“Apple is looking for two iPod hardware engineers both with Bluetooth and Wi-Fi experience, opening the possibility that the portable music player may be upgraded with wireless connectivity. The job applications – which you can view here and here – was posted on behalf of Apple’s iPod division and calls for candidates with ‘a consumer electronics background dealing with high volume, low power, high quality products,'” Tony Smith reports for The Register.
“The iPod is certainly a good candidate itself for wireless connectivity. Its PDA-style synchronisation with not only iTunes but Apple’s own PIM apps suits it to quick wireless data transfers. Bluetooth is probably not a suitable alternative to Firewire or USB 2.0, but Wi-Fi would be,” Smith reports. “But we suspect Apple has its eye on wireless not as an alternative to the cable connecting the iPod to a host Mac or PC, but to equip the device with the tools needed to communicate remotely with said host and Apple’s AirPort Express music-routing Wi-Fi access point.”
“Alternatively, the iPod division may be behind the mysterious ‘tablet Mac’ we reported on recently, which has also been described as a possible iTunes/AirPort Express remote control unit,” Smith writes. “At the very least, Apple is keen on increased integration between Wi-Fi and iTunes, and there’s a big hole in its product line here: the remote control system. Whether it has in mind something a simple as an 802.11-enabled iPod, a more complex tablet-style computer, or both, remains to be seen.”
Full article here.
