Yes, it’s really come to the point where a casual reference on Daring Fireball to the next generation iPod touch 4 — with rear and front FaceTime cameras and Retina Display screen coming in a few weeks — gets plastered all over the internet.

if you wait a few weeks to buy the Touch, you’ll get one with a Retina Display and dual cameras.

Apple has introduced the last 3 generations of iPod touch at their special iTunes and iPod-centric music event held each fall.

Gruber’s reference to the new iPod touch came by way of comparison to the Android 1.6 powered, 5-inch screen Dell Streak which at $300 on contract and $550 outright, doesn’t even seem competitive to past iPod touches and iPads, let alone what’s coming next from Apple.

Then again, Apple’s had a hard time meeting demand for iPhone 4 and iPad, some suspect due to constraints on their high quality IPS display panels. Has capacity recently been ramped up, or will things get even tighter with iPod touch wanting its share this holiday season?

[Daring Fireball]

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Digitimes, which should always be taken with a huge honking grain of salt, is reporting that Apple is readying CDMA iPhone 4, a 7-inch Cortex A9-based iPad 2, and only Jobs knows what else:

• Apple is set launch an upgraded 9.7-inch iPad adopting a new ARM Cortex-A9-based processor and 512MB RAM in the first quarter of 2011. Meanwhile, the company will also launch a 7-inch iPad using the Cortex-A9 processor and an IPS panel with a resolution of 1024×768

• As for the CDMA iPhone, Pegatron Technology is expected to start mass production in December and will supply to both US-based Verizon Wireless and China-based China Telecom

• The CDMA iPhone’s back plate will be forged from metal materials and will feature an integrated antenna, according to Digitimes Research.

• Apple is also set to launch a new Apple TV using AMD’s Fusion solution and will not include a hard drive.

ARM’s Cortex A9 is the next-generation version of the current Apple A4 chipset’s CPU used in iPad and iPhone. With multi-core capabilities, it’s an obvious upgrade to make. Verizon iPhone rumors have been on the rise again in recent weeks, though CDMA can mean different things in different regions. I still think Apple won’t fracture the brand new iPad market with a 7-inch iPad any time soon. It’s not about matching resolution, it’s about pixel density — a 7″ 1024×768 screen would need a whole new UI for the buttons and other UI elements to remain usable by fingers. Apple TV running iOS would be great — but why AMD’s Fusion and not Apple’s own chipsets?

[Digitimes, thanks everyone who sent it in]

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TechCrunch is claiming that the ever popular “sources with knowledge of the situation” have told them that Apple has submitted an order to Qualcomm for millions of CDMA chipsets to supply a Verizon iPhone 4 manufacturing run this December:

This production run would likely be for a January launch, and I’d bet the phone is nearly 100% consistent with the current iPhone 4 (with a fixed internal insulator on the antenna).

They suggest CES 2011, where Verizon’s CEO is scheduled to keynote, might be the perfect place for an announcement, but also think he might have to hold off for Macworld in February, “Apple’s historical launching pad”. However, Apple stopped attending Macworld after 2009 and in 2010 held their own iPad event during a similar time period instead.

Yes, the on again, off again rumors are on again. Sigh. Real, fake, really fake? When it comes to Verizon iPhone rumors TiPb believes now what we heard back at CES 2010 — Apple has the technology in place and can launch whenever their exclusivity with AT&T expires, and they can come to terms with Verizon (no small feat, given how stubborn and controlling both Apple and Verizon have historically been).

[TechCrunch]

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Apple generally holds an iPod and iTunes event, where they announce the new iPod family, every September. However, the rumors are pointing towards a mid-August event this year instead.

The MacMagazine today received information from a reliable source within Apple about a new event to the press that the company was planning to soon. Although the schedule cite the source as somewhere around 14 and 16, we bet our chips on a Monday or Tuesday – that is, 16 or August 17.

We’ve already seen evidence of a new iPod touch with a front facing camera for FaceTime and a new rear camera with flash. In addition to these expectations, the source claims that Apple will deliver information about iOS 4 for the iPad as well as release iLife ‘11.

Apple has never discussed iLife during their fall iPod event, so why would they this year? Perhaps they will introduce a new music application to the suite that integrates with the iPod and iOS 4.

What do you think? Will we actually see an event in just a matter of weeks and what will be discussed? Sound off in the comments below!

[MacRumors]

Apple to host iPod, iTunes, iOS 4 event in August? is a story by TiPb. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

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As spring turns to summer and fall, iPad and iPhone leaks turn to iPod touch — witness the images above which claim to reveal iPod touch 4 complete with camera and flash.

HardMac claims the image came from a case manufacturer, the same who leaked the iPod mini (nano) camera last year, and that Apple typically provides advance size and shape information to these manufacturers. (Though clearly not for iPhone 4).

We’ll find out if these images are real later this fall at Apple’s annual music event. In the meantime here’s a question, do you want iPod touch to stay looking pretty much the same, albeit with Retina Display and (likely 3mp) camera, or do you want a more iPhone 4-style case redesign as well?

[Hardmac]

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Could Apple be getting ready to release a 7″ iPad nano and re-designed iPhone 5 as early as January? Could the iPod shuffle or nano with a 1.7″ screen be around the corner in September? Are bumpers going all-silicone?

Our gut says crazy talk, but iLounge has a pretty good track record on leaks so take these for what they’re worth, even if it’s with an ocean-sized grain of salt.

Here are some details:

1. New iPods. Apple apparently has three new iPods ready to go as early as this month, or as late as September. One is the new iPod nano, one is the new iPod touch, and the third one is a question mark, but may be a small (1.7”) touchscreen replacement for the iPod shuffle.

2. New iPad. A seven-inch-screened version of the iPad is substantially finished and will be ready for announcement either later this year or early in 2011.

3. New iPhone. According to our source—and we have to say that we find this part hard to believe—Apple is pushing up the release date of the fifth-generation iPhone to early 2011 (as soon as January) because of the antenna issues with the iPhone 4.

4. iPhone 4 Bumpers, Generations 0 and 2. To reduce the cost of the current iPhone 4 Case Program, the company is currently working on a less expensive all-silicone version of the Bumper to give away after September.

Would Apple fragment the iPad market so quickly by introducing a smaller device? They haven’t done that with iPhone or iPod touch going on 4 years now. Could a January iPhone be an iPhone 4 variant for Verizon instead?

If you have any insight, shoot us an email. If you have a guess, drop it in the comments!

[iLounge]

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When Apple bought Lala, everyone anticipated that iTunes.com streaming music service was on the horizon, but now CNET hears it might be on hold as Apple works on… streaming video.

But eight months after the acquisition, Apple is telling executives at the four top labels that if Apple offers any cloud-music features within the next few months, they will likely be “modest in scope” and not include the kind of functionality that Apple outlined in meetings with the labels, such as storing users’ music on its servers, sources told CNET. They added that Apple still hasn’t negotiated the kind of licensing deals it would need to distribute music from the cloud.

Delays launching a cloud music service might disappoint some iTunes users, but if Apple is focusing resources on a cloud-video service it could be welcomed by those who have maxed out hard drives with films and TV shows. Sources at the major film studios have said this year that Apple plans to create “digital shelves” that enable iTunes users to store movies and other media on Apple’s servers.

Add to all this that one of the Lala execs is rumored to have already moved on from Apple, and Internet/iTunes lead honcho Eddy Cue reportedly took a long time to even tell the Lala team what Apple wanted to do with them, and it seems like there’s a lack of urgency around One Infinite Loop.

With competition from a Google Music service on the horizon, can Apple afford to take their time rolling out the iTunes Cloud? Are they far enough ahead in media that it doesn’t matter? Could they actually be waiting for Google to negotiate cloud-streaming licenses with Big Media so Apple can simply adopt them as well and add to the existing iTunes service? Time — and perhaps this fall’s annual iPod touch/iTunes event — will tell.

Are you getting impatient for your streams? Does it matter to you if Apple rolls out video from the clouds before music?

[CNET]

iTunes cloud-based music taking a back seat to streaming video? is a story by TiPb. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

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The Street is claiming that the reason Apple has delayed the white iPhone 4 until “later this year” is due to light leaking around the edges of the glass. This according to the ever popular “person familiar with”, in this case the manufacturing process.

As the source described it, if it were a metal or plastic material, a simple coating would fill in the gaps and block the internal light. Glass is an entirely different issue.

Take this with a white iPhone 4-sized grain of salt, of course.

[TheStreet]

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Could a next generation Apple TV not only run iOS, but also TiVo’s awesome DVR software? That’s what the rumors on the webs are saying.

It seems hard to reconcile both a new, tiny, solid-state Apple TV powered by iOS with the bigger, beefier needs of local HD video recording an playback, so I’m taking this with a grain of salt, especially considering Steve Jobs’ comments at the last D8 conference.

But at the same time the thought of iOS apps, iTunes streaming, and TiVo local recording makes me positively giddy with want. (And probably makes the upcoming Google TV slightly less competitive).

What do you think? Make Apple TV lean and mean and focused on the stream, or give it the TiVo treatment?

[Barrons via TUAW]

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Apple last updated iLife during the Phil Schiller-led Macworld 2009 keynote but since then, even as iOS, WebKit, and HTML5 have been on the rise, there’s been no sign of another update. Enter Mac4ever, which is rumoring:

• iLife ‘11 will be sold for $79
• Release Date of 08/07/2010
• All applications will be 64-bit
• Improvements in iPhoto faces & places
• Improving the integration of social networks
• IWeb will be totally renewed
• New application (mystery!)
• Disappearance of iDVD
• MobileMe gallery in beta (with faces & places)

If any of this pans out, the social media integration will be cool but it’s that mystery app that has us interested. There have long been rumors that Apple would replace iDVD with a WebKit/TuneKit development tool to let users more easily make iTunes LP and iTunes Extras. While those two formats haven’t exactly set the digital world on fire, HTML5 is ramping up significantly thanks in some part to iOS devices like iPhone and now iPad.

Adobe is slowly hedging their Flash bet with some HTML5 tools in DreamWeaver, but an uber-easy iLife app to let us create everything from the above-mentioned audio-video experiences to eBooks and digital magazines? Adobe’s been doing that with Wired and inDesign, but something that didn’t produced huge, static PNG piles but real next generation dynamic content for these next generation devices?

Yes please.

[Mac4ever via Macworld.co.uk via MacRumors]

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