Rumor Central: Will The New iPod Touch Include A Camera And Mic?
Answer: I have absolutely no idea. However, I can tell you that the lack of a camera is one of my big frustrations with my first gen iPod Touch (lack of true GPS and a speaker being the others). Well, the folks over at Wired seem to think they have some answers. According to a post published earlier this week:
A well-connected source tells us those rumors are on the money, and that Apple’s factories in China are already manufacturing iPod Touch models with integrated cameras and microphones. An Apple spokesman declined to comment when reached by phone.
While the camera is a fantastic development, the real news here is the included microphone. As my good friend, Dan, has pointed out over at Gear Diary, if you add that microphone to your home wireless network toss in the free Skype application, or other VOIP solution, well that could have huge implications for AT&T now, couldn’t it? Of course, the weak link remains the poor quality of most VOiP solutions currently available for the iPod Touch. As Dan notes:
I’ve tried Skype, Fring and Truphone on my Touch and iPhone 3GS and have issues with each. Skype would be my hands-down choice for making calls over WiFi if it weren;t for one ting… even on the iPhone with its powerful processor it is a terrible experience. the app is slow to launch, slower to move from one screen to the next and locks up all the time. Fring has never been a good experience. Truphone works well. It is quick to load, fast to use and the call quality is superb. It, however, suffers from a second issue…
Thanks to Apple’s continued refusal to allow even one or two apps to run in the background Truphone is GREAT for outbound calls but not useful for inbound calls. Sure, the current iPhone version of the app makes use of Apple’s push notifications but that isn’t a great option if you really want to use an iPhone or Touch as a WiFi phone.
What do you all think? Are we seeing a revolution of voice over wi-fi here? Could this begin to spell the beginning of the end for the current cell phone/mobile device as call phone model? Or is the call quality still too inadequate to compare?
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