Rumors of a “true video iPod” sporting a full-body touchscreen have been floating around since before the iPhone surfaced. El Jobso himself even acknowledged that such a device is in development, while handing out free iPhones to Apple employees. For that reason, no one is going to be too surprised when the 6th generation iPod–i.e. the iPhone sans calling and Internet capabilities–finally arrives. The only question that remains is when. Obviously, Apple would be wise to wait a few months, so as not to cannibalize holiday sales of the iPhone. For that reason, the analysts at Piper Jaffray think that January 2008 is the magic date; considering that January usually plays host to the MacWorld Expo, I’d say they’re not really going out on a limb. As expected, Piper Jaffray and friends “expect the iPods to be based on Mac OS X, and carry the iPhone’s wide, touchscreen interface,” though just about any Internet geek could have told you that. Anyone want to hire me as an analyst?

For more on the 6th gen iPod:
– see this Ars Technica article

NOTE: The image above is a fanboy rendering and may not reflect the final design of the 6th gen iPod.