March iOS predictions

Everyone else is doing it, so I figured I could play “bingo” as well.

My predictions begin with “one more thing” on the iPad event: iOS 6 and AppleTV are tightly linked. Developers will get access to iOS 6 betas within two weeks from the announcement, with another event where they go through all the cool stuff. But the AppleTV will be updated with an A5X processor and third party applications installed via the AppStore, and will sport Siri and iCloud integration in a way that makes it easier to use than ever.

The iPad 3 will be announced with an A6 processor, which has enough RAM to power the retina display. The A6 will be more or less identical to the Tegra 3. The iPad will ship with iOS 5.1, and will, together with the iPhone, get iOS 6.1 support this summer, iOS 6.0 will be AppleTV only. The iPad will of course get Siri support.

The main newcomer on the software platform will be Microsoft, shipping a full Office line (excluding MS Access) for iOS, multiplatform for iPhone and iPad, and with a tight AppleTV integration for presentation. The presentation will also focus on Microsoft and Apple having a great relation through iCloud.

iCloud will begin acting like more Dropbox in that it will let you share documents better between iOS apps and Mac apps, bringing iWork and iLife on the mac better integration with their iOS counterparts. This increases need for space, but the iCloud free space will rise. The iLife and iWork updates won’t be mentioned, but will come as a software update quietly a day or two after the show.