Worldwide Developers Conference, Apple's annual event for people who write apps for its platforms, kicks off with a keynote presentation on Monday, June 13. WWDC is a software-focused event aimed at developers, which doesn't exclude possible hardware announcements. Here's everything we think Apple will announce at WWDC and, please, do feel free to post your own observations and predictions in comments. The tenth major release of Apple's mobile operating system should improve upon the feature set introduced in iOS 9 and iOS 8 while continuing to refine its look and feel, which received a major makeover with the release of iOS 7 three years ago. The changes should begin with bringing Siri intelligence to third-party apps and continue with refinements like an iCloud Voicemail feature that should transcribe voicemails, an improved Apple Music with a more intuitive interface, the officially-sanctioned way to hide, or even delete unwanted stock apps, new 3D Touch shortcuts, a person-to-person payments via iMessage, iMessage for Android, a Skitch-like editing feature in Photos and more.

To hold its own against digital assistants from Google, Microsoft and Amazon, Siri needs an IQ boost. Last month, Google took the stage in Mountain View, California, to show off improvements to its digital voice assistant. Its signature ability is to have a conversation with it like you would a normal person. You can ask "Google Assistant" what's on your schedule and then have it text the person you're meeting to say you'll be late. Google remembers your first question, so you don't have to start over with a new command.

Apple is set to unveil a new and improved Siri, the personal digital assistant, and widen its reach, to Mac computers and third-party apps. LOS ANGELES - Once again, Apple wants us to believe that Siri can be ready for prime time finally, with a more chatty, robust personal digital assistant. You know, unlike the one who debuted in 2011 as a novelty, and has been touted every year since as new and improved. At Apple's Worldwide Developer's Conference, which begins Monday, Apple is expected to tout the better Siriand open her up to third-party developers, to make it available to say, apps like Uber and Airbnb for voice-activated booking of cars and overnight stays. But do we believe that Apple is really up for the task, and can succeed, when the company has let us down so many times before?

When Apple launched Siri more than four years ago, it felt revolutionary. If you didn't see it then, go back and watch the video. Listen to the cheering, almost disbelieving reaction from the audience, and notice then-Apple exec Scott Forstall's giggling amazement that this voice control thing actually works. Apple's virtual assistant was the first of its kind. But have you used Siri recently?

Alexa will put up with just about anything. She has a remarkable tolerance for annoying behavior, and she certainly doesn't care if you forget your please and thank yous. But while artificial intelligence technology can blow past such indignities, parents are still irked by their kids' poor manners when interacting with Alexa, the assistant that lives inside the Amazon Echo. "I've found my kids pushing the virtual assistant further than they would push a human," says Avi Greengart, a tech analyst and father of five who lives in Teaneck, New Jersey. "[Alexa] never says'That was rude' or'I'm tired of you asking me the same question over and over again.'"

The Internet of Things (IoT), Artificial Intelligence (AI) and cloud computing are three technologies that are converging to disrupt nearly every industry. IoT refers to a connected network of objects embedded with technology that enables the collection and exchange of data. Cloud computing is the storing and retrieval of data, and accessing application programs via the Internet. Artificial Intelligence is the simulation of human intelligence by machines. We are currently in the midst of the rise of the first wave of this technological convergence.

The idea of talking conversationally to computers has been a long time in the works. Science fiction is so often a self-fulfilling prophecy as it provides a vision for humans to chase after with technological innovation. For those of us who have watched voice-based computer interactions evolve, we have seen it go through many manifestations as it grew up. We now find ourselves in a world where using voice to interface with a computer is commonplace on a regular basis for the masses. While I'm not quite confident we have reached an inflection point, I am confident we are at least on the cusp of one with voice-based user interfaces and the vision of the Hal 9000 (The AI assistant of Arthur C. Clarke's Space Odyssey series) and Jarvis (the voice based AI assistant of Iron Man).

Quoting unnamed sources, the news agency says Amazon's music service will be priced like competitors, at 9.99 monthly, and looks to launch in late summer. Amazon currently has Prime Music, a unit of the 99 yearly Prime entertainment offering, but its music selections are way slimmer than rivals. What Amazon has that competitors don't is a hugely popular home speaker, Echo, which is used to control the smart home, answer queries, order products and play online music from Amazon's small selection, and via Spotify. Google is launching a similar speaker product later in the year, Google Home. Spotify is the market leader in subscription music, with 30 million subscribers, to 13 million for Apple Music, which launched in June, 2015.

Ari Roisman, CEO and cofounder of Glide, a video-messaging app that hopes to capitalize on the coming transition away from texting and towards a voice-and-video interaction future. SAN FRANCISCO - Typing is so ... 20th century. And soon texting is likely to join it in that same communication dustbin. That's a view Ari Roisman, CEO and cofounder of video messaging app Glide, shares with some of the titans of tech ranging from Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella to Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg. "We're at the beginning of a new era of human computer interaction," says Roisman during a podcast Friday with USA TODAY.

Apple's Worldwide Developers Conference is coming to San Francisco next week, giving CEO Tim Cook a chance to get developers fired up over the latest that Apple has to offer. Don't expect a new iPhone. WWDC is all about software and services, but we'll also get a general update on the state of Apple. Here are some questions Apple needs to answer at the event. When Siri launched in 2011, it was one of the first virtual assistants of its kind, but it now has competitors from Amazon, Microsoft, Facebook and Google.