Apple today announced that Steve Jobs, Apple’s CEO, will kick off its Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) with a keynote address beginning at 10:00 a.m. on Monday, June 11, 2007 at San Francisco’s Moscone West. At WWDC, Apple plans to show developers a feature complete version of Mac OS X Leopard and give them a beta copy to take home for final testing. Leopard is scheduled to ship in October.

The announcement is likely to lead to rampant speculation about what Jobs plans to discuss. Given the timing, Jobs is sure to give an update on the iPhone. The biggest question, though, is whether Jobs will offer any real news about the Mac platform. Jobs left some Mac fans unsatisfied earlier this year, when his MacWorld keynote didn’t offer any Mac news.

The five-day event, scheduled to run from June 11 to June 15, will offer more than 150 sessions and labs aimed at getting the most out of Leopard. The conference will also include new content to serve a wide range of developers, including:

• Mac OS X Immersion Monday, designed to quickly get developers who are new to the Mac up to speed;
• a content and media track that shows developers the best ways to integrate animation, motion graphics, video, rich-media and web-based content into their applications; and
• hands-on labs that offer a unique opportunity to work directly with Apple engineers.

Other activities at Apple’s WWDC 2007 include:

• presentations from Apple engineers who will provide an in-depth look at Leopard, from its open source foundation to new technologies and innovations like Xcode 3.0, Dashcode, Core Animation, Time Machine, iChat Theater and more;
• practical hands-on sessions where attendees can learn Apple‚Äôs own coding strategies and techniques for creating Cocoa bindings, building Automator actions and integrating iCal events into an application;
• technology labs where attendees can work one-on-one with Apple engineers on topics such as Cocoa, Open GL and AJAX; and
• special events, including the Apple Design Awards and Stump the Experts.

Cost & Registration

The five-day conference costs $1,595 (US) per attendee, with a $300 (US) Early Registration Discount that has been extended through May 11. Visit Apple’s WWDC website for registration and complete session details.