14 DAY TRIAL // In the non-iPod world of portable music players, the next 'must have' feature that is being pushed into new devices is wifi. So far, Apple has steered clear of it, but it looks like that might change with the next generation of iPods.
According to a DigiTimes report, Apple plans to launch new iPods featuring Wi-Fi in the second half of 2007. Universal Scientific Industrial (USI) is said to be producing the Wi-Fi modules while Foxconn will perform as the OEM system assembler, according to Taiwan portable music player component makers. USI Should begin shipments later in April, while Foxconn may do so in the third quarter.
While the accuracy of the DigiTimes report remains to be seen, it is clear that Apple will be building Wi-Fi capabilities into its devices sooner or later. But what would Apple do with it? Considering that the company is trying to push for DRM free music, it seems unlikely that we will be seeing Zune-like 'squirting'. Instead, it is far more likely that new iPod will basically be iPhones, without the phone, and make use of the wireless capabilities for buying music. A little patent Apple had some time back detailed a system though which a portable device could log into a remote service and mark songs, or even purchase them, and they would automatically be transferred to that user's computer if it was connected to the internet. Alternatively, you could transfer content to the iPod, and then from it to other devices. Apple has already implemented this two-way transfer of information in the latest versions of iTunes.
The possible uses of Wi-Fi would be greatly increased in a touch screen iPod. You could use it for everything from automatically getting your reading assignment to chatting with others in the area via an iChat interface.