All next week, student Kenny Batista will be writing a diary from Apple’s Worldwide Developers Conference in San Jose, California. Kenny won a coveted scholarship, which includes food, lodging, keynote access and meeting Apple CEO Tim Cook. In his first entry, Kenny describes how he won the scholarship.

A few weeks ago, Apple selected me for a WWDC scholarship. I’ll be heading down to the conference this Saturday and staying there the whole week.

I’ll be writing a first-person perspective of the event from the dorms, the scholarship orientation (after which we meet Tim Cook, supposedly), the keynote, the sessions and more.

I got the scholarship by creating a demo in Apple’s Xcode version of Swift Playgrounds and writing a short essay about it. It took me six days — about 30 hours of work after school — but it was worth it!

Here’s how I did it.

Apple’s WWDC event is less than a week a way, where it is expected to release big upgrades to its family of operating systems. The youngest Apple platform, watchOS, got some serious improvements in watchOS 3. With the fourth interaction, Apple is expected to squash some of the biggest problems while breathing life with new features too.

Full details on watchOS 4 still haven’t been revealed, but we’ve got some ideas of our own that we’re really hoping made the cut this year.

This is what we want in watchOS 4:

Apple’s first major event of 2017 is right around the corner. WWDC will deliver our first previews of the next big upgrades to its software platforms, with the possibility of new hardware thrown in for good measure.

But with three months left to wait for the iPhone 8, will the event really be all that exciting? Will Apple’s improvements to iOS and macOS be all that significant? And is anyone actually looking forward to a 10.5-inch iPad Pro?

Join us in this week’s Friday Night Fight as we discuss whether WWDC 2017 will be worth watching.

There are less than two weeks until Apple introduces the next version of macOS at the WWDC. While the rumor mill has been busting out tons of hardware leaks, details have been scant on the software side of things.

Apple is expected to reveal some amazing features for the Mac with the new software update. We still don’t know everything that will be included in macOS 10.13, but of course, we have our own wish list of the features that we really hope make it onto the Mac.

This is what we want to see in Apple’s next big update:

iPhone 8 leaks are dropping thick and fast ahead of its official unveiling this September. We’ve gotten our hands on some exclusive leaked schematics direct from Apple’s factories, plus new case photos that give us an idea of what the tenth anniversary upgrade will look like.

We’ve also put together some awesome 3D prints that give us a feel for the iPhone 8’s larger form factor that is expected to accommodate a new OLED display.

With WWDC 2017 right around the corner, it’s that time of the year when Apple can fix all the annoyances of iOS 10 and unveil something truly revolutionary for the next generation of iPhones and iPads.

Apple is expected to show off all the major features of iOS 11 at the WWDC in a couple of weeks. Surprisingly, the rumor mill has been quiet on what to expect, but that hasn’t stopped a flurry of speculation. We’ve got some ideas of our own too that we really want to see come to iOS 11.

This is what we want in Apple’s next big update:

The internet is furious at Apple Music boss Eddy Cue after the exec was supposedly spotted heckling singer Rihanna last night during Game 1 of the NBA Finals in Oakland, California.

Video of Cue at the game appears to show the Apple VP telling Rihanna to sit down. Rihanna had been doing a bit of heckling herself during the game, yelling at Warriors superstar Kevin Durant. Twitter immediately went in on Cue for going at Rihanna, but most people thought he was just your average court-side rich white guy.

Every iPhone contains multitudes of uses. But it’s only as versatile as the apps you load it up with, and the peripherals you connect it to. We’ve rounded up some great deals on stuff that’ll connect to your iPhone and offer it a whole new set of superpowers. We’ve got a sturdy phone tripod that’s also a case, a remote Wi-Fi camera, a Bluetooth speaker that’s also a dance party light show, and a precision 2-in-1 stylus. Everything is discounted by half off or more. Read on for more details:

WWDC is almost upon us. Ahead of Monday’s keynote event we’re running down everything we’re expecting for the annual developers extravaganza. You can watch the keynote live, and follow coverage here at Cult of Mac.

From software to hardware, here’s what we are predicting for next week:

Microsoft is rolling out a complete top-to-bottom overhaul of Skype in an effort to do battle with the likes of iMessage and Snapchat.

Its revamped service combines familiar Skype features like instant messaging and international calling with third-party service integration, improved group chat, and photo sharing with the ability to add annotations and emoji stickers.

Want to earn money and help out your favorite tech company? According to a new report, Apple has created a Mechanical Turk-style web app that lets people sign up and help improve Apple Maps for money.

People in the program reportedly earn about 54 cents per task (correcting or verifying a placemark in Apple Maps), with a maximum of 600 tasks every seven days. That’s about $324 per week — which is roughly in line with U.S. minimum wage for a full-time job, minus any additional benefits.

A simple to-do list isn’t enough when you’re managing tasks for more than one person, which is why Microsoft gave us Planner.

Its productivity tool makes it easy to organize teamwork among multiple people, and now it’s available on Android and iOS.

Following President Trump’s decision to take the United States out of the Paris climate agreement, Apple CEO Tim Cook shared an email with Apple employees.

Cook, who spoke with Trump ahead of the announcement, said that his efforts to persuade Trump to stay in the agreement had failed. Despite this, Cook noted that it will have no impact on Apple’s environmental initiatives. Check out the letter below.

Banners and other WWDC paraphernalia are going up at San Jose’s McEnery Convention Center, ahead of next week’s 2017 Worldwide Developers Conference.

Images posted online so far show a large banner at the front of the venue, decorations covering one side of the building, and smaller banners hung from nearby light posts. The images show variations on the artwork reportedly created by Los Angeles artist, graphic designer, and movie title sequence creator Geoff McFettridge.

Four months after going on sale online in the U.S., Snapchat Spectacles have finally landed in Europe.

The glasses cost £129.99 in the U.K. and €149.99 elsewhere, and they’re available from popup Snapbot vending machines as well as the Spectacles website.

Because iOS is a variant of macOS, it has a lot in common with the Mac. One of the things that iOS shares with the Mac is the keyboard. Not the on-screen keyboard, but the real, physical, clackety-buttoned keyboard. Thanks to its OS X heritage, the iPad (and iPhone) can use all the same keyboard tricks to manipulate text that Mac users have been enjoying for years.

It even carries some, but not all, of the shortcuts over from the ancient text editor Emacs. What? Don’t worry, it’s not too dorky.

Apple could unveil a new iPad Pro 2 as soon as next Monday during its WWDC 2017 keynote. And if it does, we hope the company adds some new productivity features, like this Smart Keyboard with a trackpad.

In a new mockup that imagines what the new Smart Keyboard could look like, designer David Chapman shows why it would be a great idea.

Take another look:

Your iPhone is loaded with plenty of mind-numbing games or picturing editing apps that let you superimpose unicorn horns on your selfies.

You need to make room for a few unsung task managers. Adobe today launched one to help us sort through one of life’s least pleasant realities – paperwork.

Apple today teased a big Swift Playgrounds update that allows students to control real-world devices.

Using Swift, the company’s open-source coding language, users can take control of robots, drones and musical instruments — all via an iPad.

As Apple’s longest-running annual keynote event, it’s no surprise that WWDC has played host to some absolutely enormous announcements over the years.

From strategies that changed the company’s course to the debut of astonishing new products, here are our picks for the most important ones. Check out the list below.

Twelve South’s popular BookArc stand is now available in Space Gray, making it the ideal desktop companion for your new MacBook. It costs exactly the same as the original silver model, and it’s compatible with almost every Apple notebook.

Google has no plans to move out of London following Brexit. In fact, the search giant is building a brand new headquarters in Kings Cross that’s going to cost well over $1 billion.

It’s no Spaceship campus, but under renders suggest it will be incredibly ostentatious, with its own swimming pool, basketball court, running track, and more.

As much as our computers help us get work done, they’re just as good for keeping us distracted. For every minute of work, there’s a minute of cat GIFs to binge on, games to be played, feeds to be perused. Pagico keeps your eye on your work by making it a lot more engaging and intuitive. Their app offers a one-stop for turning your tasks, notes, and projects into beautiful interactive flowcharts that defy distraction. The latest version will keep you on task when diversions arise, and will help to make work minutes even more productive. And right now, you can get Pagico 8.7 for just $19.99 at Cult of Mac Deals.

Wonder Woman is the DC Extended Universe’s best-received movie so far by a long shot, and to celebrate, Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment has added a bunch of new Wonder Woman-themed content to its DC Legends game for iOS.

An update worthy of Zeus’ daughter, for sure!

Developers have now earned over $70 billion from the App Store since it opened its doors in 2008. Apple says downloads have grown over 70 percent in the last year alone, thanks in part to “breakout hits” like Pokémon GO and Super Mario Run.