Jun 6, 2011 14:53 GMT  ·  By

We’re hours away from Apple kicking off the 2011 edition of its Worldwide Developers Conference with a keynote address from CEO Steve Jobs and fellow Apple executives. Refresh this page once every few minutes to see the latest announcements from Apple.

Unlike in previous years, Apple has confirmed many of the announcements it is about to make at this WWDC, starting with a preview of Mac OS X 10.7 Lion - likely the finished product scheduled to ship in the coming weeks.

Next up, Apple said it would be unveiling iOS 5 - the next major version of the company’s mobile operating system powering iPhones, iPod touch players, and iPad tablets alike.

The third, and probably the most anticipated announcement from Jobs & Co. is iCloud - the no-longer-rumored suite of Internet services from Apple, not an adjacent product to the cloud-based MobileMe, but likely a replacement of the .Mac successor altogether.

In addition to these major new updates, WWDC will feature more than 100 technical sessions presented by Apple engineers where Mac developers will learn how to develop world-class Lion applications using the latest technologies, while mobile developers will be able to explore the latest innovations and capabilities of iOS.

Many have speculated that Apple will be staying true to its annual iPhone refresh cycle, but it appears WWDC 2011 will break that cycle with a software-only conference this time around.

Instead, Apple is now widely believed to plan the launch of a new iPhone in a few months, in the fall timeframe. Still, it’s not too unlikely to see new hardware launched today.

Apple pundits and a handful of Apple-centric bloggers recently dug up evidence that Apple will cater to iCloud’s offerings with new versions of their storage solutions - AirPort and Time Capsule.

The revamped wireless base stations are said to be coming with a special iOS on board allowing them to seamlessly handle tasks that are specific to iCloud customers.

Other potential announcements include iWork 11, new Macintosh models boasting Thunderbolt I/O and Sandy Bridge CPUs, a discontinuation of the classic iPod (tough such an announcement would most likely come at an iPod event), a cloud syncing solution for application data across iOS devices and many others.

As usual, all will be revealed in good time - precisely two hours as of this writing.

Below, we will providing timely updates of Apple’s every major announcement. Don’t forget to refresh from time to time to get the latest update.

Update #1

Ouside Moscone West. People standing in line to see Steve Jobs unveil iCloud, hopefully the final version of Lion and iOS 5.

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Inside Moscone West - iOS 5 and iCloud banners.

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Media is getting seated and asked to turn off their cell phones. The show is about to begin!

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Update #2

Steve Jobs is on stage: "We've got an awesome morning together, this morning. Thank you for coming so much."

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Steve is preparing to invite fellow executives on stage one by one to showcase all of Apple's new products starting today.

Phil Schiller now on stage, demoing Mac OS X 10.7 Lion.

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In addition to all the stuff we already know about Lion - Gestures, Launchpad, Mission Control, Resume, Auto Save - the App Store is now built-in, and Apple is adding in-app purchases, push notifications, as well as a built-in sandboxing mode to enhance security.

Schiller confirms the OS has a Windows Migration assistant, FileVault 2, built-in FaceTime, and Lion Server add-on.

Lion will only be available in the Mac App Store and, according to Schiller, it will be "the easiest upgrade ever."

Upgrade price - $29.99.

Available in July.

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Update #3

iOS 5 is up with Scot Forstall, SVP of iPhone (iOS) Software.

"iOS 5 is a major release. This is incredible for our developers and our customers."

Over 1,500 new APIs, several new features.

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Notifications

"We have built something that solves some of the current problems [with notifications]."

Notification Center will aggregate all notifications and can be accessed by swiping down from the top.

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To clear notifications, users just tap on a small X button to the right.

Newsstand

"Recently we added subscriptions, which makes it easier to get all the new issues without missing anything," says Forstall.

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"When you purchase them they're automatically downloaded and placed on the Newsstand."

Twitter

"We want to make it even easier for all our customers to use Twitter on all their iOS products," says Apple's SVP of iOS.

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Full integration: Sign-on once; Settings pane; credentials are saved and can be shared with any app that also integrates with Twitter.

Built in apps that are natively integrated with Twitter include Camera and Photos.

Safari

"Safari is the best mobile web browser out there. It's also the most popular," says Forstall.

iOS 5 brings with it Safari Reader - a new function for distraction-free reading, just like in the Lion version; Reading List - offline reading; Tabbed browsing.

Reminders

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Store lists of things to be done; assign a reminder to any date; assign a location.

Camera

There is now a Camera button even when the screen is locked, to take quick stills.

Users will be able to take a new photo without entering a passcode (if set) while the existing photos are protected. Apple also added the ability to take photos using the volume buttons.

Users will also be able to pinch-to-zoom and tap and hold to set exposure settings.

Mail

The app is now capable of rich-text formatting, indentation control, draggable addresses, flagging, and the ability to search the contents of messages is also added. Security is also enhanced, according to Scott Forstall.

It also has a built in dictionary, and a new keyboard.

PC Free

As Forstall puts it, Apple is "cutting the wires". No more cables to sync. Crowd goes wild over this announcement!

OTA (over the air) software updates.

Game Center

Game Center becomes more social - see frends' scores, get friend recommendations and game recommendations.

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iOS 5 adds the ability to buy games directly from Game Center.

iMessage

Forstall: "I believe we have the best messaging client on the iPhone. It works tremendously well to send text messages and photos and our customers love it -- our iPhone users. But what about our iPad users, and our iPod touch users?"

No matter what iDevice you use, you'll now be able to text message between them.

Users will be able to do text messages, and even group messaging, as well as add photos, videos, and contacts.

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And these are just a few of the 200+ features coming in iOS 5, according to Apple.

Developers get a preview of iOS 5 today. Ships to customers this fall. Support starts with iPhone 3GS and the third generation iPod touch.

Update #4

Steve is back on stage.

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"I'm going to talk about iCloud," says Jobs. "We've been working on this for some time now, and I'm really excited about it."

Talking about everyone's personal devices... "They now all have photos, they now all have video."

"Keeping these devices in sync is driving us crazy."

"We've got a great solution to this problem... We're going to demote the PC and the Mac to just be a device."

"We're going to move the digital hub, the center of your digital life, into the cloud."

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"iCloud stores your content in the cloud and wirelessly pushes it to all your device. It automatically uploads it, stores it, and pushes it to all your devices."

"Everything happens automatically and there's nothing new to learn," says Steve Jobs.

The MobileMe applications have been re-written for iCloud. Other features include: calendar sharing,

"As of today [MobileMe] ceases to exist," Steve confirms.

iCloud will be free, and will also include these additional features: Documents in the Cloud; Photo Stream; iTunes in the Cloud.

Steve ends with a nice view of the company's third data center that backs up iCloud.

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"It's a large place and it's full of stuff. Full of expensive stuff. We are ready, we think, for customers to start using iCloud and we can't wait to get it in their hands."

The lights are back on, and the show is a wrap.

Join us soon for a closer look at all this new and exciting stuff from Apple.

Image credits: Engadget