Research and investment firm Piper-Jaffray has joined the Apple-wireless/mobile-prediction fray (pardon the pun).  The company believes that there's a 75% chance that an "iPhone" or cellphone-based product would be announced and/or introduced within the next 12 months.

Speculation that Apple would do so was ignited by an announcement a few weeks ago by iPod chipmaker PortalPlayer, which said it and wireless solutions provider CRS were going to enable Wi-Fi and Bluetooth on its next-gen chip.  PortalPlayer's chips have been part and parcel of each and every single iPod (except the low-tech shuffle) ever since the iPod's inception, and it's not too much of a conceptual jump from a so-called "Wi-Pod" to an "iPhone" - they'd run on the same technology.  

We're expecting Piper-Jaffray's announcement to fan everyone's excitement to a fever pitch.  Which is precisely what Apple would need and want in the run-up to the introduction of something this significant and risky.  Let's see where all this leads.