New Camera-Equipped iPod nano 7G Photos Emerge

Rumors of a camera-equipped iPod nano are being reignited by a Taiwanese site flashing around photos of a new prototype. The design doesn’t seem very convincing, but the imagery doesn’t seem to be fake either.

This is not the first time Apple.pro posts images of a new-generation iPod nano bearing a camera. In fact, this is not the first time said iPod nano appears metallic green either.

It’s basically the same rumor, only viewed from different angles - and with a few additional technicalities, such as the 1.3 megapixel resolution.

As the images show, the protruding camera would poke its head through the clip that allows users to wear the player on their clothes.

It’s not exactly what you’d expect from the company headquartered at 1 Infinite Loop, Cupertino, CA in terms of form and function, which is why we’re not too quick to trust this leak.

This could be a prototype device, but it could also be a manufactured Apple rumor using nothing more than a tiny drill and a sourced camera component.

To be noted that Apple already refreshed the iPod nano line (introducing the sixth-gen nano) between the first time this rumor broke out and now. In other words, what’s keeping Cupertino from launching it already - production costs?

There is a patent application filed in 2009 by Apple that suggests the company at least considered the possibility of equipping the minuscule player with a camera. Then again, lots of Apple patents never see the light of day.

And to think just how awkward the nano would be as a camera device with its small form factor and the 1.5-inch square screen. To display a decent shot in landscape mode, half of the screen wouldn’t even be used.

All in all, it’s pretty hard to imagine Apple ever considering to equip the nano (in its current form factor) with a camera. What do you guys think?