Fans wish for more from Apple iPods

Once again, it's time to peer into Apple Inc. CEO Steve Jobs' cup and try to read the tea leaves.

Apple, as usual, has said almost nothing about the new products it plans to unveil at an invitation-only affair Wednesday in San Francisco. Playing their part, bloggers and Apple fans have filled the vacuum with "leaks," rumors and wish-list items that, while often far-fetched, can't completely be ignored. Sometimes, just sometimes, a bit of truth shines through.

In recent years, the Cupertino, California-based company has used its September event to unveil new iPods, which have grown smaller, sleeker and more powerful with each new generation.

This year's event is along the same lines, if Apple's e-mail to reporters is any indication.

The invitation looks like an iTunes gift card and features one of Apple's iconic, iPod-toting silhouettes and the words, "It's only rock and roll, but we like it," a reference to a 1970s Rolling Stones song.

That still left room for creative speculation. Detail-starved bloggers took a close look at the image and noted that the headphones jack into the large-ish iPod at the bottom - making it an iPod Touch, not an iPod classic. The observation has added weight to one rumor that Apple could discontinue the classic, the only model left to use a hard drive instead of flash memory.

Of course, other rumors postulate an even bigger hard drive on an updated iPod classic, which already boasts a 120-gigabyte hard drive, far beefier than any other iPod. Still more speculation, this time based on what appear to be photos of new iPod cases, call for built-in digital cameras on Touch and Nano models.

Apple watchers are also looking out for the ninth incarnation of iTunes, the media management software that helps people keep track of their music, videos, podcasts and data and send it to iPods and iPhones.

"Leaked" screen shots of unknown origin and varying quality have cropped up online that indicate iTunes might be melded into social networking sites including Facebook and music-enthusiast network Last.fm. According to the buzz, iTunes 9 may also get better at helping people organize their iPhone and iPod Touch applications, and support Blu-Ray disc playback.

One of the more solid predictions is that Apple will be packaging digital albums with videos, liner notes and album art that could be viewed in iTunes - to help revive consumers' interest in buying more than just one or two tracks. The Associated Press and other media reported in July that Apple and the four major recording labels were working on launching this package in the fall.

Two of the flashiest predictions have lost steam in the run-up to 9/9/09. For a while, the date itself seemed to portend that Apple might finally have scored the right to sell the Beatles' music on iTunes. A digitally remastered collection of the Beatles' oeuvre is due out on CDs on the same day, as is an all-Beatles edition of the popular play-along video game "Rock Band." Beatlemania-infected Apple fans also point to the recurrence of the number nine in band lore.

But the use of the Rolling Stones line in the invitation has quieted most proponents of this scenario. It might just be standard Apple misdirection, but a person familiar with the situation told the AP there's no Beatles-Apple deal. The person was not authorized to talk about the matter and spoke on condition of anonymity. A statement from EMI, the Beatles' record label, said simply that discussions on digital distribution continue.

Analysts with contacts in Apple's supply chain have predicted all year that the company will come out with at least one "tablet"-style device resembling a giant iPod Touch, based on Apple's purchases of screens that are bigger than an iPod but smaller than a MacBook. Blogs and message boards lit up when it seemed Apple was finally ready to show it off. But analysts including Piper Jaffray's Gene Munster and Shaw Wu of Kaufman Bros. both see a 2010 release as more likely.

One more thing: CEO Jobs hasn't presided over one of these pep-rally-style product launches since Apple gave its laptop line a light makeover last October. His lieutenants, Tim Cook and Phil Schiller, Apple's COO and top marketing executive, have been holding their own. But now that Jobs is back from his nearly six-month medical leave, fans are still holding their breath for an appearance from the maestro.

Buzz grows ahead of Apple media event

Will it be upgraded iPods? The Beatles finally coming to iTunes? A tablet computer? An appearance by Steve Jobs?

Apple is holding an event for the media on Wednesday and rumors and speculation about its plans have reached their usual fever pitch.

The California-based company invited journalists to the event -- to be held at 10:00 am Pacific time (1700 GMT) at a downtown San Francisco theater -- but with its usual air of mystery did not reveal what it would be about.

The invitation featured a picture of a woman in silhouette dancing with an iPod in her hand and a single line from a Rolling Stones song: "It's only rock and roll, but we like it."

The company co-founded by Jobs and Steve Wozniak more than 30 years ago is traditionally secretive about its projects, revealing them only at launch and guarding zealously against leaks.

Despite the Rolling Stones reference in the invitation, the buzz on Silicon Valley technology blogs and fan sites has been that Apple may finally announce the availability of the Beatles on iTunes, its online music store.

A digitally remastered catalog of the music of the "Fab Four" is scheduled for release the same day, as is the videogame "The Beatles: Rock Band," which is expected to be a smash hit worldwide.

Backing up the Beatles connection is the scheduling of the Apple event for September 9, 2009 or 09/09/09.

"Number nine, number nine, number nine," as fans of George Harrison, John Lennon, Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr know, is the phrase chanted repeatedly on The White Album.

"Getting the Beatles in iTunes is something that's been expected for some time," said technology analyst Rob Enderle of Silicon Valley's Enderle Group. "This may be when they finally do it."

Enderle said he did not think it likely Apple would use the event to unveil a long-rumored touch-screen tablet-sized computer that can surf the Internet and also serve as an electronic book reader like Amazon's Kindle.

"There's been a lot of expectation that they may launch the iPad but I just don't think Steve's had enough time since his return to look at it," he said.

Apple chief executive Jobs returned to work in June from a nearly six-month medical leave of absence during which he received a liver transplant.

The visionary behind the Macintosh computer, the iPhone and the iPod, Jobs underwent an operation for pancreatic cancer five years ago.

Enderle said upgraded iPods may be on display at Wednesday's event.

"We may see enhancements to the iPod line to get people putting them back on their Christmas list again," he said. "The iPod touch might get a camera, which would a natural for that device."

As for an appearance by the 54-year-old Jobs, who hasn't been seen in public since October of last year, Enderle said " I would be very surprised if they didn't have him there in some shape or form, maybe videoconference him in.

"If it were me that's the way I'd do it," he said.

Apple may shy away from putting Jobs physically on stage "because he looks so incredibly emaciated," Enderle said. "That would put the focus on how bad he looks and not on the products."

In the absence of Jobs, Apple vice president of marketing Phil Schiller has presided over the rollout of new products, taking the stage at a Macworld conference in San Francisco in January and unveiling the iPhone 3GS in June.