While being a long-time member of the Blu-ray Disc Association, Steve Jobs-led Apple Inc. still has yet to reveal its true leaning at the on-gong format war between Blu-ray and HD DVD.

Analysts, however, have a good reason to believe that everything will become known come Macworld Expo 2008.

More details after the jump!

With Macworld 2008 just a couple of weeks away, the rumor mill has churned out more tidbits regarding the new US$ 1500 sub-notebook that Apple will supposedly introduce at this year's Macworld Expo. Check out the full article for the latest on this hot topic.

As Apple's MacWorld Expo draws near, more reports have been made regarding mysterious versions of MacBooks sporting a new "metallic-grey color" and were described to be distinctively  "thinner" than the laptop's usual models.

Is this our first glimpse into Apple's introduction for the MacWorld Expo next year? More details at the full article.

Apple will introduce a slimmer, ultra-compact Apple notebook in the next Macworld Expo. We're looking at a slimmer notebook that's guaranteed not to consume as much energy as most other laptops. What else can be expected in this new model? Read on to find out.

Annual event Apple Expo is generally considered as the European counterpart of Macworld Expo. Both events boast of sales conference and technology exposition organized by Apple and some other exhibitors. To those of you who have been following this, be informed that registration for Apple Expo 2007 is now open.

As always, the show will be held in Paris France, specifically in Porte de Versailles. It will run from September 25 to 29 and entrance fees are pegged at 12 Euros or roughly around US$ 16.33 for each individual. We looked at the conference's official site for further info but Apple hasn't listed any yet.

We believe that this year's event is going to be very exciting. Last year's expo saw the introduction of two new iPods as well as a new iMac. And you might be intrigued to know that Apple Expo 2005 didn't have any keynote speeches and Apple didn't drop big bombs save for a lone .mac bundle. So this could mean that they're saving their big guns for this year.

The Read link should take you to the event's site where you can register and read other details.

Just like most Apple products out there, Apple TV sprang out of nowhere and awed fans with its amazing features. It was introduced at this year's Macworld Expo in San Fran and Steve Jobs himself was the one who introduced it to the public. However, some say that a Mac Mini, an ordinary TV set, and a sprinkle of wits could also perform the same exact magic of Apple TV without the rather steep price.

Anyway, some of you might still not be familiar with Apple TV, so we hosted this interface walkthrough video from Engadget. The video is quite informative and educational, so to speak, going through Apple's wireless media streamer that includes playing back movies, trailers, and music, and watching photos. There are also some lessons on how to tweak the setup and options menu.

Apple TV began shipping a couple of days ago, March 20 to be exact, with a price tag of US$ 299.

All this talk about next-gen consoles has us looking at the other side of the spectrum of home entertainment. This generation's next-generation of digital media players, the "iTV," has been clouded with many rumors recently. Lo and behold, Steve Jobs pulls yet another, well, Steve-Jobs-job on us.

Surprise, surprise. As announced in the MacWorld Expo, the Apple TV is now available for pre-ordering. Shipping starts this February, so you better make sure your living room is prepared for the invasion of the iTunes-to-TV player. Here's the long and short of what you can expect for the US$ 299 price tag:

• Mac + PC support
  
• Wi-Fi 802.11 wireless connectivity
  
• 40GB hard drive for up to 50 hours video
• Apple Remote included

This device allows you to play any media content - music, podcasts, movies, TV shows, etc. - stored in your computer onto your widescreen TV. Every time you update your iTunes with new content, Apple TV automatically updates itself. An easy-to-navigate menu is incorporated into the device to allow easy browsing and streaming of media files with the Apple Remote.

From the man, Steve Jobs, himself:

Apple TV is like a DVD player for the 21st century -- you connect it to your entertainment system just like a DVD player, but it plays digital content you get from the Internet rather than DVDs you get from a physical store. Apple TV plays the same iTunes content that users enjoy on their computers and iPods, so now they can even watch part of a movie in their living room, and watch the rest later on their iPod.

You can place your orders and learn more about the Apple TV in the official Apple website found behind the "Read" link below.

With all the speculation going about as to "What will Steve Jobs do next (in MacWorld 2007)?", it's a wonder the organizers don't move it from San Francisco to Las Vegas. Not only would it make a good pool for bookies, we could probably recoup some of our budget after blowing the iPhone naming bet.

Mac Rumors specializes in Mac rumors (well... doi), and with MacWorld 2007 just around the corner, they wanted to run up the final running pool of all the Apple-related rumors having to do with new product showcases that could potentially be announced or detailed in an event like MacWorld. All these rumors should sound so familiar to you guys by now, so we'll just provide a list format, a quick summary of Mac Rumor's thoughts, and then our own quick thoughts as well.

• What used to be the iPhone: possibly an announcement, but the more credible rumors suggest that there WON'T be a launch at MacWorld (Probably a new name, though, we think). Fair enough, we say. When it was first announced, same thing with the...

• iTV: more details expected. We think even a potential launch/availability date.

• Mac Pro: is there a potential eight-core Mac Pro coming out sometime in 2007? One rumor suggested one should have launched back in November, but this did not come to pass. Another report suggests a January release. Hey, we know there are quad-core chips quickly coming into the manufacturing stream, so there's nothing stopping Apple from making at least a quad Mac. Mac Rumor's thinking the same thing, citing the pending availability of a 2.0Ghz quad-core chip at US$ 690/chip.

• OS X Leopard: yet another demo preview of Leopard, but no exact dates for final release, let alone in MacWorld. Hey, they're just getting into the groove of Bug Month right now...

• New iPod models? If it's not the iPhone (oops, used to be), it's the full-screen Video iPod. Mac Rumor's latest resources say "early 2007" release. If that's true enough, we think MacWorld 2007 would be a perfect venue to show a demo of the device. And if it's not... well, how many iPods does it take to float an Apple?
  

Hmm... strange Mac Rumors hasn't mentioned the MacBook Thin. Then again, it would have been swamped by the used-to-be-iPhone alone, worse if an eight-core and iTV were included.

You gotta love rumors confirmed. Mac OS Rumors started combing the grapevine and all their sources clean of whatever juice they could squeeze out, until they were able to confirm that the "MacBook Thin" (a) exists, and (b) has specs that (c) would probably make the "Thin" "the fastest, most feature-rich ultraportable laptop on the market". Probably because it's a Pro in a smaller package.

Here are the specs that Mac OS Rumors were, so far, able to confirm from American and Southeast Asian sources. Start drooling.

• "Macbook Thin" -- spec-wise, primarily a variant of the Pro family but will probably be branded as separate from the standard *or* Pro MacBook families. Shipping name is unconfirmed.
• 12-inch widescreen display, 1280x800 resolution.
• 2.16 or 2.33GHz Intel Core 2 Duo processors
• 1GB of DDR2-667 memory standard. Max. capacity 3GB.
• Standard "Pro" ports: USB2, Firewire 400 & 800, Gigabit Ethernet, Digital/Analog Audio minijack I/O ports.
• ExpressCard expansion slot (believed to be /34 type)
• Similar storage to "Pro": 2.5in SATA HDDs at 120GB & up, 'Combo' or 'Super' optical drive.
• ATi Radeon Mobility X1600 or nVIDIA GeForce GO 7600 graphics systems with 256MB of VRAM.
• Mini-DVI display connector with full second display capabilities
• Of course, Built-in iSight, stereo microphone, Airport Extreme and Bluetooth 2.0+EDR.
• Battery life is expected to be "best in class" at about 6.5 hours real-world, some reports have suggested up to 8 hours is possible.

Final speculation has the "Thin", or whatever they're going to call it, shipping within ten weeks, announced in six. What keeps this speculation iffy is the fact that the upcoming MacWorld Expo is so packed with other high-profile items - such as iTV and the iPhone - that were the "Thin" announced there, it could easily get lost in the shuffle. Not that it won't be noticed by a lot of people who'd love to get a MacBook in smaller dimensions.

When we mentioned a China Times report that the iPhone is set to come out on early 2007, we didn't mention that it would be as early as January 15. The website bloggingstocks reported that they received an interesting heads up that the Apple iPhone will be stamped with a January 15 release date.

Speculations also pointed that during the Macworld Expo, which will be from January 9-12, relevant iPhone info would be divulged. Hmm, so piecing those two tidbits together, the bottomline is that the iPhone's release date will be just days after the Macworld Expo.

bloggingstocks' Tobias Buckell even mentioned that this will do a lot of things for Apple. First of, if this rumor materializes, it will trample all the analysts' expectations as to when the iPhone would be available. Second, it will be rapidly available after one of Apple's popular events. Third, it will give the Cupertino-based company a boost in the stock market as investors measure Apple stock based solely on the performance of the iPod.

Hmm, if this rumor proves to be true, I think I'll be replacing my Samsung cellphone with an Apple. Provided that my pockets will cooperate with the price.