The rumour is out: Apple has placed an order with Taiwanese electronics manufacturer Foxconn for 12 million iPod phones, said to have a 2 megapixel camera and naturally a built-in iPod with some kind of scroll wheel.

Jason wrote an article on why he doesn’t want an iPhone for ZDnet, and as such, is a much more technologically literate person than most of the population out there. He’s an avowed Palm Treo fan, a very popular smartphone model, with mini keyboard, browsing capabilities, multimedia capabilities and more. It’s a model I quite like too, and I can certainly see why he loves it so much.

Jason doesn't want an iPhone because it probably won't have the smartphone features the Treo has, but that's precisely the reason why many people will want an iPhone. Less complicated, easy to use and it does music, too - the iPod way.

I personally love smartphones like Jason, and as a journalist I get to test a lot of phones. Being in contact with lots of people, as I often help them fix and update their computers, I show them the phones I test and the iPod nano 2nd-gen 8Gb model I wear around my neck with the Apple Lanyard headphones along with whatever other gadgets I'm testing at the time.

And after having shown a lot of people the iPod and spoken of the possibility of an iPhone from Apple, many profess to also want an iPod and phone merged together from Apple.

And while smartphone owners already have a unit that can play mp3s, videos, TV shows, audio books and more, some of them want an iPhone, too. While they’ve probably already purchased a 1Gb or 2Gb memory card, and might even already have two or more, just so they can take their music and digital media with them, some wonder how much nicer the digital media experience would be with a real Apple iPhone.

So while those that have them might use their smartphones for digital media all time time, a number wish it was more iPod like.

But most people out there, even if they have a videophone or non-keyboard smartphone from Nokia, Sony Ericsson and others, just use their phones to make and receive phone calls and sens SMS text messages.

Being a self-styled technology evangelist, I’m always encouraging people to use the more advanced features of their phones. I have great fun in showing people that their phone is also a TV, with many channels available (albeit usually at a low cost per month), with Australia’s biggest Telco even offering 12 channels of Foxtel, Australia’s cable TV service.

There are more fundamental reasons why I want an iPod, and more on what smartphones can already do, as well as a extremely cool and affordable way to turn your iPod into a phone today. Click on the 'next' link below to find out!

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Although not all those streams are not live streams of exactly what’s happening on the equivalent Foxtel channels, with the CNN stream an exception I can think of, the service is delivered over 3.5G HSDPA and is smoother than 3G TV streaming, even though it still has that streaming look about it – i.e. not the absolutely crystal clear video you’ll get from a regular TV.

But most people just aren’t all that interested – many of these features seem to be seen more as gimmicks than features that must be used everyday.

I even try to show people that they can access their Gmail accounts – if they have one – on their phone, too.

I have all of my email forwarded to my Gmail account, and even though I take my laptop computer and a wireless broadband card with me everywhere, it’s often still faster to whip out my phone and log onto Gmail that way to check my mail or do a very fast search than it is to get my  laptop out, turn it on, wait for it to boot, then wait for it to finish loading Windows, then wait for the broadband connection to connect, then open Outlook and finally check my mail.

But for many people, even the simple act of checking your Gmail on your phone is just too much. While they’re impressed that I can do it and how simple it really is, few seem to be so enamoured of the ability that they really want to do it themselves.

At least I’m trying to show them how technology can change their lives for the better.

But the iPod, on the other hand, has enormous mass consumer awareness and appeal. It’s the simplest mp3 player to use out there, bar none, and if it were to be converged into a phone, even one that doesn’t necessarily have all the features of the Palm Treo or other advanced smartphones, it’s likely to be the most affordable way to get a real iPod (thanks to mobile phone plans).

It will also actually see people carrying one device that does two things very, very well indeed: make and receive phone calls, send text messages and let you listen to your digital music collection with ease and satisfaction, while also being insanely easy to add and remove music at will with the excellent iTunes software.

I think the iPhone will be a massive hit because it will be easy. Easy enough for anyone to use, easy to explain, easy to want and easy to buy. It will mean carrying one device instead of two, and being able to listen to music without missing phone calls because you didn’t hear it ring, or the vibration mode didn’t alert you enough while you were walking down the street.

Of course, I don’t know if Apple can make an iPhone as easy to use as an iPod. But this is Apple we’re talking about. If anyone can do it, they can.

So, Jason, I want an iPhone. And you know what? I’ve already got one, of sorts. It’s called the Gear4 BluEye, and it lets anyone with an iPod with dock connector merge their existing phone and iPod together at last.

Yes, you still need two carry two devices. But it’s a very strong glimpse into how simple Apple’s iPhone will be, and if the reports are to be believed, it’s not far away at all. Believed target for delivery? Macworld 2007, 1st week of January.

My wish for an iPhone, and yours too, may be here before we know it.