Apple to webcast next week's WWDC keynote
The Cupertino, Calif. company has publicly webcast the WWDC keynote on a regular basis, and will again this year, according to a short message on the firm's website.
As has been its habit, Apple will limit the live stream to those using Safari on OS X or iOS, or through its Apple TV box. Windows 10 users running the Edge browser can also view the keynote. (Edge, unlike Chrome on the desktop, supports Apple's HTTP Live Streaming (HLS) protocol, which Apple now uses to webcast its events.)
The conference runs June 13-17 in San Francisco at the Moscone Center, Apple's traditional home for its annual developer extravaganza, but the keynote will take place at the Bill Graham Civic Auditorium, the century-old building where Apple hosted its iPhone 6S introduction last year, and in 1977 debuted the Apple II.
Apple's WWDC keynote -- like the developer congresses hosted earlier this year by rivals Google and Microsoft -- generates a wave of news as bloggers, technology websites and mainstream media report on the carefully staged presentation. The company uses the conference to tout the impending upgrades to iOS and OS X, trumpet new services and make other big announcements.
Last year, for example, Apple used the keynote to roll out its streaming music service.
Apple is expected to put the spotlight on a revamped Apple Music and expand its Siri personal assistant to the Mac. It will also preview a small number of new features in iOS 10 and OS X 10.12, perhaps renaming the desktop operating system as MacOS to better mesh with its labeling of iOS, tvOS and watchOS. Preview builds of both iOS and MacOS will be issued to developers on Monday.
It's possible, but unlikely, that Apple will also unveil hardware refreshes of its Mac line.
CEO Tim Cook and other top executives, including Craig Federighi, who leads operating system development, will share the stage in the tag-team format Apple has honed for years.
The two-hours-or-longer WWDC keynote will start at 10 a.m. PT (1 p.m. ET) on Monday. The webcast will be available from Apple's home page as well as its events site.