By Gregg Keizer
January 5, 2009

Some analysts expect a low-key Macworld Conference & Expo this week as Apple Inc. offers up its last keynote without its primary pitchman, CEO Steve Jobs. But others aren't so sure that the company known for big product announcements will forgo the opportunity, if only because Jobs won't be on the stage.

"We'll see a couple of product line refreshes in hardware and software, but that's probably about it," said Van Baker, a research vice president with Gartner Inc. "I have pretty low expectations." Baker's take was not shared by Ezra Gottheil, an analyst with Technology Business Research Inc., who was more confident that Apple would try to make noise -- even without Jobs. "I think they'll try to make a splash, or at least as much as they can with what they've got," he said.

That was something even Baker agreed with. "They'll make it as dramatic as they can," said Baker. "Apple's the only company I know that can get a major media event out of a refresh of the iPod nano. They'll play it up for whatever it's worth, even though it's a lousy time of the year and it's a lousy economy." Rumors and speculation about what Apple will unveil during the keynote that begins Tuesday at 1 p.m. EST has been muted compared to years past, in large part because the company announced in mid-December that Jobs would not handle the chore.

Instead, Philip Schiller, the company's senior product marketing executive, will stalk the stage. (Computerworld plans to live-blog Schiller's keynote as it unfolds.) In related news today, Jobs broke a six-month silence about his health to say that he is undergoing treatment for a hormone imbalance that has caused him to lose weight. That weight loss had fueled speculation that Jobs, who had cancer surgery in 2004, was again seriously ill.