RUMOR: Apple to debut touchscreen iPod this December

20 years ago

“The iPod/iPhone rumour mill is something so clouded that as TR News Ed I made the executive decision to circumvent the vast majority of it a long time ago, but yesterday I had a conversation with an extremely well informed exec which I’m going to share,” Gordon Kelly reports for TrustedReviews.

“Naturally the identity of this friendly and talkative fellow has to stay a closely guarded secret but he works in a multinational company that develops iPod products and which sport ‘Made For iPod’ accreditation and the info flowed after I questioned the value of one of his company’s new iPod accessories,” Kelly reports.

“In a very matter of fact tone I was told that the product was not designed for the current generation of device, but the official 6G iPod (fanboy art above – the current generation is referred to as 5.5) which is to be released in December. His company’s device only come onto the market shortly before then and would benefit hugely because the new iPod would sport a screen that filled the full side of the device and consequently offer higher resolution video,” Kelly reports.

“He explained that Apple had told him 480p content (the lowest standard of High Definition) was the target but could only promise whatever did appear would be of a much greater quality than is used today. When I enquired about the control method he confirmed it would be virtual (see official Apple patent application above) and that essentially Apple was finally delivering the type of device we’ve seen journos (including myself) talk about since the turn of the year. ‘This is why Jobs isn’t afraid of the Zune,’ he said, though he had no knowledge of whether wireless would make an appearance,” Kelly reports.

Full article here.
Tantalizing. And Jobs isn’t afraid of the Zune because two tin cans tied together with a string offer better sharing features than those that Microsoft is pushing as Zune’s main selling point. Also because he could open up FairPlay licensing at any time he chooses. As we all know, FairPlay licensing kills Zunes dead.