When rumors emerged regarding Apple's intentions to get involved in the manufacture of some iTunes-compatible cell phones, the mobile network operators weren't too happy about it, because they saw no reason to get involved into an alliance with Apple.

And after all, Cingular, Verizon or T-Mobile could have distributed musical content on their own, without complicating their lives with the iTunes.

However, the new iTunes 4.9 version and the fact that it will support podcasts bring about a complete change of scenery, granting Apple once again a competitive edge.

You can buy music from a lot of services, but to get podcasts from the iTunes and for this to use just a cell phone, that's something that will drive a lot of users into buying an iTunes compatible phone.

As podcasts develop and new sources of content recorded in this format appear, they'll slowly but surely take over the place now occupied by music as in the hearts and minds of the regular cell phone users.

Thus, by combining a cell phone that supports iTunes with the concept of podcasts, Apple could actually generate the next big hit after the iPod.