What do Apple fans expect to find at this year’s Macworld Conference & Expo? Well, to begin with, Steve Jobs’ keynote address, as it takes place every year, in the beginning of the conference, ready to unveil perhaps something just as exciting as the iPhone was last year. Macworld debuts January 14 in San Francisco.

Last year was iPhone’s year and it became an instant hit on the market. 2008 is a time for Apple to announce its latest software development and support for the smartphone, as users’ demands started to pour in just months after its launch on June 29.

The rumors and speculations have already began, weeks before the Macworld Conference & Expo, and following the Las Vegas CES, based mostly on Apple fans’ wishes, but it still remains to be seen if those wishes coincide with Apples‘ ideas. For starters, 3G for iPhone would come in handy, as wireless technology become somewhat a standard these days.

Aside from new features of the iPhone, Steve Jobs is expected to introduce the Office 2008 for Mac. He will be assisted by Craig Eisler, general manager of Microsoft’s Mac Business Unit. The new release will supersede the Office 2004 for Mac. Although it was expected in the second half of 2007, Apple delayed its debut due to bugs that still needed fixing.

The 2008 Las Vegas Consumer Electronics Show highlighted the latest video technology developments, and Apple will not stay behind this year. Macworld is predicted to unveil details on the new iTunes movie rental service, which has not been officially announced by Apple developers, but the rumors grow stronger by the day.

According to the past weeks news reports, Apple is about to close deals to the most important film studios, such as Paramount, 20th Century Fox, Warner Bros., Walt Disney, MGM, Sony or Lionsgate, but it’s impossible to make predictions on when this service may become available for the time being.

One other rumor that has been circulating these days, without Apple’s confirmation of course, is a lighter version of the MacBook, featuring a touch-screen technology similar to the one incorporated in the iPod, a LED display and the hard drive could be possibly replaced with a flash drive, but we’ll just have to wait until January 15 to see what Apple has in store for us.