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Consensus builds for rumored Sept. 9 iPod event

Spurred on by his own leak from the past weekend, Digg founder Kevin Rose has pegged a more specific date for Apple to unveil its new iPods and is garnering support from additional sources.

Listeners to the August 25th episode of This Week in Tech, which features Rose as a show guest, report the site creator mentioning a September 9th introduction for the new iPods that he himself broke word of a day before the podcast was recorded.

While he doesn't say whether this would involve one of Apple's characteristic press events to usher in the changes, the Digg head also sent what are allegedly further images of the redesigned iPod nano to show founder Leo Laporte, who didn't find any glaring problems with what he saw but was sworn to keep the product shots to himself; he quickly deleted them outright.

Separately, leaks that would support Rose's claims have seemingly popped up at the same time, as Chinese resellers at AliBaba and iDealsChina are either selling or claim to know of silicone skin cases for the fourth-generation iPod that fit a player like that seen in an image this weekend. In at least one of these shots, however, Apple's proprietary Dock Connector is replaced with a mini-USB port and a lanyard hook, casting doubt on its accuracy.

Outside of the hardware, Rose also believes he has knowledge of at least one of the features of iTunes 8.0, which he previously said would arrive simultaneously with the iPods. He hears that the new software will be "looking at your music" and recommending content based on specific conditions.

Alleged iPod nano 4G case
Purported 3D renderings and case images for the new iPod nano. | Image credits: AliBaba and iDealsChina.

Although Rose hopes to avoid incriminating himself by revealing too many features and risking added criticism if he's proven wrong, his assertions are gaining support. A report from Ars Technica later on Monday says the technology site could give a "wink and nod" about the general timeframe, though it stops short of confirming an event or any of the product details. Analysts at Piper Jaffray have also predicted similar plans for Apple in September as it reveals one or more product updates.

Nonetheless, while an iPod refresh is all but certain for the holidays, the nature of any possible event is said Ars to be complicated. With the delay of Intel's Centrino 2 platform likely pushing the release of a redesigned MacBook line out of its intended schedule, Apple may face the undesirable prospect of either having to incorporate new Mac launches into an iPod-oriented press gathering or else staggering the announcements in a way that might jeopardize valuable back-to-school Mac sales.



57 Comments

teckstud 18 Years · 6475 comments

Great fantastic- all is well in the world!
Not too crazy about that Nano though. Perhaps a twisting screen would be better? Or a mini Touch?

hillstones 18 Years · 1490 comments

This guy thinks awfully highly of himself. I remember seeing him on the old TechTV channel. I doubt anything he says is true. Wow..what a prediction...iTunes 8. The number 8 is the number after 7. I wonder how he came up with that.

Big deal if the iPod Nano grows a screen. Nothing else will change with the Nano's features. The iPhone and iPod Touch still can't display widescreen video properly. It is like watching a non-anamorphic DVD on a Widescreen TV. Zooming the video to fill the screen severely crops the left and right sides. Standard Widescreen DVD's (1.85:1) are not so bad, but 2.35:1 DVD's suffer greatly. I have tried using the anamorphic settings in Handbrake, but the video still looks like a non-anamorphic transfer on the iPhone.

But I am sure people will eat this stuff up like they did on the last article.

solipsism 19 Years · 25701 comments

Quote:
Originally Posted by AppleInsider

With the delay of Intel's Centrino 2 platform likely pushing the release of a redesigned MacBook line out of its intended schedule

This is the first article I've read that mentions this as a distinct possibility.

Quote:
Apple may face the undesirable prospect of either having to incorporate new Mac launches into an iPod-oriented press gathering or else staggering the announcements in a way that might jeopardize valuable back-to-school Mac sales.

I seem to recall that these events have focused on both iPod and notebook updates before. Except for the Nano, I don't foresee any other iPod product getting a facelift so capacity increases and/or rice drops can be quick, with focus on the new and improved Montevina/Penryn notebooks (hopefully with no optical drive... but I wouldn't bet on that).

ivlad 18 Years · 742 comments

OMG I bet on Sept 9.
I will send my info so you can transfer the prize.
Thank you!(lol)

solipsism 19 Years · 25701 comments

Quote:
Originally Posted by hillstones

This guy thinks awfully highly of himself. I remember seeing him on the old TechTV channel. I doubt anything he says is true. Wow..what a prediction...iTunes 8. The number 8 is the number after 7. I wonder how he came up with that.

A recent Roughly Drarted listed the iTunes major and minor version revisions, the dates between them and what had changed. It clearly demonstrated that there are equal chances that 7.7.2 or 7.8 or 8.0 will happen.

Quote:
Big deal if the iPod Nano grows a screen.

Huh?