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Apple's Macworld Finale Short on Fireworks

James Rogers

Apple's(AAPL Quote) farewell appearance at the Macworld Expo lacked not only CEO Steve Jobs but also any of the rumored new products fans and investors had hoped they might see.

Speculation about a new Mac mini, iPhone nano and even a media server were wide of the mark as Apple focused on its iTunes store, a new ultrathin MacBook and a slew of software upgrades.

Apple marketing chief Phil Schiller, assuming the keynote responsibilities from Jobs pointedly stated that "today is all about the Mac" as he kicked off his presentation at the San Francisco event.

With the media and investors currently fixated on his boss's health problems, Schiller focused firmly on Apple's product roadmap, highlighting some major changes in its strategy.

Notably, Apple is introducing a new iTunes pricing model. The company will now offer three download prices, 69 cents, 99 cents and $1.29, whereas previously it had a flat rate of 99 cents.

Apple already offered some digital rights management-free downloads for $1.29, although the three-tier pricing strategy is a major nod to the music industry, which has long called on Apple to price its downloads based on popularity and newness.

The company also took a major step toward removing the usage restrictions on its downloads, with Schiller announcing that, starting today, 8 million songs will be offered DRM-free. By the end of the quarter, the remaining 2 million songs in the iTunes catalog will be available DRM-free, he added.

Schiller also announced that the iTunes music store is available on 3G networks, providing iPhone users the same downloads as Internet users.

With more than 6 billion songs downloaded, iTunes remains a strong revenue stream for Apple, which faces stiff competition from the likes of Nokia (NOK Quote), Research In Motion(RIMM Quote), Hewlett-Packard(HPQ Quote) and Acer in areas such as smartphones and notebooks.

Away from iTunes, Schiller took the wraps off the new version of the company's 17-inch MacBook Pro, which Apple is touting as the world's thinnest and lightest notebook of its size.

Priced at $2,799, the latest member of the MacBook family offers much longer battery life than its predecessors and competition, according to Schiller.

Apple also unveiled the latest versions of its iWork and iLife Mac software. These include new iPhoto software, which uses facial recognition to group pictures of the same person together. Schiller said iPhoto will integrate with Facebook and Flickr, and he explained how the software can work with Google(GOOG Quote) Maps and GPS geotagging to show the locations where photos were taken.

Schiller also unveiled an updated version of Apple's iMovie technology and an enhancement to the "Garageband" application, where celebrities such as Sting and Norah Jones show users how to play musical instruments.

Apple unveiled a collaborative version of its iWork software at Macworld, touting iWork.com as a way to share documents with other people online.

The firm's shares slipped 65 cents, or 0.7%, to $93.93 in afternoon trading.

Apple announced that Jobs would not be delivering the Macworld keynote last year. The CEO's health remains an obsession for both investors and the media, prompting a statement by the firm's CEO on Monday. Jobs, who was treated for pancreatic cancer in 2004, promised to continue leading the company and allayed rumors that he was seriously ill.