Today, Apple (NAS: AAPL) throws some hype fuel on the fire with the new teaser appearing on their website...

...and the hype machine moves forward. Marketers and business folks take note: This isn't a case of over-promise and under-deliver as is so common in the consumer electronics industry, it's genuine excitement about a company that has a track record of rolling out products that consumers buy and apparently enjoy.

Much could be said of Apple, and the tenure of notoriously low-key CEO, Steve Jobs. Look at the massive success of the iPod, the transition to Intel-based computers, not to mention the original and subsequent iMacs. Oh yeah, and there's that little black mark dotting the headlines as of late, you know, the whole improper options granting thing.

Among all the headlines, two things are certain with the house that Jobs built: Secrecy and hype. Virtually every product launch since the iPod has a massive amount of hype surrounding every event, with Appleheads spreading rumor after rumor, and Photoshopped picture after picture, and with next week's Macworld, this event is no different.
Industry pundits and Appleheads expect the comapny to announce a foray into cellphone handsets at next week's MacWorld event in San Francisco. Granted, an ApplePhone (Linksys has the trademark on iPhone, sorry folks) seems a natural progression, and over the last year we've seen patent applications crop up by the kids in Cupertino that allude to a potential cell-phone, but that's no guarantee on the company releasing a cell-phone. Pundits have been expecting a wider touch-screen iPod since around last February. Again, Apple hasn't delivered thus far. That's not to say, however, they won't next month.

One thing they're sure to deliver is the next iteration of OS X, codenamed Leopard. The OS is expected to ship in late February with some interesting takes on seemingly old concepts. Among them: Time Machine, a new form of backup that allows any folder to be restored to an earlier version with a Milky Way inspired UI, Spaces, a new window manager, and broad support for 64-bit applications.