The gadget world is abuzz this morning as officials from Apple (News - Alert) prepare to new versions of the company’s iPod MP3 players.

 

True to form, officials from the Cupertino, California-based computer giant – creators of what many insiders are calling IT’s major product release of 2008, the 3G iPhone (News - Alert) – are hyping the new music device through a theatrical “Let’s Rock” premiere event.

 

Though some say Apple chief and cancer survivor Steve Jobs’ appearance following apparent recent weight-loss is a bigger “story” than the iPod, industry insiders say Apple is targeting two device models: the iPod Touch and iPod Nano.

 

According to tech writer Glenn Chapman, Rob Enderle of Enderle Group in Silicon Valley is expecting Apple to raise iPod Touch technology to the level of the company’s iPhones, offering all capabilities except mobile telephone service.

 

“Apple is expected to switch the shape of its Nano models back to slim gum sticks from the squat design it tried in order to feature a small screen for video viewing,” Chapman writes.

 

The unveiling comes as Microsoft (News - Alert) seeks to focus the IT world on its own so-called “Zune” devices. On the eve of Apple’s press event, the software giant announced a revamped line of Zune MP3 players and software upgrades that make listening to music on the devices even more “social.”

 

“The Zune line-up is being expanded to include devices with 16 gigabytes of flash memory selling for 200 dollars each and a 250 dollar model with a hard drive offering 120 gigabytes of memory space,” according to Chapman. “Free software updates will let people instantly buy songs they hear on the devices’ built-in FM radios and wirelessly download music from the Zune Marketplace without having to connect to computers.”

 

Despite the Apple-Microsoft struggle for the MP3 consumers’ spotlight, some IT insiders say the world will be watching Jobs more closely than the products his company is rolling out.

 

Jobs was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in 2003. According to reports, Jobs has been reluctant to publicly discuss his health, and recently denied claims that his cancer had returned.

 

As TMC has reported, Bloomberg (News - Alert) News last month mistakenly, and embarrassingly, published the fragments of an obituary for Jobs.

 

According to IT writer Brian Caulfield of Forbes.com, many were startled by Jobs’ “gaunt” appearance (he has surgery to remove the pancreatic cancer four years ago) at a developers’ conference in June.

 

“The New York Times later reported that Jobs had surgery earlier this year to address ‘a problem that was contributing to a loss of weight,’ Caulfield reports. “In other words, investors have more riding on the survival of the man behind the iPod than on the product itself.”

 

Summarizing the strange position Apple may find itself in now, Caulfield writes: “If Jobs looks good and the new iPods look like crap, Apple’s stock will soar. Investors – and Apple – have a lot more riding on Jobs’ health than the iPod.”