Pinch Media sees hints of next-generation iPod touch

Where do you find yourself with respect to the rumors of a new iPod touch somewhere in the pipeline? Having a slew of case manufacturers showing products with cutouts for a camera strikes me as enticing but ultimately unconvincing; hearing from Pinch Media, however, raises the credibility level to 'high.' The App Store analytics provider has confirmed that instances of an "iPod 3,1" model have begun showing up in the usage logs from apps that have implemented Pinch's tracking tools.

What could this possibly mean? Well, going back to March of this year, the BGR team sussed out a few future model IDs from a beta of the iPhone 3.0 firmware, including the iPod 3,1 listing; Pinch says that the device type first started showing up in April, and sightings picked up in May. Pinch's stats should be taken quite seriously, as the company first announced appearances of the model indicator that eventually revealed itself as the iPhone 3GS way back in January.

If that timeline were to hold true again, we wouldn't expect to see the iPod touch next-gen on store shelves before the holiday shopping season... but it's likely that the engineering effort for the new touch will bootstrap off of the iPhone 3GS platform, and the QA/testing cycle for the device will probably be quite a bit shorter than it would be for a new phone. If I had to guess... perhaps a Steve-enabled press event during the last week of July? Should be lively.

[As noted in the comments, Apple's track record for iPod introductions does have a consistent tick-tock rhythm to it: betting on a September launch for the new touch would be a prudent call.]

Thanks Joachim!

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Source: http://www.pinchmedia.com/blog/ipod-31/

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Rumors iPod touch

Where do you find yourself with respect to the rumors of a new iPod touch somewhere in the pipeline? Having a slew of case manufacturers...

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campbell

@Michael Rose
Actually the iPhone 3GS model ID was "iPhone 2,1"
The iPhone 3G was named iPhone 1,2 due to no advancements in terms of processor speed or other hardware changes like the camera.

July 08 2009 at 12:45 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply

Michael Rose, I can see why you would think that but I believe you are wrong.
Apple referred to the iPod Touch 2G as the "iPod Touch 2,1"

I'm not saying that the rumors are completely real but they seem reasonable for Apple.

July 08 2009 at 8:40 AM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply

1 reply to A's comment

Michael Rose

Again, the hardware IDs and the OS versions are completely independent. Take a look at the BGR post please.

http://www.boygeniusreport.com/2009/03/19/evidence-of-new-iphones-new-ipod-touch/

There is an iPod 2,2 model there which corresponds to no OS version; likewise, the iPhone 3GS is model "iPhone 3,1" except it ships with OS 3.0.

The OS versions have nothing to do with the hardware designations.

July 08 2009 at 8:54 AM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply

Drifter71

I would like to see a camera, mic and 3G like the kindle... that would be worth paying for.

July 08 2009 at 8:30 AM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply

massimo.berta

I think the camera is nice add-on... but I'd prefer to see GPS and MIC!

July 08 2009 at 2:31 AM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply

Noel

The 3.1 firmware is available to all developers, so it's not surprising that this would be showing up in Pinch Media stats.

July 07 2009 at 7:03 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply

1 reply to Noel's comment

Michael Rose

3.1 firmware â‰ a device ID of 'iPod 3,1' -- the two are unrelated.

July 07 2009 at 7:45 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply

richard

"Where do you find yourself with respect to the rumors of a new iPod touch somewhere in the pipeline?"

Um, I think it's a certainty that Apple are working on a new iPod touch (unless this years news is that the iPod has been discontinued???)

And given that they've released new iPods every September for the past 5+ years, I wasn't aware this was part of the top secret Apple news...

July 07 2009 at 6:12 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply

1 reply to richard's comment

Icello

Yep.
But the possibility of one having a. Camera, that's exciting.

July 07 2009 at 6:58 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply

Eli

ipods are refreshed in September, right after they clear out the inventory with the back-to-school free ipod specials. Why should this be any different?

July 07 2009 at 6:09 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply

Chase

That is exciting for people who use iTouches or are in the market to finally get one. But as for me, my 3G will have to do until I can get a 3GS for cheaper than what they are going for now.

July 07 2009 at 5:59 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply

Honza

Boycott apps using PinchMedia. It's spyware.

July 07 2009 at 5:56 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply