Apple on Monday announced details of its annual Worldwide Developers Conference, running June 11 to June 15, at San Francisco's Moscone West convention center.

The five-day conference invites developers to learn more about the future of iOS and OS X so they can build the next generation of apps. Apple engineers will present more than 100 technical sessions, including developing, deploying and integrating the latest iOS and OS X technologies. The event will feature the Apple Design Awards, which showcases outstanding apps from the past year.

"We have a great WWDC planned this year and can't wait to share the latest news about iOS and OS X Mountain Lion with developers," said Philip Schiller, Apple's senior vice president of Worldwide Marketing. "The iOS platform has created an entirely new industry with fantastic opportunities for developers across the country and around the world."

Hand Over Fist

Schiller isn't just blowing smoke. In Apple's fourth quarter conference call, Apple CEO Tim Cook offered up total payment figures to developers for the three-month period: $700 million. Payments to developers to date total $4 billion.

We caught up with Rob Enderle, principal analyst at the Enderle Group, to discuss the possibilities around the 2012 WWDC. He told us he believes Google missed the meeting about helping developers make money in mobile.

"Apple has done a nice job of making sure the most successful developers earn a decent living developing Apple products," Enderle said. "One of the shining stars for Apple's mobile platform is that they did the developer side right."

Apple is offering 100 hands-on labs staffed by more than 1,000 Apple engineers providing developers with code-level assistance, insight into optimal development techniques and guidance on how they can make the most of iOS and OS X technologies in their apps. Apple is even inviting developers to bring their code to the labs and work with Apple engineers, applying development techniques and best practices.

The All-Important Keynote

Apple also confirmed the conference's keynote speech will take place at 10 a.m. PDT June 11. The WWDC keynote often has been used as an event to introduce new Apple products. Last year, it was iCloud, and the year before that it was the iPhone 4.

The company is rumored to be upgrading its line of MacBook Pros, including a Retina Display like those in the iPhone and iPad. Or the keynote subject could be the long-rumored Apple TV.

"The expectation is that the new Apple TV may be a developer's platform," Enderle said. "A lot of the smart TVs are going the way of a platform. If that's the case with the Apple TV then you would expect that it would be the ideal place for them to talk a little bit about the Apple TV technology to get developers excited about it."

x

More in Apple iPad Info:

Apple Dominates Global Tablet Market in Q1... Read More >