• E-mail this page
• |  Print this page
• | 
• | 
• | 

Reports: Apple Unveiling Touch-Screen iPod, Digital Radio Tomorrow

The Apple blogs are buzzing with reports on what Apple will unveil in its announcement Wednesday, including a touch-screen iPod with a 3.5-inch display, beefed-up Nano and -- maybe -- an Internet-radio-enabled iPod.

The touch-screen video iPod will have similar dimensions to the iPhone, and share the same display, but the iPod will have a hard drive rather than flash memory, according to ThinkSecret.

The new iPod nano will have video playback and a higher-resolution 320x240 display. It'll continue to be Flash-based, with capacities up to 12 GB or 16 GB, ThinkSecret said.

The new nano will "feature the first substantial improvement to the iPod's traditional interface," ThinkSecret said. The new interface is based on the click-wheel, with animation including CoverFlow browsing similar to the iPhone.

"CoverFlow" is a means of navigating through albums in the music and video section of the iPhone. Thumbnails of the album covers appear all in a row, and users can skim the row by a finger across the surface of the iPhone. The centermost album cover appears full-face, others are on their edges. On a clickwheel iPod, of course, Coverflow would presumably be controlled by the wheel.

ThinkSecret says it has screenshots of leaked videos of the interface.

The digital radio iPod will be able to receive programming and will include "buy-now" functionality to allow users to download and buy tracks as they're being played, according to VNUnet..

But Engadget is skeptical noting that digital radio -- while a feature of iTunes -- has never really been a focus of Apple. Until now, Apple has been focused on using desktop computers as a "digital hub" for multimedia devices in your living room (Apple TV) and pocket (the iPod and iPhone). "Let's file this one under 'baseless' until tomorrow when all shall be known," Engadget's Paul Miller said this morning.

Apple is also getting ready to unveil a ringtone service for the iPhone, according to the New York Post; a RED iPod shuffle in conjunction with rocker Bono, according to Engadget.

Also rumored: A deal to bring the Beatles to iTunes. Apple 2.0 speculated on that last week, but is now skeptical.

« Should Linux Users Lead From The Heart? | Main | To Lock Or Unlock? That Is The Legal Limbo Question Of The Day »