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AppleInsider is reporting on the inevitable teardowns of the new iPod Touch and is discovering some very interesting hints as to what we may see in version 4 of the devices.

First and foremost they are saying that there is a 6mm x 6mm x 3mm empty space at the top center of the device which seems designed to take the same video camera as was installed in the new Nanos. The position is consistent with the rumors and the iPod Touch cases that were taken as proof of the coming camera. While that space would fit the video only camera of the Nano, it would not fit the larger autofocusing video and stills camera found in the iPhone which is unlikely to please the faithful but may be viewed as better than nothing. The lack of still photography (and therefore the inability to use most of the best iPhone camera apps) may be enough to preserve the iPhone’s edge over the Touch that Apple demands to avoid cannibalization.

However, while there is space for the camera in the iPod Touch casing, there are no headers on the circuit board  for a camera to connect to. Could the rumored hardware problem that was delaying iPod Touch cameras be due to circuit board connector problems and not the cams themselves? Either way, I think it is a very fair bet that the next generation of the iPod Touch will include the same cam as the Nanos, especially after Apple has gotten so slapped around over the issue.

Secondly, the WiFi chip in the new Touchs is the Broadcom BCM4329, which supports not only 802.11a/b/g, but also the high speed 802.11n. The current Phone/Touch software does not support 802.11n, but since the hardware could handle it this could be a similar situation to Apple building Bluetooth into the Touch 2G and then not supporting it with the software for nearly a year. There is no question that the internet browsing via WiFi on the Touch would be far more appealing at the 600Mbps rates of 802.11n.

So can we expect video cameras and faster WiFi on the NEXT generation of the Touch? At this point, I would say yes…but time will tell.

Zealot (468 Posts) - Website | Twitter | Facebook

By day a department manager and writer for a major network device vendor...by night Zealot stalks the mean magnetic streets, striking fear into the hearts of bandwidth abusers and theme park mascots. Zealot has been involved with mobile devices for more than a decade now, starting off with dumb phones, moving to PDAs and then to smartphones, notebooks and netbooks with the odd PMP thrown in. Most of his mobile time currently is spent on a Treo Pro, Zune HD, Thinkpad T61, Gigabyte M912M or a Hackintoshed Compaq Mini 704. He proudly groks the Geek community and considers himself a Neo Maxi Zune Dweebie (thanks Will Wheaton!).