Photo of rumored 3G iPod Nanos is fake

Earlier this week, we reported on a rumor that the new iPod Nanos would "be nearly square in shape, with an uncharacteristically large screen (taking up about 50 percent of the unit's face) and the ability to play back video." At the time, 9 to 5 Mac was reporting the rumor as having been "confirmed" with Chinese suppliers involved in the device's production. Today, we have a leaked "spy shot," of what 9 to 5 claims is the third generation iPod Nano. Could this really be the new Nano?

I, for one, am not buying it. Why? Two reasons. First, if you check out the enlarged photo on 9 to 5's site, you'll clearly see it's a cameraphone photo of a Mac's screen displaying the file "nano-flower.psd." Can you think of any device that shoots photos in the Photoshop document format? Neither can I. So, in order for this to be true, the alleged "spy" had to have shot a photo of the Nanos, imported the photo into Photoshop, saved it as a .psd (not as a .jpeg, which was likely the original format) and then snapped a photo of the screen. Seems like a lot of work to go through, especially if you're not going to send along the actual file, eh? Secondly, the iPods in the photo are really ugly and I refuse to believe that Jonathan Ive is capable of designing such an eyesore. Enough said.

For more on the rumor:
- see this 9 to 5 Mac article