slew of iPod ideas

[gandalf55]

iPod Apps Ideas (http://www.ericd.net/ipod)

instead of posting on macrumors server anymore, i'll host images and keep from spamming the area. you can find some ideas at the URL above - add to them in this thread if you want to ;) how close will any of us come? push the envelope!

[medea]

I have to commend you for actually helping against the influx of spam posts. The iPod "features" are all great, but the only one I think is too far fetched is the iPhone adpater because it would be a pain in the ass to dial the numbers without an actual numeric keypad. good job though;)

[Chaszmyr]

I think the Calculator is the best idea on there, i wouldnt be suprised if we saw a calc in the ipod in the future.

[gandalf55]

the phone could use a modified version of the keyboard...

[Spock]

I want to see a iPod emulator for testing and making sofware for the iPod.

[blackpeter]

I want to see them go back to the moving scroll-wheel!

My friend has the 20GB iPod and I didn't like the touch-wheel nearly as much as the moving scroll-wheel. I'm not getting sand in my iPod anytime soon, so let's bring back the scroll.

[iSpork]

hell, the phone could use rotary dial.

[Doctor Q]

iMicrophone would let Apple market the iPod as (among other things) a dictation device. In between playing your favorite tunes, you could record "Note to self: look up what 'pompitous of love' means".

[gandalf55]

i haven't really figured out the file system for something like an iMicrophone for an iPod... I guess it would just place a numerical sequence of aifs or whatever in a new directory on the iPod called "recordings" or something. but then to play them back, you could scroll through the listings in that directory. i assume one could delete them as well. when you synced back up with iSync, it could put those audio files in a directory in your Documents folder called "recordings" and then remove them from the iPod (if one wished.)

... i dunno... would be great to bootleg a concert (if it could use AAC someday so the files weren't too huge after a 2 hour concert.)

[Doctor Q]

I was at the Paul McCartney concert in Los Angeles last night. I didn't see any prototype iPods with microphones, but some people were calling home on their cell phones and leaving a few seconds of music on their own answering machines. I don't think this is a purpose Apple would advertise, but an iPod would certainly have more capacity.

The iMicrophone application should allow you to name your audio file and, if it's music, specify the other info such as artist, so it can be used like any other tune.

[Macmaniac]

I really like some of these ideas they would be great addition to the iPod. Hopefully Apple will discover this little nugget of Internet wisdom.
It would be really cool if you could program games for the iPod just like people do with calculators. I can see a new addiction forming now;)

[G4scott]

The coolest thing, in MHO, would be to be able to hook an iPod up to a CD burner, and burn an MP3 or audio CD right there...

the recording feature would also be nice... All that they need are little firewire devices...

[gandalf55]

nice idea - i updated the page and below is something i imagine would be using the AAC format instead of mp3:

[isogonic]

I want them to release a game SDK

[TheT]

First of all: Great Ideas!
Here are my thoughts: It will not happen that you can hook up any device via Firewire to the iPod... I don't think they'll be able to get the software together to make the iPod work with any CD writer... and I don't think it has enough power to do so. Same for the Visualizer... it would be cool, but it's useless and the iPod certainly isn't powerful enough to do stuff like that.
A mic would me great as well, but I don't see apple making a firewire microphone. (BTW: a mic only records one channel, so there wouldn't be L and R)
iPhone... naa, I don't think so.
iCam.. probably not, again I think the iPod's not powerful enough to do stuff like that. It has only one 'lil chip for playing MP3s... I even doubt it could do AAC, though I hope that would still be possible.
I would love the option to add notes with a virtual keyboard, though it would be much work... but that's not as easy as Apple likes things to be ;)
The picture viewer will most likely not come either. Apple doesn't want the iPod to be a PDA, and you can't officially view any files on the iPod right now. Remeber, to view text, you export it so it looks like a contact to the iPod.
The only thing I really think that could be part of a future update would be the adding of picture thumbs for contacts... but then, again, how does Apple want to do this, vCards don't support pictures as far as I know, do they?
But oh well, we can still dream about all this stuff. Good job on those pictures again! It's always fun looking at stuff like this...

[MacCoaster]

Originally posted by TheT
iCam.. probably not, again I think the iPod's not powerful enough to do stuff like that. It has only one 'lil chip for playing MP3s... I even doubt it could do AAC, though I hope that would still be possible.
iPod actually has TWO ARM processors. That's right. It's dual processor powered. :)

[TheT]

Originally posted by MacCoaster

iPod actually has TWO ARM processors. That's right. It's dual processor powered. :)
I didn't know that... I read this one article that described every piece of hardwarre that they use in the iPod a while ago... well, maybe my memory's just really bad (probably ;) )
I would love to see the iPod with AAC support!

[oldMac]

It is true. The iPod has dual-ARM processors. The hardware also already includes MP3 encoding capability, it is just currently disabled.

So, theoretically, the iPod could:

1) Easily have a microphone for recording (dictation type stuff) or a line-in for sampling directly

2) Connect to a fire wire drive for burning CDs - Though, this is unlikely given the current legal environment ("don't steal music")

3) Visuals - The processors are powerful enough to do this, though it's questionable as to how:

a) good this would look (in grayscale)
b) useful this would be
c) how this would affect battery life

[gandalf55]

tron lightcycle game vs. computer enemies might be fun, except for the small screen. pacman would be doable... also something like atari adventure, activision atari tennis, space invaders, galaga, pole position, etc. taking a step back to my childhood.

[-hh]

My apologies for being a horrible artist...

-hh



BTW, can the iPod currently be used as a recording device? If so, I need to order one TODAY!!

[Doctor Q]

If the iPod Image Viewer was a color display then iWallet, a digital photo album, would be a great application. You sync an iPhoto folder of your choice to your iPod and you have the images ready to display to your friends.

Think of all the grandmothers who wouldn't need a purse full of loose "wallet photos" of their grandchildren. An appropriate set of senior citizen switcher ads (from purse to iPod) would soon follow.

[marklander]

I'd like an iPod Ti (made from titanium, of course).

[bidge]

I'm pretty sure that the vCard format does support images.

[TheT]

Originally posted by bidge
I'm pretty sure that the vCard format does support images.
From the official vCard site (http://www.imc.org/pdi/) :
All vCards can also have graphics and multimedia including photographs, company logos, audio clips such as for name pronunciation
I think that's only version 3.0 though... does anybody know which one Apple uses? Most companies still use 2.1...
I didn't find any software that supports images in vCards. But since it's possible, Apple could add those small pictures from the addressbook :D

[rugby]

How about adding the feature of an ACCURATE battery meter. I can't count how many times my iPod has died with 3 bars left.

[Rower_CPU]

Originally posted by rugby
How about adding the feature of an ACCURATE battery meter. I can't count how many times my iPod has died with 3 bars left.

You might want to check for an iPod Software Update. I know version 1.2.1 was supposed to address this:
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=122014

[job]

I'm not sure how useful a B/W visualizer would be...

Other than that, I like your ideas.

[gandalf55]

how about this idea: instead of a battery level icon with 4 bars - you can choose to select a % of battery left? I can do this with a pda and ppc. to me i would find it more valuable...

or even something like : 75% 7.2h est.

you would be able to choose this in the settings for Battery Display.

[RndmAxess]

deleted

[G4scott]

I think the text-2-speech would be a bit too much for the iPod's processors.

If Apple were going to make a device for grandma to pull out of her purse and show off pictures, they'd make it with a screen bigger than that of the iPod's. The iPod's screen is useful for browsing through playlists and stuff like that, but for photos, and almost any other type of graphics, it's not too good...

Now, if you could get an original gameboy attachment, so you have the right controls, and load the gameboy games onto the iPod and play them, that would be cool, even though the screen is kinda small, I think it still might work...

or how about an iPlasma attachment- it fires plasma bolts with the click of a button!

[WannabeSQ]

Originally posted by G4scott
I think the text-2-speech would be a bit too much for the iPod's processors.

If Apple were going to make a device for grandma to pull out of her purse and show off pictures, they'd make it with a screen bigger than that of the iPod's. The iPod's screen is useful for browsing through playlists and stuff like that, but for photos, and almost any other type of graphics, it's not too good...

Now, if you could get an original gameboy attachment, so you have the right controls, and load the gameboy games onto the iPod and play them, that would be cool, even though the screen is kinda small, I think it still might work...

or how about an iPlasma attachment- it fires plasma bolts with the click of a button!

Im liking the game boy thing, im thinking GamePod! Basically and iPod, but with GBA slot, and GBA controls. I dunno about the market, but it sure sounds cool.

[gandalf55]

what about a pager hardware addon?

page comes in, displays on the screen and vibrates the iPod (must have its own power supply somehow because leaving Alarms on the iPod sucks the juice quickly.)

[-hh]

Originally posted by Doctor Q
If the iPod Image Viewer was a color display then iWallet, a digital photo album, would be a great application.

Yes, that would be even better.

But the current digital image storage wallets don't have any image display whatsoever, and my thoughts are pretty much just to eliminate the need to carrry two portable drives when one can do the trick. Of course, there is the problem that most digital cameras are USB and not Firewire, and I'm not aware of anyone who makes a FW-USB adaptor/bridge. Perhaps the iPod needs a USB port? (that way, we can add that microphone input?)


-hh

[WannabeSQ]

someone does make a portable multimedia player, it plays video audio and picture files, and comes with an attachment for compact flash. If Apple could make a new iPod (iPod PRO?) with some sort of expansion slot or bay or something, it would increase the options and leave it open to third partys to make all the addons we have thought of.

[rugby]

Originally posted by Rower_CPU


You might want to check for an iPod Software Update. I know version 1.2.1 was supposed to address this:
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=122014

I am running 1.2.1. the battery meter is still wacky on my ipod.

[TheT]

Originally posted by rugby


I am running 1.2.1. the battery meter is still wacky on my ipod.
Yeah, mine still dies with 3/4 battery life as well... why can't they fix this? It works on other deviced that use that kind of batteries...

Well, I got another great idea... since it was said that the processor(s) is powerful enough to do a little bit more, how about crossfading? I love it in iTunes 3, and every time I'm listening to something on my iPod, I wish it would fade the songs as well....

[G4scott]

Originally posted by TheT
Well, I got another great idea... since it was said that the processor(s) is powerful enough to do a little bit more, how about crossfading? I love it in iTunes 3, and every time I'm listening to something on my iPod, I wish it would fade the songs as well....

I like that idea...

[janster]

How about an airport card in the ipod. That way you can download music directly on to your ipod. If you are on an airport waiting for a flight for example, you can use the wireless internet and download new songs for the flight. I am getting my ipod soon. the 10 gigabyte version and i think it would be cool to download music directly on to your ipod.

[TheT]

Originally posted by janster
How about an airport card in the ipod. That way you can download music directly on to your ipod. If you are on an airport waiting for a flight for example, you can use the wireless internet and download new songs for the flight. I am getting my ipod soon. the 10 gigabyte version and i think it would be cool to download music directly on to your ipod.
Yes, it would be cool. But is not likely.
[list=1]
The card is too big. They just made the iPod thinner, remember? They will not make it bigger again
Navigation would be horrible. First, you'd have to 'type' in something with a virtual keyboard... then select one of 500 files that were found. And then you have to be lucky to get the file. See Limewire or Acquistion on a Mac, or Kazaa on a PC. Which software would Apple use anyways...?
Don't steal music. Do I need to say more?
[/list=1]
The iPod is just a part of the digital life, the hub is still your Mac. Apple will not change this.

[gandalf55]

if you are running 1.2 and still having probs, reset the Power Manager... if for some reason your iPod ever totally runs out of power, you need to reset the iPod or it won't recharge correctly... this isn't documented anywhere, but i went to a local Genius Bar and thats what the guy told me... fixed my iPod just fine.

hold the menu, play buttons down for a few secs to reset your iPod. then charge it up. also try turning your Alarms off.

Mine holds (displays) its charge just fine now.

[TheT]

Originally posted by gandalf55
if you are running 1.2 and still having probs, reset the Power Manager... if for some reason your iPod ever totally runs out of power, you need to reset the iPod or it won't recharge correctly... this isn't documented anywhere, but i went to a local Genius Bar and thats what the guy told me... fixed my iPod just fine.

hold the menu, play buttons down for a few secs to reset your iPod. then charge it up. also try turning your Alarms off.

Mine holds (displays) its charge just fine now.
Never heard that before... I'll try it right now!
But do you have to reset it everytime it runs completely out of power? Just wondering, though it barely ever comes to that point with mine (I recharge every day after school :D )

[patrick0brien]

-Here's an Idea I had

How about adding a USB port to allow the ability to download pictures taken from a digital camera.

Until this happens, I need to bring my notebook for offloading to free up my Memory Sticks when on vacation.

Imagine that: 20gb picture storage!

PS- Oo. I just had a thought. It's always stuck in my craw that Apple branded the device "iPod". I mean, think about it. Every other iApp. and iDevice's name is pretty much self explanatory: iMovie: Movie editing, iCal: Calendar, iPhoto: Photo book. But iPod? - That dosen't exactly scream MP3 player to me. Never has.

Well, in writing this post, it occurs to me that the name "iPod", could be given to a device that is so versatile it defies simple branding.

Hmm. Maybe this camera offloading idea has already been thought of in the hallowed halls of Apple. Perhaps other things are in store: the iPod could act as a portable Disk Image (FireWire target disk mode) to allow you to take your whole partition between work and home.

[Doctor Q]

Originally posted by patrick0brien How about adding a USB port to allow the ability to download pictures taken from a digital camera.
As long as we're brainstorming, how about putting the camera right in the iPod? You don't need a digital camera if you can just point your iPod and click! I wonder how much weight and cost it would add to put a lens and CCD in there!

[daniel77]

well if u take one of those really really small, like 2''X2'' variety digital cameras and stuck it in the top or whatever it would only add about 2 inches to the top, making 6'' high, which is still about the same size as other mp3 players. sounds like a great idea although the quality of a digicam that small would be like sub 1 megapixel i heard from like techtv. i forget the specifics but u can count on it being a crappy image, or atleast not that good.

[TheT]

Well, it wouldn't have to be high quality, it would be for quick fun shots, which you could view directly on the iPod...
...it would be really cool, though it's really unlikely IMO.
Did you see the Nokia 3610 with built in camera? That would be great for the iPod as well... and while we're at it, we could just add a phone right away... :rolleyes: :D