Apple's Worldwide Developers Conference begins from today in San Francisco (around 10:30 pm IST). WWDC is one of the iconic events in Apple's calendar, held every year in June, and the stakes keep getting higher each year. This year is no different, with the announcement of iOS 6 and OS X Mountain Lion scheduled to take place. WWDC is also important for budding developers, who get to hear straight from Apple's engineers about certain aspects of the new OS. However, it's not all technical during the event as one would imagine.

CEO Tim Cook will take centre stage as the next iteration of iOS will be unveiled during the course of the event (11th to 15th June). Apple developers will further explain the working of the OS in detail. Users will not receive the update right away though, but will have to wait till the next iPhone is launched later this year. Apple has managed to maintain an air of secrecy around the OS, but some of the rumoured features are as follows:

• Facebook Integration: Apple introduced Twitter integration with iOS 5 and with iOS 6, Facebook is believed to follow suit. This doesn't come as a surprise given that Facebook boasts of a large user base.
• Siri For iPad: This is a long shot, but some rumours suggest that Apple will make Siri available for the iPad as well. Take this with a pinch of salt for now though.
• Safari Omnibar: The Safari browser on Mountain Lion will sport a singular bar at the top for everything including search, URLs and bookmarks. Apple is rumoured to introduce this feature for the iOS browser as well.
• Apple Maps: Apple is believed to ditch Google Maps from iOS to launch a new Map app developed on its own. We're not really sure if it will be called Apple Maps though.

There isn't much info on compatibility, but it is believed that Apple will let the first gen iPad off its leash. The relatively older iPhone 3GS however is believed to be supported, however we doubt that to be true. Devices like the iPhone 4, 4S, iPad 2, the new iPad and the fourth generation iPod Touch are believed to be supported as well.

Contrary to a few rumours, the next iPhone will not be launched at the WWDC 2012. It is very unlikely that Apple would launch a device this early, considering that the iPhone 4S is selling pretty well. Moreover, this announcement would make Apple's current flagship smartphone obsolete. Additional reports suggest that the next iPhone has supply related issues, which is causing a delay. A recent factory tour by Chinese media to the Foxconn plant at Zhengzhou made it clear that production for the new iPhone has still not commenced. Having said that, we've been treated to a number of specs related rumours.

Now for some OS X Mountain Lion related news. Apple released the developer preview a few months ago. The WWDC 2012 could mark the announcement of the final version of the OS. Apple further claims, this version of Mac OS is inspired by the iPad, so we will see a bundle of iOS-like features for Macs. OS X Mountain Lion will mark the arrival of Twitter integration, Notes, Reminders, AirPlay Mirroring, Game Center, Notification Center and Share Sheets, which will allow users to share videos, images, or URLs right within apps, using popular social services like Twitter, Vimeo, Flickr etc. iCloud integration will be stepped up as well, to keep all the connected devices in sync, when a change is made to a document.

It is believed that Mountain Lion will be provided to the users with a nominal fee of $29.99, just like last year. But in all likelihood, Apple could make it available for much lesser or even for free. If you're planning to purchase a Mac, we recommend you to wait till the end of WWDC (June 15). Waiting further for a couple of months could give you a Mac running on OS X Mountain Lion by default, saving you some money in the process.
 

A screenshot of the OS X Mountain Lion.

Apple is also expected to unveil a bunch of new Macs sporting Retina Display screens and the new Intel Ivy Bridge processors. To support this rumour, some developers at the Mac App Store are rolling out apps with "Retina Graphics". A thinner MacBook Pro is also believed to break cover, along with an upgraded lineup of the MacBook Air (possibly with a 15" display). These are rumours of course, so we suggest not to take them on face value. Apple could alternatively launch new Macs after the WWDC like it did last year. However, you can expect a brief announcement of iOS 6 and some details of OS X Mountain Lion as well.

Tags : Events, iOS, WWDC, Apple, Chethan