UPDATE: Winners in the Apple Rumor Pool

And the winners are...

No surprise that iTunes gets movies (a whopping 75 of them from all Disney/Pixar catalog). They'll be downloadable at 640x480 resolution, starting at $12.99. Plus, there are tons of new iPods as well (larger capacities, new designs, more colors). Alas, the much-desired touchscreen iPod is simply not to in the mix (sorry this wasn't in the predictions; it started being chatted up after I wrote this story and there was no way that was going to happen anyway). I can't wait to get iTunes updated to take advantage of the new features, though!

A bigger surprise is the set-top box called iTV, which isn't expected for release until early 2007. The "sneak peak" product will let you play those iTunes movies on your TV. The code-named iTV isn't ready yet, but it looks like a squished Mac Mini that wirelessly gets video from your Mac/PC to your TV. Hey, just like I said Apple needed! It works great with the computer, the TV, and the wireless router all in one room, I'm sure, but for those with the PC in the basement this might be tricky, given Wi-Fi's bandwidth issues. We'll see how it flies in '07!

Thanks to all for your comments and guesses.

From Sept. 8: What's Apple Got Up Its Sleeve This Time? 

Apple's having another one of its famous, Steve Jobs-hosted events in San Francisco on September 12, with the event slogan ("It's Showtime") drawing extreme attention. What's up Apple's sleeve this time? Here's what the smart money is betting on.

• iTunes Gets Movie Downloads - odds 1:5 - This is a near certainty, explaining both the slogan and the surfeit of information from Apple insiders and Hollywood studios about various deals being reached for Apple to offer movies for download through its popular iTunes Music Store, which already offers TV shows in addition to music. Also virtually certain: The price of these downloads will be considered "too much" by everyone and will almost certainly include crippling DRM.
• Apple Set-Top Box - odds 2:1 - Getting longer odds here. Many have speculated that Apple will be offering a media streaming device like the Netgear MP101, which wirelessly snags media from your PC and zips it to your stereo system. This has long been a problem for people with large libraries of music downloaded from iTunes: None of the current music players can play them (without extra hardware) because Apple's music format is closed-source. An Apple media streamer would solve this frustrating issue for legions of fans who want to easily get music from the office to the living room. Sounds good, but the problem here is wireless: Wi-Fi is fast enough for streaming music, but it stutters with video. The few devices that do support streaming video over wireless have not met with much success. Apple won't have a great solution to this problem, and introducing a media streamer that doesn't do video—at the same time as a movie download service—might be embarrassing. Regardless, such a device is widely expected. How well it works will remain to be seen.
• Apple Cell Phone - odds 15:1 - This has been circulating for years, and since the Motorola ROKR met with minimal success, observers have been clamoring for a real iTunes phone. It's probably just a matter of time before such a phone is released, but Apple will burn some bridges with its partners in introducing such a device. I figure it's coming, just not this week.
• Cube 2.0 - odds 40:1 - A few people have looked to recent patent applications from Apple as evidence that it's putting out a new version of the infamous Macintosh Cube, which looked cool but was plagued with manufacturing problems and sold poorly. Given that Apple already has the svelte Mac Mini, it'd be a long shot to see this form factor revived.
• Something Lame - odds 5:1 - Just because Apple says "It's Showtime" doesn't mean it's not going to be something ridiculous. A few months back, the big announcements were an iPod case and a large, overpriced speaker that connected to your iPod. Whoop de do.

Don't forget that it's almost certain that Apple will announce more than one of these things, in addition to the usual stuff like iTunes software updates ("Now you can turn volume up and down!") and various upgrades to old hardware. A 24-inch iMac has already been announced, as well.