I suppose it would be cynical to suggest that the hush-hush, big-event Apple just scheduled for Sept. 7 has anything to do with taking minds off of some recent not-so-good press. Instead, I’ll just run through the rumors about what Apple will announce at 10 a.m. (PDT) press conference next Wednesday at the San Francisco’s Moscone Center. The tease: “1,000 songs in your pocket changed everything. Here we go again.” Given the reference to the first 5G iPod, the reasonable expectation has a new iPod is enroute. John Borland pulls together some recent clues:
– Apple has dibs on up to 40 percent of Samsung Electronics’ flash memory, so it could be a high-end flash model.
– Apple has been looking for licenses to distribute music videos, so it could an video iPod.
– Apple slipped some mobile features into the latest iTunes release, so it could be the iTunes Motorola phone.
One certainty: the next eight days will feature endless speculation and claims of knowledge. At least Google Talk only had a 48-hour high-intensity rumor window.
Update: NYT suggests it will be the iTunes cellphone. Roger Entner, a telecoms analyst with Ovum, a market research firm, said he had been told by an industry executive that the new phone, to be made by Motorola, would be marketed by Cingular Wireless. The software will allow people to transfer songs from a PC to the mobile phone, then listen to the songs, presumably through headphones.
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