There were quite a number of reports that the 3G iPod Touch would be coming with a camera, but unfortunately, it remained only as that – a rumor. The 3rd gen iPod Touch got an added bump in storage and processing speed, but alas, no camera was in sight. So what happened? We don’t know exactly, but an autopsy of the 3G iPod Touch provides some insight into the matter and raises more questions at the same time.

A side-by-side comparison between the newly released 3rd gen iPod Touch and the leaked camera-equipped 3G iPod Touch reveals that something was indeed removed, and from the looks of it, it’s none other than the missing camera sensor. Was Apple just doing some damage control so as not to give legitimacy to the leaked 3G iPod Touch? We’ll probably never really know, and regardless of how much we continue to speculate on the issue, the 5G iPod Nano remains to still be the only iPod to boast of a camera for the time being.

[macrumors via engadget]