iPhone/iPod rumors fly pre-WWDC
- TAGS:AAPL, Apple, camera, CDMA, iPhone, iPod, wwdc
- IT TOPICS:Devices, Emerging Technology, Hardware, Macintosh
It's IT Blogwatch, and iPhone and iPod rumors abound. We're less than two weeks from Apple's Worldwide Developers Conference, where the substitute-Steves are expected to unveil new kit to the assembled slathering fanbois.
Richi Jennings watches bloggers masticate on the rumors. Not to mention the dangers of unsharp mask overuse...
Previously in IT Blogwatch:
Jeremy Horwitz reveals all:
You know that we don’t run future iPod stories without having a lot of faith in the information ... This is what the fifth-generation iPod nano will look like, compared with its fourth-generation predecessor ... screen gets widened to a 1.5:1 aspect ratio, but still retains the Click Wheel of all prior nano models ... no touchscreen controls ... There’s a camera on the back.
...
The next-generation iPhone will come in six versions: two storage capacities each for 3G, enhanced 3G ("3.5G/3.75G"), and mainland China versions of the phone, which will have the same size and general design of the current model, ... Each of the three versions has been made to match the telecom systems of specific countries.
Sayam adds:
The new rumors has it that Apple is preparing not two, not three but SIX (Yes 6) iPhone models that are said to have two variants of 16GB and 32GB respectively each being further divided into three models having different radio ... There won’t be much difference in the design except a much rumored and much more scratch resistant Matte back.
...
Users won’t be able to choose these models but will be rather forced to get whatever model the carrier in their country offers. It might be that the US customers will be able to get their hands on the version with enhanced 3G, given AT&T’s claim of upgrading it’s 3G speeds to 7.2 MBPS now. And the CDMA model won’t work with Sprint and Verizon in the US due to difference in frequency. The only choice to be available will be among color and storage as before.
Sam Oliver muses over firmware hints:
The report may offer clarity to references to two new iPhone models in betas of Apple's iPhone Software 3.0 -- iPhone 2,1 and iPhone 3,1 -- as well as a third conspicuous reference to "ChinaBrick."
David Gonzales scratches his head:
If you ask me, I don’t think it makes sense to have a camera on the iPod nano. On the iPhone definitely, on the iPod touch maybe, but the iPod nano? Wi-Fi, a built-in microphone, or FM radio receiver would be much more useful than a camera on the iPod nano.
But Matt Buchanan looks to the AAPL strategy:
It would ... solidify Apple's push into imaging, since it would conceivably mean that every iPod is getting a camera (well, maybe not the classic, if it survives the year). Kind of exciting from the angle of putting a camera in every single pocket, even if thinking about the lens in that thing makes our eyeballs ache.
Lest we forget, Seth Weintraub told us so last week:
I think Apple might be getting ready to re-enter the digital camera business it pioneered in 1994 and then abandoned in 1997.
...
Apple is said to be purchasing many three and five megapixel camera CCDs from Omnivision for upcoming embedded products ... Five Megapixel cameras are good enough to challenge entry-level point-and-clicks for still photography and at the same time record HD video. This is the space being occupied by the FlipHD, and some other basic HD camcorders.
Returning to the iPhone, Cleve Nettles has a stinging joke:
Perhaps AT&T can work on a special New York City version which gets 56K speed and hangs up after 30 seconds of talking.Oh wait. They already have one.
So what's your take? Get involved and leave a comment.
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Richi Jennings is an independent analyst/consultant, specializing in blogging, email, and spam. A 24 year, cross-functional IT veteran, he is also an analyst at Ferris Research. You can follow him on Twitter or FriendFeed, pretend to be Richi's friend on Facebook, or just use boring old email: contact Richi.
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