I think Apple is going to announce video-playback capabilities for all color iPods today. They're going to use the existing base to get all the kinks out of the system before they roll out a real-deal video service and video iPod next year. We're looking at the Google model here. Instead of going video all at once and risking a repeat of the chaos that come with the podcast updates, Apple is going to gradually introduce services allowing 3rd-party content developers time to get their bandwidth and hosting under control while helping Apple gets a grasp on just how, and how many, people will be using video services.

iTunes can already download, playback, and sync video content from the Apple store and from podcasts. iPodLinux has shown us that even old-school b&w ipods can handle video playback. With the exception of a nice, big screen, all the necessary video capabilities are already on computers and in pockets around the world. All Apple needs to do is flip the switch.

Of course, I could be wrong...

UPDATE: I was wrong.

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