Apple has issued a statement saying it has postponed the OS's release in order to focus on the upcoming iPhone launch.

The iPhone is still on schedule to ship "in late June," but Apple claims that the complexity of the device's built-in software has required it to borrow developers from the MacOS X development team in order to get things done in time. As a result, Apple says the release MacOS X 10.5, a.k.a. "Leopard," has been pushed back until October. The company does plan to give developers beta Leopard CDs at the Worldwide Developers Conference in early June, though. Leopard is expected to include full 64-bit support, a built-in version of Apple's Windows dual-booting software Boot Camp, a system backup feature dubbed "Time Machine," and a virtual desktops system called "Spaces."

In other news, Apple plans to launch new iPods featuring Wi-Fi in the second half of 2007. USI will produce the Wi-Fi modules and Foxconn will perform as the OEM system assembler. USI will begin shipments later in April, while Foxconn may do so in the third quarter. Wi-Fi equipped players stand a chance of becoming the mainstream for all portable music models.