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Concept art for an Apple touch-screen Netbook.

(Credit: Gizmodo)

According to various rumors and reports, Apple's got a new slate-style Netbook in the works that may be announced as soon as next month. While we have no confirmation from Apple--or anybody else--that such a product really exists, that doesn't mean we can't do a little market survey and ask you what the thing should be called.

If the rumors are at all on target, the final product will look something like a jumbo iPod Touch. However, what's interesting is that such a PC would most likely be a crossover product for Apple and straddle several product families, includes iPods, MacBooks, and maybe even Apple TV. So, is it part of one of those families or a whole new category unto itself?

Only time will tell, but for now you can cast your vote in our poll of popular candidates or write in your own choice in the comments section. We strongly doubt we'll have any influence whatsoever over Apple's decision, but, hey, people at Apple do read CNET. At least a couple do anyway.

I'm not sure why, but some analysts seemed a little surprised about Amazon.com's announcement on Wednesday that it would begin offering Amazon e-books on the iPhone and iPod Touch, and move beyond the confines of the Kindle.

First of all, the company had effectively confirmed off-Kindle reading access in February, so it shouldn't have surprised anyone. Second, anybody who knows anything knows that it's all about the razor blades (the e-books) and not the razor (the Kindle).

Like the game console world, the real profits aren't in the hardware but rather the software. Yes, the Kindle 2's hot now, but to reach a larger audience, Amazon will eventually have to reduce the price for the reader and shrink its margins.

By contrast, the margins on e-books should remain pretty beefy, and you can imagine all the cost savings involved when you don't have to deal with warehousing and shipping physical books. It's a great business model.

The bestsellers list in Apple's App Store.

(Credit: Apple)

But there's just one problem. While Amazon might be able to find a market for $9.99 books on the Kindle, the iPhone-iPod Touch world is a very different place. Very few people are willing to pay that kind of money for any sort of application, let alone an e-book.

In the Apple application world, the sweet spot for selling anything seems to be less than $4.99--and more like $.99 or $1.99. Sure, you're going to get some bestselling series with almost cult-like followings (read: "Harry Potter" and "Twilight"), but the vast majority of books being "sold" on the iPhone are very cheap--and rightly so because the overall iPhone-reading experience doesn't justify you spending $10 (or even $5) on an e-book. (See Nicole Lee's in-depth piece on comparing the Kindle 2 reading experience to that of the iPhone's).

Of course, the Kindle app isn't the first way to read e-books on the iPhone--there are already dozens of paid and free reader applications (and books-as-apps) available on the App Store. And taking a look at the list of top paid (nonfree) book or reader apps will give you an idea of how pricing works.

Books in the "Twilight" series, and one app called "50 Great Books for 10 Bucks," are the only ones in the top 20 that have a $9.99 price tag. Arguably, the perfect book for Apple's smartphone, "iPhone: The Missing Manual" (written by The New York Times' David Pogue), sells for $4.99. But it took a big hit in sales when the publisher tested a $9.99 price point.

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More memory, please: Waiting for the iPhone to go to 32GB and the Touch to hit 64GB.

(Credit: Apple)

OK, now that CES and Macworld are behind us, it's time to take a moment to ponder just what was missing. For me anyway the biggest letdown was the absence of any word on a higher-capacity iPod Touch. As a non-iPhone guy with a slight bit of iPhone envy, I've had my eye on the 2G Touch for the last three months. But like a lot of people, I've been waiting either for the price of the 32GB version to come down or to pay not much more for a 64GB model, which has been making the rounds in the rumor mill and message boards for months.

Previously, I wrote a column about why it was the wrong time to buy an iPod. So, in a sense, you could call this column, "Why it's almost the right time to buy an iPod...or at least an iPod Touch." I just think the Touch needs one more rev to be a near-ideal device. (Even if Apple doesn't want to sell my products in its App Store, I still have no problem recommending its products to readers.) Of course, a 128GB model would be perfect, but I could live with a 64GB version (or cheaper 32GB model). That would enable you to store a decent-size music collection, a good amount of video, and lots of apps--and maybe even leave you with a little room to grow.

Sure, this would be a moot point if Apple had given us a micro-SD card slot, but Apple isn't big on the whole memory-expansion concept. Nor does it seem too keen on removable batteries (or stereo Bluetooth, for that matter). While I still find that irritating, at this point the positives appear to comfortably outweigh the negatives. But now I'm looking to maximize my purchase, knowing this precious $400 device might only hold out for 2-3 years if I don't happen to lose it, damage it, or have it stolen.

I've had pretty good luck with my iPods (for the record, last year I bought a refurbished Nano 4GB for $100). But there's been plenty of copy written about iPods failing right after warranties expire and assorted other iPod disasters. I do think it helps to go with flash memory--which is what's in the iPhone and Touch and has no moving parts--rather than a hard drive. But, of course, the highest-capacity flash-memory chips, at least initially, tend to be rather pricey.

Which brings us to the questions: so when the heck is the 64GB version coming out and how much will it cost? Well, the prices for flash memory have been dropping precipitously. Once new, smaller, 34 nanometer 32GB chips (just arriving now) start being produced in volume, we should see not only a 64GB Touch but a 32GB iPhone. And if the past is anything to go by, Apple last increased the capacities of its iPod Touch line on February 5, 2008, a Tuesday. So you could look to Tuesday, February 3 or Tuesday, February 10 (Apple tends to make its announcements on Tuesdays) as possible release days.

As for the price for the 64GB Touch, you'd hope Apple would stick to its "twice the memory for the same price" tradition; in other words, $399 would buy 64GB (rather than 32), $299 would yield 32GB, and $229 would buy you 16 gigs. Hoping for a recession discount? Even in this economy, don't expect Apple to cut prices on its premium iPod model. At least not yet.

As for the rumored addition of GPS capabilities for the Touch, I'm less confident about those arriving in the near term than a memory bump for both the Touch and iPhone. That said, some folks are speculating that Apple will create a new premium Touch (perhaps the Touch Pro?) that adds GPS and higher-memory capacity at the same time. However, I wouldn't expect that sort of change until later this year, possibly when the company refreshes the line in September.

What do you guys think? Anybody else holding out for a 64GB Touch? A 32GB iPhone? And what do you think they'll cost?