Apple will bring out an iPod with Wi-Fi wireless connectivity on board during the latter half of the year - if the latest whispers coming from Taiwan's electronics manufacturer community are to be believed, that is.

So claims local newssite DigiTimes today, which mentions moles from contract manufacturers Foxconn and Universal Scientific (USI). Foxconn is making the player; USI the Wi-Fi module it's said to contain.

Wi-Fi is one of those features of questionable value in a personal music player. Certainly, Microsoft's Zune, which uses Wi-Fi for song-sharing, doesn't appear to have won swathes of converts to wireless music.

More likely, if Wi-Fi is part of the iPod programme, it's to allow the player to grab content directly from the iTunes online store. That's almost certainly going to be a feature of the iPhone - albeit over cellular rather than Wi-Fi - and it makes particular sense if the facility will be a part of the much-rumoured video-centric widescreen iPod.

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