Apple's patent application covering a wireless mobile device was made public by the US Patent and Trademark Office on May 4, 2006. The patent covers an "audio user interface for computing devices", a very general description - it could either be an MP3 player, a mobile phone, or even a PDA of some sort.

Going through the patent filing itself can be frustrating enough to make you bang your head on the wall, but after reading it over and over I was able to glean some ideas about the device. The filing shows a way of controlling the device using voice commands, and it suggests that the device may even be able to respond to your commands. I don't exactly know how that would work - perhaps if you say "Play Kelly Clarkson album", the device would probably generate a reply similar to this: "Playing Kelly Clarkson now". Of course, that's just a product of my overactive imagination, but it might just happen, right?

The patent also suggests that you will be able to queue your tracks for downloading once you reach a Wi-Fi hotspot, taking away the need to pay charges to your network providers. I'm sure this will not sit well with network providers.