Good news, Apple fanpeople. According to BusinessWeek.com, Prudential Equity Group analyst Jesse Tortora upgraded computer and iPod maker Apple Inc. on Monday. This was due to predictions of an earlier-than-expected launch of both the company's new operating system and Adobe's Creative Suite 3.

Tortora expects Mac OS X Leopard and Creative Suite 3 to be released simultaneously at the end of March. This is about one or two months ahead of Wall Street expectations. While we've just posted a clarification regarding the launch of Adobe's CS3, an early appearance for Leopard will surely be a delight for Apple fans the world over.

Tortora also predicted that Apple will benefit from the launch of the iPhone. The device is slated for a June release in the U.S., followed by Europe in the fourth quarter and in Asia in early 2007. Tortora boosted the Cupertino-based company to "Overweight" from "Neutral Weight" and raised his price target to US$ 105 from US$ 100.

HDD-based storage or solid-state flash? According to the Apple Insider, Apple may just end up choosing the latter over the former by the end of the year.

An article on Apple Insider states that according to an "IT Hardware" report from Prudential Equity Group analyst Jesse Tortora, the move would pave the way for smaller form factor players, a more diverse model mix, and improvements to both battery life and durability.

"We believe that the video iPod transition from 1.8-inch hard disk drives to NAND flash memory may occur as soon as late 2007," Tortora wrote in the report. "Our checks indicate that Apple is considering canceling its next generation HDD-based iPod design, with the form factor refresh involving a move to NAND flash memory."

While flash memory can be more expensive on a $/GB basis, HDD-based storage can be quite susceptible to warping and other problems - problems that can happen more often due to the average iPod user's mobile lifestyle. Tortora also noted that the Nano's transition to flash in late 2005 "provides a guide as to the point at which the previously mentioned non-cost advantages of flash memory outweigh the cost premium."

The only remaining question that Tortora sees is whether or not 32GB contains sufficient capacity to store video content. "Apple currently offers 30GB and 80GB HDD-based models, and will have the option to increase storage capacity up to 120GB this year based on new perpendicular recording technology," he wrote. "While the higher capacities would allow for more video storage, we view battery life as the key consideration for a move to flash."

Tortora explained that replacing the hard drive with flash memory would allow for an increase of about 60 percent in battery life, extending a 30GB iPod's battery life to about 5.5 hour. An HDD-based 30GB iPod is sufficient for around 40 hours of video content, but only has about 3.5 hours of battery life.

Nokia's re-entry into the video game scene made quite a splash among QJ readers. So we're pretty sure this rumor will receive the red carpet welcome treatment from Apple people and iPeople all over the world.

A few months ago Steve Jobs announced more gaming capabilities for the next-gen iPod which leads us to this month's hot speculations. Jesse Tortora, an analyst for Prudential, believes Apple is ripe enuff to jump into the video game market "considering it has hired video game designers."

We bet that quote launched a thousand woot! woot! from Apple fans. Oh, but there's more shiny, juicy, bite-sized quotes from Tortota.

"We think the videogame market represents a distinct possibility for Apple, especially considering that it recently announced the availability of videogames for its iPod through its iTunes store," he said. "The game console device could be morphed out of some combination of the MacMini and iTV, while the handheld player could be developed as an enhancement for a future version of the widescreen iPod."

Okay, these are just Tortora's predictions. But unlike the crystal ball-gazing soothsayers, Tortora has been looking at market trends and strategy so this rumor isn't that impossible. In fact, it's very probable. And it's going to be really interesting once Jobs makes an official announcement.