Later today Apple will be conducting their media event at 1pm eastern. Most of those who are in the loop are 99.9% sure that it will simply be Apple’s unveiling of the new line of iPods.

The iPod Nanos, if the rumors are true will be receiving a size bump from 4GB-8GB, to 8GB-16GB. There is also said to be nine different colors, giving the mp3 players more variety.

Of course anything could happen, and Apple could be dropping a huge news bomb on us all. I will post the news as soon as it drops later today.

What’s your impressions? Do you like, has it not changed enough for your tastes? Is it even real? If it is real, do you even care?

I personally can’t wait for the 4th gen iPod Nano. I definitely like the curved look to the body. Here’s hoping this picture is real, and isn’t some insane photoshop job.

Kevin Rose is famous/infamous among the Apple community. He seems to get information before anyone, and is a pretty big thorn in Steve Jobs’ side. He now has new information released about the new up and coming iPod Nano.

- 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.

Here is a video of Kevin Rose explaining some of these new updates.

[via: Kevin Rose]

The rumors of iPods being discontinued have been started by AppleInsider. It looks as though Target has changed its status on current iPods from ‘available’ to ‘discontinued’. As someone who has worked in retail before, this generally means that (if the product is selling well), that new models are on the way. Depending on how many units are reported to have left, the closer the date for the new model is. If the old model is selling like crazy, they’re going to want to wait aslong as possible before discontinuing the new model.

The biggest rumor to come out of all of this is from Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster. He believes that Apple will be lowering the price of the iPod Touch to $199. The analyst also mentioned that there would be new iPod Shuffles, Nanos being released with more memory with the same price as the current models.

At this point though, it is all just speculation. But educated speculation.

According to PcWorld.com we could be in store for some major announcements come September. The rumors involve mostly the iPod Touch and MacBook series. There are rumored announcements about lower prices, and new models for Apple’s most popular lines.

The iPod Touch is hopefully going to receiving a significant price cut, and could drop from $299 to $199. Some other rumors presented on PcWorld is that the iPod Touch will be getting a makeover, to resemble the 3G iPhone. It’s also being reported that we could be in store for some storage space upgrades as well.

Some of the more significant rumors are about the Macbook model. The prices are rumored to drop from $1,099 to $999. Some of the significant hardware upgrades, is that there’s a small chance we could see a slimmer model announced. Probably the most intriguing rumor is Apple’s development on the MacBooks with touch screen capabilities.

For iPhone or iPod Touch users, some of the biggest news to surface on the devices has landed (atleast in my opinion). It looks as though Apple is applying for a patent on a technology that would stream your iTunes library automatically to your handheld device.

As of now, if you want your favorite songs to play on your iPhone or iPod Touch, you have to transfer the music files to your handheld. With the new patent, users could instead just set up a stream so their iTunes library could play through Wi-Fi or cellular networks.

Apple hasn’t released any comments on any future uses for the patent. They have been able to pull off a similar feat with Apple TV, streaming iTunes over local wifi. Hopefully more details will be released soon about this much wanted advancement.