Apple Expected to Unveil Newest Version of iPhone Today at Worldwide Developers Conference

Rumors abound that Steve Jobs may have something else up his sleeve and plans to astound the crowd with an even bigger announcement.

Apple’s annual Worldwide Developers Conference (“The center of the app universe”) kicks off today, with everybody expecting Steve Jobs to use his keynote address to debut the next-generation iPhone. If the infamous pictures and review of an alleged prototype published recently by Gizmodo and other tech blogs were accurate, here are some of the improvements we can expect from the latest iPhone:

• Smoother, flatter case
• Bigger battery
• Higher-resolution screen display (640x960) -- that’s way better than the current model (320x48) and better even than the 480x640 screens used by many Android-equipped devices
• Dual cameras, including a front-facing camera (presumably for video conferencing and chatting -- finally!)
• An upgrade to a version of the A4 processor used in the iPad

What else might the new iPhone offer? The Internet is rife with speculation. iPhone Hacks says that the iPhone will have “improved e-book reading qualities,” such as “In-Plane Switching technology” similar to that used in the iPad, and “Fringe-Field Switching technology” that will “improve the visual quality of the display under sunlight as well as offer a much wider viewing angle.” The site also claims the new iPhone will sport 512MB of RAM.

This site says that the new iPhone OS may finally allow for multitasking. It also says other upgrades to watch for may include video calling and direct printing support; a new, less cluttered home screen; better notifications management; and easier podcast management.

It’s not all about the iPhone

Although the tech media and blogosphere are all a-twitter (literally — go to Twitter and search for #wwdc or #iphone), there may also be several big non-iPhone announcements at this year’s WWDC. This article says that with Apple’s purchase of LaLa earlier this year, many are speculating that we may soon see an “in the cloud” version of iTunes. PC World, in its “10 Things to Watch for at the WWDC,” says to watch for news about a new version of the Safari web browser. The site AppleTell says that rumors that the iPod Touch will be getting a 2-megapixel camera refuse to go away.

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What features are you hoping the new iPhone will offer?

Of all the rumors you’ve heard, which will be most disappointing if it doesn’t turn out to be true?