iPod -> mp4?

[mc68k]

Currently 2/32MB of the Firmware partition is used on the iPod. There is obviously room for expansion here, and with a 133MHz RISC processor, the iPod is a powerful portable device.

My question is this: can/will/should the iPod Firmware be updated to accomodate the newer mp4 spec that is present in QT6? I am curious.

Thanks for your feedback.

[jelloshotsrule]

i think it can/will/should.

i would have to think apple would have been thinking of this in advance. and if they don't push it, then they're kicking themselves in the pants

and by all means, better quality:smaller files is always good

of course, some will whine "but i already encoded all my mp3s..." but i for one will be happy to save some space

[Rower_CPU]

Word. We're already starting to see some MP4 audio floating around, and once we get Jaguar we should see it as an encoding option in iTunes.

Once we see that, there will have to be an iPod firmware update following swiftly behind.:)

[mc68k]

Originally posted by jelloshotsrule

of course, some will whine "but i already encoded all my mp3s..." but i for one will be happy to save some space
Yeah, that's me after my last iPod crashed. Has taken me a couple weeks to get back up to snuff. Space is a good thing. I'd re-rip them in a second to mp4.

[mac15]

you could fit like twice as many songs on the ipod
and then it wouldn't seem so expensive

[ponyboy]

There is no way I am going to re-rip 15 gigs of music! So would an ipod firmware update would still play mp3?

[britboy]

Originally posted by ponyboy
There is no way I am going to re-rip 15 gigs of music! So would an ipod firmware update would still play mp3?


They're not going to leave mp3 out in the cold. The market is based on mp3 at the moment. Even as it is, the iPod can play more than just one file format. It doesn't make sense for that to change. A firmware update would not remove support for mp3, don't worry.

[Mr. Anderson]

Originally posted by ponyboy
There is no way I am going to re-rip 15 gigs of music! So would an ipod firmware update would still play mp3?

I'm sure there might be an option where you could just do it over night, might take some time, but batch jobbing it - provided you had the space, could work nicely. and you'd have even more space left over in the end.

provided creating mpeg-4 from mp3 files still retains enough quality, having to go back to the original CDs or what ever is not something I'd be doing.

[j763]

iTunes 3 is coming along... It will have ripping set to 128 bitrate MP4s as default. You WILL NOT be able to rip into MP3s anymore, however the iPod and iTunes will still, of course play MP3s... iTunes 3 will also feature some cool online features such as album covers and track lists. We should see it at MWNY, if not sooner.

[gandalf55]

i am all about the mp4 format... bring it on, bring it on!

i can't wait until the next version of Flash to include it's playback :)

[Hemingray]

Originally posted by ponyboy
There is no way I am going to re-rip 15 gigs of music! So would an ipod firmware update would still play mp3?

Well there's no 15 gig iPod, so why are you worrying? :p

And yer darn tootin' the iPod would still recognize mp3. After all, that was its original supported format.

[King Cobra]

I may be all for new technology, as are we all, but why would iTunes not support mp3 encoding? According to j763's statement the update to iTunes, which would feature mp4 compatibility, will neglect mp3 encoding.

No offense, but I see no proof of iTunes 3 screenshots. And I doubt that Apple would drop the mp3 decoding.

A reason: I have not found any mp4 CD players out there, and I do not see the point of exporting freshly downl...err...purchased CDs :D, converting them into a compressed format, in this case, mp4, and putting it on a CD which cannot be played by any CD players except for the computer.

I am sure that there are other reasons, but I think dropping mp3 encoding/decoding is a rather unintelligent move.
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[Wildcat]

correct me if I am wrong but doesnt MP3 mean MPEG 1 Layer 3 not actually MPEG 3. So are you talking about MPEG 4 video?

[King Cobra]

Wildcat, you are correct by saying that mp3 is really MPEG-1 Layer 3. But I was questioning j763 with his denial of mp3 decoding/encoding with iTunes 3. According to the whole thread here and duke mp4 would mean MPEG-4 audio. There is a difference.

MPEG-4 can be video. But we were talking about the audio layers of the MPEG world. FYI.
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[Wildcat]

I agree with King Cobra. The reason MP3 has worked out so well is because its universal its a standard and no big corporation owns the rights. ( someone does own rights to the MP3 format but I dont know if any royalties are ever payed) So when you say MP4 do you actually mean ACC audio? If iTunes ever did support ACC I think it would suppert MP3 and ACC at the same time.

[Rower_CPU]

Originally posted by Wildcat
I agree with King Cobra. The reason MP3 has worked out so well is because its universal its a standard and no big corporation owns the rights. ( someone does own rights to the MP3 format but I dont know if any royalties are ever payed) So when you say MP4 do you actually mean ACC audio? If iTunes ever did support ACC I think it would suppert MP3 and ACC at the same time.

MPEG4 uses the DOlby AAC audio codec.

It should take only a simple iTunes update (probably included in Jaguar) to enable mp4 audio encoding. Quicktime6 uses this technology, and is built into the system, so there shouldn't be any royalty problems or extra codec to "buy" like you have on the PC side.

Suppporting all those formats would be quite simple, don't worry about it.:)