Many people are speculating and/or hoping that Apple will ink a deal with TiVo Inc. or offer its own personal video recording capabilities as part of Leopard or the iTV offering. Given TiVo's history of telling Mac users that a Mac version of its TiVo-To-Go software is coming -- without having yet delivered anything -- it seems a bit hard to believe the two companies are collaborating on a Mac product. And, as much as I'd love to see PVR capabilities built into Mac OS X, I think Apple is much more likely to continue to focus on sales of TV content through the iTunes Store. Thankfully, there is Elgato System LLC's EyeTV for those who want to use a Mac as a PVR.

If Apple's patents are to be believed, there is also a new crop of iPods on the horizon that will offer larger screens and possibly new navigation techniques. No one can say for certain whether these products will offer Bluetooth or WiFi access or other still-unpublicized features. But Apple has never released a new iPod that didn't advance the product line in some way, and I have no doubt that the next generation of iPods will continue that tradition.

If any of the rumors, analyst reports and patents are accurate, we probably will see an iPhone as well (though possibly not at MacWorld San Francisco, which begins Jan. 7). The iPhone has the potential to be completely revolutionary, both as a digital media player and as a phone. Depending on how it's sold, it could even have a major impact on the U.S. mobile phone market. But if Apple doesn't manage to get the product spot-on and hit the right distribution channels, it could be in for some very stiff competition.

Apple will also almost certainly unveil a new version of its iLife suite. IPhoto will no doubt offer more options for digital photos, iDVD will no doubt sport new themes, and iMovie and GarageBand will no doubt get updates, as well. But I'm looking for the newest iLife app, iWeb, to get the biggest changes. Hopefully, iWeb 2.0 will create cleaner HTML code and offer easier publishing when not using .Mac -- including an option to publish only updated files.

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