With MacWorld only days away, fevered speculation as to what will be announced by Steve Jobs is reaching its climax. We have already reported that one of the rumours for the keynote is the announcement that Apple will launch an ultra-portable laptop, but an analyst has weighed in to the debate by specualting that the Cupertino-based company will side with the Blu-Ray camp in the next-gen high-def format wars. 

According to American Technology Research analyst Shaw Wu, sources within Apple told him that the company is set to ship computers that support the next-generation format.

"We believe this is a key announcement as current Macs ship with the DVD format and Sony gains a strong ally in Blu-ray," said Wu, according to reports from AppleInsider. He added that film studio Disney is a keen supporter of Blu-Ray and Jobs just happens to be a director of the company.

Wu also said that there was a small chance that Apple could ship computers with drives that support both Blu-Ray and HD-DVD as a means of not getting involed in the format wars.

He also said that a sub-notebook was on the cards as well as a push into movie rental via iTunes.

"We believe Apple will re-enter the sub-notebook market, but this time use NAND flash as primary storage to improve battery life, reliability, and reduce weight," he reported saying by AppleInsider. "Our sources indicate that the possible names of this new product include 'MacBook mini' or 'MacBook slim'."

Also expected is is a revision to Apple TV that may see it feature direct internet connectivity and a digital TV tuner.

More info here.