Apple tipped to launch new iTV product and new iPod Touch, while HP plans tablet to challenge iPad

The Apple rumour mill has started up again, with the tech industry abuzz over suggestions the company will release an updated, cheaper version of its Apple TV product along with a more powerful iPod Touch.

Troubled manufacturer HP is also at the centre of another rumour, with insiders suggesting a WebOS tablet will be on its way to market by the first quarter of 2011, in a move to challenge Apple’s iPad.

But reports suggest the upgrades aren’t all the big improvements the industry has been waiting for, with tech blog Engadget reporting the Apple TV upgrade will stream media at a lower resolution than the current model and have less storage.

The rumours come as Google is preparing to launch its own TV product, with manufacturers set to deliver set-top boxes with the company’s software early next year.

The publication reports that, according to an exclusive source, the new Apple TV product will be named the iTV and will receive a complete overhaul. The device will cost $US99 and run on a form of the iOS, meaning it will be able to operate third-party apps.

The gadget will also reportedly boast similar infrastructure to the iPhone 4, running on an A4 chip and containing 16GB of flash storage. The current Apple TV allows users to access the iTunes Store and a user’s library over a wireless connection, and there is no reason to believe this will change with the newer version.

But there’s a caveat – a significant downgrade in resolution. The iTV gadget will only be able to playback clips at 720p resolution, unlike the current Apple TV which is able to playback videos of 1080i or 1080p. Apparently this is due to the A4’s limited technical capabilities, but it means users will have to put up with a slightly lower quality in video playback.

Meanwhile, more Apple rumours have surfaced, this time from John Gruber’s popular Daring Fireball blog. Gruber, who is known to be in-the-know with various Silicon Valley sources, says the iPod Touch will be upgraded with “a Retina Display and dual cameras”.

The Retina display is the same type of screen used on the iPhone 4, which Apple claims uses such a high-resolution that human eyes can’t discern the actual number of pixels used.

Gruber says the upgrade will come in just a few weeks, which would make sense given Apple usually updates its iPod line-up around that time each year.

That would also fall in line with a rumour posted by All Things Digital this morning, which states Apple will hold its annual iPod event in mid-September.

Finally, industry insiders say Hewlett-Packard is gearing up to launch a tablet based on the WEbOS software it acquired from Palm earlier this year. The company is reportedly hoping to challenge Apple’s iPad, and establish itself as a manufacturer of high-end, quality consumer electronics.

Engadget claims through “several trusted sources” that the tablet will be hitting shelves in the first quarter of 2011. Personal systems group vice president Todd Bradley reportedly mentioned the date in an internal meeting, and the project is codenamed “hurricane”.

The company is also hoping to take the public’s eye away from the resignation of chief executive Mike Hurd, who stepped down last week due to a breach of company conduct. He inflated expense accounts in order to conceal a relationship with a contractor, the board said.