Apple looks set to launch a whole new range of iPods next month, and has already inadvertently confirmed the launch of at least one - the new iPod nano.
US technology site Gizmodo was threatened with legal action by Apple after it posted pictures of the new portable audio player. Mac and iPod fans have long since learnt that Apple only threatens legal action when something happens to be true, particularly when it comes to stories about upcoming Apple products.
Gizmodo's pictures reinforce what we already know - that the new model will be wider and shorter than the current model. This will enable Apple to include a bigger screen for displaying video - a feature the iPod nano hasn't had until now.
9to5mac has also unearthed the replacement for the current 5.5G iPod: a new iPhone-alike model it's dubbing the iPod Touch.
New touchscreen iPod
The iPod Touch is effectively an iPhone without the phone, giving you touchscreen access to all your music and movie files in a 480 x 320 widescreen display that makes up all of the fascia.
The iPod Touch will apparently run Apple's Mac OS X operating system - something Steve Jobs hinted at during his speech to Apple employees on Friday 29 June, the day the iPhone launched.
It's also possible that the iPod Touch will get the Samsung's SpinPoint N2 160GB ultra-portable hard drive which was announced on Monday. Samsung supplies all the NAND flash chips used in Apple's iPod shuffle and iPod nano players, so the SpinPoint M5 announcement looks timely.
Apple is expected to reveal the new iPods at a special event next month - making it exactly a year since the iPods last had a major refresh.
