Touchscreen iPods are a-comin'

Folks, you read it here first. Strong rumor (and a thick stack of patent drawings) has it that Apple is about to release a touchscreen iPod:

New Apple Patent art points way to iPod with camera

U.S. Patent Office entry for the new iPod

Well, wouldn't that be special.

Actually, it looks a lot like the wizards over in Cupertino have brewed up something far more than just a 6G iPod with a touch screen. From the drawings, it looks like they've added to the device digital camera and possibly wireless functions as well - features which may interact with the user in innovative ways, such as controls that dynamically relocate based on the device's orientation and the media being played.

I await Steven Jobs' world premiere announcement.