MacRumors

With just under two and a half hours to go before Apple CEO Steve Jobs takes the stage for his keynote address at the company's Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) in San Francisco, it's time for us to set the stage with final details on the latest rumors and coverage information.

Attendees have been securing their spots in line early to ensure that they will have seats in the main auditorium rather than being shunted to an overflow room to watch the keynote on video.

Coverage

As we noted over the weekend, MacRumors will be offering live text and photo updates from the keynote through MacRumorsLive.com. The main MacRumors.com page will automatically redirect to MacRumorsLive as we get closer to the event, so stay tuned here. We will also be providing Twitter updates through our @MacRumorsLive account.

Apple has not yet offered any indication that it will provide live streaming video of the keynote.

MacRumors forum members interested in a "spoiler-free" environment to wait for the full keynote video to become available are gathering in our dedicated thread. A direct link to the official keynote video will be posted there when it becomes available.

Rumors

While it appears extremely unlikely that Apple will introduce a new iPhone today, the company undoubtedly has a full agenda as it seeks to show off Mac OS X Lion, iOS 5, and its new iCloud service. Rumors have suggested that the iCloud service could utilize a revamped iOS-based Time Capsule to serve as the hub for data access and potentially for caching software updates for other machines and devices.

One key part of the iCloud service that has been receiving significant media attention is a music streaming service to allow users to access their purchased music from a variety of Internet-connected devices. Apple is said to have paid the four major music labels up to $150 million for the right to offer the service, and with agreements reportedly also in place with the major music publishers, Apple appears nearly ready to go on that aspect of iCloud. The service has been said to come with a free trial period to be followed eventually by an annual fee in the range of $25.

iOS 5 has been kept under wraps by Apple thus far, although we've seen indications of enhanced notifications and widgets as well as "deep" Twitter integration. Another development comes from a leak on Apple's iTunes update pages, which revealed a new "Automatic Download" feature that could allow users to have updated apps and perhaps other content appear on their iOS devices without the need manually sync each one. It is unclear, however, whether the feature is directly tied to iOS 5 or if it could be supported with an update to iOS 4 in the nearer term.

Apple has also been working hard on Mac OS X Lion and a fair amount of information on the release has been made public through Apple's "sneak peek" offered last October and followed up with a series of developer preview builds pushed out beginning in February. Apple has said that Lion will make its debut this "summer", but we've been hearing variety of potential dates within that period for the launch, making it difficult to pin down how soon after WWDC we can expect it to ship.

Last-Minute Updates

- This is my next... reports that it has received information regarding iOS 5 enhancements including a new MMS/SMS messaging protocol and a new notification system involving a dropdown at the top of the screen accessible by swiping downward. The dropdown will also provide access to widgets for such items as weather and stocks. Finally, the lock screen is said to have been enhanced with notifications, allowing users to swipe a notification to go directly to the corresponding app.

- As noted by @grg, there is at least one covered banner hanging outside the keynote hall, suggesting that the banner will be promoting currently-undisclosed details of a new product:

On the night before the 2011 WWDC Keynote, things have been relatively quiet. Those attending WWDC are naturally excited by the prospect of Apple's announcements and everyone is speculating about what Apple could announce. The first person got in line for the WWDC keynote at 1pm Sunday, while everyone else seems to be debating exactly how early to get in line. At present there seem to be about 30 people in line (photo) as of 11pm Pacific.

The image above is what we believe to simply be a mockup of what iOS 5's notifications may look like. It was posted by TechCrunch who later said that they've heard it's the "right idea".

DaringFireball's John Gruber has posted his thoughts about Monday's event but seems to know very little for certain. The most tantalizing quote he offers, but also one that he describes as fourth hand information is as follows:

Don’t think of iCloud as the new MobileMe; think of iCloud as the new iTunes.

Gruber describes the possibility where instead of taking an iOS device and syncing it to your computer, all the data is synced to iCloud. This would finally relinquish the need for a PC/Mac sync for new iOS devices. He goes on with other wishes for iOS but admits its not based on any inside knowledge.

Interestingly, we've heard that a few Apple employees have been genuinely excited about tomorrow's announcements. The keynote kicks off at 10am Pacific / 1pm Eastern on Monday and we'll provide live coverage here.

Apple's 2011 Worldwide Developer's Conference kicks off tomorrow with a keynote from Steve Jobs starting at 10am Pacific. Apple has already revealed that they will be talking about Mac OS X Lion, iOS 5 and iCloud at the event. Developer registration began today (photos above and below).

The early speculation about iCloud had primarily focused on Apple's impending deals with music companies and the ability to stream iTunes music to your Macs and iOS devices. But more recently, there's been talk about new iOS-powered Time Capsules that how might serve as some sort of file syncing hub or update caching system.

iOS seems up for a major update with rumors of revamped notifications and widgets as well as major twitter integration. A new Automatic Downloads feature for Apps also seems certain.

There have been some hints that Mac OS X Lion may be practically ready to launch with some even pinpointing date of June 14th as the targeted released date.

As always, there are usually last minute rumors and leaks on the night prior to the event, so stay tuned.

Unfortunately, there's been no indication that Apple will be video streaming this event, but we'll provide live coverage during the keynote with photos and updates. Follow us @MacRumorsLive for live updates and @MacRumors for ongoing news and updates.

Cult of Mac reports that it has received information indicating that revamped versions of Apple's Time Capsule wireless router/hard drive combination will serve as the hub for iCloud data syncing, with data stored directly on the device rather than on Apple's servers.

Our source didn't have any information about the hardware, but detailed how the Home Folder access system works. Files saved on your computer are backed up instantly to Time Capsule, which makes them available to remote Macs and iOS devices.

If you make any changes on any computer, those changes are updated through iCloud and stored on your Time Capsule. The Time Capsule archives and serves up your files even when your computers are off. When you get home and fire up your desktop computer or laptop, the files are automatically synced across your devices.

This service will also allow you to upload photos and videos from your iPhone or iPad to your Time Capsule. The media will be stored on the device and be made available for other devices to sync. iCloud is the "conduit" through which everything moves, the source said.

"Your computer gets backed up to Time Capsule anyways," said the source. "Now it'll serve up your content when you want it, where you want it, right there on your iOS device."

The source reports that this implementation of a local iCloud is "fully baked" and ready for deployment in future versions of Mac OS X and iOS, although there has been no hint of the functionality in developer seeds of Mac OS X Lion seen thus far. It is also unclear how such a system would integrate with the iCloud music streaming service, as a number of reports in the mainstream media suggested more of a true cloud-based system for that aspect of things, with Apple able to scan users' iTunes libraries and simply provide streaming access to those tracks from any device connected to the user's iCloud.

As noted by MyService, Apple's idea of a local cloud network dates back twenty years, with Steve Jobs having detailed some of the advantages of such a setup during a Q&A session at WWDC in 1997. (Discussion begins at around 13:10 mark.)

Cult of Mac's claims harken back to a report from The Loop's Jim Dalrymple back in mid-February in which he claimed that cloud-based strategy for a revamped MobileMe would in fact be focused on streaming data from users' machines rather hosting it directly on Apple's servers. A local cloud stored on a Time Capsule device would seem to be a middle-of-the-road solution offering much of what Dalrymple proposed while avoiding the need to keep a source computer awake and running for the service to function.

We'll certainly be learning more about iCloud tomorrow as Steve Jobs takes the stage for the keynote at this year's Worldwide Developers Conference at 10:00 AM Pacific Time / 1:00 PM Eastern Time. MacRumors will be providing live coverage of the keynote via MacRumorsLive and Twitter.

In the days leading to WWDC, Apple's iTunes seems to have leaked a new feature that must be coming in iOS 5. A MacRumors reader discovered (and we verified) that when asking iTunes to check your app library for updates, iTunes' update page reveals a new feature for iOS devices. (Thanks Marcelo) The following line has been added to the My App Updates screen:

Or if your device has Automatic Download enabled for apps, your updates will download to your device without having to sync.

Such a setting doesn't exist in iOS at present, which suggests that you will be able to automatically get app updates to your device. Presently, users must either sync or download the updates themselves manually through the App Store app.

It also suggests that there is an Automatic Download setting for other items besides apps. Apple has been rumored to be making a push into over-the-air updates as well as some sort of wireless syncing. Rumors of AirPort Extreme and Time Capsule updates have also hinted at such a feature.

WWDC kicks off on Monday with a keynote from Steve Jobs who will detail Mac OS X Lion, iOS 5 and iCloud.

Update: Apple has removed the extra wording from the Updates page in iTunes.

Earlier this week, TechCrunch reported that Apple is said be integrating Twitter into iOS 5, offering users the ability to easily share photos and other content via the service. Those claims dovetail nicely with Twitter's announcement the following day that it will launch its own photo-sharing service. Daring Fireball's John Gruber hinted, however, that Apple is planning to take things even further when it comes to Twitter integration, making it a "system-level service" within iOS 5.

Another source has now spoken out on Apple's plans, with the well-connected Robert Scoble now tweeting that Apple will indeed be building Twitter "deeply" into iOS 5.

Next week will be a huge week for those of us who have lived on Twitter for last few years. Apple is building Twitter in deeply into iOS5.

In a series of follow-up tweets responding to commenters, Scoble says he's had "actual knowledge" of Apple's plans for several months now, but does not know the details. He does, however, claim that the integration will go well beyond photos and "lame 'send to Twitter buttons'".

I know someone who built the Twitter integration into iOS5 and I believe him when he says I'll love it.

Apple has announced that Steve Jobs will be providing a preview of iOS 5 at next Monday's keynote presentation at the company's Worldwide Developers Conference in San Francisco, and we should learn more about the rumored Twitter integration at that time if it is indeed in the works.

The speculation began last week when iPhoneinCanada posted that it believes that mobile developer Peter Hajas has started working for Apple. A developer getting a new job at Apple would not be newsworthy in itself, but Hajas was the developer of a popular jailbreak notification add-on for iOS. iPhoneinCanada describes how earlier versions of the MobileNotifier add-on works:

Now, there's a hot tweak called MobileNotifier (beta 3 release) via Cydia that makes notifications unobtrusive and allows you to keep using existing apps. An elegant bar appears up top of your homescreen and with one tap you can choose to close or open the notification. Alerts will also appear on your lockscreen. When you double tap the Home button, you'll see a list of your recent alerts via the AlertDashboard.

And associated video:

Peter Hajas doesn't come right out and say that he's now working Apple but did post a cryptic update to his blog saying that he will be taking a break from MobileNotifier for a while due to other opportunities.

RedmondPie has since discovered a (now deleted) Tweet posted in early May by Hajas saying that he would be heading off to work in California at a "fruit" company. Meanwhile, we've also independently confirmed that Hajas is now an employee at Apple.

Apple is rumored to be improving iOS's notification system in the next version of iOS to be detailed at WWDC, and a report from mid-February had indicated that Apple was hiring an unnamed outside developer to revamp notifications, although it is unknown if that person was indeed Hajas. Regardless, Apple has certainly already worked heavily on such a system prior to this hire, but it's still interesting nonetheless.

Proof from Apple's internal employee directory app:

Earlier this week, we noted that a number of Apple's retail stores have run dry of stocks of Time Capsules, AirPort Extremes, and in some cases AirPort Expresses, leading to speculation that a refresh could come at next week's Worldwide Developers Conference. Reports quickly arose claiming that Apple has been known to have at least internally tested new Time Capsules capable of caching software updates for Macs and iOS devices, delivering them quickly to the machines for updating.

In a separate report, Ars Technica briefly notes that it has received word that the new Time Capsule may actually follow the pattern of the Apple TV, taking on an A4 or A5 processor from Apple and running iOS to manage the more advanced functions that could appear in the device.

Our own source tells Ars that the revised hardware is believed to be built around Apple's own A4 or A5 processor, and will run iOS much like the most recent Apple TV model.

Harnessing the power of iOS directly within the Time Capsule device, even if on a scaled-down basis as in the Apple TV, naturally opens the door to further speculation of how Apple could tie together iCloud services with local storage on users' own networks, whether it be caching some iCloud content to the Time Capsule for faster access when on the local network or even pushing some of the Time Machine functions included on the current Time Capsule out to iCloud itself.

Separately, we've heard an unconfirmed tip that iOS 5 may finally be bringing wireless syncing to iOS devices, including the intriguing claim that the wireless syncing could be performed directly with the new Time Capsules, bypassing the need to sync with a specific computer.

comScore today released the results of its April survey of mobile phone usage in the United States, finding that Apple has nudged past Research in Motion to claim the second spot among smartphone platforms behind Android. According to the data, Android continues to widen its lead and now holds 36.4% of the market, while Apple's iOS holds 26.0% and Research in Motion's BlackBerry operating system has slipped to 25.7%.

When looking at mobile phone manufacturers overall, Apple is now the fourth most-popular vendor with 8.3% of the market, once again barely beating out Research in Motion.

comScore's surveys of over 30,000 mobile phone subscribers examine installed user base rather than quarterly sales as with many other sources. Consequently, comScore's data examines a slightly different metric that is slower to respond to shifts in sales trends. Apple passed Research in Motion in quarterly U.S. shipments late last year, but the BlackBerry maker's historical lead had enabled it to hold off Apple in installed user base share until recently.