Anticipation that Steve Jobs is set to release a new slate of iPods ahead of the holiday shopping season sent shares in Apple Inc. surging over 5 percent yesterday.
Apple yesterday distributed invites to a Sept. 5 “special event” in San Francisco. The cryptic invitation pictured a silhouetted figure listening to an iPod and teased, “The beat goes on.”
Apple has historically used its fall special events to launch updates to its iPod product lines.
Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster issued a research note yesterday saying Apple is going to have the two strongest quarters in company history with its recently launched new lineup of Mac computers and pending updates on the iPod.
Apple stock jumped $7.26 on the news, closing at $134.08.
Muenster is predicting the company will introduce a wide-screen version of the iPod Nano that is capable of playing video as well as a new twist on the original iPod product line that takes its cues from the recently launched iPhone.
Mockups of a short, squat, video-capable Nano have been making the rounds on gadget blogs.
Meanwhile, ThinkSecret, an Apple enthusiasts’ rumor site, has floated the notion that while a new Nano is imminent, the revised iPod may only be announced at the upcoming event, with release set for later.
Muenster expects the new flagship iPod to feature a wide screen with multi-touch technology – prospects he places at 70 percent – and a modified version of Apple’s operating system, OSX.
He also speculates that the updated iPod could almost double the storage capacity of the current top of the line 80-gigabyte model.
The iPod, now in its fifth iteration since its release in October 2001, hasn’t seen a major upgrade in two years.