Is radio, touchscreen and Wi-Fi coming to the iPod?

 

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By Stuart Turton

Posted on 4 Sep 2007 at 12:29

Nothing gets the rumour mill turning quite like an upcoming Apple event, so ahead of the 5 September launch, let's take a look at the speculation so far.

One of the most interesting rumours brings digital radio to the iPod range, with a 'buy-now' facility offering users the chance to purchase the track they're listening to on their desktop PC from iTunes.

This could be made handier still if the iPod does actually go wireless, as some reports suggest it will. Apple has had the patent on file for a while now and being able to wirelessly sync the device with a home computer seems a logical step for the company.

Suggestions that the flagship iPod, possible called the Touch, will incorporate technology from the iPhone also look likely to bear fruit, with a full touchscreen and banishment of hardware buttons the first among numerous design elements likely to be borrowed from the phone handset.

Speculation that the Touch will be powered by Mac OS X instead of the iPod's standalone operating system also persists, and would certainly make sense if the touchscreen interface is adopted.

Observers are also expecting a large widescreen display and flash memory in place of a hard drive, though how this will affect storage capacity and price is unclear.