Apple is on the hunt for two senior software engineers that will join its iLife development team to “re-imagine how user interfaces should be built and work.” Both positions, which were posted to the vacancies page of Apple’s website, are based at the company’s Cupertino headquarters, and indicate Apple is working to overhaul the iLife software suite, which consists of GarageBand, iMovie, and iPhoto.

When Apple holds a press event to announce its latest gadget, the vast majority of us are frantically refreshing our favorite websites in an effort to keep up with the news as it’s breaking. It’s not often we get to watch the event live.

But sometimes, Apple treats us to a live video feed. And it’s doing that today for the much-anticipated iPad mini event.

httpvhd://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h5iZyN7Ir3Q

Last week’s Back to the Mac event ran pretty long even for an Apple gig, but at the end of the day, it turns out it’s pretty easy to compress into just a couple of minutes of signal. Or, at least, a couple minutes of adjectival hyperbole.

So now we know that OS X 10.7 Lion will be released next summer, and that many of its features will be based on the loop of feedback Steve Jobs described: the Mac influenced the iPhone, which influenced the iPad, which is now influencing the Mac once more.

Or to put it another way: expect lots of iOS-style controls, widgets and designs in Lion.

If you looked closely at the demos in yesterday’s presentation, you might have noticed one or two little details that offer hints of what’s to come.

This bit from yesterday’s event made me laugh out loud.

This was about 30 minutes in, and Randy Ubillos was showing us the new iMovie ’11 and its built-in trailers. Impressive movie soundtrack music blared out.

Randy turned to the crowd and said: “For the music, we went to London, to Abbey Road studios, and made original recordings with the London Symphony Orchestra.”

He dropped that in so casually, but just think about it for a moment.

For the sound effects used in one feature, in one application that lives inside a larger suite of media apps, Apple hired an orchestra, a conductor, a composer, Abbey Road studios, and all the paraphernalia that must have come with them. Caterers, hotels, management, hangers-on, producers, heaven knows who and what else.

That’s what you do when you have $50bn in the bank.