Unless you have been on another planet, you probably heard about the special Apple event tomorrow (Wednesday) morning. The Apple event begins at 10AM Pacific in San Francisco, CA. Everyone article in the mainstream press pegs it as a given that Apple will announce a tablet of some kind. We know the tablet is coming, but what exactly will it bring? If it’s just a large iPod touch, I think a lot of people are going to be very disappointed.

I’ll be checking the action as it goes down live via Engadget. They have already setup a place holder for their live coverage here. We’ll have our own recap and reaction of the event after it’s finished.

David Weiss created a cool “Prediction Score Card” for the event tomorrow. You can download a copy here. If you participate in the score card, come back and post your score in the comments after the event. I’ve already filled mine out so I’ll post my score tomorrow afternoon.

Do you have any predictions you’d like to share? Use the comments below to post your ideas.

My DVR will be working overtime this week as CNBC will be airing some great television programs for Apple fans.

“Welcome to Macintosh” is a 2008 documentary chronicling the history of Apple. Important figures in Apple’s past make appearances, including Guy Kawasaki, who was responsible for Macintosh marketing in 1984, as well as Andy Hertzfeld, who worked on the original Macintosh design team. Leander Kahney, the author of the popular Apple book “Cult of Mac,” is in the documentary also. “Welcome to Macintosh” will be airing on January 4th at 9:30 PM EST.

The 2009 documentary “MacHEADS” discusses Apple fans and the popularity of Apple products. There have not been any films in the past that have focused on the legions of fans that are devoted to Apple. “MacHEADS” will be airing January 5th at 10:00 PM EST.

“Planet of the Apps” discusses the phenomenon that is mobile phone apps. The popularity of these apps was fueled by Apple allowing third-party apps for sale for the iPhone and iPod touch starting in July 2008. Other companies have tried to mimic the App Store’s success by launching stores of their own, but have not been nearly as successful as Apple has. “Planet of the Apps” will be airing on January 7th at 10:00 PM EST.

I rarely watch movies so I have not seen either of the documentaries, but it will be exciting to watch them as well as “Planet of the Apps.”

Apple’s recent purchase of Lala has many intriguing ramifications for Apple users.

Lala is a music site that lets users stream music.  Lala scans your hard drive to see which music you already own.  If songs match what is in their library, or you upload your tracks, you can listen to that music an unlimited amount through their web site.  If you don’t own the tracks, you can listen to them once.  After that you can buy a web version that can be streamed forever or “upgraded” to a downloadable version.  The streaming component flies in the face of Apple’s “download-and-own-forever” model.  Apple sees that music consumption may evolve and they are preparing for this change.  It is unknown whether Apple will keep Lala’s current model or alter it to a “all-you-can-eat” subscription.

There is no way the Lala iPhone app sees the light of day, presuming that Lala isn’t kept as a separate service that is away from Apple’s ecosystem.  Streaming content could be provided through the music app on the iPhone/iPod touch (and hopefully Apple’s potential tablet) with optional caching for offline playback.  It would be nice to have downloadable music for iPods lacking WI-FI, with music files that time-expire.  Syncing through iTunes could then verify service membership (i.e. once a month).

There have been endless debates on the value proposition of MobileMe, especially in light of alternative free services that can be combined to be similar to what MobileMe offers.  Adding a streaming music service to MobileMe would increase its value significantly.  I would assume that being a subscriber to Apple’s music service would not require being a MobileMe member.

It would be great to have my music stored in the cloud from anywhere with a Internet connection.  Any Lala web site functionality will probably be rebranded as a Apple product and thus become iTunes in a browser.

Apple TV has not sold well.  Coupling this music service with the proposed video subscription deal that could be occurring soon and I would be far more interested in getting an Apple TV.  Content is king, and the variety and amount of music and video available will be key to increasing Apple TV’s popularity.

Many music services I have tried have left me wanting more.  Hopefully Apple’s will have enough content to please me.

Apple released information about their Black Friday deals, and as usual the discount is minimal. If you’re looking to save big bucks on Apple hardware, you’re going to be disappointed. The Apple hardware included in the sale carries a discount around 8% – 10%. If you need to pick up some software or accessories, there are deals to be had. You can save $50 on Office 2008, $15 on Bento 3, $21 on a mophie Juice Pack Air, and many more discounts.

The discounts apply to online shopping only, however Apple does say “select offers also available at U.S. Apple Retail Stores”. This is a one day sale, so act fast if you want to take advantages of the reduced prices!

A recent article in the Wall Street Journal discusses Apple’s interest in competing with Nintendo in the portable games market.  If I were Nintendo, I would be worried.

Nintendo has been able to beat previous handheld competitors, such as the Sega Game Gear and Atari Lynx, but Apple is different.  Previous competition was focusing on games only, whereas the iPhone/iPod touch can do so many things very well.  The Sony PSP does do a lot too, but not nearly as much or as well as the iPhone/iPod touch.

iTunes has helped Apple effectively sidestep brick and mortar retailers to provide digital content, which is the future of content distribution.  Nintendo has few digital offerings, but these downloads are limited to the DSi, which makes up a small percentage of Nintendo’s handheld sales.

Developers of all sizes do not have to pay much for development costs and have a far easier time getting on the iPhone/iPod touch platform.  Apple’s review process has been arbitrary and lengthy at times, but less restrictions have been placed for apps compared to DS games.  There is also far more variety in content then the DS provides.

There is already a large library of games for the iPhone/iPod touch.  There are poor titles in iTunes, but there are also many great games.  These games are also priced cheap, which is attractive for consumers.  DS games usually cost upwards of $30.

Apple does face some obstacles.  Like the Wii, many developers have not designed games for the iPhone/iPod touch’s unique controls in mind and have ported games from other platforms that had “regular” controls.  It is a way for large publishers to milk successful franchises.  Publishers have been focusing more and more on popular franchise that do not stray to much from what made them successful, so care is not taken when brining games to the iPhone/iPod touch.  At least for Nintendo they can make good games for the Wii’s controls.  Apple must rely on third-party developers to make games that work well with the touchscreen.

The iPhone/iPod touch does not have as many great games as the DS.  With Nintendo’s franchises on the DS, this is not surprising.  The App Store has not been open for long (since July 2008), and with larger developers making a bigger push to bring popular franchises to Apple’s handheld, the gap will close between Apple’s and Nintendo’s portable game offerings.

It is hard to compete with a device that does many things well, which is why some companies have made devices that do one thing very well (the Kindle for example).  Apple has been able to make a great multi-functional device, while Nintendo has not shown this yet. It will be interesting to see what Nintendo does to maintain dominance in the handheld market to ward off Apple.

Friday the Wall Street Journal reported that Steve Jobs had a liver transplant in Tennessee “about two months ago”. In the WSJ article, there was very little details about the source of the information.

Today, the program director at Methodist University Hospital Transplant Institute confirmed what some had suspected, that Steve Jobs received a liver transplant at Methodist University Hospital. Citing the patient’s private health information, no additional details were available.

Get well soon Steve!

One cool section of the Apple website that you may not know about is the profiles section. On a semi-regular basis, Apple showcases companies or people and how they use Apple technology. There are two of these sections, one for Pro and the other is Business.

Recently, Apple profiled the hottest company on earth, Twitter. The profile on Twitter talks about some of the Apple technology they use and mention some third-party software tools too. If you’re interested in seeing some of the Twitter office and reading about how the company uses technology, you should read the profile.

One of my favorite profiles from the Pro section is the Washington Post. The Washington Post profile is in video form too!

[Via Daring Fireball]

Unless you were in a secret underground lair and only recently surfaced, you heard all about Steve Jobs leave of absence at Apple this week. This is the second time Steve Jobs has temporarily relinquished control of Apple since his return from NeXT Computer. In 2004 while battling pancreatic cancer, he gave control of Apple to Tim Cook. With his latest absence, Tim Cook has again been chosen to run Apple while Steve is gone.

So what do we know about Tim Cook? Fortune’s Adam Lashinsky recently decided to share some details regarding Cook. My favorite quote from the article:

One day back then, he convened a meeting with his team, and the discussion turned to a particular problem in Asia.

“This is really bad,” Cook told the group. “Someone should be in China driving this.” Thirty minutes into that meeting Cook looked at Sabih Khan, a key operations executive, and abruptly asked, without a trace of emotion, “Why are you still here?”

Khan, who remains one of Cook’s top lieutenants to this day, immediately stood up, drove to San Francisco International Airport, and, without a change of clothes, booked a flight to China with no return date, according to people familiar with the episode. The story is vintage Cook: demanding and unemotional.

Adam’s article is a good read if you are interested in the person currently driving the Apple ship. In fact, Tim Cook is my pick to become the next CEO of Apple whenever Jobs does decide to leave.

Don’t want to watch the entire 2009 Macworld Keynote? Here’s a rundown of what was announced and a little commentary.

iLife 09
iLife 09 will be released sometime in late January. iPhoto and iMovie received the largest updates. New organization features Faces (facial recognition) and Places (geotagging) allow you to more easily find the pictures you’re looking for in iPhoto. iPhoto now includes direct upload capability to Flickr and Facebook. iPhoto also includes some pretty sweet slideshow functionality. iMovie now features video stabilization (which looks ridiculously slick), more precision editing, dynamic themes, and a cool travel map feature. GarageBand and iWeb were also updated; iDVD is the same. The cool new feature in GarageBand is the new artist lessons feature. The artist lesson feature is a video where various artists teach you to play their songs. iLife 09 is $79 and $99 for a family pack. You also need OS X 10.5 Leopard to run iLife 09.

iWork 09
I’ll save you the boring details on iWork 09. Basically, increased functionality across all applications. Pages includes a new full screen mode to help remove distractions. Mail Merge is also now included with Pages. Also new is a cool $.99 iPhone/touch application to control Keynote presentations called Keynote Remote (iTunes link). Numbers got a cool linked chart feature when adding Numbers based charts in Pages. iWork 09 is available now for $79 or $99 for a family pack. You can also purchase iWork 09 with a new Mac for only $49.

Mac Box Set
The Mac Box Set is a new product that includes iWork 09, iLife 09, and Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard for only $169. Considering Leopard is $129 by itself, this is a remarkably good deal.

iWork.com
iWork.com is a sharing and collaboration site for iWork documents. iWork.com will be available on a subscription basis (price not announced) at a later date. You need iWork 09 to use iWork.com. Though not officially announced, it looks like iWork.com is available for use now.

17″ MacBook Pro
The 17″ MBP looks exactly like the new unibody Macbook and 15″ MBP. The downside of the 17″ MBP is the fact that the battery is not user replaceable, but does get “up to 8 hours” of battery life. The new battery can be recharged up to 1,000 times, “3x the recharges of the standard notebook battery”. The 17″ MBP is available with a new anti-glare option for an extra $50. Video editors will be happy with the new 17″ MBP because it supports 8GB of RAM.

iTunes

• Beginning April 1st, songs sold on iTunes will be available with variable pricing, $.69, $.99, and $1.29.
• 80% of the songs available on iTunes are now DRM free. The remaining 20% will be available DRM free by the end of this quarter.
• The iTunes iPhone/touch App can now operate over the cellular network. This works over Edge and 3G.

My Analysis
The most important announcement was easily iTunes becoming DRM free. Perhaps this is truly the final nail in the DRM coffin?

Perhaps the most interesting announcement is iWork.com. Though it initially seems limited, could this come to rival Google Docs?

If you want to watch the last Apple Keynote at Macworld, Apple has posted the video online. You can also pick it up in iTunes (iTunes link).

Since the covenants of Mac blogging include making Macworld predictions (likely for the last time ever), I’m going to join every other Mac blog and make my predictions too. The following are my own predictions of what the Phil-note will contain and the likelihood of it happening.

Very Likely

• Snow Leopard Preview – There is no doubt the words “Grand Central” and “Open CL” will be mentioned a few times.
• Mac Mini – I’m not sure if it’s a complete abandonment of the product or a design update, but something will happen with the Mac Mini. If it’s updated, I would expect a price drop too. $599 is still high for many computer users.
• iMac Update – A design change is pretty unlikely, but expect better processors and other hardware improvements.
• 17″ MacBook Pro Update – The Macbook and 15″ MacBook Pro were both updated in late 2008. It’s time the 17″ MacBook Pro got the unibody treatment.

Likely

• iPhone Software Update – Perhaps copy/paste will make an appearance?
• iLife Update – iLife was largely ignored in 2008. The creative suite is often seen as one advantage of buying a Mac vs a PC. Apple needs to restore some of the luster to their Mac creative suite.

Not Very Likely

• Apple TV – I’d love to see the product move forward somehow. SDK, third party hardware certification, something else? But please, please don’t kill it Apple!

The Detriot Lions Winning the Super Bowl Next Year Likely

• Netbook – Not now, but maybe before the end of 2010. With the current economic conditions however, a Netbook would do more for Apple’s bottom line in 2009 than in 2010.

Those are my Macworld 2009 predictions. I have no inside knowledge of Apple release schedules or product development, so these are just my gut feelings combined with a little bit common sense. I’d love for there to be a whiz bang “one more thing”, but I’m not going to hold my breath.

Apple and Steve Jobs released a letter today, detailing for the first time the medical issue Steve has been suffering from this past year.

Fortunately, after further testing, my doctors think they have found the cause—a hormone imbalance that has been “robbing” me of the proteins my body needs to be healthy. Sophisticated blood tests have confirmed this diagnosis.

As you would expect (at least for Apple, Inc), Apple (AAPL) is up over 5% as I type this post. At the very least, this has given Apple investors a boost of confidence.

I wish Steve a speedy recovery!

Update 1/5/2009 @ 14:38 EST: Apple also released a statement by the Board of Directors.

For those of you that celebrate Christmas, or other holidays this time of year, you might be looking for some last minute gift ideas. Here are a few last minute gift ideas based on things I personally recommend based on my experience with these products (unless otherwise noted). Hopefully I’ve given ideas based on the Mac users in your life.

The Cord-Phobia

Wireless Mighty Mouse – Great for both the office and the travel bag.

Apple Wireless Keyboard – Sleek and functional. No keypad, but it’s not an issue for me.

The Traveler

Belkin Mini Surge Protector/USB Charger – I haven’t used this particular product, but I’ve wished for something like it several times. Next time I travel, I’m probably going to get one.

Incase Neoprene Sleeve for MBP – For both my MB and MBP, this was the first thing I bought. Incase has sleeves available for the MBP, MBA, and MB.

The Long Commuter

Griffin iTrip Auto with SmartScan – Easy to use and good sound quality. Perfect for anyone who wants to listen to their iPod in the car. Very good return policy as well.

The Cook

MacGourmet – Excellent recipe management software for Mac. A iPhone/iPod touch companion application is currently in beta. Website importer and Clippings make recipe entry painless.

The Movie Buff

MacHEADS – A “documentary about fanaticism and unconditional devotion to a corporate brand”. You can view a trailer of the movie here. I haven’t seen this, but it looks both informative and entertaining. The DVD is coming soon.

Welcome to Macintosh – “The documentary for the rest of us.” Like the above, I haven’t seen this but it looks very good. Here is the movie trailer. The DVD costs $19.84.

The Photo/Video Junkie

Drobo – Easy, expandable, data security in one simple to use device. I don’t have one, but I sure do want one!

The Hard Drive Up-grader

OWC Mercury On-The-Go – Perfect to turn your old laptop hard drive into an external drive. It’s very easy to install your old drive into the enclosure.

The Runner

Nike + – It got me back into running after several years off due to an injury. Some have reported inaccuracies over long distances, but I’ve never had a problem on short runs.

The iTunes Lover

Apple TV 40GB – My wife and I use the Apple TV almost daily. So very simple to use. I really can’t recommend this product enough.

XtremeMac XtremeHD HDMI to HDMI Cable – I have two of their other cables and they have worked flawlessly. The cables are also reasonably priced. If you get the Apple TV, you’ll likely need this too.

Anyone

iPhone – What else needs to be said? By far my most favorite electronic gadget I’ve bought in recent memory.

These are all products I can highly recommend. I’ve linked to Amazon on many of the products mentioned. There is still time to get them by December 24th using Amazon’s two day shipping option (3PM PST deadline). Happy holidays to all!

Tomorrow (November 28th) is probably the busiest shopping day of the year. Retailers look forward to the beginning of the holiday shopping season, and that season begins tomorrow with Black Friday.

Like every other retailer, Apple will be offering some deals tomorrow. Since it’s already Friday in Australia, TUAW is reporting that the best offer in the Australian online store is a discount on the new unibody Macbook. It’s likely Apple will run the same deals across all countries they do business in.

The discounts in the AU store include:

• Macbook
• iMac
• 8GB Nano
• iPod Classic
• 8GB iPod touch
• Apple TV
• Time Capsule
• iPod and iPhone cases
• Other Mac accessories

If you need to shop for the Apple fan in your life this holiday season, tomorrow is likely the best day to do so!

Update 11/28/08: Here’s the link for the Black Friday deals page on the US Apple website.  Just replace the two character country code with your country to see the deals listed for your country.

Diana Walker’s book, The Bigger Picture, gives you a glimpse into the lives of some of the most famous people in the world. Featured in her book among others are President Reagan, John Travolta, Mikhail Gorbachev, Princess Diana, and our favorite CEO, Steve Jobs.

You can get a glimpse of Steve’s life back in 1982 with this picture. The Bigger Picture is available for $40 and features 200 color and black & white photos.