We know this is a fake Photoshop image. We made it because we couldn’t show the real one anymore. We’re OK with that.So today we’re hearing more rumors swirling around the Interwebs about the forthcoming Fat iPod Nano™, and this thing’s shaping up to be interesting. We already know it exists, as both Gizmodo and CrunchGear have received Cease & Desist orders from Apple’s legal team for showing leaked photos. Thanks for the heads-up, Apple! We also have heard rumors that give a few of the details away, namely that it’ll come in 8GB and 16GB NAND-based configurations. We also heard it won’t be called the Nano, but something else. But now we’re hearing a little more about launch plans, the interface, and another iPod.
First up is chatter that Apple will throw a party/event/press conference/mass sometime next month to introduce the new iPod, and possibly iPods. That’s the next rumor: that there have been sightings in factories in Asia of full-screen touch iPods, the iPhone without the “phone” part. So we could be seeing a whole overhaul of the iPod brand, and it’s about time.
What’s really interesting is that the overhaul isn’t just in the hardware, but that the interface is getting a major update. Gone are the familiar nested menus as we have now, as it’s to be replaced by Coverflow. While we like Coverflow in theory, it’s still to hard to fill in missing stuff, and some songs don’t have covers at all. We’re hoping Apple comes up with a clever way to address this.
Coverflow is cool, but the current iPod OS can’t handle it. But OS X can, and rumors are saying that, like the iPhone, the new iPods will run the sturdy Apple OS. We’ve seen how amazing it runs and looks on devices like the iPhone and Apple TV, so it’s really a no-brainer that Apple would go in this direction. It also unifies their hardware into an all-OS X column, which makes sense from a developer’s standpoint.
In all, this holiday shopping season could be a great one for Cupertino. Stay tuned for more.