8 Scenes From A Jobs-Less Macworld Keynote

The health and absence of Steve Jobs had everybody buzzing ahead of Apple's first -- and apparently last -- Macworld Expo keynote not involving the company's iconic CEO. Apple has announced that this year will be the Cupertino, Calif.-based company's last at the show where Jobs has unveiled groundbreaking new products like the iPhone and the MacBook Air.







Still, some Apple fans seem to be holding out hope that Apple and Jobs will return at some point, as evidenced by flyers handed out in front of San Francisco's Moscone West building ahead of Apple senior VP Phil Schiller's Tuesday morning keynote.

Phil Schiller, Apple's senior VP of worldwide product marketing, welcomes the crowd at the start of his Macworld-opening keynote Tuesday morning at San Francisco's Moscone Center. With nothing as exciting as the iPhone to announce, Schiller took the crowd through three product announcements -- new iLife software that includes the latest version of iPhoto, new iWork home office software and a 17-inch MacBook Pro added to the latest in Apple's notebook line unveiled last fall.

Phil Schiller describes the new features available on Apple's latest version of iLife, including the new iPhoto with facial recognition software and an integration with Facebook that lets users automatically upload their photos to the social networking site. Apple's iLife '09, which comes out at the end of the month and also ties in with an upgraded iMovie, ships free on new Mac PCs and costs $79 to upgrade on older Macs.

Apple has also upgraded its iWork suite of home office software tools. The new iWork '09 runs for $49 if purchased with new Macs and $79 on its own. It's got upgrades to Apple's spreadsheet (Numbers '09) and word processor (Pages '09) apps, as well as a clever little integration that turns an iPhone into a remote control for Apple's latest version of iWork's slide deck component in (Keynote '09).

Phil Schiller unveils the new 17-inch MacBook Pro, a $2,799 piece of burnished aluminum, which immediately shoots to the head of the class in Apple's notebook offerings. Weighing in at 6.6 pounds and featuring 1,920-x-1,200 display resolution, this mobile workstation would seem to complete Apple's MacBook Pro lineup -- though a larger, more advanced battery gives the 17-incher up to 60 percent more battery life than previous MacBooks, according to Schiller.

Arguably bigger than the product announcements -- much bigger -- was the news that Apple will be making all 10 million songs in iTunes Plus DRM-free in the second quarter of this year. No digital rights management software on the songs means iTunes Plus users will be able to copy them to as many PCs and electronic devices as they like, Schiller said. In other iTunes news, Apple in April will ditch its 99-cent, single price model for iTunes songs and go to a two-tier system that prices less popular tracks at 69 cents and the most popular ones at $1.29. Also, iTunes is now equipped to download songs onto iPhones via AT&T's Wi-Fi and 3G networks.

Ageless crooner extraordinaire Tony Bennett and his band perform at the close of Phil Schiller's opening keynote at Macworld. Bennett performed his signature tune, "I Left My Heart In San Francisco," as well as "The Best Is Yet to Come" -- both presumably soon to be DRM-free on iTunes Plus.

Who knows what these Macworld attendees were texting friends about during the Job-less Apple keynote, but attendees we spoke with seemed disappointed that a new iMac or Mac Mini wasn't shown during Schiller's keynote -- two products pre-show rumors had tagged as being possible unveilings in San Francisco.