Yes, folks, it's time once again for rampant speculation based on recently-filed Apple trademark applications! For those of you who are new to the game, you play it like this: first, pay a little visit to the search page of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. Then click on "New User Form Search (Basic)." Specify a search for "Live" trademarks, enter "APPLE COMPUTER" as the Search Term, set the field to "Owner Name and Address," and click "Submit Query." Bickety-bam, you're looking at a heaping helping of potential product and service names that Apple would probably prefer you don't know about-- at least, not until the product launch press releases go out.

And what a bounty this time around! The Mac Observer notes that Apple recently filed applications for the trademarks iWork, ProBand, ZeroConf, Searchlight, and POD. There's enough to chew on there to keep your jaw churning well into the middle of next week. (Try to pace yourself, though-- overdo it and before too long you'll look like square-jawed Bruce Campbell.)

Let's start off with iWork, which is categorized as "computer software" of an unspecified nature. So is Apple just planning to give a new name to AppleWorks in a desperate though feeble bid to revive the slightest bit of interest in a productivity suite that's currently sitting underneath a layer of dust so thick it technically qualifies as a carpet? Could be, although you probably know that there are longstanding rumors that Apple has a new productivity suite in the works-- either a ferocious retooling of AppleWorks, or a whole new beast altogether-- which will allegedly give Microsoft Office a run for its money. (Most people think that the as-yet-unused "iWrite" trademark refers to a word processor in this alleged suite, though based on the filing details, The Mac Observer thinks it's a PDA.)

Next up: ProBand, which sure sounds like a professional equivalent of GarageBand to us. Then again, there already is a pro version of GarageBand-- or maybe two. Logic is Apple's high-end music production app, while SoundTrack is the pro equivalent of GarageBand's loop-mixing functionality. So we're not at all sure where a ProBand would fall on that continuum, although we suppose we wouldn't be too surprised if Apple builds SoundTrack into Logic and then rechristens Logic to be ProBand. We'll see.

ZeroConf? Well, our first guess would have been that Apple was gearing up to rename Rendezvous, its zero-configuration system that allows TCP/IP devices and services to find each other automagically; let's not forget that Apple was fighting a lawsuit over the use of the trademark. But then we remembered that the lawsuit was settled not that long ago-- although who knows? Maybe the settlement included a provision that Apple would change the name. As for Searchlight, well, that's just close enough to Spotlight (Tiger's search technology) that we think Apple might be considering a name change for whatever reason. But the categories listed are for computer software and hardware, so who knows?

The whole "POD" thing baffles us a bit, too; is Apple seriously considering having a Pod and an iPod in its product lineup? It's inconceivable that Apple would change the iPod name, what with the brand recognition. But as TMO notes, the description of the Pod makes it sound just like an iPod, with the possible addition of "transmitting" and "manipulating" audio. TMO's John Kheit suspects that Apple is registering "Pod" just to prevent competitors from releasing knockoffs with names like "ePod" or "oPod"; we didn't think you could actually do that, but Kheit's a lawyer, so...

Anyway, like we said, there's more than enough there to keep your brain bouncing for a while. Don't overdo it, though, and keep in mind that just because Apple has filed a trademark application doesn't mean that said trademark will ever be used, so all your brainwork may come to naught. Now go forth, children, and speculate.