Wireless iPod by mid 2006?
Sometimes the stars align such that we just can't help ourselves from speculating. As Mobile Content News points out, PortalPlayer, the company that makes the chipset used in the iPod with an estimated 90% of their 3rd quarter 2005 revenue coming from the iPod alone, is making big moves into wireless. Just last month they named Vodafone and Ericsson veteran Tomas Isaksson to their Board of Directors and then last week they announced their licensing of Sun's Java ME platform which moves Mobile Java content beyond devices such as cellphones and into next generation portable media players "expected to be released in the first half of 2006." Now we have an analyst over at Citigroup reminding us that PortalPlayer "wants to acquire a small private company with a wireless technology portfolio" and are "dedicating 2006 to building out wireless capabilities." So what does this all mean? Well, "wireless" and "iPod" could yield a Bluetooth 2.0 iPod finally axing the cable from the headphones, or a WiFi iPod which functions as a remote control and streaming data source to that new Mac mini with Front Row, or even the highly desired iPhone which seems almost a certainty in Apple's expanding device portfolio. But hey, we've still got all the Macworld Intel rumors to sort out to get too carried away by anything up to 6 months away…that's an eternity 'round here.
