Everything iPad

Does the iPad need a camera? Perhaps the better question would be: should the iPad have a camera, whether it’s really “needed” or not? Perhaps this is one of those things that should be reserved to be debated even after the product’s launch, with people on both sides of the fence trying to yell louder than the other side. Well, count this one for the side yelling about having a camera, because now there’s a patent that apparently preaches a camera is coming.

No, not in April, but maybe in subsequent iPad launches to come. That will probably make a lot of people happy, considering the clamor going on. The patent itself is designed for ‘image capturing device with touch screen for adjusting camera settings’, but don’t let that fool you. That includes the swathe of mobile products brought to you by Apple, which includes laptops, tablets, and handheld computers. Obviously the iPhone already has a camera, and everyone wants one on the iPod Touch, so the patent would definitely include the latter in there. Even the attached picture showcases the iPhone with the patent filing, and surprisingly, the patent makes no claim of the iPad’s existence by name. Yes, tablets appeared up there, but that could be Apple simply covering their bases for future installments of cameras in future iPads.

There’s nothing wrong with that at all. We know there will be more iPads in the years to come, all of which will come with some kind of “new” feature for the product itself, if not for the industry as a whole. The big question would be, do we have to wait the now standard Apple-imposed year-long wait for the next model in the iPad series? Or will the tablet break the shackles, and showcase new models at a far more irregular rate? Whether or all these camera rumors turn out to be true, it’s obvious we’re going to have to wait to find out. What about you? Are you excited for the possibility of a camera in Apple’s tablet? Or is it something you can live without?

[via The Register]