Decoding Apple’s WWDC clues

Update 11:10 a.m. PDT: Thanks to News.com readers for pointing out the origins of two of the three icons I pointed out in this blog. Turns out this little game is only fun for those of us who don’t use
Leopard and aren’t developers. I will now return to speculating about the upcoming features based on other, more telling factors, such as local temperature and humidity readings.

In the runup to any major Apple event, there’s no end to the amount of guesswork about what Steve Jobs will pull out of his pocket (or manila envelope, as the case may be).

Click the image above to get a closer look.

With the company’s Worldwide Developers Conference around the corner, our intrepid photographer, James Martin, took a stroll past Moscone West and managed to snap these photos of banners hanging inside before the convention hall heavies came and shooed him away.

(Credit:
James Martin/CNET News.com)

Click the image above to get a closer look.

Photo No. 1
This has two intriguing icons: the green X and the purple sphere. The green X is obviously the iPhone’s new flux capacitor. That, or maybe it’s just there to represent new games taking advantage of the device’s existing accelerometer.

(Credit:
James Martin/CNET News.com)

(Credit:
James Martin/CNET News.com)

Photo No. 3
The mosaic eye, made up of dozens of miniature photos, caught our eye in this photo. Could it indicate a new Flickr-style app?

Click the image above to get a closer look.

Photo No. 2
In this photo, the small purple icon seems to be a pen and ink well–an indication of handwriting recognition perhaps?

What do you think? Do the icons on these signs give us an idea of what’s to come?

Some of these icons are familiar, and some are new. Of the new ones, what new features do you suppose they might represent? Check the pictures out below and let us know what you think in the comments area below. We’ve uploaded them at the best resolution we can. Just click through each one to see a larger version and scan the icons for clues about what’s around the corner.

They depict lots of icons, which would fit with the expectation that at least one announcement will be the launch of the App Store, an online store through which people can buy and download approved third-party application for the
iPhone.

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