News Bits: Macworld Keynote – Surprise or Disappointment?

Written by Erin Barker

Tuesday, January 6. 2009 at 11:20 AM EST Post a comment

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Today at noon, eastern time, Apple SVP of worldwide product marketing Philip Schiller (a.k.a. "Not Steve Jobs") will take the stage for the Macworld keynote address. Expectations are low, to put it mildly. But there is at least one possible bright spot that's perking the fanboys up a bit.

It's rumored that Apple will announce that iTunes is going totally DRM-free. iTunes already offers songs from EMI DRM-free, but it's expected to also cut DRM on songs from the other three big-four labels: Sony BMG, Universal, and Warner Music.

Possibly even bigger news, and the likely reason the labels were willing to give up their DRM: iTunes is also expected to add flexible pricing. According to CNET, pricing will be broken down into three tiers: older songs, mid-range songs (newer, but not big hits), and current hits. Further details haven't yet been reported.

According to the blogosphere, you can also expect:

• Updated versions of the iMac and Mini, based on NVIDIA
• A new 17" MacBook Pro with an improved, built-in battery
• iLife and iWork to become Internet services
• 20" and 30" cinema displays to move to Mini DisplayPort technology
• More information on Snow Leopard, the upcoming Mac OS X revision
• Nothing about the iPhone or rumored iPhone Nano
• The unexpected... According to some Twitter spying, maybe there's reason to get psyched, after all.

You can get live updates on the address at The New York Times site or the Macworld site. And, remember, as NYT suggests in its Live Blog, "Try not to look disappointed."