As for new and significantly updated Power Mac announcements at NAB, I've lost my optimism on that (a month ago I was hopeful, now I'm doubtful).
The link about the Apple event on Sunday is interesting. But, I agree, that will most likely be software only. More worrisome (at NAB) is that it appears that there are no other keynotes, sessions, or events scheduled that will be lead by Apple. If you look at the published list of keynotes and special events it is all Intel, AMD, Microsoft, HP, and Dell. And none of those speakers are likely to step aside and allow anyone from Apple to take the microphone or even mention new Power Macs. Adobe is leading one Super Session (Video, the Next Wave in Publishing), but there are no Apple representatives scheduled for that discussion either (it's Intel, Microsoft, HP, Dell, and Sony). Frankly, it appears that Apple was offered little opportunity to influence this year's NAB, or they -- for some reason -- decided not to participate in any of the keynotes and sessions.
I did find that Frank Casanova is on the panel covering the mobile media convergence -- wouldn't it be a "hoot" if he only talked about iTunes and the iPod? Actually, I expect that he will talk about H.264 video, that's more in line with his position at Apple.
http://www.nabshow.com/sessiondetail.asp?id=1202921
I'm sure Apple will have a good presence at NAB (they appear to have one of the larger spaces in the multi-media hall) and they will almost certainly make some software announcements at their Sunday event, but it looks to me that this year's NAB might turn out to be a big bust as far as new Apple hardware. At least, that's my current thinking.
One possibility, Apple decided to keep a low official profile at NAB because they wanted to surprise everyone with a blockbuster set of new hardware and software. It they were a highly visible sponsor and official participate in many NAB events that might cause some conflicts with the other sponsors. So, maybe Steve Jobs is planing a big "sneak" attack. They've sort of done that before with Final Cut Pro and Motion. However, if they introduced dual-core G5s (970MPs) and/or twin-processor, dual-core G5s (twin 970MPs, four cores per Power Mac) then they might just be able to scoop Intel and AMD. I suspect that Dell will introduce dual-core Pentium systems at NAB, so Apple has to do something at NAB is they want to be considered first to deliver dual-core systems. But, again, I think 970MPs are unlikely to be introduced at NAB (or anytime soon for that matter).
As for a Blu-ray product introduction from Apple, I think that is
highly unlikely.
