Notes: Elk Grove, CoreAudio, iPod Accessories, xPod

Prior to the manufacturing shutdown at its Elk Grove facility, Apple urged certain employees to consider a relocation to Southern California.

"About two weeks before the announcement, Apple asked some higher-ups at the plant if they would move to Southern California," one source said. "At the time, it was stated that there were preparations being made to move production to the area." Unfortunately, job relocations were not offered to the dozens of line workers who regularly staff the plant.

Meanwhile, in a memo to employees on Tuesday, the company said that despite the layoffs at the manufacturing plant, the company continues to hire. "Employees from various other functions of the company will continue to work in Apple's Sacramento facility. And while this action will result in a reduction in operations staff, Apple's overall headcount worldwide continues to grow."

CoreAudio SDK v1.3.1 Seeded

Apple recently seeded developers with a software developers kit for CoreAudio v1.3.1. "Core Audio SDK v1.3.1 features many new updates, including additional Audio Unit APIs, playback and recording enhancements, additional sample code, and much more," according to developer documentation accompanying the release.

New iPod Accessories Under Development

It appears that Apple continues to keep Belkin within its inner iPod development circle. According to sources, Belkin and Apple are currently working together on a number of iPod accessories that will 'seem revolutionary' to iPod owners. The new accessories should be announced within the next three months.

The xPod?

Fact or fiction? You be the judge. But according to an Engadget report this week, Microsoft's newly-crowned chief architect J Allard may have drunkenly revealed his company's secret plans for an Apple 'iPod killer.'

The article states that Allard made mention of a portable hard drive for the upcoming XBox sequel, designed to transfer media files to be playable on the go.

"He said what they were trying to do was to incorporate MP3 (and WMA, obviously) functionality into the portable hard drive and turn the thing into an iPod killer."