Apple WWDC Kicks Off June 7Apple WWDC Kicks Off June 7

Apple on Wednesday announced the dates for its annual Worldwide Developers Conference, which will spotlight the next-generation iPhone operating system.

The computer maker will hold the WWDC June 7-11 at the Moscone West conference center in San Francisco. Technologies that will be center stage during the five-day event include iPhone OS 4, which Apple introduced this month.

While Apple has not said whether it will make any hardware announcements, industry observers expect the company to unveil a new version of the iPhone. Apple has used the WWDC to kick-off the latest model of the smartphone for the last two years.

However, this year would be different in that the announcement would be overshadowed by tech blog Gizmodo's publication this month of pictures and video of the innards of new iPhone. The site, owned by Gawker Media, paid $5,000 to a person who found the device in a Silicon Valley bar. An Apple employee had mistakenly left the smartphone in the bar.

Even though Gizmodo returned the iPhone at Apple's request, the San Mateo County, Calif., district attorney's office is deciding whether charges should be filed.

The WWDC will offer sessions across five technology tracks: application frameworks, Internet and Web, graphics and media, developer tools, and the core OS. The latter will include discussions on network apps for iPhone OS, creating secure apps, and I/O kit device drivers for Mac OS X, Apple said.

Among the technologies highlighted in the Internet and Web track will be HTML 5, which Apple is pushing as a better alternative for multimedia developers than Adobe Flash. Apple chief executive Steve Jobs has refused to support Flash in the iPhone and iPad, saying Flash is too "buggy." In its defense, Adobe has accused Apple of inhibiting innovation by building closed platforms.

Finally, Apple at the WWDC will announced five iPad and five iPhone Apple Design Award winners. Winners are selected from products on Apple's App Store. Criteria include design, technical excellence, innovation, quality, technology adoption, and performance.