I wonder if Steve Jobs cringes every time the Apple community goes absolutely crazy over code in an SDK. I mean, they never announced a camera, and yet we’re all scavenging for news that Apple’s actually going to include a camera in the iPad.
It’s starting to crack me up a little. I can imagine Jobs banging his head on his desk over and over again while thinking to himself “I didn’t announce a camera!”
Yet somehow, consumers just aren’t happy with what we were told, which was very little, but something like a camera would have been big enough to announce.
So here’s where we stand.
No camera was announced, but developers have found a ton of references to a camera in the iPad SDK. Here’s a compiled list of evidence so far — if we’ve missed anything let us know:
Exhibit A : Images in an SDK
Apple leaves image to accept and refuse video chats in the most recent SDK. Reports suggest that the size of the buttons are a clear indication that the image was intended to be used in an iPad instead of an iPhone. Seems pretty logical to us.
Via 9 to 5 Mac
Exhibit B:Beta 3 SDK show’s a little bit too much.
Erica Sadun has managed to dig up some dirty on the latest Beta 3 of the iPad SDK. She noticed that there was direct references to a camera within the SDK. Included is support for zoom, a front facing camera, and a flash (a camera flash).
Via MacRumours
Exhibit C: SDK 3.2 suggests there’s an ability to snap a picture.
iPhone OS 3.2 hints at camera support, and is iPad-only (3.2 SDK was iPad Only). Some suggested it was residual code from the iPhone, but no one’s been able to prove it either way. What we do know is that Apple didn’t pull the code in SDK 3.2, and there might be a reason for that.
Via AppleInsider
Exhibit D : Industrial design hints at camera
iPad Hardware has a slot for a camera. Mission Repair received a shipment of repair parts for the iPad and noticed that there’s already a slot for a camera built into the frame. If true, camera support is on the horizon. It might not be in the first version of the iPad, but it’ll certainly be included at some point in the future.
Via MissonRepair
Exhibit E: Apple’s looking to hire.
Apple’s looking to hire an engineer with a “strong technical background to test still, video and audio capture and playback frameworks” for the iPhone, iPad, AppleTV, iPod, etc.
Exhibit F: Macenstien notices that iPad commercial has a convenient speck of dust.
Take an advertisement, play it frame by frame, while adjusting the levels of each frame, and you’re going to find some interesting things hidden beneath the surface. Macenstien got a tip showing that there’s a conveniently placed speck of dust centered on the device. Could be a camera, could be a sensor (likely is), or could be a dead skin cell. You decide.
