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Since Apple's release of the iPod more than five years ago, there has not been a major innovation in the category. But San Diego-based Broadband Instruments plans to take MP3 players to the next level.

The firm's mystery product, to be unveiled in the next couple months, will feature wireless connectivity, integrated online radio stations, a social aspect and most likely an automatic customization feature for recommending new music, writes Wired News.

Broadband Instruments is spearheaded by some of the brightest minds in digital music: Jim Cady helped launch the Rio 300 in 1998, Dennis Mudd was CEO of Musicmatch, and Jonathon Sasse was chief executive of iriver America.

As technology grows more connected, personalized and social, the new player will play in the same waters by allowing users to download music directly, relegating wired connections like USB in a minor role - and ultimately becoming a standalone device, separate from the computer it has traditionally relied on.