Ready For Rumors? 35 Days To Macworld 2007.

A couple of months ago I set my Dashboard “Countdown” Widget to January 9, 2007-- Steve Jobs’ keynote address at the Macworld Expo in San Francisco.

Yes, it’s time for rumors, unfounded speculation, wishful thinking, and ”that’s just crazy talk.”

The rumor mill may be at the highest fever pitch ever as Apple stacks up new products for 2007. Or not.

The next five weeks will see rumors come and go for everything Mac, Mac OS X, iPod and much more. What’s on your list?

Here’s what’s making the rounds of the Mac360 staff; the true, the not, and the maybe of Apple’s upcoming products.

First, let me start of with what we do not expect to be introduced at Macworld Expo. Why? Because we can.

And, because Apple’s getting better at not putting all their product eggs in a single basket. Who’s better than Apple at raising expectations by doing nothing?

Second, we do not expect major upgrades for the Mac line-- Mac mini, iMac, MacBook, MacBook Pro, or MacPro. There might be modest speed bumps with Intel CPUs, but nothing major.

One rumor making the rounds recently says there may be a 12-inch ultra thin, ultra portable MacBook Pro introduced in January. We give that a 50-50 shot. It’s not as though there’s a hole in the current notebook lineup at Apple.

Another rumor says there may be a Mac tablet (perhaps a version of Tera Patricks’ long desired iPad wireless device). We give that a 50-50 shot, too. However, that would be a major announcement which Apple is likely to save for another time during 2007.

Certainly ready for demonstration is Mac OS X Leopard, version 10.5. We’ve seen a taste already. Plenty of eye candy. Plenty of new tools under the hood.

What happened to all those secret features that Steve Jobs promised at Apple’s World Wide Developers Conference? We’re 100-percent certain that some of those will show up at Macworld in January during an extensive preview.

Unfortunately, we do not expect OS X Leopard to be formally introduced and launched. Apple will wait for Windows Vista’s launch later in January, the launch Leopard by spring.

What else? iTV will be shown and perhaps given a launch date of late winter 2007. More features and multiple models will be introduced. We’re 100-percent certain of everything except the details. See? We can do rumors as well as anyone.

Apple’s iLife ‘07 will also show up, but with modest improvements to the suite of Mac applications. The bigger news will show up in iWork ‘07 as Apple brings in a spreadsheet to compliment Pages and Keynote, both of which will receive additional features.

Look! We’re on a roll. Could anyone else be more insightful than the Mac360 staff with these great predictions? My grandmother could come up with these.

Apple’s iPod line up recently received a complete redesign, so don’t look for many additions. There are rumors floating about a true iPod with video-- a bigger screen, and perhaps wireless, but we consider that announcement to have less than a 50-percent chance.

The biggest news will be Apple’s cell phone products to be launched in early 2007. Details? Of course not. These are rumors and wishlist items.

We’re about 75-percent certain that Macworld’s keynote will show the iPhone-- an Apple designed cell phone that also doubles as an iPod.

Whether it has a single battery, two batteries, huge screen or not, we expect ultra cool design, and a healthy price tag. The trick will be making the phone synchronize with iTunes for Windows users-- and manage contacts, addressbooks, and schedules. That’s important.

Personally, and no one else on the Mac360 team agrees with me, I expect ringtones to play a part in Apple’s cell phone product. It’s a huge industry and iTunes and iTunes Store are a perfect place to sell ringtones.

Can you say iSight camera? I’d like to see a deal with Skype and an Apple-branded USB iSight camera and iChat software for Mac and Windows users. I give this one less than a 50-percent chance of showing up at Macworld.

Those are the bigger items floating around. What about the details? What’s missing from the Mac360 rumor and wishlist? Share your thoughts and insight in the Comments section below?

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