Chicago (IL) – Not that Bluetooth is a sensational new feature. But it is noteworthy that this feature, which has long been requested by iPod touch users, has finally made it into the iPod touch. And interestingly, Steve Jobs did not announce this new feature during the launch event and Apple’s iPod touch product page does not list Bluetooth as a feature of the device.

Apple says the new iPod touch is the “funnest” iPod touch ever. A new design, access to the AppStore with “hundreds” of games. It comes with Nike’s sports gear receiver built-in, which appeared to be the most significant hardware change in the device. It is not.

Jobs and Apple forgot to mention that the new touch also carries Broadcom’s BCM4325 Bluetooth chip, as revealed by a teardown shown on iFixit. According to Apple’s product page, the touch does not support Bluetooth, which simply means that the new hardware has not been connected to the software yet.

The BCM4325 is a Bluetooth 2.1 + EDR chip that supports dual A2DP, which would touch owners to use a wireless Bluetooth stereo headset with this device. Your guess is as good as ours why Apple did not announce this new feature and you may even speculate that Apple may sell this hardware you already own for an extra $9.99 in a future firmware upgrade. iPod touch users are used to be paying for these upgrades already, so why not sell them a feature twice? Or, Apple may simply not want an accessory manufacturer to offer wireless headphones before it can offer them as an accessory itself.

It is a strange business decision in any way you look at it. Bluetooth would have been a nice new feature announcement yesterday.

Photos: High-quality unboxing photos of Apple's fourth-gen iPod nano
Photos: High-quality unboxing photos of Apple's second-gen iPod touch

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