iTeam: WWDC 2009

With the web strewn with madness ranging from Robosteve to Rumor Bingo, and with an outset wrought by threats anew and uncertainties a many, the stakes are high at Apple’s WWDC 2009.

The scene yesterday at Moscone West came complete with all the fixins necessary for an old fashioned technological hoedown: free goods, signage of the mass proportion type, lattes, and developers abound. The most notable part of the registration process was the inclusion of an iPhone App that contained an interactive session schedule, Moscone interactive schematics and more. Tasty. The lobby chatter buzzed with all the possibilities (via TGR), as the crowd continued to build throughout the day.

Looking back at last year, the biggest anticipation was the second generation iphone’s 3G functionality and true GPS. Yet I feel many second generation owners would agree that 3G is much less of a feature than it was made out to be in terms of efficiency and effectiveness. Though touting these features made sense, they were concrete and certain. The App Store at its inception harbored too uncertain a future and was more of a side note; in contrast, today’s Moscone is swathed in a collage of Apps store icons that spans the length of the building. Given the massive success of the App Store, it will be interesting to see the hardware / software focal points balance out.

I’m sure there are those in the audience that believe we shall see nary a new phone nor a Robosteve within the walls of Moscone West this morning. Sensationalists? I’m of the opinion that we will see a sizable hardware upgrade this morning for two reasons: one, as an answer to the mounting pressure generated by the Palm Pre release, and the pending Samsung / Nokia Android units on the horizon, two, the iPhone 3G was a hardware patch. With both the hardware and software kinks now worked out by the 3G release and the OS 3.0 Beta, the only direction left to move is forward, and this morning I expect to see Apple do just that.

For those wondering what I’m actually doing all week, my photostream is here

More to come…