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I bet it's for the nano to have FaceTime without including a second camera. The camera will still be on the back, but there will also be this extra screen on the back.

I delurked just to highlight this response that I didn't see anyone else quote. This sounds very likely, given:

1) The camera is deeper than the screen, and is generally harder to shoehorn in to thin designs (according to previous reports).
2) The nano camera is of course already designed for video.
3) The second facetime screen doesn't need to be high-resolution.

About the only thing against this is size issues. I can't see the same focal length being useful for both general video and video of the user holding the device, given how small the screen is. You'd have to hold it closer to you, so you'd be in extreme close up it would seem.
 
I hope they don't kill off the Shuffle. The 2G Shuffle and to a lesser extent the 3G had one great use -- music while at the gym or other places where a screen would likely get scratched up or shattered.
 
I love how anyone who buys a touch instead of an iPhone is automatically an "AT&T hater". And since you're calling out Verizon and Sprint "fans" are you saying that the Droid line and the EVO can't be considered "all in one" devices?

Perhaps you don't have this problem in Europe, but the iPhone is essentially useless in some parts of the States, where AT&T's infrastructure is miserable at best.

For those of us that live in those parts of the country, why spend $200 on the phone and $1300 on the plan (and that's just for 450 minutes, 200 MB per month and no texting) when the phone isn't even going to work as it's supposed to? Example? Most of my iPhone-owning friends simply can't receive calls in certain parts of town and don't receive texts or voicemails until hours after they're sent.

I would love to have an iPhone, but considering the cost and the fact that AT&T doesn't support my area at this point, it's just not practical.

Also, the touch is huge for teenagers whose parents won't let them have an iPhone. Or for people who just don't see the need to spend money on a data plan, but are still interested in apps and video.

For me the touch is a mobile gaming platform - totally replaced my Nintendo DS. It's perfect for waiting in lines or when you're stuck at the MVA.

In these cases, I do not wish to drain the battery of my phone when I am stuck somewhere. I can play games until my battery gives up, then make any needed calls on my near bullet proof, extremely tiny phone that goes 10 days without charging.

I haven't found anything better. Right now the iPhone is a compromise for me. I like to game a lot but I also like to be have reliable phone conversations.
 
ok, here is my tought and I'm curious how exact my "nostradamus" prediction was when we hear what apple is going to show on 1st of september:

- first: apple is going to scrap the ipod classic! it doesn't make any sense anymore, apple can not sell apps with it and if they double the touch's ram to 128 GB the ipod touch is a good (but expensive) replacement.

Dude, you lost me at the second wrong reference as HD as RAM. If you have ideas, at least get your OWN SPEC WISHED CORRECT.
 
ok, here is my tought and I'm curious how exact my "nostradamus" prediction was when we hear what apple is going to show on 1st of september:

- first: apple is going to scrap the ipod classic! it doesn't make any sense anymore, apple can not sell apps with it and if they double the touch's ram to 128 GB the ipod touch is a good (but expensive) replacement.

- many people will be sad about this, but the ipod classic will re-appear as a limited "10 years ipod" edition in october 2012. to remove the classic from the product line makes this "limited edition" classic even more interesting in 2 years. a clever move!

- from now on, the ipod touch is going to be the main ipod. it will get a fresh new design and will have 16, 64 and 128 GB of ram and will cost 199 / 299 and 399 US$. it will get a camera and a higher resolution retina display and a gyroscope sensor.

- the target market will be music, games and the video filmers that used the nano to film. to different the ipod touch from the iphone it will NOT have a frontfacing camera and therefore NO facetime. it will also have a weaker camera compared to the iphone (3mp) but be a bit thinner.

- big changes to the nano: it is going to loose the camera and the clickwheel but will come in a very fresh and small square-formfactor. the device will be controlled via a squared multitouch display and a new user interface that will be based on cd covers but also lists like on the old nano. it will be shipped with the remote control headphones like the shuffle with volume and middle click button to skip, forward and start/stop the music. you will also be able to use the nano without looking at the display in a way like the ipod shuffle with voice output.

- a 4 GB nano will be sold at 99 US$, the 8 GB at 139 and the 16 GB one at 179 us$. to save money, apple might remove the dock connector and the dock. instead the nano will be powered with a tiny cable that is plugged into the audio-connector. there will also be a little clip on the backside to clip the nano onto a shirt. the nano will come in black and white as well as red, pink, blue, yellow and green.

- as the nano is so small now and agressively priced, they might scrap the ipod shuffle completely. remember: the nano can now be used like a shuffle and when the nano is in your pocket, it will behave similar like a shuffle, it will have the same remote control and the same voice output.

to clear up the product line has many advantages for apple. the removal of the ipod classic means the end of harddisks and its moving parts in the ipods. it also forces the people to buy an ipod touch which will broaden the customer base for the app store and apps mean money. the faster chip and the higher resolution will seduce old touch users to upgrade to the new touch and developers can focus on one resolution rather than two (actually 3 if you also count the ipad). apple is also playing the "want more...?" game with 16 GB ram for the entry touch but 64 for "only" 100 us$ more or another 100 us$ if you want to have the same space like in the old classic ipod.

even removing the shuffle has some advantages for apple: 99 us$ is a very seductive price for "ipod beginners", but still more than the 59 us$ they charged for the old shuffle. they will get 40 us$ more per beginner that would have bought a shuffle and is now forced to buy the tiny nano.

I think you are close. The iPod Touch will for sure get FaceTime as it makes NO SENSE not to, ESPECIALLY when Steve said they would ship 10s of millions of FaceTime devices this year which with the iPhone alone will NOT happen! They need to get the FaceTime standard out there big time because it is a important and strategic move for future products!

I don't see how a screen that small (probably 3cmx3cm?) would be a nano. It's probably a shuffle, I don't see why Apple would suddenly drop the screen size.

I thought that too until I considered Apple's motivation! Shuffle and Classic are gone! The nano will be a hybrid of the shuffle and nano with touch that will be the low end. Apple wants to move everyone to the iOS platform which is why the Touch will take main stage now!

Apple TV I HOPE SO! iLife/iWork, MacBook Air, they are both needed but I highly doubt it. Maybe a 7' iPad, and probably iOS 4 update for the iPad, maybe iMovie for the iPad and maybe some new iTunes stuff!

There you have it folks :D
 
Maybe the touch screen is just part of the new nano... like maybe there'll be two screens or one touch screen and a click wheel. Come to think of it, this sounded better in my mind before I typed it out...
 
Maybe instead of having controls on the touchscreen Nano/Shuffle, it will just be gesture based.

Tap Screen=Play/Pause
Swipe Left=Previous Track
Swipe Right=Next Track
Slowly Swipe Left=Rewind
Slowly Swipe Right=Fast Forward
Swipe Up/Down=Volume

These gestures are easy and intuitive enough to be performed while in the pocket.
 
I hope they don't kill off the Shuffle. The 2G Shuffle and to a lesser extent the 3G had one great use -- music while at the gym or other places where a screen would likely get scratched up or shattered.

The 2g Shuffle was an absolutely perfect design. It wasnt all things to all people, but for those who wanted a second simple, durable iPod for the gym or commuting it was absolutely perfect. Apple should have had the vision to just leave it alone. The 'buttonless' Shuffle was a step backwards.
 
i admit that it looks a bit like a wide dock connector, but still there is something weird about this picture: where is the headphone jack???

If you look close enough you can see a tiny hole for the headphone jack just to the right of the dock connector slot. Seems like it to me.
 
Am I the only person who sees a solar cell instead of a touchscreen?

The lines are probably created by the camera or the output onto the screen. It's definitely a screen though, a solar cell reflects differently than that. Plus why would they put a bezel on a solar cell? They would make it use 100% of the surface area to boost the amount of light that it can take.
 
I don't think I have been on where people have made unbelievable speculation on what these ipods are going to look like. I laugh so hard at the expectations and the "theories" people are thinking that Apple is doing with iPods. HILARIOUS

You people are not Apple and never will be. Sad news. HAHAHA
 
Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (Android; Linux armv7l; rv:2.0b5pre) Gecko/20100825 Namoroka/4.0b4pre Fennec/2.0a1)

Really looking dorward to seeing what is announced next week. :)
 
I'm thinking it could be a solar cell to since, well compare this

064133-2_201007091757341_500.jpg


to this

solar-cell-Si-silicon-monocrystalline-part-of-20W-17V-36-cell-panel-closeup-1-DHD.jpg
 
I'm thinking it could be a solar cell to since, well compare this

to this


That doesn't look the same at all. Have you never seen the pixel "scanline" effect that occurs in LCDs when taken with certain cameras. It happens more often when taken up close, but under certain lighting with certain cameras it can create a sort of "moire" effect with the pixels.

Here is an example of what pixel lines look like up close:
hgg87g79hgh7h.jpg


You can just imagine on a tiny panel like that, especially in the testing phase, they might be testing out different patterns.

It absolutely 100% does not look anything like a solar cell. It's just a bad picture of a tiny lcd panel.

I also submit the evidence that nobody would make a solar cell with a bezel and a piece of glass between the cell and the outside, that would only hinder it's ability to produce energy from light. When making a cell they make them as exposed as possible and as large as the surface area can allow so that it is the highest efficiency.
 
I don't think I have been on where people have made unbelievable speculation on what these ipods are going to look like. I laugh so hard at the expectations and the "theories" people are thinking that Apple is doing with iPods. HILARIOUS

You people are not Apple and never will be. Sad news. HAHAHA

i have to agree. While some of these ideas are nice, most are just... well... "not cool". People are clueless when it comes to this screen/solar cell. How will it be the nano? It could very well be the shuffle. Just because its a screen doesn not mean its a touch screen.

Note I said "could". I don't know any thing about the new ipoads just like the next guy.
 
That doesn't look the same at all. Have you never seen the pixel "scanline" effect that occurs in LCDs when taken with certain cameras. It happens more often when taken up close, but under certain lighting with certain cameras it can create a sort of "moire" effect with the pixels.

Here is an example of what pixel lines look like up close:
hgg87g79hgh7h.jpg


You can just imagine on a tiny panel like that, especially in the testing phase, they might be testing out different patterns.

It absolutely 100% does not look anything like a solar cell. It's just a bad picture of a tiny lcd panel.

I also submit the evidence that nobody would make a solar cell with a bezel and a piece of glass between the cell and the outside, that would only hinder it's ability to produce energy from light. When making a cell they make them as exposed as possible and as large as the surface area can allow so that it is the highest efficiency.

Expect we are talking about the picture of the leaked part. Not your picture.
 
Just because its a screen doesn not mean its a touch screen.

The image is most definitely a touchscreen, it has the same digitizer type plug as a touchscreen would.

The plug at the bottom is the video input, the plug to the right (that isn't plugged in, but just hanging out) is the digitizer plug.
 
Expect we are talking about the picture of the leaked part. Not your picture.

You did not understand the point of the comparison then. I was saying that it looks similar to that to me, not similar to a solar cell like you linked.
 
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