Apple readies Mac OS X-based iPods?

Apple's iPod line-up will be revamped next month, it has been claimed, and the biggest change of all will be the replacement of the players' operating system with a version of Mac OS X, as per the iPhone.

The scheme - announced by company sources cited by AppleInsider - will see the original iPod OS, based on technology from Pixo, then an independent company set up by ex-Apple employee Paul Mercer, but now part of Sun, replaced by Mac OS X's Unix kernel.

What that means for the music player's icon user interface remains to be seen. Certainly, there have been rumours doing the rounds for some time that Apple would equip the iPod with the iPhone UI's look and feel, and a shift to Mac OS X would go most of the way to making that possible.

In addition to the Mac and the iPhone, Apple also equips its AppleTV set-top box with Mac OS X.

Earlier this week, it was claimed that the iPod Nano will take on the look of the current iPod - albeit in a smaller form - while the iPod will acquire a look not unlike that of the iPhone.