By Richard Menta 3/31/06

Rumors that Apple is planning to release a bluetooth iPod sometime in the near future have been flying around for several months now. The problem with Apple rumors is that since there are so many of them it is hard to validate the accurate ones with those that are simply acts of wishful thinking by fans.

Sometimes, though, you can look to what the competition is producing to get a hint a what technology is viable now and therefore a compelling bet for Apple. Samsung has announced the SBH-300 MP3 portable, a DAP with Bluetooth for wireless headphone activity. The SBH-300 is a 2GB flash unit that sports a 262k color OLED LCD display, voice recording, FM tuner, and A2DP stereo Bluetooth, which allows the unit to function with Samsung's Anycall SBH-100 earphones. Samsung also says that the unit can function as a Bluetooth stereo headset for handling calls linked to Bluetooth-enabled mobile phones.