The rumours of the upcoming iPod Touch have been coming fast and thick, and now a recent leak has suggested that it may be a gaming device. The US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) has approved an Apple trademark application for the term ‘iPod Touch’ under gaming consoles. This would suggest that Apple is keen to position the iPod Touch as a gaming device.
According to a report from MacRumors, Apple has also submitted a screenshot for its iPod Touch overview page scrolled to the “gaming” section with red arrows to highlight the product name and the “buy” button. Remember that the iPod Touch name has been an Apple trademark since 2008 under International Class 9 with the following description:
“Portable and handheld digital electronic devices for recording, organizing, transmitting, manipulating, and reviewing text, data, audio and video files; computer software for use in organizing, transmitting, manipulating, and reviewing text, data, audio and video files on portable and handheld digital electronic devices.” However, this could also be a “defensive trademark” to stop other companies launching a product under this name, notes Cult of Mac.
Once Apple’s most successful lineup, iPod has essentially been discontinued. The sixth-generation iPod Touch, which was launched back in 2015, hasn’t been updated once. Though you can still buy the 6th generation iPod Touch in the market. But it seems that Apple is currently working on the 7th generation of iPod.
Japanese blog Macotakara recently said that Apple could be working on the 7th generation iPod Touch. Given that Apple recently extended the iPod Touch trademark to include gaming devices, it seems to suggest that Apple may be working on the next-generation iPod Touch. Once again, we know little about Apple’s plans.
