Rumors are circulating that during Steve Jobs' keynote at Macworld on January 11, Apple will announce that it has signed a deal with one of the satellite radio companies, Sirius, to market iPods that can receive and record that company's satellite broadcasts. I can't say if there is any validity to this latest bit of gossip - it is probably nothing more than someone's clever imagination - but since Think Secret's accurate scoop the other month on the iPod Photo one hesitates to dismiss it too quickly.

From Apple's point of view an iPod Satellite would certainly offer a unique high end feature that would trump the FM radios found in a number of competing units. Some pundits have been listing XM and Delphi's latest MyFi portable satellite radio as an iPod competitor, but it is not an MP3 player. The iPod Satellite could be the first to converge both technologies.

Is it Real?
All this sounds nice, but that doesn't mean any of it is true. As Apple is always tight-lipped on new products prior to their announcement, any effort to get them to confirm such a player is only an act of futility. Likewise, the Sirius PR folk will be sworn to secrecy. We'll have to wait until January 11th to find out.