14 DAY TRIAL // A screenshot taken on a Retina-capable iPod touch running iOS 5 Beta 4 seems to indicate Apple has plans to make the next portable players cellular devices with GPS capabilities, though we have reasons to believe this is a mistake on Apple’s behalf.
Running the latest iOS 5 beta from Apple, a developer with a fourth-generation iPod touch found a ‘Use Cellular’ toggle in the device’s Settings menu, in the Documents & Data tab.
Those having wet dreams about a 3G-capable iPod touch will undoubtedly regard this as evidence that Apple is planning to make the iPod touch capable of roaming the cellular waves of AT&T, Verizon and others.
However, it is more likely that Apple simply forgot to remove these iPhone-specific functions from the beta handed to developers using iPod touch devices.
And while there are rumors of a cheaper iPhone emerging sometime in the near future, perhaps an enhanced iPod touch, we’re still having trouble foreseeing such a fragmentation of Apple’s iOS business pillar.
A GPS toggle was also found, which should be just another omission on behalf of the Cupertino tech giant.
Whether or not the next iPod touch does gain cellular capabilities, evidence has been mounting to support claims that the portable players will see a refresh this fall, if only aesthetically.
A Concord Securities analyst checked with Apple’s partners this month and claimed to have learned that Apple was launching a fifth-generation iPod touch this year.
However, his findings allegedly showed that Apple’s new iTouch will be a nearly identical device, but that it will ship in both white and black versions.
Adding credence to the analyst’s claims, a purported next-generation iPod touch component later surfaced in photos on the web.
That component was, quite conveniently, a white front digitizer panel for the iPod touch.