HP to Ship its Branded iPod in September

HP announced Monday that it will begin selling its branded version of Appleis fourth-generation iPod sometime in September. The company gave no specific pricing and did not say which size iPod it would sell.

"We decided to wait for this amazing new fourth generation iPod, as it will offer our customers an even better experience. HPis version of the new iPod will be available in September," HP chairman and chief executive officer Carly Fiorina said in a prepared statement.

It was announced in January that HP would re-sell Appleis popular iPod portable music player under its own brand name. Additionally, HP began this summer to pre-install the iTunes software and a desktop icon guiding users to the music site on HP Pavilion, Media Center and Compaq Presario desktop and notebook consumer PCs.

The deal with HP involves only the traditional iPod design, now in its fourth-generation, and not the iPod Mini models. Phil Schiller, senior vice president at Apple, told The Mac Observer back in January that although HP would not be selling the mini version initially, "thatis obviously something we can look at in the future," he said.