http://www.appleinsider.com/article.php?id=1229
At the high-end, the new PowerBooks are expected to gain a mere 30MHz speed boost that would put the 15-inch and 17-inch models at 1.7GHz. Additionally, the new 15-inch PowerBook is expected to step up to the feature set of the current 17-inch PowerBook.


http://www.appleinsider.com/article.php?id=886
Page 22 of Apple's new 17-inch PowerBook G4 manual reads: "Depending on how your PowerBook was configured, it may have a wide-screen display that has a 'native' resolution of 1920 x 1200 or 1440 x 900.

On the other hand, maybe nothing is coming?...
it's believed that Apple's PowerPC development team has been met by a shortage of resources as the company shifts the vast majority of its engineers to its forthcoming Intel-based projects.

I thought Apple spits out the new stuff only at MacWorld...? Or am I way off.

Well they have made some product intros at the Apple Expo in Paris before (late September), and others at WWDC I believe. They also roll out incremental product updates all the time with little fanfare.

These days Apple is doing a great job of keeping their "buzz" going, especially with the iPod line which is why the stock has reached new highs. So I don't know that we can assume the old patterns of product intros will continue in the future...