More Video iPod Photos and Claims?

Over the weekend, MacShrine claimed that it had images of the "iPod AV", a full-screen video iPod. These images were received by the site via an anonymous email submission. This is not the first time claimed images of the rumored video iPod images have circulated. In fact, the same site had previously popularized the earlier video iPod photo, which was originally posted to Flickr.

These new images (mirrored in Gallery of Video iPod Mockups) received a significant amount of attention, with the usual real vs not-real debate. The images were posted on MacRumors Page 2 for lack of any additional information.

A few hours after the images were posted and linked prominently, MacShrine was suspended by their host. Casual onlookers felt it was likely due to excessive bandwidth consumption. Today, however, MacShrine.com claims that the images were removed at the demand of Apple Legal.

These claims are met with some skepticism due to fact that many sites (Engadget, Gizmodo, MacRumors Guides) continue to prominently display the offending images. Historically, Apple Legal has been very aggressive with Cease and Desist letters against sites posting offending materials, and has never focused on one site alone. That being said, several details of the removal appear to be authentic.

Another remote possibility includes the possibility of counterfeit emails by a 3rd party. Last month, several promiment Mac/iPod sites were fooled into posting news about an upcoming Apple Event when an falsified email was sent to these sites.