You know us-- whenever a new rumor pops up about this mysterious relationship between Apple and Palm, we're all over that action like ants on a lollipop. While Palm has obviously done a lot right in crafting its handheld organizers, we can't help but wonder about what innovations Apple could add if given a chance-- and we're not just talking about translucent plastics and candy colors. Specifically we've been hoping for real handwriting recognition and possibly some of the finer elements of the Newton OS to find their way into an Apple-branded Palm, though we're not exactly confident about the odds. Especially now that Mac OS Rumors is claiming that the focal innovation in Apple's top-secret Palm project starts with an "a," ends with a "t," and has an "irpor" in the middle...

Yup, the latest rumor is that the development effort of Apple's co-branded Palm device has been stepped up into high gear now that other products like the new "Kihei" iMac are just about complete, and the chewy chocolatey center at the heart of the product is none other than Airport wireless networking. Okay, so it's not exactly the Palm VII in terms of range, but there's something kinda neat about the idea of having your ApplePalm constantly connected to your desktop Macs (not to mention the Internet) as long as you're within 150 feet of your home or office Base Station. For instance, you could wirelessly HotSync as you nuke some leftovers or check your email while on the exercise bike. Or, uh, in the bathroom. (The true geek dream.)

Airport is probably the most buzzworthy technology to come out of Apple in a long, long time, and Real Men™ and Real Women™ alike are probably going to buy a ton of iBooks whether or not they're "girly" because of the sheer coolness factor of being able surf the net anywhere in the house. And if the chubby 6.7-pound iBook is "portable," what does that make a Palm? So there's every chance that the addition of Airport will turn Apple's handheld into a gotta-have item. Granted, we're not fully sure whether an 11 Mbps wireless connection to one's Palm device really offers all that much functionality right now-- web-browsing on a Palm is just a leetle bit cramped, for instance-- but with the technology in place, cool applications will surely follow. At least, we hope...