Steve Jobs, who has been on medical leave since January, triumphantly walked out to a standing ovation at this year’s Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC). Taking place in San Francisco, the gaunt and seemingly frail Apple CEO managed to address the thousands of developers in attendance by revealing major developments in Apple software that will be coming soon to consumers throughout the world.

The latest Mac Operating System, called Lion, will add 250 new improvements – such as multi-touch gestures for controlling applications. As the eighth major release of Mac OS, Apple has taken a step in a different direction by making the new release emulate the mobile iOS platform. Jobs has stated in the past that the PC-era will soon pass by, and with over 50 million Mac users across the globe his vision is coming into fruition. The software update will be on sale next month exclusively in the Mac App Store, and unlike previous Mac updates that usually cost $129.99, the 4GB Lion update can be downloaded for a mere $29.

Read more about Lion in Apple’s Official Press Release.

After selling over 200 million iOS devices like the iPad, iPhone, and iPod Touch,
the highly popular mobile Apple iOS software will receive a much-anticipated update in the fall. Over 200 new features will be added including Notification Center, iMessage, Newsstand, and built-in Twitter integration. Users will be sent the new update over-the-air after it was announced that iOS devices will no longer require syncing with a computer to be activated or receive updates.

Read more about iOS 5 here.

iCloud

The headliner of the WWDC was undoubtedly the unveiling of Apple’s iCloud, a free wireless storage and syncing system. Based on the idea of cloud computing, which allows users to store files and applications on the internet instead of on their own devices, the iCloud will help further integrate and synchronize Apple devices in an efficient and simple manner. Using Apple’s servers, new files that a user loads onto their device will be automatically pushed and available in “the cloud” without having to manually sync or transfer anything.

Several features set Apple’s cloud computing service apart from competing cloud systems launched by Amazon and Google. The largest competitive advantage that the iCloud holds is its iTunes integration. As rumored before its release, iTunes will automatically push a user’s purchased song to all other devices running iTunes at no charge. For an additional $25 a year, though, you can access up to 20,000 songs from your entire iTunes library through a new service known as iTunes Match, which scans the iTunes library and matches it to the millions of songs that the company acquired licensing rights to. Users can also upload additional songs that haven’t found a match using the new program. Besides the iTunes integration, iCloud will also integrate with applications, documents, and photos.

Apple iCloud is set to fully launch during the fall, but some features are available right now.

Additional information about the iCloud can be found at Apple’s web site.

Full WWDC keynote below:

Photo via Ology

“Innovation in the Open” or Input/Output? Take your pick. Whichever you chose, yesterday marked the end of 2011’s “Google I/O”, a two-day developer-focused conference that’s taken place every year since 2008. The live conference features comprehensive and highly technical sessions on ongoing developments in the world of Google’s open technologies and applications. Take a look at some of the key highlights of this year’s event; there are several exciting new Google products, applications, and services that will be available soon that could change the industry, as well as important updates that are coming to the Android mobile platform.

Chromebooks: “Ready When You Are”

June 15th, mark that date on your calendar because Google Chromebooks are on the way, with the first two offerings made by Samsung and Acer. The sleek, lightweight netbooks will run Google’s Chrome OS for computers which will exclusively use Google’s cloud computing services. Although the Chromebook may have come a little too late for consumer use with the rise of tablets and other netbooks, Google is “going right after Microsoft’s heart — the corporate IT department.” The initial plan is for Google to target businesses and schools with the Web-based operating system by offering a cheaper and easier alternative to manage than current Windows PCs. Monthly subscriptions will be available from as low as $28/user for businesses and $20/user for schools.

More about the Chromebook from Google’s Official Blog:

“These are not typical notebooks. With a Chromebook you won’t wait minutes for your computer to boot and browser to start. You’ll be reading your email in seconds. Thanks to automatic updates the software on your Chromebook will get faster over time. Your apps, games, photos, music, movies and documents will be accessible wherever you are and you won’t need to worry about losing your computer or forgetting to back up files. Chromebooks will last a day of use on a single charge, so you don’t need to carry a power cord everywhere. And with optional 3G, just like your phone, you’ll have the web when you need it. Chromebooks have many layers of security built in so there is no anti-virus software to buy and maintain. Even more importantly, you won’t spend hours fighting your computer to set it up and keep it up to date.”

The Future of Android

*Ice Cream Sandwich*

At the I/O conference, Google announced the next version of Android, called Ice Cream Sandwich. The name shouldn’t come as a surprise to Android users, as Google has put out each new version in the name of a tasty treat – from the likes of Cupcake and Éclair, to the most current Android versions Gingerbread and Honeycomb.

With Ice Cream Sandwich, however, Google is beginning their transition into standardizing the Android platform across all types of mobile devices (including tablets) in response to the complaints from developers and Android fanboys about the heavy fragmentation that has been a black eye for the Android OS. A post on Google’s Official Blog states, “Our goal with Ice Cream Sandwich is to deliver one operating system that works everywhere, regardless of device. Ice Cream Sandwich will bring everything you love about Honeycomb on your tablet to your phone, including the holographic user interface, more multitasking, the new launcher and richer widgets.” Now developers will be able to create applications for one firmware instead of having to accommodate to separate versions of Android which depended on the device, manufacturer, and telecommunications provider to release compatible updates.

*Important Changes to the Android Market*

Another black eye for Android has been the ease of navigability (or lack thereof) in discovering apps, but Google listened to the complaints and added several updates to the Android Market. Specifically, there are several new lists including a top “Trending” list, “Also Viewed” list, and “Also Installed” list that will make it easier for both customers and app developers alike.

Google also just launched a new app in the Android Market called Movies for Android, which allows users to rent and play movies on phones and tablets for $1.99 per movie.

The Launch of Google Music

Google Music is a new service that will allow you to upload up to 20,000 songs to Google’s cloud for streaming directly to your Android devices and computer. Everything will be kept in sync automatically between all devices that are connected through the service, even offering the ability to access your most recently played music when you’re offline. You can request an invitation to try out Google Music Beta here, and some of the new music service’s features can be seen in the video below:

While I only touched on a handful of the keynotes that were addressed at Google I/O 2011, there are some developments on the way (like the Android@Home project) that will change the game forever, but whatever the future holds for Google, it seems like they know how to have a good time.

Photo by Google.com