What is Apple iProd? iPhone Nano? Camera iPod? Tablet?

Apple config. files speak of a mysterious iProd. Could it be an iPhone Nano? Or a new iPod with a camera? How about a 10 inch tablet? In IT Blogwatch, bloggers get themselves into an anticipatory lather.

Richi Jennings is your humble blogwatcher, who selected these bloggy morsels for your enjoyment. Not to mention truly awful Photoshopping...

Jeff Smykil speculates to accumulate:

The latest beta of iPhone OS 3.1 contains a configuration for "iProd1,1," suggesting that the mysterious device is closer to being released. Whether it's a tablet or some other product is still anyone's guess. ... As most Apple devices are assigned the "1,1" designation in the first revision, this leads us to believe that there is indeed an unknown product inside of Apple under active development running the iPhone OS.
...
While it's easy to speculate that this may be the rumored Apple tablet we keep hearing so much about lately. ... [Or] it may refer to the camera-equipped iPod nano. ... It might even be an iPhone nano. ... [But] with a 1,1 moniker the product will see public release soon—perhaps as early as September, when Apple typically unveils new iPods.

An excited Seth Weintraub explains:

Included in all of the recent iPhone SDK updates until now has been the iProd 0,1 device file. 0,1 device files typically stand for prototypes in Apple hardware lingo. As of iPhone SDK 3.1, there is now a new device profile for an iProd 1,1. Theoretically, this means that production "iProd" devices are already being trialled on iPhone OS 3.1.
...
This could be the tablet or perhaps even an iPod nano with a camera that would run the iPhoneOS (and would therefore have a lot of other goodies). ... Frankly, its hard to decide which of these scenarios is more exciting.

Is Will Park hinting at a poor linguistic joke?

Now, the unknown “iProd” device could have something to do with the China-specific iPhone that Apple is crafting for China Unicom. But, given the entirely new model name (iProd) and “1,1″ designation (uprated from “0,1″ in the iPhone OS 3.0 firmware), there’s talk of the iProd device coming to market as the Mac Tablet.

Stefan says there is no tablet, and he makes a strong case for his position. On the other hand, there are dubious reports of at least one analyst having handled the tablet. Other reports show increased orders for 10-inch displays.

Paul Boutin asks:

Am I the only who thinks the name is lame? ... I’ll bet a buck that the iProd name is a red herring. It just doesn’t sing the way “iPod” and “iPhone” do. It feels like an Onion parody name.

Kyle Buckley, too:

I can think of several lame jokes related to cattle, but I won't waste your tine. And after all, the iProd is likely to be just an internal code name for Apple engineers. ... Since it's coded to iPhone OS 3.1, it obviously uses the iPhone OS and therefore will be touchscreen.
...
Or perhaps Apple, knowing they have the tech industry's attention, is just throwing up red herrings to see who does the Apple Rumor Dance.

So Ben Parr steps back and surveys the scene:

Rumors always swirl around Apple products, especially when they haven’t been announced yet. We’ve been following the trail on the Apple tablet, a touch-sensitive device for web surfing and possible iPhone apps. We’ve also seen rumors of iPod Nanos with cameras, among other things.
...
The honest truth? Everyone’s just speculating over what “iProd” could be. Apple’s always tight-lipped about its products. It could be anything, but it’s fun to speculate about.

So what's your take?
Get involved: 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 as @richi on Twitter or richij on FriendFeed, pretend to be Richi's friend on Facebook, or just use good old email: itblogwatch@richij.com.