Dubious Claim of 3G in Next-Generation iPod Touch

Why not just buy an iPhone then? :confused:

Easy: some of us barely make any phone calls, so a dirt-cheap pay-as-you-go phone makes a LOT more sense, but we're stuck with the pretty expensive iPhone plan because we actually use a lot of data. My wife and I make one, maybe two calls a day each, and they're short ones. AT&T LOVES me and my wife. If there's a 3G Touch, I'm buying one for each of us as soon as I can get out of my iPhone contract, without a doubt. No problem using an ugly dumbphone. I like the Touch more than the iPhone, design-wise, anyway. Bring it on!

Why not just negotiate data-only iPhone plans with the carriers? This would require a new case to fit the SIM, radio and antenna, and probably a bigger battery, basically making it a completely different device.

...a different device that they already make.

Why not just buy an iPhone then? :confused:

Because iPhone requires voice contract. If you can get 2GB of data at $30/mo or less you can use Google Voice for unlimited texting and get a Skype plan (and link with your GV#) for $2-6/mo. Much cheaper than an iPhone Data+Voice+Text plan.:apple:

iPod + 3G = iPhone!

They won't add it to the iPod!

Why not just buy an iPhone then? :confused:

The ipod has less ram, can't make phone calls, crappy camera, and doesn't look as cool :P.
Maybe with the 3g ipod they're trying to create 2 different versions of the iphone, a cheap one that lacks some features and the expensive one with the full potential.

Ummm iPad mini? Basically what it sounds like...

It would basically be an iPad mini. I think this would be more likely when Apple uses the new LTE chip and only has to produce just one model, presumably without a SIM card.

EXACTLY!

Ever since the last Apple event where they showed the "iPod" app becoming "Music" and "Videos" on the iPhone iOS 5, thereby decreasing the use of the "iPod" branding I have been saying that the next "iPod Touch" will be renamed the "iPad Nano". There are several advantages to this:

1) The current iPod Nano is already a touch-based device so "iPod Touch" is confusing.

2) Apple would LOVE to count iPod touch sales as iPad sales. This would be a dagger in the heart of the so-called "5-inch tablets" like the "Dell Streak". For too long the press and analysts have ignored the "iPod Touch" as handheld-tablet device (preferring to count it along with other MP3 players).

3) The iPod "brand" does not translate well into where the iOS devices are going. iPod is for music, but iPad and iPhone are all about "apps" and "cloud" in the "Post-PC era" that Apple likes talking about so much.

From a marketing perspective, this is the perfect time to rename the iPod Touch. And if you are going to do an iPad Nano or iPad Mini, it should have a 3G option, just like its big brother.

For a while there, folks said the iPad was just a big iPhone or iPod Touch, but actually, the iPod Touch is just a little iPad. :)

At first, I didn't buy into this "rumor", but the more I thought about it, the more it made sense. Especially when you consider the emphasis Apple is putting on Cloud services with iCloud.

I believe that iCloud is just the version 1.0 of Apple's cloud based ecosystem. If the cloud really is going to become our lifestyle (and business) "hub", you need to be able to reach it at all times.

Having a 3G iPod that works exactly like the 3G iPad, with the same Carrier Plans as they rolled out for iPad makes perfect sense. The iPod with 3G might be a tiny bit thicker, but who cares?

And the earlier poster that commented that Apple should add 3G to the MacBook Air -- that is exactly what Apple needs to do. That would be the tipping point for a lot of people from the PC centered world to a Cloud centered world.

Look, the iPhone is -always- going to be a better phone. It will be getting LTE and other 4G tech. It's the high end mobile device.

For any other iOS based entertainment or productivity, there's an iPod or iPad.

If this rumor is true, Apple just gave me another reason to line up in front of their store.

Bring it on.

iPod + 3G = iPhone!

They won't add it to the iPod!

Why not just buy an iPhone then? :confused:

Because iPhone requires voice contract. If you can get 2GB of data at $30/mo or less you can use Google Voice for unlimited texting and get a Skype plan (and link with your GV#) for $2-6/mo. Much cheaper than an iPhone Data+Voice+Text plan.:apple:

Only if purchased at a subsidized price from a carrier in the US. There are other countries out there.

This doesn't make sense for the carriers. Then they will have people clamoring for iPhone data-only plans. I would much rather pay per minute since I rarely make phone calls. Also, with iOS 5 and iMessage, people wouldn't have to pay for text messages and could just use an iPod Touch or would do a data-only iPhone.

True, it doesn't make sense for the carriers, but neither did the original iPhone. It was pretty much the first device to not have any carrier branding on it, and wasn't loaded up with carrier specific crapware.

When the app store came out, that shifted the landscape again, with the carriers not being in control of what was on the and what it could do. As you can see, it has led to them making a ton of money from people who want a device with this kind of freedom.

The carriers will hold out as long as possible, but in the end, they will all become glorified wireless Internet providers with all services provided over IP. Ey will make their money from tiered data plans which users can use for voice, video, and traditional data uses.