iPod touch with "built-in video recorder" not for sale at Dabs
By Thomas Ricker 
posted September 23rd 2009 7:21AM
posted September 23rd 2009 7:21AM
[Thanks, Peter M.]
posted September 23rd 2009 7:21AM
A look back on popular stories from today in a specific year.
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Alright, we get it; there was suppose to be a camera but now there isn't. Cry me a river that you now can't record yourself naked and singing 70s rock tunes to yourself in front of your bathroom mirror. It's just another Apple product, get over it already. Now, post some legitimate news about the ZHD.
how long till that built in camera would have been used in sexual misconduct? I wonder.
I bet the appstore would remove the app to record your sexual fantasies right away and rendering the camera useless in the end. As Apple probably expected this to happen they removed the cam ahead since it would be useless anyways.
Yes, because the camera in iphone, ipod nano and about every mobile on the planet cannot be used in sexual misconduct.
Apple is just using a business strategy, they figure they probably wont sell too many more iPODs between now and xmas if they have the camera in it but if they wait till after xmas then launch it. Most apple fanbois will buy another iPOD just to have the camera.
Remind me again why a Nano-esque camera is so obviously needed?
The only reason I was looking forward to an ipod touch camera was to take advantage of the apps that use a camera. But if they were going to throw the nano's video-only camera in there, I'm not sure that would really accomplish my goals.
It's not. I think everybody was expecting an iPhone 3GS camera to be in there.
It seems pretty obvious now that those prototype iPod Touches with the cameras were sporting the crappy Nano camera, and they pulled it because they just couldn't figure out a way to market a device that looks like an iPhone but has a horrible video-only 0.3 megapixel camera in it.
No camera at all was a lot less disappointing than a totally gimped camera would have been.
The nano camera isn't needed. I think ol' Steve is running out of 'one more thing' liners to say at press shows.
Besides I think apple may have intentionally dragged this touch camera thing out so that next year they can say "guess what, I've got one more thing--the ipod touch has something new and revolutionary--a video camera. Isnt this just amazing?"
I mean, apple has really made a pit stop in the innovation department because I think they feel they are lightyears ahead of everyone else and can take a breather to make minimal improvements.
bring on the apple fan boys
bring on the anti-apple trolls! Oh wait, you're here already.
^ Backfire fail
Thanks for posting my tip Engadget!
I work for an official Apple reseller in Chicago and I can tell you right now we don't have access to product information before said products are released. Apple doesn't let us know about new product launches, design decisions or any other piece of information outside of what we need to sell the machines and service the machines. Dabs probably assumed based on the number of internet rumors that there was going to be an ipod touch with camera. This is in no way a confirmation that an ipod touch with camera ever existed outside of Apple HQ. Hell, we didn't even know about the change in Snow Leopards launch date until Apple emailed us and said we could order the disks for sale, which let us know exactly 6 hours before the rest of the internet that the date was being changed.
Do you really think all these product launches could be secret if Apple told us ahead of time what was coming?
There was definitely going to be a camera. After all the case leaks there must have been some information sent out from Apple. All these companies wouldn't just guess where the camera is going to be, they'd need a dimensioned drawing before they start spending thousands on tooling for plastic moulds.
Or in order to be the first to market in a very competitive industry they took a chance and assumed the camera would be in the same place as the iPhone's and just make cases based off that.
wouldn't the people in charge of making the circulars be more in the loop than people who just work at the store? that's where we learned about the wii price drop first.
A sensible comment? On Engadget? Wow...
Yo Engadget, I'm really happy for you, and I'm gonna let you finish, but the iPod touch is one of the best gaming devices of all time.
LOL!
I don't think the DSi and PSP will ever let this go.
and then we're waiting for apple to release the full version of touch g3. it might take a while but will happen
Way to go Engadget!.....Keep posting speculative and inconsequential info while other blogs get all the exclusive news coverage....I dont think a lack of camera will really have an impact on the sales of ipods which are still goin good.Please stop being so apple centric and post interesting info like you used to.This aint TUAW.
Engadget have been seriously hyping Android, the Palm Pre and the ZuneHD. You're right - this isn't TUAW.
I have three words for you:
Shut Up Already.
No, seriously... shut up and stop wasting comment space
Something happened late in the life cycle to remove the camera? Yeah its called typical Apple BS!
"Wait guys, if we don't put the camera in then we will still sell a ton of these and make people long for the next one WITH the camera!"
... again
I'm sure it something like that.
Well that's exactly how Apple works.... and we keep encouraging them.
Or not.
I've been an apple fan for a while but the way they manage their releases made me go look elsewhere.
Yeah, they took it out because it's a gaming machine.
Some new Touch owners are going to be really PO'd if the camera is released before year's end. Apple's in a pretty tough spot. They wouldn't want to say "the camera is coming soon", because then Touch sales would be postponed, but they might be facing a bigger backlash for hyping the current version and having those new purchasers get the the shaft.
It's going to be a bad year for Apple.
Sorry but I don't understand - why would releasing a revised iPod Touch by the end of the year be "giving the shaft" to existing owners? If you buy a product then you clearly must think that it is worth the money that you paid for it and what comes later is pretty immaterial. If you think that your Touch needs a camera (personally, I think it's unnecessary) then I recommend not buying one without, which means waiting.
In all honesty, it looks like it'll be another good year for Apple. Given that the global recession hasn't dented things much for them so far I highly doubt that things will nose dive soon. Hang around for the next quarterly results and see if I'm right.
There's a difference between being willing to wait a couple months for a desired feature and waiting a year. Apple wouldn't want to say "If you really want that camera, wait a few months." And even if you didn't want the camera, you'd say "Well, if I wait a few months I'll get a camera, too." They want the sales to continue.
If they do release the updated model, it's going to be just like the time they did the price cut and all the new purchasers felt like they got screwed.
I have a 3rd gen touch, and I will absolutely NOT be upset when a touch with a camera comes out. I REALLY, REALLY don't see the point to having a camera in an iPod touch, because if you're using the touch then chances are you also have a cell phone, and I don't think there are any cell phones out there without cameras these days.
If I want a picture on my iPod that badly, I'll snap it with my cell and email to myself.
But, but, it's such a great gaming device! A camera just doesn't make sense...
I wouldn't hold Dabs.com up as some great insider, it's probably just a mistake from someone reading a spec list of an iPod Nano or iPhone.
They are not exactly known for their perfectly accurate sales descriptions I feel Engadget wants to turn this all into some grand conspiracy when it's really just a typo.
Agreed. It is most likely a typo and the ad was supposed to say "Voice Recorder".
Jumping the gun can sometimes get you possibly into trouble. OUCH!
Any one remember the Chines worker that LOST a iPhone... Could it have been really a iTouch model with camera instead? And thats the delay...
As we are talking conspiracy theories - no one explained the Yoko Ono gaff of announcing Beatles on iTunes the night before the event and then silence the next day. Note, the same day that Apple Corps we given the remastered songs a big push - along with host of print media stores and 'new' photos etc.
Did Apple exact revenge for Ono's gaff, or a long standing 'get even' ploy or did the Apple team not get their pound of flesh from Apple Corps ?? Will we ever know ?
I bet Apple took out the camera because the iPod Touch didn't get enough battery life with the camera. Didn't something like that happen with the iPhone?
WHO CARES?!?!
I have the 3rd Gen iPod touch, and I don't need a damned camera. I have a better camera in my prepaid mobile phone, anyway. I really don't need to carry around multiple cameras wherever I go.
I'm still liking the microphone, the voice command, the faster CPU, the OpenGL ES 2.0, the louder speaker (I swear it's louder), and the possibility of having the other new internal parts "turned on" with a software update (FM transmitter and receiver, and 802.11n WiFi).
Seriously. I have a camera in my ASUS laptop. I have a camera in my cell phone. I have a stand-alone digital camera. I did not need or want a camera in an iPod, and anyone who is complaining about it must be honest and answer the question: Do you NOT already have a camera in at least one other device you carry with you?
I think I know why the camera was dropped from the iTouch. There is something even better than a camera coming to the back of not only this but also the iPhone. I could tell but that would spoil the fun.