“Tinhte, the upstarts from Vietnam have first pics of the mythical iPod touch with a [2-megapixel] camera,” Thomas Ricker reports for Engadget.
“The ‘DVT-1’ stamp on the back makes it clear that this is an early design verification test unit in the evolution of product testing,” Ricker reports.
MacDailyNews Note: Tinhte has recently become a hotbed for Apple leaks. They’ve already shown off Apple’s next-gen iPhone and the new MacBook before it was released yesterday.
Tinhte.vn shows off iPod touch with camera:
Full article here.
[Thanks to MacDailyNews Reader “Lava_Head_UK” for the heads up.]
Old prototype.
Apple’s got some leaks to stanch.
Cool.. I guess that guy in the iPod touch reflection is the next blood on the iPod touch. Please don’t kill him Apple…. not again.
What the F….
Stop the leak!!!
It killed all the surprise!!!
Keep going like this, will Ruin every new product that’s coming out…. Apple do something to protect your work!!!
Isn’t this why we went to war with Viet Nam in the first place?
What OS is running on that thing???? Strange looking icons.
There must be an employee who is getting paid off to leak this stuff. Someones head will roll when Apple finds out who it is. Because this seems to be more than an accident.
This isn’t new and it isn’t exclusive to Apple, Inc.
Any company who relies on Asia to manufacture their goods, knows there is a risk their products will be siphoned off the assembly lines.
I’ve seen it first hand. Products that fail QA testing are pulled off the line, collected, and marked for recycling and/or destruction. However, key people in these plants have found a lucrative side business by feeding the secondary markets.
In fact, apparel, luggage, shoes, jewelry and timepieces, etc., that suffer blemishes during production, are referred to as “seconds” in the business, and are bought and sold on the Black market, under the very noses of those who are commissioning the work. It’s written off as part of the cost of doing business.
On the streets of Korea, you can buy Nike, Gucci, Christian Dior, and Prada, for a tenth of their original cost. Software? Ooh, they make identical duplicates of the original, right down to the holographic stickers on the packaging.
What is actually going on here in this particular situation is, the media and its paparazzi are focused on the Asian techno markets at the moment, all looking for a scoop, because it pays well.
Apple has been dealing with this problem for decades but on one outside of Apple cared. When the media began to realize Apple is serious about their secrets, well, that just makes them want to uncover them all the more.
One way Apple can deal with this is, to compensate their employees above and beyond the going wage in these countries; remove the need to exploit their rank and positions.
That’s not Apple software running on what is supposed to be an iPod touch either. None of the icons are even close to what they really look like in real life.
I’m summoning the smoke monster…
A side note.
We have here in America, what we call Outlet Malls where you’ll find all the name brands that are marked down because they suffered flaws during the manufacturing process; seams aren’t straight, or inside pockets are sewn shut, dyes weren’t properly cured, etc.
Where do you think these products come from? Yup, the manufacturer. These are “seconds”, and rather than destroy them, these companies decided to take a page from the Asians and sell them in a secondary market here in the US.
I know this stuff because I lived all over Asia for four years. It’s no wonder military people come back from tours overseas with cutting edge cameras, stereos, clothes, etc., that aren’t even available in US markets yet.
A check of the device’s serial number identifies a late 2009 third generation iPod touch
I’d hope it was an old prototype as the camera is only 2 megapixels. It also retained the old shape.
As Spark and John point out, some of those are not running iPhone OS. It could be argued that it looks different because it is OS 4, but that does not look like Apple design to me.
The reflective metal backs also do not look like Apple design, but I would not call it a fake for that reason alone. The fact that one of the shiny back Touches has an iPhone OS also makes it difficult to conclude anything from those.
I suspect those are knockoffs.
The UI is obviously a test suite, to check on the hardware. And definitely from the USA if you consider the pun of a Cheerios ‘cereal’ box used as an icon for Serial Number.
No way is that interface app written in cocoa touch. (it is beyond horrid)
That begs the question why would apple R&D;write a “test app” in anything other than cocoa touch. Answer, they wouldn’t.
So what we have is an old profile bearing old prototype nomenclature running a funky “test app” that it is extremely doubtful that anyone at apple wrote.
Two possibilities, one just a counterfeit, running some crap OS or it is an old prototype (from when they thought they were going to include a camera on the touch that someone (for reasons unknown) has replaced the OS with something else (didn’t I just read they had successfully ported android to the iphone/ipod touch? (as a side note, I’ll bet that’s going to be popular the “Lobotomize your iPhone” hack ;;-))
Steve: “Gas up the Gulfstream and load the Kraken – we’re going on a mission….”
Jack: “Chloe, run an anti-distortion algorythm on that reflection and see if we can get a clear picture of his face….”
How about some english subtitles guys. Would love to know what he is saying.
MDN stop posting this crap! You’re totally fucking ruining it for us!!!! Shit!
So you’ re going show me next thing a victory secret thong, right?
More leaks make your story trash..
Correction:
So you’ re going show me next thing a victoria’s secret thong, right?
More leaks make your story trash, man.
That’s the standard hardware test state, u douches know NOTHING
god I hope they either make it more than 2-3MP. 5MP would be nice, if it’s only 2 MP u might as well make it forward facing,