In a note to clients today — as reported by “Fortune” (http://tech.fortune.cnn.com/2010/05/26/what-steve-jobs-has-up-his-sleeve/?source=yahoo_quote) — Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster said the 2010 Apple Worldwide Developer Conference is shaping up to be a “non-event.” He’s anticipating a new iPhone, but little else.
Munster thinks the new iPhone will sporth video conferencing features, a thinner design, an improved rear camera, better battery life and higher capacity (32GB/64GB). He doesn’t expect it to go on sale (at the current $199/$299 price points) until mid to late June. Like other analysts, he expects the iPhone 3G to go out of production and the price of the iPhone 3GS to drop to $99.
Munster doesn’t think we’ll see an iPhone introduced for Verizon. Nor does he expect a look at the next version of the Mac OS X, though he rates that as “possible.”
Apple will kick off its annual Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) with a keynote address by CEO Steve Jobs on Monday, June 7, at 10 a.m. This year’s WWDC sold out in a record eight days to over 5,000 developers.
The five-day event running from June 7 to June 11, is focused on providing advanced content for skilled developers across five key technology tracks: Application Frameworks; Internet & Web; Graphics & Media; Developer Tools; and Core OS. Apple engineers will deliver over 100 solutions-oriented technical sessions and labs.
There will be five iPad and five iPhone Apple Design Award winners announced at WWDC 2010 (alas, Mac apps need not apply). There’s no requirement to enter and winners will be selected from the Apple App Store based on criteria that includes design, technical excellence, innovation, quality, technology adoption and performance. Visit the Apple Worldwide Developers Conference 2010 website for registration and more details at developer.apple.com/wwdc .