WWDC 2012: Apple's nifty new gadgets

• Tweet

Apple CEO Tim Cook kick starts the company’s World Wide Developers’ Conference in San Francisco in a keynote speech at 1pm Eastern time Monday, the first since the passing of Apple’s visionary Steve Jobs last October.

Apple will unveil a bevy of additions and updates to its product and software line up this week, from the upcoming Mountain Lion operating system to the next version of iOS. Apple watchers also expect the company to launch a new maps application, severing Apple’s relationship with Google Maps.

Tech reporters have also heard whispers of a refresh for Apple TV and the MacBook Pro, Apple’s popular line of power laptops.

According to Computer World, tickets to WWDC sold out faster than ever this year, thanks to the increasing social cache of Apple products like the iPad and iPhone. WWDC off-loaded all of its tickets in two hours this year. It took eight days just two years ago.

Even Apple's Web site is excited:

If you couldn’t make it to San Francisco this year, you can catch all of the exciting tech-nerd action in real-time at the WWDC live blogs of Wired.com, The Wall Street Journal, Engadget and Information Week.

You can also follow the a host of tech bloggers and reporters real time via Twitter including:

-- Wired’s Christina Bonnington and Jon Phillips at their handles @redgirlsays and @JonPhillipsSF.

-- Nate Anderson's Ars Technica @arswwdc

-- Editor-in-chief of The Verge, Joshua Topolsky, is @joshuatopolsky.

As per usual, Apple won't be live-streaming the event, but if you're a sucker for a visual, Twit's reporters will give you a live play-by-play on its Web video show.

Cook remained coy about Apple's new goodies in a lengthy interview to All Things D this week saying only, “We’re gonna introduce some great stuff.”