Apple has asked its retail employees to sign non-disclosure agreements ahead of an all-hands meeting likely to be held later this week, and potentially foreshadowing a forthcoming media event, "AppleInsider" (http://www.appleinsider.com) reports, quoting "people familiar with the company's retail plans."


Employees on Monday were asked to sign non-disclosure forms. Those who did not sign are said to be excluded from the next employee meeting, expected to be held in the next week, says "AppleInsider."

So what would the media event entail? Most likely new MacBook Pros.

Another possibility is the iPad 2, though I don't think that's going to be announced until March with an April or May ship date. Also, "Bloomberg Businessweek" says sources tell them the iPad 2 may not ship until June.

Pundit Robert X. Cringely thinks it could see the unveiling of Macs with Light Peak technology. I'm dubious, but if it does, the event would see both MacBook Pros and iMacs with Light Peak released.

But if that is it, it would be an exciting announcement. Light Peak paves the way for a new generation of extreme computer input and output (I/O) performance, delivering 10Gb/s of bandwidth, with the potential ability to scale to 100Gbs over the next decade, according to David Perlmutter, executive vice president and general manager, Intel Architecture Group. At 10Gb/second, a user could purportedly transfer a full-length Blu-Ray movie in less than 30 seconds.

The optical technology allows for smaller connectors and longer, thinner, and more flexible cables than currently possible. Light Peak also has the ability to run multiple protocols simultaneously over a single cable, enabling the technology to connect devices such as peripherals, displays, disk drives, docking stations, and more. Think of it like loading up many cars onto a high-speed bullet train.

-- Dennis Sellers