Now that the doctors from an all new episode of House apparently have solved the medical mystery of Steve Jobs, we can enjoy the wonders of Macworld Expo without worry. Liveblogs took us right inside the Moscone Center as the crowd eagerly awaited the keynote speech from Jobs understudy Phil Schiller while "that damn Coldplay song from the MacBook video" played over the PA, Crunchgear alerted. "Schiller clearly doesn't bring the same Houdini-esque gravitas that seems to surround Steve Jobs," blips Digital Daily. He says 9.7 million Macs sold last year, and sales grew 2x faster than rest of industry (via Apple 2.0). Okay fine--but what's NEW?

Tech Central summarizes: Lots of interesting and fancy updates for Mac software, a new 17-inch MacBook Pro to complete the laptop line-up and the DRM-free announcement for iTunes. "Not much really, especially compared to previous blockbusters like the iPod and the iPhone." On the MacBook: "The biggest news here?" asks and answers Technologizer, "The battery is embedded, and non-removable." Wait--there's more! New version of iPhoto learns to recognize your friends' faces: "I wonder if is programmed to account for things like weight gain, beards, mustaches, halloween outfits," says Vert3. The new GarageBand '09 will offer music lessons from pros like Sting and Norah Jones, "I'm surprised that John Mayer wasn't in the list of artists," says The Apple Blog. "He usually seems to pop up wherever Apple has room for him."

Songs on iTunes will be stripped of digital rights management, and 3G song downloads are now available, "finally," says Gizmodo. The big finish? "Tony Bennett comes on stage to sing "The Best is Yet to Come,"" writes Obsessable. "Looks like there's no more news. No new Mac mini. Very surprising!" "That's it folks," concludes Engadget. "No Steve, no iPhone nano, no new Mini, no new iMac, no shockers, no surprises... but hey, Tony Bennett is incredibly smooth." This will be Apple's final Macworld appearance , for various reasons, notes The Unofficial Apple Weblog, one reason being that the company doesn't always have its best stuff ready in January--"and no cache of goodies waiting for the Moscone Center...always disappoints Wall Street." Yep--Apple stock dipped a little today.