The next iPod nano is going to have a camera if these new spyshots are real (Update: March-April release?)

9to5 Staff | Feb 1 2012 - 7:57 am PT

Update: MIC Gadget says that there is a shutter/overexposure problem with the 1.3 Megapixel camera shutter that Apple is working on and they expect a April-ish type of time frame. We typically put less weight in piggybacking-type reports

Here is more evidence that Apple was (is?) prototyping an iPod nano with a camera on the back and the accompanying hole on the clip. Leaked by the Japanese blog Apple.pro, which leaked a similar set of images in April of last year, the new shots further indicate that Apple could be working (or at least was researching at some point), a next-generation iPod nano with an alleged 1.3-megapixel camera on its back, while still keeping the current model’s size and display.

The hole on the clip looks like it could house camera lens. Such a solution would theoretically separate the camera hardware and electronics inside the diminutive main casing from the optics and sensor hardware integrated on the clip. The clip hole looks very similar to an Apple patent filing published in May 2011, with one of the drawings depicting a belt clip with a hole in the exactly same place as on these spy shots. Two more shots are available after the break.

The publication also pointed to an Apple patent filing from November of last year describing the integrated sound system on the iPod nano, a small piezoelectric speaker integrated into a clip and similar to the iPod Nano’s existing clip. Another possible use of the speaker: Voice-activated Siri control, which would require a network connection that the miniature music player lacks. On the other hand, Bluetooth 4.0 functionality would let the iPod nano become an extension of Siri on your iPhone 4S. Moreover, low-powered Bluetooth 4.0 module would enable other cool features. Note that the Apple.pro blog has been relatively accurate in the past, leaking legitimate images of Verizon iPhone 4 schematics from Foxconn, the mini touch-screen found in the current iPod nano, accurate iPad 2 details, and more.