We still have about two months or more before Apple is expected to reveal what it has planned for the next version of its iPod line of media players. But the rumors have already started to hit the Internet. 9to5Mac.com reports on one such rumor that was first started on a Dutch language web site. It stated that the next version of the iPod Touch will have both WiFi and 3G wireless capabilities.
According to the story, the new version of the iPod Touch will work just like the 3G features do on Apple"s iPad. It will be used strickily for data and is not supposed to be used as a phone. Obviously the iPhone, which looks and acts much like the iPod Touch, is also a phone as well as a media player. One big question is how the iPhone wireless carriers like Verizon and AT&T will react to a 3G version of the iPod Touch since Internet phone services such as Skype could allow phone capabilities with the iPod Touch.
Putting in a 3G antenna for the iPod Touch would be a useful thing for people who don"t want to fool with getting an iPhone and paying for a long contract but would still like to use the wireless capacities of the iPod Touch outside of a WiFi area. We should learn a lot more when Apple announces its iPod line up for the holiday season sometime in September, along with possibly a new version of the iPhone itself.