Iain Thomson writes:
... a reliable industry insider has told vnunet.com that the announcement will include plans to bring digital radio to the iPod along with an option to buy music using the device. ¶ The source said that the new iPods will be able to receive digital radio, and will include a 'buy-now' function to allow the user to download and buy tracks as they are being played. ...
Link: vnunet.com.
However, Nick DePlume cautions:
... While it is possible the new iPod will be the first to pack some sort of wireless capability, suggestions of digital radio playback should be taken with a grain of salt. ...
Link: Think Secret.
Thanks to John Paczkowski for both these links from, And Lo, Jobs Appeared and Said 'No, This Is the Best iPod Ever,' and It Was, and There Was Much Rejoicing. Link: Digital Daily.
Count me as one of the skeptics, though I'd be happy to be wrong on this one because of the lift it would give HD Radio -- if, indeed, that's what they mean by "digital radio." However, it's my understanding that the existing chipsets for HD Radio receivers are quite power hungry -- hence the general lack of HDR portable models in the CE marketplace today. So making that work in an iPod form factor seems like a real stretch to me unless there has been a breakthrough in power requirements for the HDR receiver chipsets.
On the other hand, maybe what is meant is a WiFi digital radio with some sort of streaming addressability similar to the Torian Wireless Infusion that I own. That just might fit into that form factor. We'll see tomorrow, I guess.
Update 5 September 2007:
OK, it's tomorrow now and, indeed, it was a WiFi radio. It will permit users to log into iTunes directly and buy music. And its storage is strangely tiny -- only one-tenth the size of the new iPod Classic. See Natali T. Del Conte's, Apple Announces iPod touch with Wi-Fi. Link: PC Magazine. --Dennis
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