Apple Worldwide Developers' Conference 2011 announced

Apple has revealed that its Worldwide Developers' Conference is to take place 6 June in Moscone West, San Francisco.
The conference which runs for five days is to predominantly look at the future of iOS and Mac OS.
"If you are an iOS or Mac OS X software developer, this is the event that you do not want to miss," said Philip Schiller, Apple's senior vice president of Worldwide Product Marketing, about the event.
WWDC 2011: what to expect
Apple has outlined some of the things that will be taking place at the event.
They include:

• More than 100 technical sessions presented by Apple engineers on a wide range of technology-specific topics for developing, deploying and integrating the latest iOS and Mac OS technologies
• Over 1,000 Apple engineers providing developers with code-level assistance, insight into optimal development techniques, and guidance on how they can make the most of iOS and Mac OS technologies in their apps
• The opportunity to connect with thousands of fellow iPad, iPhone and Mac developers from around the world
• Apple Design Awards which recognise iPad, iPhone and Mac apps that demonstrate technical excellence, innovation and outstanding design

iPhone 5 announcement?
But, the rumour mill is already churning with suggestions that we will see a new cat-based OS, information about iOS 5 - unless this is shown off in April - as well as a sneak-peak at the new iPhone 5.
At last year's WWDC, the iPhone 4 was announced but it wasn't actually seen in the flesh until weeks after the event.
Whatever is shown, the onus will be on whether Steve Jobs will attend. The same was asked last year, and it was great that Apple's head honcho made an appearance as he was unable to make WWDC 2009, where the iPhone 3GS was announced.

 

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Week in Tech: Can Windows 8 reclaim the ground lost to Apple and Google?

This week we've been thinking about Windows.
Windows 8 Milestone 3 is in the hands of manufacturers for testing, and while it's not the finished version of Windows 8 - that's some way off still - it's mature enough to give some really big hints about what Microsoft's up to.
Arguably the most important thing about Windows 8 is that it'll run on ARM processors, which means tablets - not Tablet PCs, which Microsoft has been flogging for a decade, but tablets in the iPad-y, Xoom-y, Galaxy Tab-y sense of the word.
Working with tablets isn't just about supporting the right processors, though. It's about supporting pointy fingers too. If you've used a touch screen with Windows 7 you'll know what we mean: it's okay, but it's not the same experience you get with a finger-focused OS such as Android or iOS. Windows 8 will address that.
Redesigning the interface
There's a stripped-down interface that borrows heavily from the much-liked Windows Phone 7, and the Ribbon UI from Office looks like it'll put in an appearance too. We hope so: the Ribbon is a much more finger-friendly way of navigating program features than the traditional menu bar.
Windows 8 will also feature some things you've seen in other operating systems.
Instant On is one of the "big three" fundamentals Windows 8 is designed to deliver (the other two are fast shutdown and good battery life), which brings Windows up to speed with upstarts such as tablets and Google's forthcoming Chrome OS, while History Vault, a kind of supercharged System Restore, looks awfully similar to OS X's Time Machine.
The new "remote display" option, which sends your laptop's screen to a large monitor, sounds rather like Apple's AirPlay, and the new App Store sounds like, well, another well known App Store.
It looks like Windows will also get OS X-style integrated PDF support courtesy of Microsoft's Modern Reader. Anything that banishes the ridiculously needy Adobe Reader is fine by us. Modern Reader is significant for another reason: it uses AppX, a new kind of application package that's very similar to the packages used by Windows Phone 7.
Going for gamers
Windows 8 also targets another sector: gamers. Over the last few years it's been clear that when it comes to games, Microsoft's real love is the Xbox 360; people in the know tell us that that with Windows 8, Microsoft is going to throw its weight behind the PC as a gaming platform once more.
That might even include support for Kinect, because there's nothing PC users like better than sitting six feet from their monitor. We jest.
Kinect-style sensors may be used to recognise you, spotting you in a crowd, waking your PC up as you approach it and letting you login with your face. With your face!
There's a picture emerging here: after a period where rivals have made significant gains at Microsoft's expense - Apple in tablets, smartphones and PCs, Android in mobile devices, Valve in gaming - Microsoft is fighting back. Imagine Rocky with Steve Ballmer in the title role, running up and down steps, punching cows in a freezer and bellowing at every opportunity.
So is Windows 8 fighting fit? It certainly looks that way, but we won't know for sure until later this year: we'd expect the Windows 8 beta release date to be late summer. For now, we have everything you could possibly want to know about Windows 8 right here.

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Apple considers hybrid displays offering LCD and e-ink

A new Apple patent has been unearthed which reveals that the Cupertino firm is considering the development of 'hybrid' e-ink-LCD displays, for those users that want the best of both worlds.
Hybrid displays have already been developed commercially by the likes of Pixel Qi, and recently seen in devices such as the (lesser-spotted) Notion Ink Adam tablet.
Hybrid Apple tablet on the way?
Apple's new patent details a hybrid display which could enable the user to switch all or part of a full-colour LCD screen to a low-power e-ink display, which would be viewable in full sunlight (and help to preserve battery power).
It seems almost inevitable that some future iteration of the hugely successful iPad will make use of such a technology, following the runaway success of iBooks on Apple's tablet computer.
The suggestion of a new Apple display technology that would allow part of your iPad or MacBook screen to display static text in e-ink, while allowing other parts of the screen to display video and multimedia in traditional LCD will also be of interest to newspaper and magazine publishers, constantly looking for new ways of developing and making money from their content on new digital platforms.
Apple's new patent application detailing its plans in this area, filed with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office this month, was named, quite literally: "Systems and Methods for Switching Between an Electronic Paper Display and a Video Display."

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