Speaking of keeping the iPod on top of the market share heap, you know those rumors that surface every once in a while about the next iPod getting a color screen and being able to show photos and even video clips? It's sort of a nice thought, and totally doable; other companies are shipping stuff like this already, albeit in devices that aren't nearly as slick as the iPod. In Apple's hands, we'd expect all sorts of nice stuff like automatic syncing of albums in iPhoto, .Mac integration so your could carry your posted slideshows with you, some sort of system that automatically transfers power from the wheels that slip to the wheels that grip, etc. The only problem is that Steve Jobs already came right out and stated for the record that, since no one wants to watch a movie on a screen the size of a teabag, Apple wouldn't bother with such a device until really good folding displays come on the market, so it's not likely to happen for a while.

Or is it? Forget Steve's comments about the screen for a second and check out The Register, which cites an EE Times article about PortalPlayer's new architecture. PortalPlayer, you are no doubt aware, is the company who makes the "chip/firmware combo" that actually lets an iPod be an iPod-- and its latest release is called PortalPlayer Photo Edition. It lets you look at JPEGs on the go, syncs them with a host computer or with other players, and even lets you handle basic editing tasks like "rotating, cropping, and red-eye correction" in the field without having to plug into a computer running iPhoto. Sounds like a pretty nifty feature set to find its way into a future iPod, right? After all, Apple had no qualms about adding in such random stuff as calendar support and Solitaire, and the iPod already lets you store photos, even in the field. So why not go all Digital Hubby with iPhoto-To-Go, now?

Oh, right-- the "folding screen" thing. Well, it just so happens that PortalPlayer Photo Edition supports TV output in addition to built-in color LCDs. Looking at photos or watching movies on a 2-inch LCD may be the pits, but even Steve would have to agree that seeing them on a television works out pretty darn well-- otherwise most digital cameras wouldn't come with video-out ports. (We've had our camera for over two years and only found out that it plugs into a TV about a week and a half ago. Go figure.) So, no folding screen necessary. Heck, if nothing else, we'd love for the iPod to get a video port just so we could run Visuals on a handy TV. How can anybody expect us to get anything out of VocabuLearn: Swahili, Level 1 if we can't watch trippy purple blobs eat each other while we listen?