Is this the iPad 2′s camera.app?
We've been telling you all about this camera that's coming in the iPad 2 and thought you might like to see some screenshots. Our tipster Sonny D. sent us these screenshots that he assembled from files within the SDK of the iPad camera.app.
Context & Ripple Effects
Camera speculation around Apple’s tablet has persisted since early reports of an iPad camera, and a November report that a lens supplier had reportedly been selected gave the hardware rumor a more concrete supply-chain angle. The SDK screenshots add software evidence, but the relationship remains unconfirmed.
A camera app would matter beyond a component addition: the iPad already has meaningful mobile-web reach and is reported to be taking demand from netbooks and other device categories, so imaging features would further position it as a general-purpose mobile computer.
First-order effects
- Apple gains apparent software groundwork for photo capture on the iPad 2, while prospective buyers get a stronger reason to treat the tablet as a device for creating as well as viewing media.
- Because the screenshots are drawn from SDK files rather than an announced product, developers can only prepare for the possibility of an iPad camera rather than rely on it.
Second-order effects
- A camera-equipped iPad 2 would put additional pressure on low-end notebooks and netbooks by narrowing another practical feature gap between tablets and portable PCs.
- App developers focused on photography and media sharing gain an incentive to consider tablet-specific interfaces if Apple exposes the camera capability to third-party software.
Third-order effects
- If Apple makes cameras standard on its tablets, the iPad’s competitive frame shifts further from a large-screen media reader toward a multipurpose mobile-computing platform.
- The reported device-category cannibalization suggests that each added capability can move more usage from single-purpose and low-cost PC products into the tablet market.
The trend: Tablets are broadening from consumption devices into general-purpose mobile computers by absorbing hardware and software functions once associated with phones and PCs.