by Lance Whitney
The next version of the iPad is likely to sport the camera that many were hoping would be on the first model, at least according to information uncovered by AppleInsider.
Will the next-generation iPad sport a camera?
(Credit: Apple)A document of Apple's iPad management policies, which let IT departments govern the features that corporate users can access, makes mention of the ability to disable the use of the camera. AppleInsider believes this offers some evidence that the company is planning to add a camera to upcoming models.
As a further breadcrumb, AppleInsider also cited a job listing from Apple for a "Performance QA Engineer, iPad Media" in which the company is "looking for a software quality engineer with a strong technical background to test still, video and audio capture and playback frameworks." Applicants are invited to "build on your QA experience and knowledge of digital camera technology (still and video) to develop and maintain testing frameworks for both capture and playback pipelines."
If the next generation of the iPad does offer a camera, it will likely be a front-facing model that will support FaceTime, said AppleInsider. Though FaceTime's new video chatting is only available on the iPhone 4, ZDNet and other sources have reported that the feature may soon find itself on upcoming versions of the iPod Touch as well as the iPad.
This isn't the first sign that Apple may be ramping up to include a camera on the iPad. A beta of the software developers kit (SDK) for the iPad released in January pointed to support for a camera, though that support was removed from the March release of the SDK.
Photos released by PowerbookMedic in March found Webcam holes in the final revision of the tablet's midframe, leading to speculation that the iPad would support a front-facing camera.
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