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Rumor: Next-gen iPod touch to get iPhone 4 Features

Yes it’s just a rumor, but being stuck on a Verizon contract for the next two years I’m incredibly excited about this (and I’m placing bets that it will happen). The iPod touch you know and love is touted to get a major overhaul according to John Lewis from the Electricpig. He’s overheard some industry chatter that the iPod touch is going to get a 5MP camera, HD video, and…. FaceTime. Of course it’ll have the gyroscope as well, and probably that A4 processor. It might even be faster than the iPhone 4 as it’ll be touted for gaming.

Now if your jaw didn’t drop, there’s one more possibility that 9 to 5 Mac considers: 3G. If the iPod touch could have a 3G plan like the iPad, then that pretty settles it for me (though in all honesty it probably won’t happen). Besides, I’m still on the 1st Gen iPod touch (which is stuck at the 3.1.3 firmware, so Apple has pretty much dropped support for it), so you know I’m due for the latest and greatest non-phone pocket internet, fitness, gaming, and music device.

If it can be my camera and camcorder too, I’d be the happiest college kid ever until I can get my hands on the real deal. And Apple did say they were planning on some new camera devices this year – we’ve only got a few more months to wait folks until the required iPod unveilings.

Let us know what you’d like to see in a new iPod touch in the comments below!

[Electricpig via 9 to 5 Mac]

No, iPhone 4 is Not Like Windows Vista

Sam Diaz (reiterating Adrian Kingsley-Hughes) on Seeking Alpha writes:

“As the iPhone 4 bashing continues, I can’t help but wonder if the folks in Cupertino are getting a little taste of what Redmond must have been feeling when everyone was bashing Windows Vista - stuck between a rock and a hard place because there’s really no quick answer to give iPhone owners. Well, nothing beyond 1) scale down to a previous version, 2) buy from a competitor or 3) wait for the next update.”

The difference is that people still didn’t want to buy Vista, even after the plethora of software updates that were supposed to make it better. It had a terrible stigma due to such an unsuccessful launch. Despite a minor antenna issue (that can be replicated in other phones), people want an iPhone 4. It’s sold over 1.5 million in the first three days alone without advertising, and it’s still selling. The well oiled machine of iOS 4 and the performance of the iPhone 4 is nothing like Vista and what PC manufacturers envisioned at the time. The comparison is really overblown, as is the negligible antenna issue. Vista ruined the PC experience. The iPhone 4 doesn’t ruin the iOS 4 experience.

[Seeking Alpha via ZDNet via MacDailyNews]

Note: MacDailyNews reports, “Adrian Kingsley-Hughes is a well-known anti-Apple scribbler who delights in overblowing any “issue,” real or concocted, and spinning against Apple.”

Youtube Mobile Gets HTML5 Update, Displays Higher Quality Video than Built in App

I’ll admit, I think Apple’s built in Youtube app is kind of wonky at times. Sometimes video doesn’t buffer even if it’s lower quality, or I get kicked out for some reason. But no matter, Safari never fails me! Youtube’s new mobile website displays higher resolution video than Apple’s built in application, and it works on everything from iPhones to Androids.

TechCrunch reports on (Youtube project manager) Andrey Doronichev’s explanation of the mobile youtube experience,

Most important, the video quality of the web application was leaps and bounds ahead of the iPhone app — Andrey explained that this was because the iPhone app still uses a video streaming format that was developed for Edge, not 3G. Video on the HTML5 app looked much better, and was snappier to boot.

Just visit m.youtube.com in your mobile browser to get hands on! Check out more at the source link below.

[via TechCrunch]