Okay, so we mentioned the rumors of higher-capacity iPod minis yesterday, and we've covered the freaky screenless flashPod report-- but have you heard these whispers about the iPod becoming a satellite radio receiver when the Expo rolls around? We thought the "iPod Satellite" rumors were laid to rest back in October; they sprang up when XM Radio had a big announcement scheduled for the same day as Apple's last big music press event and word had gotten out that it would be about a handheld XM player. A lot of people put two and two together and figured that XM's handheld would be a new satellite iPod, introduced in a joint announcement-- but of course XM's portable player wound up being the MyFi, and Apple fans got the iPod photo and the iPod U2 Special Edition instead.

Case closed, right? Nope. The rumors are back, folks, only now that XM has the MyFi, this time it's SIRIUS that's reportedly headed to iPodville. Faithful viewer Jim Palmer even heard people talking about it on G4TechTV, and it's being reported more and more frequently, but so far everyone we've seen propagating this rumor seems to link back to a report at MP3newswire.net-- which doesn't appear to cite a source other than "the rumor mill," and says the whole thing is "probably nothing more than someone's clever imagination." So there doesn't seem to be much in the way of evidence supporting the existence of a SIRiPod just yet. Of course, that doesn't mean we can't all spread the bejeezus out of the rumor anyway, right?

Because frankly, even if it turns out that there's absolutely nothing to it, we can see why this rumor refuses to die: it is, after all, a pretty cool idea. Personally, we're not all that interested in satellite radio, because its programming just doesn't strike us as that much more compelling than what's on free radio to justify the expense-- at least, not compared to the perfect-fit programming of an iPod loaded up with a few thousand of our own favorite tunes. (Yes, we live in a bubble, and we like it that way.) But we're sure there are plenty of people out there who'd jump at the chance to shell out an extra $13 a month to have walking-around access to SIRIUS's 120 commercial-free channels of music, sports, news, and more. SIRIUS on an iPod would blow the MyFi clean out of the water, thus becoming SIRIUS's big "Bite Me" to XM-- and it would also let Apple leapfrog the iPod's competition instead of merely playing catch-up, because it would make the FM receivers in those things look like cheesy toys.

Like we said, there's apparently absolutely no evidence whatsoever that SIRIUS programming will soon be available on an iPod, so don't get your hopes up too far. But the synergy of such a team-up sounds good to us in practically every way, especially if Apple gets a percentage of the SIRIUS subscription fees for any iPod users who sign up for the service. And we really do like the idea of an iPod that pulls content from satellites for a change, instead of just beaming your every thought back to them like iPods do now. (You actually listen to your iPod without wearing a tin foil hat? Here's hoping you never think bad thoughts about Steve, or you'll soon be visited by ninjas in the night, and they won't be delivering cookies.)