iPod touch may have nano camera after all

Apple's long rumored camera-equipped iPod touch may have a more definite release window, according to a purported source. A contact insists the device is back on track and that it would unusually launch outside of Apple's typical upgrade cycle, releasing in spring 2010. To make that goal, however, Apple would use the same 2-megapixel camera as in the iPod nano, which lacks autofocusing and low-light sensitivity.

It's not known by the Examiner's supposed insider if Apple would also disable the camera's ability to capture still photos. While a potential way to differentiate the iPod touch from the iPhone, the pre-existing image tools in the iPod touch firmware would make implementing the technology easier than on the previously camera-free nano.

The accuracy is uncertain. Apple has launched out-of-cycle iPod updates in the past, but has usually kept these to small updates like increased storage or additional iPod shuffle colors; most significant revisions don't ship until September. However, the story corroborates rumors of a sensor flaw that had forced Apple to leave a camera out of the model at the last minute but which has since been solved. Prototypes of the original design surfaced in the public eye just a month before the iPod touch was refreshed this past September.

by MacNN Staff