Vietnamese website leaks new iPod prototype.
The same Vietnamese website that leaked a prototype of Apple’s new iPhone 4 today revealed a cello-wrapped prototype of an iPod Touch equipped with a camera, confirming widespread speculation that Apple was developing a camera-equipped iPod in time for holiday release. The site featured a big photograph of the prototype, complete with a 2.0 megapixel camera “in the middle of the back of the unit, like a glaring Cyclops eye,” one reporter said.
Not surprisingly, Apple officials had no comment on the prototype’s authenticity, the source of the leak, or the source of the report. In recent months, the Vietnamese site has proven its credibility, showing genuine prototypes of the new iPhone and Apple’s MacBook update.
The report and picture did not inspire a great deal of buzz among worldwide Apple aficionados, who have expressed their sincere concern about Apple’s much-vaunted security since early last summer. Instead, the professionals and pundits expressed disappointment and disgust at the obviously under-achieving demo. Characteristic of the experts’ feelings, Darrell Etherington wrote on theappleblog.com, “If the demo unit…is any indication, then we’ll be seeing a new iPod touch that looks very similar to existing models, with the simple addition of a relatively underpowered mobile camera. 2 megapixels? What is this, the Nintendo DSi? I expected a lot more from Apple.”
Other analysts suggested, suspiciously, this year’s iPod Touch stocking-stuffer may be just a tease and marketplace space-holder for a newer, considerably more powerful iPod unit compatible with the Cupertino clan’s new operating systems and their best media player. Most technorati observed that 5 megapixels would be barely enough to meet the average consumer’s needs, and the omission of video capacity represents a huge mistake. Most importantly, a single-sided camera that fails to capitalize on Apple’s breakthrough video-chat capabilities makes very little sense whatsoever.
