iPod Video To Debut

iPhone 3GS has got some serious improvements over its predecessor. It’s got more speed, better battery, and a video camera. But as dramatic as these improvements are, you can’t argue with how significant it’ll be if Apple adds a video camera to iPod Touch as well. iPod Touch may not be the talk of town in the iPhone era, but it’s still one of the best gadgets of this century. You could argue that Apple has focused so much on making iPhone a dominant player in the phone market that it has neglected the iPod line. But that is all about to change as sources are indicating that Apple is planning to debut iPod Video.

As you can guess, Apple hasn’t told us anything about all this. But MacRumors has some interesting pictures of next generation iPod Touch cases that clearly have a space cut out for a camera lens. A lot of people were asking about Apple’s plans for the iPod family and the future seems to be video. That is great news for all Apple fans and terrible news for mini camcorder manufacturers.

Mini camcorder makers have gotten away with it so far with iPhone 3GS being new and a bit expensive for a lot of folks. But iPod Video will effectively crush any hopes left for Flip and other mini camcorders. Apple doesn’t seem to be planning any major price hike with iPods which means iPod will be going head to head against mini camcorders. Unlike iPhone, iPod Video will be a recession friendly gadget and enables more folks to capture and share their own videos. So we are not going to run out of interesting video content anytime soon.

iPod Video’s debut could also mark the end of the road for iPod Classic. Apple has been updating iPod Classic for the romantic few who still enjoy the original iPod design. And while I don’t think Apple will officially kill iPod Classic anytime soon, I doubt there will be any further investment in that product line. And who needs an iPod Classic anyway when we’ve got iPod Video.

The new iPod Touch will be an exciting addition to the iPod family but I wish Apple had introduced the device at WWDC. Unfortunately, that’s not how Apple does business which means we are looking at a possible September release date. It’s still very good news for us consumers, tough news for mini camcorder makers.