According to the research outfit, Mac sales for July and August are up seven percent year-over-year. If this proves true, Apple (AAPL) should sell somewhere around 2.75 and 2.8 million Macs in the quarter, which would match or slightly exceed Wall Street consensus estimates. IPod sales should meet estimates as well, though NPD reports that year-over-year sales during July and August were down 16 percent.

Munster figures Apple will sell 9.5 million to 10.5 million iPods for the quarter. The Street is looking for 10 million, and with the launch of the newest nano, Apple will likely meet this goal.

“We are expecting reacceleration in the final month of the quarter given the new iPod nanos that shipped on 9/9,” Munster explained. “Also, iPod international is growing faster than domestic. In other words, we believe the actual reported numbers for iPod will be slightly better than NPD would suggest.”

BoomTown was abuzz with Pixis, Plums and power this week as Kara focused on tech that wasn’t Apple, and reminded us that lady geeks hold the power in Silicon Valley.

While Apple was gathering clouds for its Rock and Roll storm, Palm (PALM) released the teeny Pixi, designed, Palm hopes, to steal some of that Apple (AAPL) thunder. The Pixi smart phone, while smaller and thinner, reported Kara, has fewer features and less power than the already available Pre.

Small can be good in the world of tech, and BoomTown reported that a certain Nordic tech behemoth thinks so too. Nokia (NOK) announced that it had acquired “microsocial networking” start-up Plum, whose signature offering allows users to build smaller, more intimate electronic social networks.

Kara did it “like a boss” this week and highlighted the tech sector mavens from Fortune magazine’s annual list of most powerful women. Ursula Burns of Xerox (XRX), IBM-er (IBM) Ginni Rometty and Oracle (ORCL) President Safra Catz were among those at the top. BoomTown will be at the upcoming conference associated with the Fortune list, so look for Kara’s Flip video interviews with these Titanias of tech.

It was nice of Apple to release new iPods just in time for John’s birthday this week, and Digital Daily returned the favor with high-bandwidth, hard-rockin’ coverage of Apple’s music-themed event, complete with live photos and blogging. John liked the video feature of the new iPod nano, but focused on the biggest news of the week–Apple’s upgraded CEO.

Digital Daily’s Apple coverage didn’t stop at The Steve. Ever since announcement of the exclusive Apple-AT&T (T) partnership, current and would-be iPhone freaks have speculated as to what kind of deal will be struck when that contract expires. John reported that iSuppli prognosticators think the agreement may be extended when it runs out in 2010.

John closed out the week with Twitter leaks about the newest incarnation of Microsoft’s (MSFT) Google-toppler (GOOG), Bing. Microsoft showcased Bing 2.0 at the annual company meeting, which some employees took as a green light to tweet away about the unreleased product. Microsoft HQ was more tight-lipped, telling John only that the rollout would happen over the next few months.

MediaMemo followed the money this week–specifically advertising dollars. A year after the Lehman collapse, Peter cited a MediaPost survey that showed some growth in ad spending. In a down market, Peter reminded, sometimes the only place to go, is up. Let’s hope so.

Not to be left out of Apple’s party, MediaMemo covered the release of an iPhone app from RealNetworks (RNWK) that brings all-you-can-eat music for a monthly fee. Wall Street barely blinked at the deal, but changes may come if the service catches on as competitor Spotify has in Europe.

And while the NFL won’t let players tweet from the end zone, it is upping its tech quotient by bringing blacked-out games to your Internet browser. MediaMemo reported that the lower-attendance games would be available to tech-savvy sports nuts–after midnight on game day. Get out the Fritos and espresso, guys, its game time.

True to form as the Lincoln of our very own Mt. Techmore, Walt’s address this week was aimed at helping the wayward get back on track with a bevy of new iPhone navigation apps. This new breed of high dollar apps harnesses the power of the iPhone 3GS to replace those ever present dash top GPS navigation units.

Walt extended his techno-presidential benevolence with another installment of Mossberg’s Mailbox. Networked storage, Quicken for Mac and the ominously impending switch to Windows 7 were all up for discussion.

At the Mossberg Solution, Katie tested Postbox, software designed to bring novel management solutions to your inbox. Developed by some of the guys from Mozilla, Postbox does offer lots of great features, Katie said, even if the switch to the new tools might not be easy for all.

Lots more shiny new tech talk next week. Stay tuned.

In fact, it could be argued that public confirmation of Jobs’s health since his return to the company was truly the most significant announcement of the day. As Morgan Keegan analyst Tavis McCourt quipped in a research note issued after the event, “Aside from a lack of a camera on the iPod Touch, everything announced was generally in line with expectations, although it all tends to sound much more revolutionary when Steve Jobs is spinning the story. It was clearly a positive to see him back on stage.”

Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster felt similarly: “There was some debate over whether Steve Jobs would deliver the presentation at [the] event,” he said in a note to clients. “He did, and we see this as a sign that he has returned to work at near-full capacity following his health-related leave of absence. We continue to believe he is the primary spokesman and active leader of Apple.”

Munster went on to note that the event was otherwise a bit of a disappointment. Certainly, the lack of a new iPod touch with a built-in video camera, which was viewed by many as almost a sure thing, was a bit of a letdown.

“We were expecting a new iPod touch model with a video camera, which Apple did not announce,” Munster said. “The lack of a camera may be due to last-minute quality issues, or it may also be a strategic decision to differentiate the nano from the touch, and the touch from the iPhone. Ultimately we see the lack of a camera in the touch as a move to push users toward the iPhone and drive purchases of multiple devices per customer by segmenting the product lines.”

Or to position the iPod touch as a truly competitive portable gaming device. Certainly, that’s what appeared to be going on yesterday as Apple (AAPL) brought out Ubisoft, Tapulous, Gameloft, and Electronic Arts (ERTS) in quick succession to demo their upcoming new games. And then, there were the data points. Consider these:

• 20 million iPod touches sold to date
• Over 100 million iTunes accounts
• Over 1.8 billion apps downloaded to date. Impressive given that Apple passed one billion apps downloaded just last April
• Over 75,000 apps available
• 21,000 of those 75,000 are games and entertainment apps

So nearly one third of all iPhone OS apps sold to date are games and entertainment apps. Clearly, Jobs was on to something when he told The Wall Street Journal in November 2008, “I think the iPhone and iPod touch may emerge as really viable devices in the mobile games market.”

“Based on our channel checks, the iPhone remains the best selling device at AT&T with both the new $200/$300 iPhone 3GS and $100 legacy iPhone selling very well,” Piper Jaffary analyst Gene Munster said in a research note today.

“In July, our checks had indicated store managers were strongly recommending the legacy iPhone,” Munster notes, “as we believe this was partially driven by store representatives hoping to make the sale with the 3GS stocked out combined with efforts to reduce existing inventory levels of the legacy iPhone. However, in August, our checks indicate store managers are increasingly recommending the 3GS, and we believe this is driven by improved availability of the 3GS at most AT&T stores.”

Munster summarizes: “Overall, the iPhone remains the best selling device and our August checks indicate the iPhone took share from BlackBerry, the Nokia E71x, and most other competitor products. Finally, in our checks at Best Buy, store managers indicated the iPhone was their best selling device with stores selling out of stock as soon as they received the Apple smartphones.”

A bullish assessment, with an even more bullish conclusion: Munster says he expects Apple (AAPL) to ship seven million iPhones in the quarter. If that’s truly the case, Apple should have no trouble beating Wall Street’s expectations for its current quarter despite the gloomy economy.

One last point worth noting here: Munster is not bullish on Apple’s event tomorrow. He describes it as a “non-event,” though he seems convinced Steve Jobs will host it. “We expect Steve Jobs to introduce a new iPod lineup with a new iPod touch, new nanos, and a new classic, with cameras in the new models,” he notes. “We expect the stock to trade off on a lack of surprising announcements.”

“Based on our channel checks, the iPhone remains the best selling device at AT&T with both the new $200/$300 iPhone 3GS and $100 legacy iPhone selling very well,” Piper Jaffary analyst Gene Munster said in a research note today.

“In July, our checks had indicated store managers were strongly recommending the legacy iPhone,” Munster notes, “as we believe this was partially driven by store representatives hoping to make the sale with the 3GS stocked out combined with efforts to reduce existing inventory levels of the legacy iPhone. However, in August, our checks indicate store managers are increasingly recommending the 3GS, and we believe this is driven by improved availability of the 3GS at most AT&T stores.”

Munster summarizes: “Overall, the iPhone remains the best selling device and our August checks indicate the iPhone took share from BlackBerry, the Nokia E71x, and most other competitor products. Finally, in our checks at Best Buy, store managers indicated the iPhone was their best selling device with stores selling out of stock as soon as they received the Apple smartphones.”

A bullish assessment, with an even more bullish conclusion: Munster says he expects Apple (AAPL) to ship seven million iPhones in the quarter. If that’s truly the case, Apple should have no trouble beating Wall Street’s expectations for its current quarter despite the gloomy economy.

One last point worth noting here: Munster is not bullish on Apple’s event tomorrow. He describes it as a “non-event,” though he seems convinced Steve Jobs will host it. “We expect Steve Jobs to introduce a new iPod lineup with a new iPod touch, new nanos, and a new classic, with cameras in the new models,” he notes. “We expect the stock to trade off on a lack of surprising announcements.”

Now, in the run-up to tomorrow’s invitation-only Apple event, the question is: Will Apple (AAPL) reach the bar? And with what? The answer, if the latest rumors prove true, depends on your feelings about iPods with cameras. Because according to reports, when Apple refreshes its iPod touch and iPod nano players, both will feature cameras–the nano’s for still images, the touch’s for photos and video.

We may also see a new price point for entry-level touch models, one intended to undermine Microsoft’s (MSFT) forthcoming multitouch Zune with HD display and to really juice App Store sales. Perhaps the 16GB touch at $199 and the 8GB at $150.

Beyond this, the event might also include the announcement of iTunes 9, said to include some sort of social networking element; “Cocktail,” a new music format that bundles full-length albums with art, video and other bells and whistles; and perhaps even Blu-ray support (no Beatles, though). And after that? Well, it’s tough to say. Apple’s never an easy read when it comes to product announcements, even when there’s evidence floating around that would seem to suggest otherwise.

So join us tomorrow for live coverage of Apple’s event to see if the above rumors prove true or if Apple’s got something else entirely up its sleeve. The event kicks off at 10 am PDT.

Now, in the run-up to tomorrow’s invitation-only Apple event, the question is: Will Apple (AAPL) reach the bar? And with what? The answer, if the latest rumors prove true, depends on your feelings about iPods with cameras. Because according to reports, when Apple refreshes its iPod touch and iPod nano players, both will feature cameras–the nano’s for still images, the touch’s for photos and video.

We may also see a new price point for entry-level touch models, one intended to undermine Microsoft’s (MSFT) forthcoming multitouch Zune with HD display and to really juice App Store sales. Perhaps the 16GB touch at $199 and the 8GB at $150.

Beyond this, the event might also include the announcement of iTunes 9, said to include some sort of social networking element; “Cocktail,” a new music format that bundles full-length albums with art, video and other bells and whistles; and perhaps even Blu-ray support (no Beatles, though). And after that? Well, it’s tough to say. Apple’s never an easy read when it comes to product announcements, even when there’s evidence floating around that would seem to suggest otherwise.

So join us tomorrow for live coverage of Apple’s event to see if the above rumors prove true or if Apple’s got something else entirely up its sleeve. The event kicks off at 10 am PDT.

But in true Apple fashion, the company has been noncommittal about the exact date of the event and what it will be showing off.

I’ve asked Apple for comment and will report back if the company responds. But the timing makes sense and shouldn’t come as a surprise since Apple (AAPL) has traditionally used the week following Labor Day to show off new products and refresh existing product lines.

Two years ago, for instance, Apple introduced the iPod touch, which has since become a key part of the company’s arsenal. Last year, the event featured less substantial changes, like an overhaul of the iPod Nano.

Given that Apple has tipped off music industry executives, it’s a fair bet that the event will incorporate music in some way. Perhaps it will show off the new “Cocktail” format that Apple has been working on, which bundles full-length albums with other goodies like album covers and interactive bells and whistles.

But unless Apple unveils its so-called iTablet, a touchscreen device that’s supposed to be a cross between an iPhone and a full-fledged MacBook laptop computer, there are going to be a lot of disappointed Apple acolytes.

The other big appearance the Apple faithful will be looking for will be Apple CEO Steve Jobs, who hasn’t made an official public appearance since a keynote presentation last October.

During Apple’s September 2008 keynote, Jobs took time to dismiss reports that he was in failing health. But in January, Jobs said a “hormone imbalance” required him to step away from day-to-day leadership at the company, and news later surfaced that Jobs had undergone a liver transplant last spring. He’s been officially back at work since late June.

BoomTown extends apologies to the late Francis P. Church, who penned the original “Yes, Virginia, There Is a Santa Claus” editorial in the New York Sun on Sept. 21, 1897.

But with just a little rejiggering, his eloquent words work perfectly as a translation for Apple’s press release about its withdrawal from San Francisco’s Macworld and no keynote speech from Apple CEO Steve Jobs yesterday, which doubtlessly shook the Apple (AAPL) faithful to the core.

Oddly enough, it matches up surprisingly–and a little disturbingly–well.

Thus, here’s a little holiday inspiration to help those poor souls make it through these darkest of days:

Dear Editor:

I am 28 years old. Some of my little fanboys say there is no Steve Jobs at Macworld. My imaginary friend at AppleInsider says, ‘If you see it on BoomTown, it’s so.’ Please tell me the truth, is there a Steve Jobs?

–O’Hanlon, a geek in Virginia”

Apple wrote: CUPERTINO, California—December 16, 2008—Apple today announced that this year is the last year the company will exhibit at Macworld Expo. Philip Schiller, Apple’s senior vice president of Worldwide Product Marketing, will deliver the opening keynote for this year’s Macworld Conference & Expo, and it will be Apple’s last keynote at the show. The keynote address will be held at Moscone West on Tuesday, January 6, 2009 at 9:00 a.m. Macworld will be held at San Francisco’s Moscone Center January 5-9, 2009.

Translation: Virginia geek, your little friends are wrong (and they also have no life, which is self-evident). They have been affected by the skepticism of a skeptical age. They do not believe except they see. They think that nothing can be which is not comprehensible by their little minds. All minds, Virginia geek, whether they be men’s or children’s, are little. Not as elegantly tiny as the iPod Nano, but little nonetheless. In this great universe of ours, man is a mere insect, an ant, in his intellect as compared with the boundless world about him, as measured by the intelligence capable of grasping the whole of truth and knowledge.

Apple wrote: Apple is reaching more people in more ways than ever before, so like many companies, trade shows have become a very minor part of how Apple reaches its customers. The increasing popularity of Apple’s Retail Stores, which more than 3.5 million people visit every week, and the Apple.com website enable Apple to directly reach more than a hundred million customers around the world in innovative new ways.

Translation: Yes, Virginia geek, there is a Steve Jobs. He exists as certainly as love and generosity and devotion and the fabled touchscreen tablet Mac exist, and you know that they abound and give to your life its highest beauty and joy. Alas! how dreary would be the world if there were no Steve Jobs! It would be as dreary as if there were no amazingly great iPhones. There would be no childlike faith then, no poetry, no romance, no Pull My Finger app to make tolerable this existence. We should have no enjoyment, except in sense and sight. The eternal light with which childhood fills the world would be extinguished.

Apple wrote: Apple has been steadily scaling back on trade shows in recent years, including NAB, Macworld New York, Macworld Tokyo and Apple Expo in Paris.

Translation: Not believe in Steve Jobs! You might as well not believe in those admittedly freaky iPod shadow dancers. You might get your other pretend friend at MacRumors to hire men to watch in all the Chinese manufacturing factories on Christmas eve to catch Steve Jobs, but even if you did not see Steve Jobs ordering up new Mini desktop computers, what would that prove? Nobody sees Steve Jobs, but that is no sign that there is no Steve Jobs. The most real things in the world are those that neither children nor men can see. Did you ever see the iPod dancers dancing bizarrely on the lawn? Of course not, but that’s no proof that they are not there. Nobody can conceive or imagine all the wonders there are unseen and unseeable in the world.

Apple wrote: Apple ignited the personal computer revolution in the 1970s with the Apple II and reinvented the personal computer in the 1980s with the Macintosh. Today, Apple continues to lead the industry in innovation with its award-winning computers, OS X operating system and iLife and professional applications.

Translation: You tear apart the baby’s rattle and see what makes the noise inside, but there is a veil covering the unseen world which not the strongest man, nor even the united strength of all the strongest men that ever lived could tear apart. Only faith, poetry, love, romance, and the fact that the Mac guy vs. PC guy ads are pure genius can push aside that curtain and view and picture the supernal beauty and glory beyond. Is it all real? Ah, Virginia geek, in all this world there is nothing else real and abiding.

Apple wrote: Apple is also spearheading the digital media revolution with its iPod portable music and video players and iTunes online store, and has entered the mobile phone market with its revolutionary iPhone.

Translation: No Steve Jobs! Thank God! he lives and lives forever, despite Henry Blodget-fueled health rumors to the contrary. A thousand years from now, Virginia geek, nay 10 times 10,000 years from now, he will continue to make glad the heart of Mac fanboyhood.

Meanwhile, Microsoft‘s Zune announced via press release that new players in different capacities and colors would be available this week, along with a software update.

Despite their different approaches, these two announcements shared a notable common thread: integrated music discovery. Each company’s new software features ways for users to find automatically generated suggestions of music they might like, the way Pandora Media Inc.’s popular personalized music lists do. Of course, music discovery also encourages users to buy more.

Apple’s new iPods include a thinner Nano with an accelerometer, which senses the direction a screen is being held in a user’s hands and flips the display horizontally or vertically. These Nanos come in eight- or 16-gigabyte versions for $149 or $199 and are available in nine bright colors. A new, thinner iPod Touch with a built-in speaker was also unveiled, and it comes in eight-, 16- or 32-gigabyte versions for $229, $299 or $399.

Microsoft’s two new Zune players come in 16- and 120-gigabyte capacities for $200 and $250, respectively. All Zunes have built-in FM tuners and wireless capability, but the new upgrade allows users to buy and download songs they hear on their Zunes’ radios via Wi-Fi, when available.

While Apple’s iPod has been a snowballing success for the company, its companion iTunes software is no slouch. To date, 65 million iTunes store accounts with associated credit cards have been set up on Macs and Windows PCs. But iTunes has always been weak on music discovery and community.

Apple (AAPL) calls iTunes 8′s ability to make smart music recommendations the “Genius” feature. The tool can automatically do two things after analyzing a selected song from your music library. First, it can generate a playlist of songs from tunes you own. Second, it can generate a list of songs you don’t own but might want to buy from the iTunes store.

MicrosoftZune’s Mixview feature displays content related to an artist with an explanation of the relationship.

Microsoft’s Zune software discovers and recommends music using categories called “Picks,” “Channels” and “Mixview.” The last of the three, Mixview, generates recommendations for other musicians and albums, as well as other Zune users with whom you might like to connect. The suggestions are based on the artist of the song you’re playing and are displayed in an interactive graphic that explains how each is linked — for instance, if your artist was influenced by a band or if a member of Zune’s social network is a top listener of the artist you’re playing.

After using the music-discovery software from Apple and Microsoft (MSFT), I felt like Apple’s Genius tool still had a lot to learn, though the company says it will improve over time as more people start using it. Zune’s software had some similar issues, but it offered recommendations in a richer, more engaging manner, encouraging me to keep digging around and learn more about my music. Though I didn’t happen to have as much time to use Zune’s software as I did Apple’s Genius, I got more out of my Zune experience.

Apple offers much more content at its iTunes store than Zune. In all categories, iTunes takes the lead: in songs, 8.5 million songs to Zune’s 4 million; in music videos, 10,000 versus 8,500; in television episodes, 30,000 versus 3,000; and in audio and video podcasts, 125,000 versus 6,000.

To analyze and learn from your music, Apple scans the contents of your music library, which may raise privacy concerns for some people. Apple says that the information it collects is completely anonymous, and that it does not and will not associate this information on its servers with you or your account.

Some of my Genius playlists were well-crafted, including songs that meshed well with one another. But outliers cropped up, such as when “Should I Stay or Should I Go” by the Clash was stuck in the middle of a list generated from Coldplay’s gentler ballad, “Green Eyes.” Some songs won’t generate playlists if you don’t have enough related songs in your library; this happened to me with the pop hit “Apologize” by Timbaland, featuring OneRepublic.

Songs from artists whose content isn’t sold in iTunes, such as The Beatles, won’t generate Genius lists, because Genius makes suggestions based only on what it sells in its iTunes catalog. Genius will soon work with songs beyond those sold in iTunes.

Genius has a bigger problem. If you hit “Play” in iTunes, a Genius sidebar appears to offer content related to a selected song. But as play continues, Genius doesn’t continuously generate new recommendations; instead, it’s stuck on the very first song that was selected — which you might have chosen two hours ago. This means music discovery must be a manual process, rather than an as-you-listen convenience.

Genius playlists can be made on a computer or iPod and sync back and forth. I synced Genius lists on two iPod touches, but this didn’t work in one test with an iPhone. Apple said it couldn’t replicate this problem and hadn’t had other reports of it.

Zune software never scans your music collection. Instead, it knows only the number of times you played a song and how you may have rated a song.

Zune’s Mixview adds a real zing to the discovery process. It is a kaleidoscope-like graphic that appears on the screen when a song, artist, album or friend’s Zune Card is selected. The selected item is surrounded by eight to 10 floating squares filled with graphics and text, each holding a related song, album, artist or graphic representation of a Zune listener who’s considered an “expert” on the selection.

Each of these related squares includes a line of text explaining its relationship to the center item. For example, as I played “(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction” by the Rolling Stones, Cyril Davies appeared as a related artist; an image of Arthur Alexander appeared as an influencer of the Stones; a Zune community member with the tag “Rreynoso” appeared as the top listener for the band and other Stones albums were displayed.

Mixview changes as you explore it. When one of its recommendations is selected, a new Mixview is created around that selection, encouraging discovery. But Mixview has the same problem as Apple’s Genius: When one song ends and another begins, the Mixview graphic doesn’t automatically change; you must manually start Mixview for a new song. Zune says it doesn’t want to change the graphic in case a user is in mid-exploration.

Unlike Genius, Mixview shows songs and artists beyond what Zune sells online. But the company says Mixview does “favor” Zune content, and Zune Picks are limited to items sold by Zune.

Zune Picks and Channels are more passive ways of discovering music: Picks are generated for you in Zune Marketplace according to your listening habits. Zune Channels bring collections of music to Zune devices and software, but these are useful only for Zune Pass members who pay $15 monthly.

Apple’s Genius is a helpful tool when it comes to quickly making a playlist, and its iTunes sidebar might reveal fresh related content. But the Zune software truly allows people to discover more about their own music and that of others.

Edited by Walter S. Mossberg

• Email us at mossbergsolution@wsj.com. Find this and other columns and videos online free at the All Things Digital Web site: http://walt.allthingsd.com

More interestingly though, Rose says that Apple will uncrate iTunes 8, the first major overhaul of the software since iTunes 7 launched two years ago. Rose claims that iTunes 8 will boast some significant enhancements, among them HD-quality TV show downloads, a new “grid view” browsing feature and a playlist recommendation engine called Genius. “iTunes 8 includes Genius, which makes playlists from songs in your library that go great together,” Rose writes. “Genius also includes Genius sidebar, which recommends music from the iTunes Store that you don’t already have.”

Notably absent from Rose’s list of new features: iTunes Unlimited–the $129-a-year all-you-can-eat subscription service that Apple has been rumored to be considering for some time now.

Like all such reports, Rose’s should be taken with a grain of salt, if not an entire salt lick. Rose was, after all, the guy who erroneously claimed Apple’s first iPhone would feature a slide-out keyboard, dual batteries and CDMA, and GSM support.

“Our latest checks show forecasted calendar 3Q and 2008 iPhone build volumes have been revised significantly higher, with more than 15 million 3G iPhones plus two million old 2G iPhones forecast for 2008,” FBR Capital Market (FBCM) analysts Craig Berger and Robert Pikover explained in a research note to clients today. The two also noted that Apple’s raised build volumes for Macs and iPods as well. “Recent checks show Apple’s 3Q notebook and desktop build volumes were revised up by 10% and 20%, respectively, since our last check,” they explained. “… Apple’s 3Q iPod build volumes were revised up by 15% since our last check and are now set to grow 35% sequentially.”

Interestingly, Berger and Pikover suggest that some of that iPod volume may be in updated iterations of the iconic device. “We hear a new, lower priced Nano may be coming, as well as refreshed versions of the Touch and Classic,” they said.

“Our latest checks show forecasted calendar 3Q and 2008 iPhone build volumes have been revised significantly higher, with more than 15 million 3G iPhones plus two million old 2G iPhones forecast for 2008,” FBR Capital Market (FBCM) analysts Craig Berger and Robert Pikover explained in a research note to clients today. The two also noted that Apple’s raised build volumes for Macs and iPods as well. “Recent checks show Apple’s 3Q notebook and desktop build volumes were revised up by 10% and 20%, respectively, since our last check,” they explained. “… Apple’s 3Q iPod build volumes were revised up by 15% since our last check and are now set to grow 35% sequentially.”

Interestingly, Berger and Pikover suggest that some of that iPod volume may be in updated iterations of the iconic device. “We hear a new, lower priced Nano may be coming, as well as refreshed versions of the Touch and Classic,” they said.

Scientists at Cornell University’s Baker Institute for Animal Health have nearly managed to reproduce (no pun intended) the minute biological engine that powers a sperm’s flagellum. That engine runs on a high-energy molecule called adenosine triphosphate, or ATP, which sperm create via a metabolic process known as glycolysis.

Now, glycolysis requires 10 enzymes attached in the proper sequence to occur in the body. What the Cornell scientists hope to do is make it occur on a tiny gold chip covered with nickel ions. So far, they have attached three of the 10 enzymes to do that. If they’re able to attach the remaining seven, that little gold chip should generate enough ATP to power a nanodevice. Should that occur, their achievement could usher in a new era of smart in-body medical devices that use blood glucose as fuel.

Said Dr. Erkki Ruoslahti, a nanotechnology researcher at the Burnham Institute for Medical Research in La Jolla, Calif., “Having some sort of way of being able to power nanodevices is the No. 1 bottleneck in constructing really clever devices.”

Scientists at Cornell University’s Baker Institute for Animal Health have nearly managed to reproduce (no pun intended) the minute biological engine that powers a sperm’s flagellum. That engine runs on a high-energy molecule called adenosine triphosphate, or ATP, which sperm create via a metabolic process known as glycolysis.

Now, glycolysis requires 10 enzymes attached in the proper sequence to occur in the body. What the Cornell scientists hope to do is make it occur on a tiny gold chip covered with nickel ions. So far, they have attached three of the 10 enzymes to do that. If they’re able to attach the remaining seven, that little gold chip should generate enough ATP to power a nanodevice. Should that occur, their achievement could usher in a new era of smart in-body medical devices that use blood glucose as fuel.

Said Dr. Erkki Ruoslahti, a nanotechnology researcher at the Burnham Institute for Medical Research in La Jolla, Calif., “Having some sort of way of being able to power nanodevices is the No. 1 bottleneck in constructing really clever devices.”

Macworld San Francisco is still quite a ways off, but the Mac rumor mill is gearing up already. 9to5Mac, which correctly predicted the recent iPod Nano redesign, says Apple may be prepping a new, slimmer line of MacBooks. The rumored machines reportedly feature black-aluminum and silver-aluminum enclosures and a “strange” touchpad, and are slimmer than current MacBook Pros.

Slim enough to require one of those bottom-mounted optical disk drives? We’ll have to wait for the follow-up rumors to find out.