iOS 6

We're about as ready as we'll ever be for WWDC next week, and though the announcement of iOS 6 was actually little more than a safe bet so far, banners at the Moscone Center confirm that Apple will be announcing their next-generation mobile operating system next week. It's being labeled as "the world's most advanced mobile operating system" and comes along with a new fingerprint-styled icon.

Maps are core technology on a smartphone these days. We depend on our phones to make calls and otherwise keep us in contact, and we depend on them to tell us where we are and help us find where were are going. We depend on them. Messing with a successful mapping solution on mobile, in any way, is non-trivial.

As Android Central's Phil Nickinson has often remarked -- maps could well be Google's flagship product. (AdSense/AdWords may be their most important, but nothing else comes close to the sheer user-facing coolness of Maps.) As 9to5Mac's Mark Gurman mentioned after Google's own map event yesterday, Google has devoted years to building out and developing their Maps service.

How will Apple replace all that in iOS 6?

As much as what Apple may or may not do with iOS 6 will dictate the iPhone and iPad user experience for the next year, what Apple does or does not do with the App Store will help determine the continued and future viability of the platform itself.

That's because iOS is only one part of Apple's incredibly successful mobile equation. The App Store -- the development kit, commerce engine, and digital goods that enable apps to be made, sold, and bought -- is another.

And arguably, despite it's unprecedented success, it's in ever greater need of Apple's attention.

If you've been waiting for Siri on the iPad as much as we have, you'll be happy to hear that Apple's voice-activated virtual assistant should make its way to the iPad at the expected iOS 6 announcement at WWDC 2012 this week.

iOS 6 is rumored to include a "do not disturb" switch for Notification Center, iCloud Tabs, and e-mail VIPs.

Sometimes you break out the sledge hammer. Sometimes you knock down the walls and rebuild from scratch. Palm did that. Microsoft did that. RIM is doing that. Other times you pick up a brush and slap a coat of paint on the walls, and the place suddenly looks good as new. (And yes, there's a trompe-l'oeil to skeuomorphism joke in there that I'm going to gingerly avoid.)

As much as we've explored the idea of new iOS Home screen interfaces, and what potential a 4-inch, 16:9 iPhone screen may allow, we've also been hearing for a while now that renovation may not be on the agenda this year. For iOS 6, what we might be getting is more like a coat of really good paint.

But which colors will they use?

Apple may be setting its status to "in a relationship with" Facebook, if new rumors pan out. Apparently iOS 6 will feature Facebook integration similar to what we've seen with Twitter in iOS 5, like being one of the default Share To options, but there's also the possibility that Facebook account integration could enable even easier single sign-on for multiple apps.

What will Apple bring to iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad with iOS 6? What will be the "tentpole" features to take Apple's mobile software into 2013? With WWDC 2012 coming in just over a week, and an iOS 6 beta widely expected to come with it, now's the perfect time to take a look and see what makes sense.

We've already seen some of what is likely coming in iOS 6, including a new version of the Maps app that replaces Google data with Apple data. It wouldn't surprise us in the least if it brings turn-by-turn navigation with it either, by way of Siri...

But what else could Apple bring with iOS 6?