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It is this service that drives the possibility of such a new player being created. The triumph of iTunes has had a direct affect on iPod sales, which, according to some sources, now accounts for one out of every two MP3 players sold -- this despite the fact that the service is only for Mac users right now. Surely, this success can be repeated with a digital video portable.

This brings us to some other speculation. This fall Apple plans to launch a version of iTunes for the much larger Windows audience. There are already several companies in the process of retooling their offerings in hopes of beating Apple to the punch. Rumor has it that they'll get trumped when Apple premieres an online service for PCs that also sells digital movies.

As with music sites, there are also pay for movie services available like MovieLink, MovieFlix, MP4.com and LikeTelevision. These sites have only had modest success to this point, though, experiencing the same troubles that all of the pay for music sites did before iTunes came along. Apple, in its drive to become a digital media company, is certainly aware of this opportunity to take a huge piece of this burgeoning market, too. The difference is they have the advantage/confidence that comes with knowing they have already made it work for music.

If Apple does indeed sell digital video files online, they will no doubt want to have a matching player to capitalize on the hardware end. One that will feed back and forth to the service in a symbiotic relationship that will enhance both. Enter the iPod Movie player.