John Lewis 'leaks' Apple iPod refresh details, say reports

Claims that UK department store chain John Lewis today let slip what Apple is preparing for the annual September iPod refresh are bollocks... probably. We were there when the besuited buyer of audio products for the chain's 29 shops and online business said he didn't know what Apple was planning to announce but was making a …

[Alastair 7]

Assuming they even get any now

I can imagine Steve being displeased with a buyer even *talking* about an upcoming product. Quite sad that it really wouldn't be that surprising if John Lewis found itself sans iPods comes the holiday season.

[Taz Taziuk]

Bah

My iPod 64GB already has a 5MP camera in it...just no lens. It tells me so every time I plug it into my laptop.

[Annihilator]

Erm, inspired!

Given every single iPod Touch has been that generation's iPhone-minus-the-phone, then I'm looking for the "no shit sherlock" icon and instead finding the next best thing. Not to mention the current Touch can run iOS4 already.

Sheesh... That barely qualifies as guesswork!

[No. Really!?]

El Reg Icon request

Deerstalker & Magnifying Glass for the "No Shit Sherlock" icon, please

[sT0rNG b4R3 duRiD]

El Reg Icon request

↑ I second... no third, this request. Good idea

[Richard Cartledge]

Naaah

I doubt it would come with Facetime, and so maybe no camera, it's not supposed to be a communication device. If it did Facetime, it would be great for the buyers but would make no business sense.

[Monty Cantsin]

no Facetime

I'd say your're right. Furthermore, Facetime on the iPhone requires a phone call to initiate the connection (then the phone call drops, and the rest is done over wi-fi), so it's very unlikely that the Touch will get it, given it isn't a phone.

[Bruce Hoult]

not only minus the phone

In the past the iPod touch has been missing much more than just the phone. It's also been without camera, GPS, speaker, microphone.

However Steve Jobs is on record as saying that Apple will ship "tens of millions" of FaceTime-connected devices by the end of 2010. That's been widely interpreted as meaning that the iPhone 4 won't be the only FaceTime device available for Christmas stockings, so it does seem very likely that the iPod touch will get the necessary hardware.

I would also be quite unsurprised if Apple's AIM/ICQ/Jabber program on the Mac, iChat, gets FaceTime compatibility at or about the same time as the annual iPod event.

[Anonymous Coward]

"AIM/ICQ/Jabber"

Their "Instant Messaging" program already supports videoconferencing- as does pretty much every other "mainstream" IM client.

And pretty much every 3G phone ever made.

So yeah, I'd be unsurprised if it got FaceTime over WiFi. In fact I'm amazed it hasn't had it before now. Looks like Apple's tech is finally pulling itself into the 21st Century to match it's impressive UI design!

[Kevin7]

Won't be too like the iPhone?

I can't imagine that the iPod Touch will have many more features similar to the iPhone, if you make the devices too similar they'll just cannibalise each other's sales. I would think though that adding a camera to the Touch would be a big draw, I'd also like to see a 128Gb version but I doubt I'll be replacing my 64Gb this year...

[Anonymous Coward]

Not unless it gets fatter

The 5MP iPhone 4 camera is too deep for the current iPod Touch case - are Apple going to actually make it fatter?

[Anonymous Coward]

iPod refreshed line of products in 2010

I tremble in excitement......

zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

[sam tapsell]

No GPS for touch

Based in the iPad, I think the GPS chipset is built into the phone radio. Unlikely to appear in the touch.

The camera is a more likely option. I certainly didn't buy an ipod touch last year because I was waiting for the camera to appear. With camera it will be an awesome computer for kids... I hope