an mp3 watch from apple will come but not this year. iPod is transitioning with the upcoming flash into a commodity based has been. 2004 is the last year of "real" iPods. Just look at these mock ups and you can see it all comimg down.
The "flash" before the burnout so to speak.
Eventually all the players will have the same chip like the windows white boxes now. Apple's iPod will be the "dell" to rio's "gateway".
The wall street crowd has fooled apple and they bought into it. I will say, as the proud owner of a 3g, that it was a great run for 3 years. Clearly, with this throw away flash player, apple sold out to wall street.Changing apple's image?

"At a September event, SigmaTel President and CEO Ron Edgerton said one of the more common questions he fields from potential investors is whether SigmaTel is involved with the iPod. He told that audience that although iPod enjoys "mindshare," it isn't the most popular MP3 player.

"When people go into Wal-Mart, they can buy a whole basket of electronics items for the price of an iPod," Edgerton said. "

He added that many of those devices would contain SigmaTel chips.
--AustinBusinessJournalonline Oct. 8, 2004

I think it was just a way to get the hype up for a new product. My best guess is that Jason Pflaum, Apple & SigmaTel worked out this scheme or marketing plan, and all will benefit from the rumor ( stock price goes up, sales interest goes up, etc.) all over the internet I've seen this with no denial from Apple. Good, solid, business plan actually. Sure it's a little sneaky, but business is business-- and it worked!