The rumors have been confirmed: Apple will be letting loose with the next iteration of its iPod line come September 9th. Before I go any farther, I figure I’ll take my stance on the iTablet (or your pseudonym of choice): I don’t think Apple will release it until early next year. There is the possibility that they will announce it at the event, but I don’t place much stock in that. They’ll announce it when it’s ready to go.
One of the easiest additions for Apple to make to the iPod touch would be a built-in microphone. The ability to add an external one has always been available, with the 3.0 software update making it all the more simple with the addition of the Voice Memos app, but it would be a smart move for Apple if they added the hardware to the touch, making it an ever more complete “iPhone without the phone.” It would enable countless VoIP applications like Skype for the huge market of iPod touch owners, along with the innumerable other uses provided by app developers.
Since early this year we’ve been seeing reports of iPod touch cases with a cut-out for a camera. I think those rumors are true, and we will definitely be seeing a camera (hopefully a video-enabled one) on the next iteration of the device. Apple could very well just not do it at all, but it makes sense as a logical progression of the product. Also, adding a video camera would obviously require the addition of a built-in microphone.
Something else I expect in the next iPod touch is speedier hardware. It’s also a logical addition: the current model was a subtle (and by most approximations, successful) bid by Apple for a piece of the casual mobile gaming market. The current revision boasted some amazing specs for a non-phone mobile device when it was released last year, but now that it has been superseded in that respect by the iPhone 3GS, I expect Apple to improve it to either match or exceed the capabilities of the 3GS. That would come in the form of more RAM, and/or a faster processor; hopefully, both.
Finally, one feature that I am hoping for, but not holding out for: the addition of an A-GPS chip (or even a full-fledged GPS chip, although they’re unlikely to do that for battery-related reasons). Together with the better hardware and camera, this would cement the iPod touch as a the only full-featured
I apologize for only talking about the iPod touch, but that’s the only device in Apple’s current iPod lineup I think has more than a five-year future ahead of it. That said, I would be very surprised if any of the other iPod models receive a camera, and that would definitely cause me to rethink my opinion of their longevity.
All said and done, I think everyone is waiting and watching with baited breath for Apple’s next move. They are a market leader, an innovator, and fanboi or not, they deserve respect for what they have accomplished, and what they are bound to accomplish in the future.
Oh, and one more thing: I strongly believe that Steve Jobs will be making his triumphant return to the public eye at this event.