Apple is working closely with the major four record labels to revive the concept of the album in a secret project code named “Cocktail.”

The project aims to motivate consumers to purchase albums over singles as the rise of digital music services such as iTunes and the iPod has made it even easier for consumers to grab individual pieces of their music. “Cocktail” would bundle together album artwork, liner notes, lyrics and music videos in to one seamless package that would function just as original albums did and without the use of iTunes. Speculation has arose that Apple would introduce a small media tablet (or larger version of the iPod Touch) to accomplish this task and will supposedly go on sale some time this September. However, there is no reason Apple would not port this technology to the iPhone or iPod Touch.

Via: TUAW