The countdown for Apple's WWDC 2017 (WorldWide Developers Conference) has begun. The annual event begins at 10:30pm IST in San Jose. Although meant for software developers, there is typically plenty of news for consumers and speculation on what will be presented begins months prior to the date. Apple fans and observers will be able to watch Tim Cook and others on the live-stream from Apple's website.
One of the most talked-about products expected to be revealed at the event tonight is a Siri speaker. At a time when the voice and virtual assistant war is heating up, Apple has some catching up to do with Google Assistant, now on several high-end phones and Google Home products, and with Amazon's Alexa and Echo speaker, which has a head-start.
Alexa is now integrated in a fast-growing collection of smart home products in America. Alexa has not yet officially made its way across the world to other countries, but in the US, users have been seen to greatly enjoy using the voice-controlled speaker and assistant. For users who are tied into the Apple ecosystem, a Siri speaker will be a welcome addition.
Just like Echo with Alexa, a Siri-endowed speaker is expected to tie in with other smart and connected devices in the home and allow voice command control of various compatible IOT products and for Apple to push services to users through these. CEO Tim Cook expects service revenue to double by 2020 from last year's $24 billion.
Being a software-centric event, WWDC will almost certainly see refreshes and upgrades for all its platforms. The most awaited updates are to the next version of iOS, particularly as this may give some clue as to what the upcoming iPhone 8 will come with, being as it is the subject of daily rumours and leaks. The few details floating around on iOS 11 are not hugely significant or indicative of the direction the Cupertino giant will take with the next iPhone. Two of these details involve the possibility of a stylus or Apple Pencil for the iPhone and a dark mode for easier viewing. These details are sketchy for what is thought to be an upcoming design overhaul of the operating system.
IOS 11 is, of course, also coming to the iPad, and it is speculated that Apple will release a 10.5-inch iPad Pro, that too with an edge-to-edge display. The iPad Pro is currently in a 9.7-inch and 12.9-inch form factor, too small and too big for some.
Updates to the MacOS, WatchOS and TVOS are also expected, but nothing is known about these, perhaps, fortunately leaving something to the actual event. The MacBooks themselves may see a hardware refresh.