After the Apple event: what was rumored, what was expected and grading the rumorsphere

Another Apple event has come and gone... and after every event, tech pundits dissect the event: what was announced, what wasn’t and what will come in the future. This event isn’t any different from the rest as the rumors swirled around the Internet... with one exception... we're keeping score this time around.

What was rumored?  What actually came true?  What didn't?  What to expect at the next event? The full breakdown, after the break.

First Rumor: Steve Jobs.

Everyone was pretty sure Steve Jobs would not be presenting the keynote at the Apple event.  The speculation started on last week's TWIT podcast, with host Leo Laporte speculating whether Jobs would even show up.  The theory? Rumors of his declining health started when he presented the WorldWide Developers Conference keynote in 2008. Laporte, and others, figured the speculation would start again if he went on stage and showed a frail appearance. The end result? Jobs was there – although he wasn’t on stage as much as a typical Steve-note. What did jobs have to say to everyone after a standing ovation? He encouraged everyone to be an organ donor, since a mid-twenties accident victim saved his life.

Second rumor: iPod Touch + camera.

It wouldn’t be an Apple event if the company didn’t present a new line of products, and for the past few years Apple has used the September event to launch new iPods. This time, we were hearing about a new iPod Touch with doubled memory and a camera. CNET even have images of news cases purposely made for the iPod Touch with a camera. The end result? The rumor mongers were half right... as the newest iPod Touch model has 64GB memory, double from the original 32GB. However, none of the iPod touch models have a camera. We heard rumor-site AppleInsider mention a story about technical issues with cameras on the iPod Touch... which might have some credibility.

We also heard rumors about the nano snagging a cam, which turned out to be true... and we heard about it through third-party case manufacturers.

Other rumors that made the rounds?

Apple TV gets a hard drive upgrade [nope]

Apple would discontinue the iPod Classic [upgraded hard drive from 120GB to 160GB]

The oft-rumored Apple Tablet would emerge [not exactly but a hint that a tablet could be coming when Apple Vice-President Philip Schiller told the crowd “No one puts a netbook into their back pocket” and had a photo of the dell mini trying to get into the back-pocket of someone’s pants”]

The Beatles. The never-ending rumor of the Beatles coming to the iTunes store pops up every time an Apple event is scheduled, and this time the rumor popped up because an Apple press event coincides with today's release of Rock Band Beatles edition, as well as 13 re-mastered Beatles albums. Yoko Ono even hinted at the Beatles coming to iTunes (and the story was quickly pulled from Sky News). The end result: No Beatles on the iTunes. However, record label EMI has hinted that the Beatles will eventually come to the iTunes music store... just not on Revolution 09/09/09.

So what surprised us? Primarily, the iPod nano managed to get an FM radio stuffed inside. All-in-all, as is usual, the rumor mill churns fast and furious, but keep in mind nothing is a done deal till the lights dim, and the hardware ships.