Apple had a special press conference yesterday at which they were expected to make a big announcement. Many people had been saying the rumours about Microsoft’s handheld system were all timed perfectly in order to steal the thunder from whatever Steve Jobs was planning. Some people had speculated that it was an Apple Tablet being unveiled, while others figured that since it was so near to the Oscars, Apple was actually preparing to launch an iTunes movie download service. Well, no such luck. Instead, after all the hype had blown the press conference way out of proportion, Steve Jobs took the stage and revealed iPod Hifi, a set of really high quality speakers that can dock with your iPod directly, and a pair of new Intel-based Mac minis. Oh, and some really nice leather iPod cases for $99 US. I guess for Apple geeks some of this is exciting news… but did they really need a press conference to announce this stuff? Looks like Microsoft just wasted a huge announcement to steal the spotlight from nothing (I wouldn’t be surprised if they scale back tomorrow’s announcement after all).