Digg founder Kevin Rose has certainly been the at the center of some “upcoming-iPod-refresh mania” before and has just revealed new information about the rumored release in the latest episode of This Week in Tech. Besides breaking the news of a newly designed fourth generation iPod Nano (see screenshot), Kevin Rose also talks about the upcoming release of iTunes 8.0. One new feature said to be a part of the “true point release” is the ability for the iTunes jukebox to look at the music on your computer and make recommendations of it’s own based on what it finds in your library. It’s probably safe to say that these recommendations would then be tied to the iTunes Store and give you the ability to listen to and download the track instantly.
Here is a list of the features that Rose is saying will be included in the forthcoming update:
- Revamp of entire iPod line.
- Small cosmetic changes to Touch, Nano to see significant redesign (see pic below).
- iPods to see fairly large price drops to distance itself from the $199 iPhone.
- iPod touch 2.1 software, iPhone to get update very soon after.
- iTunes 8.0 (”it’s a big update w/new features”).
- All of this coming in the next 2-3 weeks.
It’s unknown whether the screenshot is valid or just another well-Photoshopped fake. However, given Kevin Rose’s misinformation in rumors past, it’s not something that we’re truly jumping on board with yet. If there is an upcoming Apple event that takes place on September 9th, we should know soon enough whether or not these rumors will come true. It is worth noting however, that Apple has a tendency to update their iPod lines in September in preparation for the upcoming holiday season rush.
