Apple Announcement About Apple TV?

Today’s Apple Announcement better be about something cooler than a new iPod.

There’s an Apple announcement scheduled for this morning in San Francisco, but insiders are undecided about whether it’s going to something big, related to Apple TV, or something less dramatic, like a new iPod. And, it being Apple, a company with legions of devoted followers, the suspense is driving people crazy.

What we know for sure: The announcement will take place at 10am PST today and it will be live streamed, a first for Apple. But nobody knows whether the live streaming means today’s announcement is a Big Deal, or whether it just means Steve Jobs’ ego has grown even larger.

When it comes to speculating about what the Apple announcement is about, industry insiders fall into two camps: some think it will be the unveiling a new iPod, while others are sure it will have something to do with Apple TV.

If it’s just a new iPod, be prepared for a lot of disappointed complaining in the next few days. After all, the portable music market is old and over-saturated. And considering that anyone who owns a smart phone doesn’t even need an iPod, it’s not exactly a sexy product these days. 

If it has to do with Apple TV, things might get more interesting. True, Apple’s existing set-top box hasn’t exactly enjoyed the runaway success of an iPad or iPhone, selling only around 500,000 units. But the merging of TV and internet does seem to be the wave of the future. And if anyone can get on that wave and ride, it’s Apple. And that leads to speculation that today’s big announcement may involve a new box, with downloadable programming provided by Netflix.

Either way, we’ll know in about four hours or so. And not a moment too soon, because the suspense of whether or not I’ll soon be able to buy a new, shinier iPod is killing me.