Apple's September event: Definitive rumour round-up

September the ninth is an important date in music and media. It's the birth day of Hugh Grant, Michael Bublé and Crave J-Pop favourite Ai Otsuka. Frank Lucas, the drug baron played by Denzel Washington in Ridley Scott's epic crime film American Gangster, was also born on this day in 1930.

And now, on 9 September 2008, Apple is expected to dish out its latest iPods to the world's press, and speculation as to the contents of the pending Jobsnote is rife. Our own Ian Morris is simply "expecting smugness" on Tuesday, but the rest of us are a little more optimistic. Let's peel the apple and examine what we think we might see.

iTunes 8
A new version of iTunes is almost a certainty. Since Apple launched the super-simple 'Remote' app for the iPod touch and iPhone, we've anticipated streaming functionality that would allow for media to be streamed from iTunes, over a home network, to iPod and iPhone.

We could also see podcast updating over Wi-Fi, and perhaps a podcast section of the mobile iTunes Store. It's extremely unlikely, however, that this would be available over the mobile networks to iPhones.

Kevin Rose, of digg and diggnation fame, offered some interesting insider info on his blog this week, too: "iTunes 8 includes Genius, which makes playlists from songs in your library that go great together. Genius also includes Genius Sidebar, which recommends music from the iTunes Store that you don't already have."

New iPod nanos
Manufacturers of iPod accessories often get schematics of forthcoming iPods in order to manufacture products for launch. The CEO of a major manufacturer once told us confidentially that he was sent specifications, images and schematics of the iPod touch and 'fat nano', from Apple, weeks in advance of their official unveiling.

With this in mind, numerous schematics and sightings of a more conventionally designed nano have surfaced. Engadget also spotted new nano cases on the floor of IFA last month, only further confirming the new design -- a tall nano with a large screen and slimmer form factor.

All being well, we'll see these models hit 16GB, but it's highly unlikely we'll see any Wi-Fi integration, as the nano is aimed mostly at casual music lovers.

Most intriguing is the possibility of completely overhauled iPod touches, unlimited iTunes downloads and music-centric social networking and music sharing over Wi-Fi connections. Hit the next page for more... -Nate Lanxon