14 DAY TRIAL // New, camera-equipped iPod touches are in the pipeline, according to a “reliable” source cited by HardMac (the English version of French tech-site Macbidouille). Apple has reportedly provided a number of select case manufacturers with the specs of its upcoming portable players. The fourth-generation media players are to include a camera and a built-in LED flash, going by leaked imagery.
Pictured above, the new iPod touch appears to boas a design similar to that of current-generation units, adding only the back camera and LED flash. Going by the image, Apple does not want iPod touches to bear the same edgy design as its iPhone 4. Considering the difficulties encountered on production lines, the move was only logical for Cupertino. As readers can see, the image shows an Apple iPod touch wearing a transparent protective case.
HardMac calls its source not just reliable, but very reliable, adding that the same person(s) predicted last year’s inclusion of a camera on one of Apple’s new-generation iPods.
Apple was supposed to introduce a camera-equipped iPod touch last year, most rumors seem to indicate. People familiar with these matters said, over the course of the last six months, that Apple had encountered technical difficulties and had to renounce the addition of a camera to its third-generation iPod touch. The tinkerers at iFixit had performed a teardown soon after the device was introduced and found evidence that Apple may have wanted a camera built-inside the device.
It is also worth noting that Apple plans to make FaceTime an open standard which may allow future iPod touch owners to use the video-calling feature over WiFi. However, iPhone 4 is the only Apple device with two built-in cameras - one on the front above the display and one on the back next to the LED flash. The front camera has been tuned for FaceTime, and has just the right field of view and focal length to focus on the person’t face at arm’s length.