MacWorld, the premier expo for all things Mac and Mac compatible, kicked off yesterday. The anticipation was palpable as everyone milled around the exhibition hall trying to guess what the maestro, Steve Jobs, might say in today’s keynote. Among the predictions were that Jobs would announce Wi-Fi downloading for Apple TV, a novel device that’s been a slow-seller, that he might introduce a new, smaller version of the Macbook and that he might introduce iTunes movie rentals.
All were correct, sort of.
NEW & IMPROVED APPLE TV 
Jobs announced a new and improved Apple TV. The new unit can wirelessly access the Internet, allowing it to link to the iTunes Store without connecting to a computer. Apple TV now allows you to use your TV screen to browse, buy or rent movies and download TV shows and music. It also allows you to access photos from Flickr or a .Mac site, in addition to YouTube videos.
Apple TV now allows you to watch your downloaded content on your TV, computer, iPod or iPhone, and allows backwards syncing with your computer so that content downloaded via Apple TV is available on your computer as well.
To top off the Apple TV upgrade, Apple downgraded the price from $299 to $229 (early adopters who bought at the higher price will receive a free software upgrade to enable the new features).
NEW MACBOOK AIR 
The Macbook Air is a 3-pound notebook, measuring just .76 inches at its thickest point and a miniscule .16 inch at its slimmest. It sports a 13.3-inch LED display, a full-sized backlit keyboard with black keys, and an oversized trackpad that allows you to use your fingers as you would on your iPhone’s touchscreen, pinching them together to make an image smaller, pulling them apart to enlarge an image.
The MacBook Air uses the same 80-gigabyte hard drive found in the iPod Classic, and comes standard with a generous 2 GB of memory, the same as the MacBook Pro.
But, the MacBook Air’s most interesting feature is the one it lacks–an optical drive (the thing that plays/records CDs and DVDs). Jobs explained that the MacBook Air didn’t need an optical drive because it was made for the “Wi-Fi era”. The MacBook Air can wirelessly access the optical drives of other PCs or Macs on your home wireless network to allow you to install software or watch DVDs. And, if you still need the security (blanket) of having an optical drive, you can purchase the MacBook Air’s only accessory, an external SuperDrive that connects via USB ($99).
Pre-order your new MacBook Air for only $1,799 ($3,098 gets you a 64 GB solid-state hard drive).
iTUNES MOVIE RENTALS
I saved the iTunes Movie Rentals for last because it just be the another industry-altering move. Jobs is apparently plotting to take over the movie industry (at least the money-making part) in just the way he did the music industry. The iTunes Movie Rental Store launches today with 100 movies available to rent.
According to Jobs, all the major film studios were on board, a major coup for Apple, if it’s true. The rental service will offer new DVD releases (30 days after their release on DVD) and a library of older films. New films rentals will cost $3.99; $2.99 for older titles. The iTunes Store also will continue to sell movies and TV shows at their current prices.
You will be able to watch the movies instantly, and as often as they like within 24 hours of starting the stream. You can also start watching a streaming movie on your TV (downloaded via Apple TV), then finish watching it on your iPod or iPhone. Streaming rentals expire within 30 days of launch.
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