San Francisco, United States, January 7: With Steve Jobs absent at the Macworld Conference & Expo this year, Apple’s Phil Schiller gave the keynote address and revealed what Apple has been working on: 2009 versions for the iLife and iWork, changes to the iTunes Store and a new MacBook Pro.

The MacWorld Expo is a much-anticipated event, especially for Apple fans, because this is where new products are unveiled. This year, however, Apple does not seem to have any fancy new product to showcase.

Gartner Inc. analyst Van Baker called Schiller’s presentation “low-key and subdued” but he also added that he thinks “there's some good stuff here.”

Schiller revealed a new iLife for the year 2009. This showcases the new iPhoto features called “Faces,” which employs facial recognition for searching images and “Places,” which organizes the photos through the place it was taken from. “Places” relies on the information obtained by using GPS-enabled cameras.

iLife also has an updated iMovie which Schiller said would “blow away” its users. GarageBand, an iLife application which focuses on video tutorials, has also been updated.

Apple’s iWork also underwent some changes but the most interesting part is the introduction of iWork.com. The online service allows iWork users to upload and share their files online as well as leave feedbacks for the shared files. Its beta version was already launched on Tuesday.

The iLife ’09 suit will come free with new Macs. Both iLife and iWork can be obtained alone for $79 or $99 with a family pack. Apple has also coupled the applications together with Leopard in a “Mac Box Set” for the price of $196. iWork can be availed now but iLife and the Mac Box Set will not be sold until late this month.

Regarding the iTunes Store, Schiller has announced that it is now free from DRM (digital rights management) restrictions, which means any music downloaded from the store can be freely copied to any media. The price of the download will range from 60 cents to $1.29 each. iPhone 3G users can now also download music by using their mobile carrier’s 3G networks.

The only hardware introduced in the expo was the 17-inch MacBook Pro. Schiller called it the "world's thinnest 17-in. notebook" and boasted of its lithium-polymer battery. The battery cannot be removed from the laptop but can withstand up to 1,000 charges before it needs replacement. The battery can also power the laptop for up to 8 hours with one charging.

The products unveiled by Apple may not be what people were expecting but they certainly are something to look forward to.