Zune and iPod rumours hotting up

Gadget site Gizmodo has reported that reliable 'high-up' sources at Apple have informed them that a touchscreen-based variant of the iPod will be released in November. The naughty leakers also said the screen tech was the 'bees-knees', but then Apple employees would say that. The device is said to be much more video-centric than previous iPods.

This won't come as much of a surprise to many iPod-watchers, as various Apple patents have been filed recently regarding touchscreen technologies. The current touchscreen rumours are backed up with other leaked information from a post at the infamous Think Secret in February, and images supposedly of the device in prototyped form appeared here.

Bloomberg TV has extracted information from John MacLellan, Microsoft's general manager for finance across the Asia-Pacific, that the Microsoft Zune will not offer video support on release, and merely come with audio capabilities. If this is the case, it will come as some surprise considering the product is entering a crowded market space where player features are the main distinguishing product traits, and at $100 more than a similar spec'd iPod (minus the wireless capabilities).

A few other tid-bits have also surfaced, informing us that the Zune should arrive in two sizes, will come with an FM tuner, and that the screen should be 50% larger than the most recent iPods. A 60gb device should quickly follow the often-touted 30gb storage of the launch product, and all should be available in several colours - black, brown, and cotton options.

Several sites have also dated the release date for the Microsoft Zune/VolePod, guessing it to be the 14th of November. This should be an interesting month for media device launches - how an audio-only, button-based, newly launched Zune will fare against the market-leading firm's new sleek touchscreen video player, remains to be seen. µ

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