Is this a leaked photograph of the new iOS 5 home screen complete with a swanky new notification bar and a revamped camera icon, or simply the work of a talented Photoshopper?

I’ve been asking for four years who would be first to ship the future of computing, a real desktop tablet: Apple, Microsoft or Google?

The WIMP (windows, icons, menus and pointing devices) interface you’re using right now was invented during the Nixon administration. It’s old.

With the incredible success of the iPad, the world is definitely ready for the next evolutionary leap into the future, which will of course be desktop touch tablets. Google and Microsoft have already revealed how they’ll make their transitions. Yet Apple has revealed nothing. Will tomorrow be the day?

Check out these thoughtful mockups of iOS 5, the next version of the iPhone and iPad OS, which Steve Jobs is due to preview at WWDC on Monday morning.

They were created by Federico Bianco, a graphic designer from Rome, Italy. It’s a “wishlist” of all the things he wants to see in iOS 5, and includes some interesting ideas about notifications, widgets, Home Screen organization and bringing iPhoto to iOS.

Check it out:

In an unprecedented move, last Tuesday Apple outlined what they would be announcing at next week’s WWDC keynote. This, in combination with plenty of plausible rumors floating round the blogosphere, leaves little left to speculate about. But I’m going to have a go anyway. I think the main theme for iOS5 will be independence from iTunes and the Mac/PC, and the big surprise for iCloud will be Facebook-style apps.

Read on after the break.

Apple has already revealed that Steve Jobs will talk about iCloud, iOS 5 and OS X Lion during his WWDC keynote on Monday morning.

In addition, it’s rumored that Apple’s wireless Time Capsule backup/router will get a big update.

Here’s how iCloud and the new Time Capsule will work, according to a source close to the company who asked not be identified. It’s pretty surprising:

With notifications rumored to be a big part of iOS 5, Peter Hajas, the developer behind MobileNotifier for jailbroken iDevices, has reportedly been hired by Apple.

Following reports that Apple will refresh the Time Capsule line-up at next week’s WWDC, possibly to enable background caching of software updates, comes new word about what to expect: the new Time Capsules will run on iOS and come with embedded A4 or A5 CPUS.

With another WWDC looming on the horizon and Apple taking the unusual step of pre-announcing things like Lion, iOS 5 and iCloud, speculation turns towards what we haven’t been told. At many Apple events the most exciting announcement is often that feigned afterthought… just One More Thing.

This year, the One More Thing is rumored to be the iPhone 4S, despite the fact that Apple has set the expectation that WWDC will be all about software, not hardware.

We’re skeptical, but to keep you busy speculating over the weekend, we’ve updated Cult of Mac’s “Just One More Thing” interactive timeline to relive the excitement of the last thirteen years of Apple annoucements.

Evidence is mounting that when iOS 5 debuts at WWDC next week, it’ll feature some deep integration with microblogging service Twitter. Not only has Twitter launched a new photo sharing service just days before Apple is expected to unveil the ability to share photos via Twitter in iOS, but now blogger and tech evangelist Robert Scoble is saying that “next week will be a huge week for those of us who have lived on Twitter for the last few years.”

Interested in getting a closer look at Apple’s new iCloud logo, as spied behind the closed doors at the Moscone Center in preparation for Monday’s WWDC kick-off?. Check out this version of the logo mocked up by letemsvetemapplem.