About an hour ago, I pulled out my trusty iPhone 4 and opened the Pulse news app to catch up on any technology news I missed today. I could not believe what I was seeing when the first headline appeared at the top: Apple pre-announced Mac OS X Lion, iOS 5, and iCloud. The first thought that popped into my head was that it just could not be true. I scanned through a few other sources — including Skatter Tech of course — and realized that this extreme oddity was in fact real.

Even if you are new to following Apple news, you probably know the significance of the company even dropping a hint about future product announcements, let alone confirm the rumors about them. I have come to the conclusion that Apple is hiding something from all of us that we will not know about until next week.

It is completely normal for Apple to announce the keynote for WWDC beforehand like in previous years. As expected, it will take place on June 6th at 10:00 a.m. pacific time. The keynote speaker will be none other than Steve Jobs, so I take it he is doing well with his health. On the other hand, Apple never acknowledges any rumors. iCloud and iOS 5 both have had virtually non-stop press coverage for a few months now. Mac OS X Lion features are getting a bit of attention too, but the operating system was already announced back in October.

In addition to confirming all of these upcoming announcements today, Apple also unveiled iWork for iPhone and iPod touch. Previously only available for the iPad, this suite of productivity apps brings all the features from Pages, Keynote, and Numbers for iPad to the significantly smaller devices in the iOS family. Why would a company famous for its unparalleled product secrecy release all this information a week before a keynote presentation?

iPhone 5

The rumor mills stopped turning over the iPhone 5 as soon as Apple scheduled WWDC 2011. It is very likely the media will begin to question its existence again throughout the week. Up until today, I was sure it would be announced in September or October, but Apple obviously has a lot to say at the keynote that we do not know about yet. With the recent debut of Google Wallet, it is almost certain that Apple will bring their own NFC feature to the table as part of iOS 5. Though in order to have NFC in iOS 5, the folks in Cupertino have to unveil the iPhone 5 to support it. This is obviously all pure speculation, but it should at least get the attention it deserves.

The Full Details

The probable scenario for all of this pre-WWDC hype is just to set the stage. As always, Steve Jobs is only limited by time at his keynote presentations. The iPhone 5 might just be over-thinking and instead, Apple just wanted to confirm iOS 5 and iCloud to get them out of the way so Steve can get straight to the details. After all, the juicy information is what really matters. Picture the ulterior motives to the press releases today. “Yes, everything rumored is coming. Now that it is out in the open, stick around to hear why it is such a big deal.”

WWDC 2011 is one, long week away. Make no mistake that developers and technology enthusiasts alike have something huge in store for them.

Links: WWDC Press Release | iWork