Apple Inc (AAPL)

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07:58 AAPL Apple to usher in era of Mac OS X-based iPods - AppleInsider (132.51 )

AppleInsider reports Apple will use a media event next month to unveil a new breed of iPod digital music players that have been injected with the co's most vital asset -- the Mac OS. In surgically replacing the iPod's Pixo-influenced OS with a modern-day variant of its homebred software, the co will have effectively scaled the Mac OS across its entire product matrix.

Internally, Apple is much further along, according to sources, who say the co will again tap an embedded version of the Mac OS to form the foundation of yet another business segment and digital device family in 2008.

In the meantime, however, the co's efforts will reportedly focus on maturing its already established product families. People familiar with this year's plans say Apple's iPod roadmap for the fall now calls for as many as four new models -- most, if not all, will employ NAND flash -- including major evolutions of both the flagship video iPod and iPod nano lines. It's these two iPod product families which are expected to receive the Mac OS treatment, though to varying degrees.

Sources in the Far East have recently vouched for sightings of a "full screen" iPod, which they believe will finally make its debut ahead of this year's holiday shopping season. The players are said to run a derivative of the Mac OS-based iPod software introduced as part of the co's iPhone handset back in June.