AppleInsider Staff
Just hours before Apple's Worldwide Developers Conference keynote was scheduled to start, LinkedIn's iOS Developer Community canceled its San Francisco-based watch party, following the news that the social networking service was acquired by Microsoft for $26.2 billion.
LinkedIn had planned to host a live streaming of the WWDC 2016 keynote from its offices in San Francisco. But Monday morning, the official page for the watch party was updated to say that the event was canceled.
Though the page didn't specifically reference Microsoft's buyout of LinkedIn, visitors were told to visit the official LinkedIn press information site "for more information." Microsoft and LinkedIn announced the $26.2 billion purchase earlier Monday.
"We hope you are able to find alternative accommodations and apologize for any inconvenience," the site reads.
Still scheduled for Monday afternoon, however, is Microsoft's own WWDC afterparty, which starts at 5 p.m. Pacific at Twitter headquarters, located a block from the Bill Graham Civic Auditorium in San Francisco. Microsoft plans to showcase its iOS apps and services to Apple developers, and is offering free food and drinks, as well as prizes, to entice attendees.
Apple's WWDC 2016 keynote kicks off at 10 a.m. Pacific, 1 p.m. Eastern, where the company is expected to reveal the next-generation versions of iOS, OS X, tvOS and watchOS. AppleInsider is in San Francisco for the event, and will have full, live coverage of the announcements.
Andrew Orr
Amber Neely
William Gallagher
Christine McKee
28 Comments
Waaaaiiiiit a second. Linkedin was having an event today?
I really don't like Microsoft.
On the one hand they are committed to producing quality apps for iOS and the Mac, yet they pull stupid stunts like their disingenuous Surface commercials, and this crap here.
How does that make any sense? LI should be platform & product neutral. Why should who owns the company influence what its special interest groups do? At this point everything should be arranged and ready to go. Canceling just causes pain to everyone involved. I find it difficult to believe the cancelation was related to the MS acquisition.
If MS are as smart as recent history has suggested,
they will cancel IOS linkedin app too. that will help accelerate the demise of linked in.
I think if MSFT executes on the LI purchase well, there are a lot of opportunities. But that's a big IF considering prior MSFT performance. Still, I think Nadella is working hard to steer a big ship with a small rudder.