New iPod to be Phoneless iPhone

According to this New York Times Bit's blog post, the new Apple product that has been hyped recently is a touch-screen Wi-Fi iPod - essentially the same design as the iPhone except without the phone service. It has the same 3.5' screen, the same touch interface and the same Wi-Fi chipset with the Safari Web Browser. However, it's substantially cheaper. Starting at $299 for 8 gigs and $399 for 16, maybe some future iPhone converts will realize just how cool an integrated phone would be with this device. Sounds kind of backwards, doesn't it?

What's quite awesome is that there is a wireless version of iTunes available on this iPod, which means you can bypass the computer and purchase songs straight to the iPod (and transfer it to your computer later).

The bigger picture points to products that won't be limited by hard disk or flash memory space. The 16 gigabyte iPod Touch is far more limited than the newly renamed 160 gig iPod Classic. You would want to load your iPod Touch with loads of videos, as the 3.5" screen is the best portable display available, but the 16 gigs aren't quite sufficient for, say, all 10 seasons of "Friends" and your entire music collection.

Enter streaming content.

With the Wi-Fi connection on the new iPod and iPhone, and with mobile broadband pointing to easy, inexpensive and constant high speed connectivity, a lack of flash memory might not be so bad if you can find a way to stream the content wirelessly.

It could even work the same way as a SlingBox, with content broadcast over the internet and your wireless device picks it up through an open port in your network. Imagine purchasing a video off iTunes or Nokia's Ovi, and then broadcasting it to any wireless device you own. Your only wireless memory limitations are posed by your home pc or network storage space. Of course it must be more complicated than this, but hopefully this is where it's headed.