently, the iPhone was not open to outside development.

‘Snow Leopard’

There are also reports that a new update to the Mac operating system will be released. According to The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW), “reliable sources” say version 10.6 will be released on June 12 and made available in January.

Reportedly, the Apple code name for the new update to Leopard is, appropriately enough, Snow Leopard.

TUAW said Apple will provide advance copies of Mac OS X 10.6 to developers at the WWDC. The OS update will, according to TUAW, only run on Intel based computers, which would signal the end of operating-system support for the older PowerPC-based Macs. Apple moved the Mac line to Intel processors about three years ago, and that move is one of the reasons cited by observers for the robust sales of Macs.

TUAW predicts the update will include “the usual bug fixes” as well as support for a new MobileMe service.

MobileMe

There have been reports on the Web that a new service, called MobileMe, will replace the current .Mac online service for OS X users, and will also be announced at the WWDC. Existing users would have their existing @mac.com e-mail addresses forwarded to the new address.

Predictions for the features of the MobileMe service include calendars that act like Apple’s iCal, contacts that act like Apple’s Address Book, and other parallel functions. Mac applications like iChat, iWeb and iPhoto are also expected to work with the new MobileMe.

TUAW reports that MobileMe is scheduled for release later this month or early next month, and that the latest build of the iPhone beta firmware, 2.0, will be able to accommodate the new service. iPhone users will reportedly be able to sync their contacts, calendars and photos with MobileMe.

As befits a company that is now Intel-based and boots Windows, a Windows version of MobileMe is also reported to be coming out.

Whatever is released at WWDC, JupiterResearch analyst Michael Gartenberg pointed out that releases are most likely to be platforms or tools that developers can use. If MobileMe comes out during the conference, he said, that would suggest that developers will be able to utilize it in some way, such as a platform for application development.

“On the other hand,” said Gartenberg, a longtime Apple observer, “this is Apple — and one never knows that they will do on a given day in June.”

Don’t miss out.

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Tags: Mac, mobile device, operating system, PowerPC, Snow Leopard

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