Long before the iPhone, the iPod was the device that helped transform Apple from computer company into a consumer electronics company.

But today, the ubiquitous music player has become less relevant to the company that essentially owns that product category.

Apple still sells three-fourths of all MP3 players sold, but multifunction gadgets like the iPhone and iPad are getting the most attention from Apple customers, not to mention the rest of the electronics industry, and bringing in more revenue than iPods these days.

So when Apple convenes a special event in San Francisco to discuss music this Wednesday — as it has every September for the last five years — we think that Steve Jobs and Co. will touch on the iPod but also talk more broadly about media, including a more evolved iTunes and new ways to watch content in the living room.

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Microsoft will be offering up a new Xbox 360 wireless controller starting this fall that features an adjustable directional-control pad (D-pad).

Larry Hryb, programming director for Xbox Live, revealed the new controller Tuesday on his blog.

Hryb, known more commonly by his gamer tag, Major Nelson, shows in a video how the adjustable D-pad will work.

With a twist of the wrist, the D-pad goes from flat to a raised plus controller.

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