It's Keynote Eve, and you know what that means-- Apple Watchers the world over are tossing and turning, unable to sleep with the anticipation of lots of juicy surprises to be unveiled by Uncle Steve at noon EST tomorrow. Is it pathetic and sad that we find ourselves more excited on the night before the keynote than we were on the night before Christmas? After all, we knew that the presents under the tree contained happy little gifts like CD's and computer games, but somehow that all pales in comparison to getting a kick-butt surprise or three on Keynote Day; ripping the wrapping paper off of the X-Files Game is a thrill, but a Steve Surprise is a joy forever.

And so, just as you'd expect, the rumor mill is working overtime as the big event draws ever closer. Most of the speculation to date has dealt primarily with the 1999 advent of the "P1" consumer portable, and frankly, it's all wearing just a little thin-- especially since both an official Apple representative and Uncle Steve himself have stated clearly that the P1 won't be making an appearance at this week's Expo. That's why we're thrilled to read about a slightly different twist on Apple's consumer strategy over at Apple Insider: after tomorrow, the Mac may suddenly become a mach more interesting computer for gamers. And we mean a lot more interesting. Because the latest buzz is that tomorrow, Apple and Connectix will unveil a new software-based emulation product that will let Macintosh users play Playstation games.

VirtualPlaystation? Criminy! Rumors of impending Playstation compatibility for the Mac have been circulating for a long time now; we recall hearing about supposed Playstation meetings between Apple and Sony over a year ago. So will tomorrow be the day that all of these alleged back-room meetings reach fruition? As it stands, we have more Mac games than we have time to play-- but that doesn't mean that the prospect of adding another 1200 Playstation games to the mix doesn't make us drool. Don't get too worked up yet, though-- this is still rumor, and odds are that you'll need a G3 to run such a processor-intensive emulation product with any reasonable speed. But if VirtualPlaystation runs on the iMac, well-- all we can say is, the consumer sales landscape might shift pretty darn rapidly. Suppose Apple bundles VirtualPlaystation with every iMac? Hoo boy. This is us, keeping our fingers crossed.

Sigh... Okay, we know the score. At CAUSE98, Steve Jobs flat-out stated that the "P1" consumer portable would not be introduced at this week's Macworld Expo. A bunch of news sources reported that the P1 would be unveiled anyway, and Apple was forced to break its own policy of not commenting on rumors or unannounced products just long enough to deny that the P1 was ready for prime time. And yet, despite all of that, part of us keeps clinging to the dream, and hoping against hope that when Steve takes the stage tomorrow, he'll be toting a four-pound, iMac-colored WebMate. Hey, a body's gotta dream, right?

And apparently we're not the only ones dreaming. O'Grady's PowerPage, that endless source of all news PowerBookish, just spotted a WebMate in a photograph over on some Japanese website. Is it the real thing, or an elaborate fake? At first glance, it sure looks like what we've all heard the WebMate described to be: a smallish laptop with an iMac color scheme. The only photo available shows some guy using this supposed WebMate, but the photo only shows the top of the lid flipped open, so there isn't much to go on.

Alas, after exercising a few underused deduction muscles, we've got to conclude that the photo is just a hoax. For one thing, the plastics don't appear to be translucent, and we find it hard to believe that Apple would go back to opaques at this stage. For another thing, the Apple logo on the lid just looks wrong somehow. It's kind of lopsided and off-center. And finally, the metal latch that apparently serves to hold the alleged WebMate closed just doesn't look like anything you'd find in a true-blue Apple product. Nope, while it's a nice dream and all, we've got to say that this "WebMate" is some other kind of laptop dressed up in an iMac suit-- it may not even be a PowerBook. It's a shame, really, because we're absolutely jonesing to see the real thing. But we still haven't given up hope-- the latest edition of the PowerPage lists a source who still claims that the WebMate will accompany Steve onstage. I suppose we'll know for sure in twelve hours or so.

Look out-- it's the return of Redmond Justice! Yes, after a brief holiday hiatus, everyone's favorite antitrust trial is back and ready for action. (Don't blame them for not broadcasting new episodes over the last couple of weeks-- in case you hadn't noticed, just about every show on the air was showing reruns over the holidays.) And things are picking up right where they left off: with a government witness testifying that Microsoft is a big, mean bully, and Microsoft countering those accusations by claiming that everyone's out to get them.

Case in point: the written testimony of William Harris, the president and CEO of Intuit. Intuit, as you probably know, makes the popular personal finance software Quicken. And if you've been following this stuff for a while, you probably also know that at one point a few years ago, Microsoft tried to buy Intuit, though they backed off when antitrust allegations starting heating up. Anyway, Harris' written testimony became public last Wednesday, according to an Industry Standard article-- and Microsoft fired a pre-emptive volley on Tuesday when they issued a court document requesting that Judge Jackson strike certain portions of Harris' testimony from the case, alleging that it amounts to no more than a "paranoid rant" against Microsoft and should be inadmissible as it includes hearsay and conjecture.

Sounds like the Microsoft legal team had a great Christmas, and they're leaping back into the fray with renewed vigor-- and that means good ratings. It's particularly entertaining to watch them formally accuse a government witness of making a "paranoid rant," when their own defense has been rife with "they're all ganging up on us" sentiment. And with luck, things are just warming up; now that court's back in session, we expect that the only rule of the game is "anything goes." Let's get ready to rumble!