“Apple is reaching more people in more ways than ever before, so like many companies, trade shows have become a very minor part of how Apple reaches its customers. The increasing popularity of Apple’s Retail Stores, which more than 3.5 million people visit every week, and the Apple.com website enable Apple to directly reach more than a hundred million customers around the world in innovative new ways.” Apple said in the release.

This year’s Macworld takes place at Moscone Center in San Francisco on January 5 through 9.  Schiller’s keynote will be given at 9:00 AM on Tuesday January 6.  SlashGear will be there to bring you live coverage, so make sure to look for full coverage of the event at http://live.slashgear.com.

“Let’s Rock” kicks off at 10am Pacific time - that’s 12pm Central, 1pm Eastern and 6pm London – and you’ll be able to find the Live Blog at the usual place: http://live.slashgear.com

The assumption is that Apple will be announcing its updated iPods, including a fresh nano 4G and a reworked touch 2G.  Changes to the nano are rumored to be an altered form-factor – returning to the 2G model’s long’n'thin casing – with a display better suited to widescreen content.

As for the iPod touch 2G, speculation suggests that it’ll borrow the iPhone 3G’s new case design and possibly even borrow its GPS.  More capacity for both PMPs is almost a given.

iTunes 8.0 is the third major rumor, with the possibility of a new subscription-based plan similar to that offered by Napster.  That’s been long tipped, however, so we’re remaining appropriately sceptical.  The only way to know for sure is to turn up at 10am PST tomorrow, so join us at http://live.slashgear.com and find out live!

It is quite literally an AirPort Extreme with all the wired and wireless connections built in, then just adds in a 500GB or 1TB HDD that’s apparently server grade. I just finished reading the fine print and it works with Window’s computers, both XP and Vista, and Macs (obviously), but it will work with both as a run of the mill NAS as well, not just a backup drive.

So, this is officially my favorite announcement today, and I want one now. But in order to get one I’ll have to fork out a minimum of $299 for the 500GB or $499 for the 1TB, comparatively to other NAS drives, that’s damn good pricing considering it also has both a wired and wireless router/AP/switch built in.

The question was met with some laughs, but it got answered. Steve more or less said that there aren’t any plans right now to do that, but its technology and it could happen.

Personally I would much rather Apple share whatever discounts and price drops they get from their manufacturers with their customers than hold back on doing so just because it might piss some people off. Just keep doing what you are doing Apple, don’t listen to all the haters.

In this first video Steve makes an analogy about Apple choosing O2 over the other carriers, he says its like going on a few dates before you get married. Pretty good analogy if you ask me.

This second video answers a question about Unlocking and hacking. Steve says it’s a lot like a game of cat and mouse.

So, just a reminder, there is no 3G iPhone. Also, Apple went with O2, so that gives them room to expand to 3G should they choose to.

So, why is the 4GB iPhone gone? Probably because when you are already paying $500 for a 4GB iPhone, the extra Benjamin for double the capacity doesn’t really seem like much. So basically, I have my doubts as to how many of them actually sold.

Then there is the fact that the flash drives for the iPhones was probably one of the cheaper components, and if they had applied the $200 price cut to the 4GB it would have been a $300 iPhone which means Apple would probably be losing money. Apple is all about making money, so there is reason number two for the 4GB getting the axe.

Now, for the $200 price cut such a short time after the iPhone’s release, as I said, I have neither answers nor explanations for why, but I do think some good will come of it. First, let’s look at accessories; you now have the iPhone as well as the iPod Touch which will likely share the same set of accessories. That means that the accessory market for those devices will grow exponentially, especially when that $200 price cut will allow Apple to stay king of the hill for smartphone sales. The cost for those accessories will also be driven down by the high number of people competing for your business.

Lastly, there is the modding community, cracking open, and potentially frying a $600 iPhone is about $200 less depressing now which means there will be more developments on that front. More users also increase the amount of Apple supported software coming out for the device, so that will be another bonus. I really can’t understand why they did something like that to the early adopters, what I can say is that I am for sure more motivated to go get one.

He already has a bunch of new photos up since the end of the event. So enjoy!

Looks like Apple is releasing Final Cut Server…It’s $999 for 10 concurrent users; $99 a seat. Pay $1999 for unlimited concurrent users. Editors now have the ability to share video with each other. Features include media asset management, templates, workflows, keyword search for videos, and access control.

Apple is introducing Final Cut Studio 2. Final Cut Pro is version 6, and introducing ProRes 422. Has uncompressed 10-bit compression at standard definitin file sizes. Capable of compressing full raster HD quality video from 1TB to 170GB.

AJA I/O HD works with Apple’s ProRes, featuring codec embedded right inside the hardware. The 10-bit 4:2:2 video lets you edit HD and up/down convert HD right on your Macbook Pro. Price tag is $3495!

New compression format, ProRes422 enable 4K video with the RED camcorder, shooting in 4K.

Final Cut Pro now features Open Format, basically allow you to mix different formats, resolutions and even mix frame-rates on the timeline.

Soundtrack 2 allows surround mixing in a single project, intuitive panner with automation, surround sound plug-ins with library of over 1000 music tracks and sound effects in 5.1.

Final Cut Studio 2 price is still only $1299. Upgrading to FCS2 cost $499 or $699 upgrade for any version of FCP from the beginning. Final Cut Studio is available next month.

So what’s up tomorrow morning? I’ll live blog the pre-event…then live blog Steve Jobs keynote, giving you BLOW-by-BLOW coverage. The party starts at 09:00 AM and ends at 11:00 AM. Don’t miss it!

Link to Macworld Expo 2007 live blogging of Steve Jobs Keynote:
http://www.slashgear.com/macworld2007/

- 450,000 sales in 90 days on iPod sports kit.

- iPod is getting some enhancement. 60% brighter screen with brightness control, 3.5 hours video playback (larger iPod goes up to 6.5 hours), new headphones, gapless playback.

- iPod new software features: instant searching, new games (Bejeweled, Cubis 2, Mahjong, Mini golf, pac man, tetris, texas holdem, vortex, and zuma)

- Games on iTunes for $4.99 (works with 5th generation)

- iPod Nano is in Aluminium and available in more colors (Green, Silver, Black, Blue and Pink) with 24 hours battery life. 2GB is $149 in silver only, 4GB is $199 in all colors but black, 8GB is $249 in all colors.

- 2nd Gen of iPod Shuffle is the size of iPod Radio Remote with metal chasis. 1 model (1GB), $79, ships in October.

– iTunes 7 announced today. Source list now includes library with sep libraries for all forms of media. Store now has own section; devices have their own sections, playlists. Cover art are free if you are missing cover art. 3 different views of iTunes, list view, album view (with art and tracks), then “cover flow view” lets you rapidly find what you want by album cover. iPod updater appears to be now integrated into iTunes.

- TV shows are now encoded at 640×480 (h264), up from 320×240.

- Movies; from Walt Disney, Pixar, Touchstone, Miramax. 75 films online today, more added every week and monthy. New releases 12.99 preorders and first week, after that up to $14.99. Most titles will be $9.99. Near DVD quality. Same encoding as TV shows at 640×480. If you have a 5mb/s broadband connection, it will take approximately 30 minutes to download a movie. Dolby surround audio in videos.

– On Q1 2007 Apple is releasing its long-rumored wireless set-top box called iTV (Not a final name). 1/2 size of Mac Mini, built-in power supply, USB, Ethernet, 802.11 “wireless component video”, optical audio and HDMI ports, plus old RCA stereo audio ports. Works with Apple Remote. iTV lets you get access to trailers and itunes store selected content from internet. iTV will works with iTunes on PC or Mac. price will be $299. Photos of iTV on the right side (credit to gizmodo).

That’s all folks!

[photos by gizmodo, live coverage by ilounge & engadget]

Let the rumors begin.  Obviously, it’s not like Apple to fall behind the rest of the crowd in this “me, me too” society.  September 12th is the magical date (coincides with the first day of Apple Expo Paris), and if rumors hold true, we’ll see the entry of a 23-inch iMac, sporting the new Core 2 Duo processor.  So there’s a high probability the Macbook Pro will get an upgrade as well.  The last piece of info we got is that the Mac mini is getting upgraded from the Core Solo to Core Duo processors.  Sweet.

[via AppleInsider]