Image courtesy of 9to5Mac.com and Patently Apple

With all the talk recently about an Apple tablet and speculation about what the next iPhone will bring, the device that helped get the company where it is today seems largely ignored. Thankfully, new patents revealed from Apple may provide clues as to where the iPod is going.

After years of being primarily a music player, more recent generations of iPods have landed the ability to watch -- and even create -- movies, tag songs and even play FM radio, which has long been on the wish list of potential device owners. 9to5Mac has uncovered some new patents that go far beyond those modest abilities.

The patent was first disclosed by Patently Apple and essentially makes an iPod into a pocket TV receiver and maybe even a portable DVR. “In the very same manner that radio is handled today, the patent carries this concept through to television,” the site reports. “Not only for watching it, but for recording it as well, even on the go. To me that sounds a lot like a portable DVR -- and that would be very cool.”

The patent would allow Apple media players to receive content and other media assets from a variety of sources, including over-the-air radio or television, satellite radio or television, cable TV or music services, Internet streaming broadcasts, podcasts, you name it.

Best of all, owners of older iPods may not be totally left behind. It seems that Apple may at least be considering an accessory to enable such features for the aging media players of yesteryear, according to details in the patent itself.

It’s a fairly comprehensive patent filing that you can read in full detail here. We don’t know about you, but the ability to schedule show recordings on a portable device certainly has us excited.