Apple's 2012 Worldwide Developers Conference kicks off Monday, and there'll be a keynote at 10 am (Pacific). I'm expecting a big ol' gang of Apple execs to be on hand for the party. So what will they be celebrating?

"9to5Mac" (http://www.9to5Mac.com) says that, in a first, Apple will update four of their five Mac lines. They're probably right. I think we'll see refreshes of the iMac, MacBook Pro, MacBook Air and, yes, the Mac Pro. (Sorry, Mac mini, you'll have to wait).

Per my crystal ball, the iMac, MacBook Pro lines and MacBook Air will all get Retina displays. There have been reports that the 13-inch MacBook Pro won't get a Retina Display. I'm going out on a limb here and taking it one step further: I think both the 13-inch and the 17-inch MacBook Pro models will vanish. My guess: Apple's laptop line will include 11-inch and 13-inch MacBook Airs and 15-inch MacBook Pros in a variety of...

Remember not-so-long-ago when Apple was the "doomed" tech company with a shrinking share of the computer market. Dependent on the Mac, the company was soon to be extinct, according to many pundits.

How the worm has turned. Microsoft still rules the personal computer world with Windows, but Apple is the dominant force in the smartphone and tablet worlds.

The lost enthusiasm for developing smartphone apps is being replaced by a new passion for tablets, according to the Strategy Analytics research group (http://www.strategyanalytics.com). The percentage of developers primarily supporting tablets is growing from 13% last year to 36% next year.

According to the Strategy Analytics report, “App Developer Survey: Developer Attitudes - 1H2012,” when Windows 8 and BlackBerry 10 are released, both
Microsoft and Research in Motion will seek to take advantage of the battleground...

Since Apple has approximately 10 bazillion bucks in the bank, much of it allotted for strategic acquisitions, one company it MIGHT (I'll explain in a moment) make sense for Apple to purchase is Lytro (http:/www.lytro.com). The company has developed a new digital camera technology using sophisticated software algorithms and a special lens that literally allow you to choose the focused point in a picture, after it's already taken.

In Walter Isaacson's authorized biography of Steve Jobs, the Apple co-founder was quoted as saying that his desires for the future involved the reinvention of three industries: television, textbooks, and photography. The Apple TV and the rumored 'iTV" cover the former. iBooks and iBooks Author tackle the second. But what of the third industry: photography? Jobs purportedly did met with the CEO of Lytro, though we may never know why.

Last week, "iLounge" released its "New iPad Buyers' Guide." In the announcement (...

The late Steve Jobs is listed as one of the inventors of a patent (number 8196043) for an user interface for presenting media information that's appeared at the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office.

The invention relates to user interfaces for processing (e.g., generating, storing, transmitting and/or receiving, playing back/displaying, editing, referencing, etc.) media information, such as time-based media data representing video and/or audio. In particular, the present invention provides an interactive digital processing system-controlled graphical user interface that provides functionality for play back or other processing of time-based and still media data.

Here's Apple's background and summary of the invention: "In one exemplary method, a graphical representation of a time line for a time-based media is displayed along with a graphical representation of a current time along the graphical representation of the time line. A start graphical indicator and a stop...

An Apple patent (number 8194099) for techniques for displaying digital images on a display has appeared at the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office.

Per the patent, a set of items from a sequence of items is displayed. The sequence of items includes one or more undisplayed items that do not belong to the set of items. The set of items are displayed, in an arrangement that includes a plurality of lines, in an order that corresponds to the sequence.

In response to user input that selects a particular item from the set of items, it is determined whether the number of lines, in the plurality of lines, that precede the line containing the particular item is less than a first predetermined threshold. If that is the case, a line of undisplayed items that precede the set of items is displayed, while a line of displayed items that follow the particular item is ceased to be displayed.

Here's Apple's background on the invention: "Digital photographers may use a software...

An Apple patent (number 8195768) for remote slide presentation has appeared at the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office. Techniques for remotely viewing a presentation are disclosed.

In accordance with these techniques, a host device executing a presentation application makes a presentation available over a network. In one embodiment, a remote device receives presentation data corresponding to a currently displayed slide of the presentation. The remote device may then display a representation of the currently displayed slide at the remote location.

Here's Apple's background and summary on the invention: "The present disclosure generally relates to techniques for making a presentation available for remote viewing. For example, the presentation may be made available via a conventional web browser or other application capable of accessing the presentation contents over a network. In one embodiment, a presentation application on a network may include a web server.

Apparently, consumers worldwide understand that you get what you pay for. Despite a series of low-cost media tablet launches in the second half of 2011, Apple’s iPad has managed to maintain its premier position in the Indian market with 51% market share in 2011.

Samsung’s achievement at extending its success in the handset segment to the tablet segment, with its Galaxy Tab, allowed Samsung to occupy the second spot with 24% market share. Indian consumers also showed a strong penchant for RIM’s BlackBerry PlayBook after prices were slashed significantly, making it the third largest player with a 10.4% market share.

The presence of ultra-low cost media tablets with non-optimal specifications might ruin the user experience and, in turn, prove to be a dampener for media tablet growth. Although there is lot of buzz in the Indian market, media tablets are yet to demonstrate their value proposition to Indian consumers," says ABI Research analyst Aishwarya Singh.

"...

Microsoft Corp. is working on meshing Skype into its large product portfolio after acquiring the Internet calling service for US$8.5 billion, reports "The New York Times" (http://macte.ch/uh024). The goal is to provide "superior Skype experience on products as various as Windows PCs and Xboxes."

It seems likely, then, that Apple could expand iCloud to include VoIP services. But let me explain. Skype and Vonage are pure VoIP plays. Currently, the only voice/video play that Apple has is through iChat and FaceTime. iChat is powered by AOL's AIM service, so it's not actually in Apple's control. FaceTime is a real digital communication service but it's video/audio with no option for just pure audio. Also, you can only use it when you are on a Wi-Fi network. (Speaking of which, whatever happened to Apple's announced plans to make FaceTime an open industry standard?)

The reason I bring up Vonage is because...

The Federal Communications Commission is eyeing a change in its definition of a "multichannel video programming distributor" that may pave the way for an Apple Internet TV service.

According to "ZDNet" reporter Sean Portnoy, MVPDs to date have been limited to companies like Comcast, DirecTV and Verizon, the commission is mulling whether online companies like Hulu or Netflix could fall under that definition.

An MVPD is a service provider delivering video programming services, usually for a subscription fee (pay TV). These operators currently include cable television (CATV) systems, direct-broadcast satellite (DBS) providers, and wireline video providers including Verizon FiOS as well as AT&T U-verse and competitive local exchange carriers (CLECs) using IPTV.

The importance of being an MVPD is that such firms have the right to be able to distribute certain programming that they would otherwise have to negotiate separate contracts for, notes Portnoy. The...

There have been rumors floating around that Wal-Mart and/or Target could start selling Macs soon. Some folks say this would dilute Apple's image, especially in the case of Wal-Mart, whose reputation is mainly for cut-throat low pricing. But if Apple wants to grow the Mac market, Wal-Mart may be the best way to go.

I'm not the biggest fan of Wal-Mart. In my hometown of Huntingdon, Tennessee (population: 5,000), it has put the kibosh on many locally owned, mom-and-pop stores. However, if the residents of my hometown want to buy a Mac they have to drive almost 30 miles to a Best Buy in Jackson, Tennessee. There's no Apple retail store in Jackson -- and there never will be in Huntingdon.

In small towns like mine, it would make sense for Apple to have Wal-Mart carry at least a limited selection of Macs. And there are LOTS of small towns like mine all across the U.S. Most have Wal-Marts; fewer have Target stores; none have Apple retail stores.

In April some Target...

Apple has been granted a patent (number 8188357) by the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office for the graphical user interface and methods of use thereof in a multimedia player. Think iTunes.

In a portable multimedia device, a method, apparatus, and system for providing user supplied configuration data are described. In one embodiment, a hierarchically ordered graphical user interface is provided. A first order, or home, interface provides a highest order of user selectable items each of which, when selected, results in an automatic transition to a lower order user interface associated with the selected item. In one of the described embodiments, the lower order interface includes other user selectable items associated with the previously selected item from the higher order user interface. The inventors are Jeffrey L. Robbin, Steve Jobs, Timothy Wasko, Greg Christie and Imran Chaudhri.

Several other Apple patents also popped up today at the U.S. Patent & Trademark...

An Apple patent (number 8189283) for a disk drive with state-information data buffer has appeared at the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office. A hard-disk drive (HDD) is described.

Per the patent, during operation of the HDD, measured internal temperatures in the HDD may be stored in a first table, and state information specifying operational states of the HDD associated with ranges of internal temperatures may be stored in a second table. Note that a given operational state in the second table may be associated with a corresponding internal temperature in the first table.

What's more, during operation of the HDD, the first table and/or the second table may be stored on: a rotatable medium in the HDD, a semiconductor memory in the HDD, or both. This stored table information may facilitate error detection and diagnosis.

Here's Apple's background on the invention: "During operation, a hard-disk drive (HDD) can generate a significant amount of thermal energy. If...