Jeff's Blog — WWDC 2010 Surprises?

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WWDC 2010 Surprises?

Tomorrow marks the start of Apple’s annual Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) in San Francisco, which kicks off with a keynote from Steve Jobs himself. While an announcement of the next iPhone and release of iPhone OS 4.0 (originnally showed off back in April) is widly expected, there are sure to be a few surprises. Notably, an announcement of Safari 5 and Xcode 4 has been rumored over the last few days. I have my own little wish list, which I thought I’d share in hopes that the Apple gods (and maybe even Steve himself) are reading and want to grant me my wishes! Here they are: (Note: Updated with actual WWDC announcements & comments in bold)

It seems two of my wishes have been granted, with a third possibly partially granted. Apple made no mention of my twelve other wishes, which is extremely disappointing when it comes to things like a new notification system (my #1 gripe with the iPhone - I can’t see at a glance new mail senders/subjects without opening Mail!), free MobileMe (which Apple really needs to do in order to compete with Google’s free services), and areas where other OS’s like Android are kicking the iPhone’s ass (voice recognition, wireless syncing, social network integration, etc.). Of course, there’s always the lack of a Verizon or T-Mobile announcement too, although I have some hope that maybe, if the stars align the right way, we’ll see something by the end of 2010 here (especially with all the rumors regarding CDMA iPhones and the fact that the iPhone 4 now supports T-Mobile USA’s 900mhz 3G frequency. Coincidence? I hope not.)

MobileMe get’s enhanced and goes free to compete with Google in the cloud. (No announcement)
iChat brings VoIP & video calls to the iChat HD for free or cheap (and supported w/o additional fees on AT&T). (Video chats are a go with iPhone 4 and WiFi, but sadly, no support by AT&T for 3G. And, it won’t work with iChat on a Mac.)
A new notification/widget system for iPhone OS. (I’m extremely disappointed Apple didn’t announce something here!!!)
An Apple-provided, free turn-by-turn navigation app. (No announcement)
HD radio reception on iPhone. (No announcement)
Wireless syncing of data & Cloud-based iTunes service (which would still allow downloads). (No announcement - there’s always September!)
Safari extensions (also supported on iPhone - think a 1Password plugin). (Safari 5 with extensions is here, but sadly, no news on iPhone extension support)
The iPhone available on T-Mobile and/or Verizon. (No announcement)
Enhanced voice control for voice dictation throughout the OS (like on Android). (No announcement)
A built-in dictionary app (w/ support for international & translation dictionaries). (Dictionary lookup may be a feature of iOS 4 - I’m not sure yet. It doesn’t seem like it will have it’s own app or support international translation dics though)
New, cheaper iPhone plans from AT&T & the ability to buy the iPhone unlocked. (No announcement)
Improved file syncing w/o iTunes (using mountable drives & individual app folders). (No announcement!!!)
True push Gmail (w/o using Exchange) and/or IMAP-Idle support. (No announcement)
Internet radio integrated into the iPod app. (No announcement)
Social integration with Facebook & Twitter (that won’t conflict with Google/MobileMe sync). (No announcement - very surprised here too)

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