Could Apple Have an NAB Trick Up Its Sleeve?

This week marks the NAB Show in Las Vegas. In the past, Apple has used the event to demo updates to Final Cut, DVD Studio, Color, Motion, etc. This year Apple is sitting out the event, without a booth on the exhibit floor. But does that mean they don't have a surprise in store?

The current Final Cut Studio suite is full of what seems like all the tools a video editor/DVD author/ effects person could want. Of course it seemed that way before they even added Color, which was quite a jaw dropper. And FCS 2 has been out for two years now, beyond the traditional update cycle for the software. As a matter of fact, there's been an update or addition to the pro video apps every year since 2001, except for 2008. 

Maybe Snow Leopard is holding up the delay of a new addition. Or maybe, just maybe, we're closer to seeing a new version than we think. All the way back to 2006 there was talk of a rumored suite codenamed "Phenomenon" which would resemble today's suite, but include the functionality of Shake, Apple's high-end (and largely un-updated) compositing software. At the time, the software was expected in 2008. Overdue, or abandoned? We might know by the end of the week...