As Apple gears up for a Wednesday announcement, Apple watchers gear up their speculation.

By Antone Gonsalves
InformationWeek

Apple is gearing up for a big announcement on Wednesday, and Apple-watchers are ready with their predictions. Apple could be preparing to unveil a new iPod lineup that includes a camera-sporting iPod Touch.

In addition, an upgrade of Apple’s iTunes store is also likely, and at least one analyst believes there’s a chance Apple could introduce a $700 MacBook and a refresh of the Apple TV.
No one outside of Apple and its manufacturing partners know for sure what Apple will unveil at the Wednesday media event at the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts in San Francisco. But as usual, Apple’s secrecy has fueled a whole lot of speculation among industry observers and media.

One new product deemed most likely to be introduced is an iPod Touch with an integrated camera, and possibly a microphone. The addition of the mike would take the Wi-Fi-enabled device as close as possible to the iPhone in terms of features.

“It would get pretty close to being an iPhone without the cellular connectivity,” Van Baker, analyst for Gartner said. “That could be an interesting device.”

Baker believes a microphone could boost sales because the iPod Touch would be capable of making phone calls through a Wi-Fi hotspot without a service contract from a wireless provider.

In addition, a refresh of the Touch could lead to a drop in the starting price of the older model from $229 to as low as $149, others say. Apple typically drops prices of older models when refreshing product lines.

Speculation is also swirling around Apple’s plans for the iPod Classic, with many observers expecting the company to drop the product from its line of portable media players. Baker believes the Classic, which has a hard-disk drive, will be replaced with a model that uses a more reliable and durable 64 GB solid-state drive. It’s unlikely Apple would drop the Classic and not replace it with a product at a similar price point.

“If they didn’t replace it, then they would have a hole in the line between the iPod Nano and the Touch,” Baker said.

Ezra Gottheil, analyst for Technology Business Research, believes Apple could have a couple of surprises in store, namely a new version of the Apple TV and a new entry-level MacBook that would sell for about $700.

The new Apple TV would need a Web browser that supports Adobe (NSDQ: ADBE) Flash, a technology used to play online video, and a wireless remote control with a touchpad for playing games and other tasks, Gottheil said. Such a device would be a move toward building a “digital hub” that would link the Web, iTunes, the Mac, and the iPhone or iPod Touch to the big-screen, flat-panel TV in the home.