I've heard from a source that Google are thinking about entering the iPod arena with a smart media device of their own codenamed Zenith. I had a hard time finding any additional information out on the web or via official channels because it's all being kept very secret. The only similar device that I could find was about the android based Dell iPod rival announced last year. This smart media device is generations ahead of the Dell mp3 player.

The Google Zenith is said to be just a little larger than an iPod nano, has a 48mm x 86mm widescreen format screen, with resolution of 480 X 860px. The battery is hot swappable, with a smaller built in battery, so if you main battery runs out you have about 3 minutes to swap to your spare battery. You should not have to do this often though with a quoted battery life of 14 hours. 

Other features are equally interesting. It has built in Wifi and 3G. There is the option to connect your device to a cloud based music server (using Google's GDrive) so you can store and retrieve all your music via the internet. Zenith users will automatically get 25GB storage space, which also includes shared folders so you can share your music with your friends more easily - as long as you have a legal copy. Engineers are also working on streaming video using wiDi so you can stream video to a compatible device such as a HDTV. There will be a TV docking station (about the size of a credit card) so you can effectively replace your blue ray player with the Zenith. The Zenith TV Dock will be sold separately.

The screen is touch sensitive, so there are no other buttons other than the lock and power buttons on the top. but most users will use the google voice recognition tool to control the device. The base model will be 16GB with extra storage capacity via a microSD slot (up to an extra 128GB). The Zenith also sports a single USB 3.0 slot and a 3.5mm headphone jack. 

Interestingly though, the device does not have a browser, even though it has internet connection. The most likely reason for this is that Google do not want to affect the sales of the new Nexus One mobile phone.

It will be at least 6 months before an official announcement is made on this device, but remember, you heard it here first!