Macworld rumours hint at iBooks

Steve Jobs to kick off Macworld San Francisco on Tuesday

Most rumours about today's keynote by Steve Jobs at Macworld in San Francisco suggest that Apple will be unveiling updated versions of its iBook and PowerBook systems. 

The PowerBook laptops are likely to be the first Apple computers to use Intel processors, and are widely believed to be overdue for an upgrade.

The devices would also benefit greatly from a switch to Intel processors which cut back on power consumption and produce less heat than the Power processors currently used in Apple computers. This increases battery life and allows for greater performance.

Apple unveiled its planned switch to Intel processors last year at the Worldwide Developers Conference in San Francisco.

The vendor said that the first Intel-powered computers would be made available before June 2006, and that Apple's full product line will have switched over by 2007.
Apple published information on its website for a brief period last week concerning an upgrade to its iLife suite that currently bundles applications like GarageBand 2, iPhoto and iMovie.

The links on the webpage pointed to new product called iWeb, which is expected to be an HTML editor that allows users to create and publish websites.

There are no major announcements expected on the iPod front, although Jobs is expected to unveil several new content providers for the iTunes video store.