Techcrunch spots “Take Photo” functionality in iPad SDK

John Brownlee ()

Yesterday, I speculated that the reason Apple didn’t put a camera in the iPad was to help you look thin, but as many commenters mentioned, another possibility is that Apple had another supply chain breakdown, like the one that robbed the iPod Touch of its camera in June.

Maybe that’s right. Techcrunch spotted that the iPad SDK has reference in the Contacts app to taking photos with a built-in camera.

There’s a few interpretations here. This could just be a legacy feature, having to do with the fact that the iPad runs on the iPhone OS. It could also have to do with the iPad’s ability to connect to external cameras through an accessory. Or maybe the camera was pulled at the last minute, just like the iPod Touch’s.

My guess is it’s a legacy goof. What do you think?

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About the author

John BrownleeJohn Brownlee is news editor here at Cult of Mac, and has also written about a lot of things for a lot of different places, including Wired, Playboy, Boing Boing, Popular Mechanics, Gizmodo, Kotaku, Lifehacker, AMC, Geek and the Consumerist. He lives in Cambridge with his charming inamorata and a tiny budgerigar punningly christened after Nabokov's most famous pervert. You can follow him here on Twitter.

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Posted in iPad, News |

  • http://Www.conscienciacritica.com WetLight

    I believe Apple will sell some camera accessory later on.

  • Ictus75

    It might be a price point decision to keep the ipad under $499/599/699. Later models will most likely have a camera and video chat/conferencing capabilities, but you have to start somewhere. The initial offering of any product is always a starting point. After it gets acceptance and user feedback, successive models always add more features. One step at a time here…

  • djmindblender

    I think it was a way to get carriers on board with the ipad. I am sure Apple would love to have two cameras on the Ipad but in order to get the good deal on the data plan for consumers the carriers would have balked on the camera/video.

  • Arron

    I think the reason that the contacts app has that camera functionality is because it was already in the iPhone app. then to rip it out would be silly especially since it is definitely going to need to be put back it because somewhere down the line the iPad will have a front and rear facing camera.

  • mark

    There will be a camera in the iPad one day. The space necessary for it is really limited and the size of the iPad justifies it. I think it will be a serious usp for the machine.

    They announced the machine yesterday and start selling it only in 6 or 7 weeks. Enough time to make a few adjustments based on the feedback from the market.