Forehead Time

Apple bloggers are all atwitter over the apparently significant amount of unannounced ("TBA)" conference sessions at Apple's annual dorkapalooza (WWDC) next week. I am attending this year¹ and so I too have wondered, what is TBA? I have some ideas.

• Facetime will finally be Facetime, not Foreheadtime — Apple will release a new device with tiny cameras in-between the pixels. This would allow us true 3-d pictures and movies (holograms) and more importantly Facetime featuring true eye contact. As it is, everyone Facetiming is staring at foreheads. It's bizarre. The New iPhone will fix this problem, and this technology will be new and thrilling enough that developers will forgive Apple for changing the screen size.

• The New QuickTake — Apple is making a camera, to be announced next week. It will be called "The New QuickTake". It will run apps, replace the iPod Touch in the product line, and work entirely on iCloud. iCloud has been a complete dog the past couple months, and I think they haven't fixed the bugs (notably, Photostream is often lacking in photos and stream) because they are preparing a major upgrade.

• Apple will self-identify as a gaming company — Apple TV will be just like it is, but with apps. Apple will announce a Cocos2D like set of gaming APIs and the new Quicktake, the new iPhone, and the new iPad will all be usable as game controllers.

• Some of the mystery is just Apple being late – Some sessions are truly TBA because they haven't been planned. Remember how late WWDC was announced this year? That's because iOS 6 (which will power the new [iPhone, iPad, iPod, QuickTake and TV]) and Mountain Lion are demanding a lot of time and attention.

• Apple will pay off some of its technical debt — Apple will announce new Core Graphics, Core Text, and Core Animation APIs. They will claim that these new APIs are to take advantage of retina displays and create parity between Foundation Kit and Application Kit, but really it will just be a release of backlogged bugfixes.

• Batteries aren't getting bigger — All of the new software will be more power efficient. I replaced my iPhone recently and turned off all notifications except Messages, and it's amazing how much better my phone works - the battery appears infinite, and my messages arrive promptly. Nerds have been blaming AT&T for crappy service, but the reality is that the iPhone is extremely chatty over the wire.

Like my NBA conference Finals predictions (Thunder in 6, Celtics in 6), I predict that my predictions will be half right. Thanks for reading.

¹ I am attending for the first time since 2006! Apple announced that an RSS server was going to be built into every desktop that year, and I was thrilled.

Comments

[Ezra]

"Apple announced that an RSS server was going to be built into every desktop that year, and I was thrilled." Nice-uh.

[David Jacobs]

It's still around - it's called "The PubSub Agent."

[Xris Ernest Hall]

You're coming to SF? Drinks at the Utah!

[David Jacobs]

We'll do that! Still sorting out calendar &c.

[Nick]

Keep me in the loop for Utah, I will be at moscone all next week as well.

[Account Deleted]

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