Thanks to jerry for the heads up in BPN.
Apple"s long-rumored flash-based iPod will be introduced at Macworld Expo in 1GB and likely 2GB versions, Apple enthusiast website Think Secret has confirmed. Various details regarding the device have emerged days before Apple CEO Steve Jobs is set to unveil the tiny music player during his keynote address.
Rapidly falling flash prices have enabled Apple to buy 1GB modules from Samsung at a relatively low cost, sources report, which in turn will allow Apple to sell the device for $149. Sources have also suggested that a 2GB version, packing two tiny 1GB flash modules, may sell for $199.
The device is currently being manufactured by Taiwain-based Asustek, which Apple brought on towards the end of the summer as a second ODM for manufacturing iPods. Sources say the flash-based iPod will be powered by a chipset from SigmaTel and that it will feature a screen that is the same width as the iPod mini"s but two lines shorter.
Not certain at this point is what sort of touch-based interface the device will use. Some sources have suggested that device will forgo Apple"s ClickWheel, featured on the iPod mini and 4G iPod, and will instead have more buttons, like the first generation iPod.