Rumours build on Apple's gaming ambitions

As Apple continues to push its business into the videogaming market, industry watchers are speculating that there are big plans afoot at the iPhone manufacturer.

The Street notes that according to Guy Adami, professional investor and media analyst, "there is chatter that Apple is eyeing Electronic Arts as a takeover target."

Meanwhile, Forbes points to Apple's recent hiring of two key videogame executives as further evidence the company is preparing a bigger entry into handheld gaming following the successful launch and uptake of the iPhone device.

Richard Taversham joins the company from Microsoft, where he was senior director of insights and strategy for Xbox in Europe, in the same week that Bob Drebin, creator of the Nintendo GameCube's graphics processor at AMD, also arrived at the company.

IBMs chip designer Mark Papermaster has also recently joined the company as head of the iPod business.

The report suggests there are three avenues of evolution for the iPhone and iPod devices, including the integration and improvement of video and still images into games.

Last month, ngmoco's Neil Young told GamesIndustry.biz that such access would be ideal to evolve the gaming experience on the iPhone, and the company is already experimenting in anticipation.

"I'd like to get access to the raw video feed out of the camera because I think that could enable some really interesting types of games," he said.

"We've got some games that we're working on that are location based but they need some pieces of functionality to be available to us for them to be really worthwhile."

As well as an upgrade to a faster processor, Apple is also expected to experiment with new iterations of the device, with the same software that powers the iPhone and iPod touch utilised in a netbook or tablet computer.

"Apple has told us from the beginning to be sure to write our new software in a way that will accommodate different resolutions and screen sizes," offered Bart Decrem, CEO of Tapulous, the company behind break-out hit Tap Tap Revenge and its sequel.

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