Last week, Kevin Rose (who has set several Apple-related rumors about) cited sources saying Apple had some interesting plans with the iPod line, the iTunes media player, and the upcoming Mac OS X 10.5.6 (Snow Leopard). Most recently, Rose has also managed to get his hands on a new set of details on iTunes 8.

Kevin Rose is the founder and site architect of Digg, and a co-founder at Revision3 and Pownce. Over the years, Rose has spread quite a number of Apple-related rumors, the latest of which says that Apple's new generation iPod nano will sport a significantly revamped case and screen, probably adding new functionality as well, thanks to the large, widescreen display. But let's not waste our time on old news, and see what Rose claims iTunes 8 is packing.

“What's new in iTunes 8: iTunes 8 includes Genius,” Digg's founder reveals, “which makes playlists from songs in your library that go great together. Genius also includes Genius sidebar, which recommends music from the iTunes Store that you don't already have.” This should be interesting. Hopefully, there will also be an off button to it, or at least a setting to tell “Genuis” to bother the user as little as possible.

Rose continues by explaining on his blog that, with iTunes 8, you will be able to “browse your artists and albums visually with the new Grid view; download your favorite TV shows in HD quality from the iTunes Store; sync your media with iPod nano (4th generation), iPod classic (2nd generation), and iPod touch (2nd generation); and enjoy a stunning new music visualizer.”

Besides talking about the major facelifts for the entire iPod line (that includes the touch), Rose declared that iTunes 8.0 would be accompanying said changes, making these recent claims consistent with those reported last week. In Rose's opinion, the new version of iTunes "deserves the 8.0 name," as it will bring some "new functionality," according to his original post. Also worth noting is that "a couple of good sources" have allegedly told Rose that Apple's upcoming version of OS X Leopard (10.5.6 – Snow Leopard) is likely to have integrated blue-ray support, while upcoming MacBook Pros are said to be equipped with Blu-ray playback capabilities.

So, what else do you think the next version of iTunes should pack?