Rumors and Intrique: Looking Forward at What Might Be Announced by Apple

September is the big time for Apple as they unveil a new menu of upcoming features and devices, usually building on their previous technologies and the rumor mill that has essentially told them what they want out of the innovation factory.  With the September '10 announcements there are a huge blast of rumors coming out as to what may be announced later today.  Here are a few that have been circulating the blogs recently, and have a good likelihood of taking place.

The White iPhone 4

People have been waiting patiently for the mysterious white iPhone 4, except when they are posting how to guides to dismantle your iPhone 4 to put on an aftermarket white casing.  The white iPhone 4 has been promised for quite some times and we have just as good of a chance of seeing the white iPhone today as we do with anything else the tech bloggies have created in their imagination.  Hopefully this time the white iPhone 4 will not disappear like a minx only to be promised again six months down the road.

Verizon iPhone

The biggest announcement that could be made today is that Apple will be opening up the iPhone to other carriers, mainly Verizon or T-Mobile.  The idea of a Verizon iPhone is one of the most rumored tech tidbits on the back alleys of the internet, but it has not seemed as though you would see a Verizon iPhone in the near future.  With many of the recent carrier issues, data plans, and customer demands it seems that the Verizon iPhone may be one of the most likely items to anticipate out of the press conference.

The iPod Touch 4

The iPod Touch 4, or whatever new incarnation of the iPod Touch will be titled, may be one of the main focuses of the Apple event.  What has been expected from the iPod Touch 4 has ranged depending on who you ask, but at least some sort of still and video camera is expected to be included.  At best the iPod Touch 4 will include a complete front and back camera and will utilize FaceTime just like the iPhone 4.  The casing should take an overhaul on the iPod Touch 4 with a metal lining to match that of the iPhone 4, and there is talk of extending the fashionable Retina Display to the iPod Touch as well.  You may also be able to expect a step up in terms of storage space on the iPod Touch 4, but it has not been confirmed in any concrete way.

iOS 4.1

There may be an announcement of the first major update to the new iOS 4, even though there have already been two small iOS updates recently to fix obvious errors.  The main focus of the iOS 4.1 rumor is so that the iPod Touch's operating system could be updated to support new features that may be added with the iPod Touch 4, as well as the support of Apple's new golden child Game Center.  There is also still talk of how the iOS 4.1 could fix the sensor proximity problem that has been the focus of tongue lashing for quite some time.  In reality there could be a whole list of items included in iOS 4.1, but nothing in iOS 4.1 is going to match the upgrades that were seen with iOS 4.

iTunes Upgrade

The rumor mill has been somewhat silent about whether or not this presentation will mark the upgrades for iTunes, but there is a pretty serious idea running around that Apple is going to extend its Social Networking fever to iTunes.  The social networking aspect is not certain, but there needs to be a systemic change to iTunes as there has not been a major upgrade in some time that has made any substantial changes to the format.

Apple TV

Since the rumors that Apple is going to finally upgrade its basic hardware on Apple TV have been permeating for quite a while this seems like a logical time to do so.  Since Apple TV is not the most important item to most Applephiles this is likely not to take center stage, and may not even take place at this juncture.  

New iPod Nano

It is without a question that one of the major announcements would be the new iPod Nano, mainly because it would be the first time a touch screen was extended to one of the lower level iPods.  There has been several rumors about the iPod Nano's new 1.7 inch touch screen display and this will likely be the place where the new iPod Nano will actually be displayed to the world.  At least we can cross out fingers.

Beyond this everything is still speculation, but the news will begin pumping out of the live blogs as soon as the event begins.  Perhaps Apple will eliminate the iPod Classic and iPod Shuffle entirely?  Perhaps a mid-generation iPhone will be released to deal with the antenna issues?  The mind can only race until then…