Macworld kicks off on Tuesday in San Francisco and once again its time to sift through the rumours and separate the real deals from the fakes. This year’s keynote promises to be a real exciting one - it’s the first time ever that the keynote will be two hours long!! myMacBUZZ proudly presents this year’s Macworld Rumour Predictor.

Before we begin, I just want to make clear that the following is based on my opinion and my opinion alone, and does not include info from my private chats with FSJ.

Apple Phone

Ahh.. this is the rumour that has lived on and on and on. I admit, I’m looking forward to such a device and what innovations Apple can add to a phone. Voice 2.0? Kevin Rose predicted it will arrive in January and even offered juicy details from his ‘source’. Foxconn, the Taiwanese iPod manufacturer, has reportedly sealed a contract to manufacture “12 million mobile handsets with music player functionality”. All the while, Apple CEO Steve Jobs has steadfastly said that there are no plans for such a device.

If the mythical Apple Phone or iPhone is true, I don’t think it will make its debut at Macworld though. It’s probably a big enough announcement to have its own special event. Probability: 70%

Launch of OSX 10.5 Leopard

The next version of OSX 10.5, or Leopard, was announced at the WWDC last year. Mac developers have had their hands on it for some time now but the latest builds still show that it may still take a while before it is ready for release. Not nice of Apple to release half-baked software right?

Then again, there’s that possibility that Steve Jobs has been working his crew like a slave ship to get it out in time on Tuesday. Or they had intentionally released older builds as latest version to purposely throw us off the scent. That Steve Jobs, sneaky he is.

Probability: 80%

Official unveiling of ‘iTV’

Back in September, Apple previewed a Mac to TV interface which it code-named ‘iTV’. It was clearly in the early stages of development back then but many expect that the product will be updated with more features (DVR anyone?) before its official launch. Back then, Jobs said that the iTV will not ship till the “first quarter of 2007”, but I feel that they will officially unveil it and give it its official name on Tuesday. iTheatre? iDVR?

Probability: 90%

New iPods

Going on the same theme as the iTV, I believe that Steve Jobs will introduce new iPods and definitely new content deals with iTunes. I mean, if you can now move your iTunes content onto your TV, wouldn’t you want to bring it along with you too? And while the current 5th Gen iPod is a nice portable media player, it’s screen isn’t exactly suited to watching TV shows and movies.

So yes boys and girls, you heard it here first, myMacBUZZ predicts that we will see the long-rumoured Video iPod, or whatever Apple decides to call it. This will be the product that will catch everyone off by surprise (as everyone was expecting iPhones and what nots).

Anyway, I just want to remind you that I’m making all of this up, so don’t yell at me if I’m wrong.

Probability: 90%

iWork ‘07

ThinkSecret reports that iWork ‘07 is about to roll out and even got a couple of screenshots and an icon. The big deal about this new version of iWork is that it will include a spreadsheets programme which is designed to be an Excel replacement. This means Mac users will finally be able to have a viable Microsoft Office alternative. I think this is quite likely as iWork is up for a revamp anyway, plus ThinkSecret got an icon right?

Probability: 90%

8-Core Mac Pro

AppleInsider reports that there’s a new 8-core chip in town, and it could be heading straight for the Mac Pro this January at Macworld.

Probability: 60%

Mac Tablet

There’s been talk about a portable Mac tablet this last year. Judging from the homebrew versions that have been hacked together, there’s a great interest in it from potential customers too. However, I don’t think Apple will do this one. The only Mac tablet you’ll find at Macworld will be OWC’s ModBook.

Probability: 20%

So that concludes this year’s Macworld Rumour Predictor. Please feel free to proclaim your predictions in the comments, or come back to see how awesomely correct (or awesomely wrong) I was. Till Macworld.