Dan Moren

In a shocking twist of events, Apple plans to hold a keynote to kick off the company's annual Worldwide Developers Conference. The event will take place on Monday, June 11, at 10 a.m. Pacific/1 p.m. Eastern.

While the company hasn't announced precisely who will be headlining said keynote, the smart money is on a tag team approach from Apple's brass. Possible appearances may include CEO Tim Cook, senior vice president of marketing Phil Schiller, senior vice president of iOS software Scott Forstall, and vice president of Mac software Craig Federighi.

That Apple is working on a substantial update to its Maps app seems a foregone conclusion at this point. But aside from the occasional vague rumor, any features that might be contained in such an update have remained shrouded in shadow.

Maps is clearly an important part of iOS, but Apple's let it languish even as other parties -- like Android -- have leapt ahead. If iOS 6 does indeed bring a new version of Maps, there are some features that might help it catch up to, and overtake, the competition.

Flashback, a Mac Trojan horse that's been in the public eye since it was uncovered by security firm Intego last year, has a new trick up its sleeve: It can now infect your computer from little more than a visit to a website.

Originally, Flashback masqueraded as an installer for Adobe's Flash Player--hence the name--but the malware has changed tacks at last once since then, instead pretending to be a Mac software update or a Java updater.

Flashback, a Mac Trojan horse that’s been in the public eye since it was uncovered by security firm Intego last year, has a new trick up its sleeve: It can now infect your computer from little more than a visit to a website.

Originally, Flashback masqueraded as an installer for Adobe’s Flash Player—hence the name—but the malware has changed tacks at last once since then, instead pretending to be a Mac software update or a Java updater.

In the first findings of its investigations into labor practices, the Fair Labor Association said it found "significant issues" at three factories in China. At the same time, in a report released Thursday, the organization said it also secured "groundbreaking commitments" to reduce the hours workers put in and better the health and safety conditions for employees.

During its more than 3000-staff-hour investigation, which included a survey of more than 35,000 Foxconn employees, the FLA uncovered a number of problems. Among them were frequent examples of overtime exceeding the Chinese government's legal limits. In addition, accidents-many of which went unreported-foster a concern for health and safety at the facilities, according to the FLA. Compensation was also an area of worry in the report, both for overtime as well simply meeting the basic standard of living.

In a welcome move, Apple's iOS 5.1 update included, among other features, the return of Genius Mixes and Genius Playlist for subscribers to iTunes Match. At least, in theory. Initially, we--and many others, if Apple's support discussions are any indication--found that the Genius features either didn't work or didn't even appear on our iOS devices after installing the 5.1 upgrade.

The Genius icon vanished for iTunes Match customers. But with iOS 5.1 -- and possibly a little elbow grease -- you can now get it back.

Genius, which builds a playlist full of songs that you are likely in the mood to hear based on the initial song you select, and Genius Mixes, which algorithmically assemble mixes of your music based on Apple-identified commonalities, would at first glance seem to be perfect companions to Apple's $25-per-year service for storing your music in iCloud. But, when iTunes Match first launched, customers discovered that enabling it on their iOS devices caused the two Genius options to vanish.

iOS 5.1, released this past Wednesday, brought a few additional features, but you might have missed a subtle new one if you're not a heavy user of the Reminders app introduced in iOS 5: Your device will now alert you if you've got a currently active geofence.

A geofence is a perimeter that triggers an alert when you pass through it. In the most common example, you set a reminder to do something when you leave or arrive at a location.

Consumers trying to decide between Verizon and AT&T on their new 4G-enabled iPad have an additional consideration to take into account: Only one of those companies will be offering Apple's Personal Hotspot feature at launch. That capability allows users to share the fast 4G connection on their iPads with other devices, such as a laptop or smartphone, via Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, or USB.

As first reported by The Verge, the Verizon iPad will offer the Personal Hotspot feature that Apple touted at its iPad unveiling this week, while AT&T will not.

Apple is holding a press event in San Francisco on Wednesday, March 7, and Macworld will be on hand with live coverage of whatever the company announces. Join us at 1 p.m. ET/10 a.m. PT for our blow-by-blow account of Apple’s latest unveiling.

The company is being typically cagey about what’s on the agenda for Wednesday: The invitation announcing the event only shows a hand hovering over an iPad and promises “something you really have to see. And touch.” That’s fueled speculation that Apple is planning to revamp its tablet. While we wait for Apple executives to take the stage Wednesday, we take a look at possible changes for a new iPad, including whether Apple will embrace 1080 video on the iPad 3 and Apple TV. Speaking of the Apple TV, we consider the possibility that it’s in line for an update as well.

Clearly, iOS is a massive, continuing success. But a couple recent headlines got us thinking about improvements Apple could make to the overall iOS experience: Path was publicly harangued after it was discovered that its app uploaded the entirety of users' address books to Path's servers. Developer Anton Sinelnikov's apps were pulled from the App Store--not just for being ripoffs of other apps, but for being terrible ones, at that.

Those stories and others got us thinking: With just a few small changes, Apple could make iOS and the App Store markedly better.

These days there are plenty of households with more than one Mac, plus any number of iOS devices. But maybe you'd like to have access to all the media you store on your Mac on your iOS device or on one of the other Macs in your home. You could sign up for iTunes Match, but if you don't want to pay the $25-per-year fee and you're only interested in streaming over your local network, maybe iTunes Home Sharing is all you need. Here's how to set it up.

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Assuming apocalyptic doomsday predictions from South America don't come to fruition, 2012 is poised to be a different kind of year for Apple. In 2011, the company rolled out significant updates to most of its products--including two major new operating system versions--and also introduced a new Web platform to glue all of its devices and platforms together. But the company also lost its most significant figure, Steve Jobs, and had a new man officially take the reins of the company.

Given all of that, it would seem that 2012 might have to be a quiet year by comparison. But Apple's not the kind of company to stand still. So what might it have in store for the year to come?