Apple confirms Schiller will deliver WWDC keynote
Vice President Phil Schiller will be front and center at the June 8 Worldwide Developers Conference. Apple makes no mention of Steve Jobs, whose leave of absence is supposed to expire in "late June."
The Apple World Wide Developers Conference will kick off at 10 a.m. June 8 in San Francisco with Vice President of Marketing Phil Schiller at the podium.
In a press release issued Wednesday morning, Apple stated that Schiller will give the keynote address, but will be part of "a team of executives" who will address the crowd gathered in San Francisco's Moscone Center.
As expected, Apple promises that developers and media in attendance will hear about the company's newest operating systems, iPhone OS 3.0 and Mac OS X Snow Leopard.
There is no mention of the two topics on everyone's mind: new iPhone hardware and Steve Jobs. Jobs had originally said his current leave of absence would expire in "late June," which most likely means after the June 8 event. But there's always a chance he could decide to show up.
As for a new iPhone, that is also a guessing game. Apple has shown off a new iPhone at the two previous June WWDC events. Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster said in a research note Wednesday that he is not holding his breath for a new iPhone announcement at the developer conference.
"Rather, we expect Apple to host a special event in late June or early July to launch a family of iPhones," he said. That scenario is interesting because that could allow for Jobs to do the iPhone introduction honors once he is back on the job, in whatever capacity that will be.
As always, remember to be back here at 10 a.m. on June 8 for our live blog and full coverage of WWDC.