One Day More...

[MacRumors]

With one day left before MacWorld Expo and most significantly, the Keynote speech... it's best to review and remind our readers to have some perspective prior to the big event - especially for recent switchers.

As a rumor site, this site gathers and reports on the entire range of rumors and possibilities for the expo. As a result, the range of rumors and predictions range from the mundane to the impossible. The actual truth lies somewhere in the middle.

Expectations should rest on the realistic... with a bit of hope for the unexpected. As with all expos, there will be groups of users pleased, ambivalent, or outright angry with the outcome..

[RitchieDeMan]

GUARANTEED!! There will be a few posts on here tomorrow that are very dissapointed.

Same thing everytime! lol

[richlen]

CNN aint no rumors site....This morning I was watching CNN and they had a very interesting story claiming Apple tomorrow will be releasing iPod video playback capability from a DVD...just put a dvd into your mac (like a CD into iTunes) and click a button and the DVD gets put onto the iPod for viewing on the iPod screen itself (new color screen to be released) or thru a special playback adaptor. CNN said "Apple would not respond or comment on the story"

Rich

[digitalgiant]

Ooooooooo I cant wait!!!! And my wife said I can get the 1Ghz powerbook!! Life is sweet!!

[sedarby]

Ah yes, here we are at the brink of yet another expo. Hope runs high but alas dreams will be shattered and expectations missed. I for one am hoping that nothing is announced and that Apple stays true to their promise of announcing products as their ready instead of big productions at these expos. Suprises are more fun anyway.

[xazior]

I don't think it will be a video iPod - just doesn't seem very useful...

Maybe wireless picture frames around your house that display your iPhoto pics and flash when u have email.

Maybe an Apple digital camera. An Apple dig cam would seem like a logical addition to the digital hub.

[yamadataro]

Originally posted by digitalgiant
Ooooooooo I cant wait!!!! And my wife said I can get the 1Ghz powerbook!! Life is sweet!!

Yaaahooooo! That's beautiful. I'm totally happy for ya.

As to myself counting down the remaining 27 hours, I feel like I'm a 5 years old kid waiting for the morning of the Xmas day. The only difference is that I now have multiple credit cards with me, ho-ho-ho :D

[mdesbiens]

This article seems to recap recent rumors, but does so in a much more certian way.

http://http://rss.com.com/2100-1040-979204.html?type=pt&part=rss&tag=feed&subj=news

[mdesbiens]

sorry about that
http://rss.com.com/2100-1040-979204.html?type=pt&part=rss&tag=feed&subj=news

[yamadataro]

Originally posted by richlen
CNN aint no rumors site....This morning I was watching CNN and they had a very interesting story claiming Apple tomorrow will be releasing iPod video playback capability from a DVD...just put a dvd into your mac (like a CD into iTunes) and click a button and the DVD gets put onto the iPod for viewing on the iPod screen itself (new color screen to be released) or thru a special playback adaptor. CNN said "Apple would not respond or comment on the story"

Rich

Ooooh my Buddha!!! Are you serious???
I was curious if Apple would do the DVD copying software for us.
I wonder how it works in terms of legal stuff and technology-wise? Very curious.

All right then, nothing can be more convincing than CNN.

[yamadataro]

EDIT: sorry the edit function somehow created a new duplicated post.

[thebladerunner]

Check this from news.com..

http://news.com.com/2100-1040-979204.html?tag=fd_lede1_hed

PS: Oh, well, same as rss link above, but nonone mentioned this part yet:

Long article...very interesting especially the section where they mention 3 upcoming HW devices coming from Apple.

__________
The iPod II, in fact, is one of three principal pieces of hardware in Apple’s labs that Apple has shown analysts but not officially announced yet. The company is also working on computers that will contain IBM's 32-bit and 64-bit chip and a computer with a 3D screen, similar to the screens recently unveiled by Sharp. Of course, Doherty added that not everything in the lab eventually goes public.
__________

[Chaszmyr]

The Problem With a Video (DVD) iPod

Yes, it sounds really cool. And yes, even though most movie DVDs are around 6gb, you could fit many movies if it compressed them down to fit the screen, so it wuold only have to be like 1 or 2gb. Imagine a 40gb iPod being able to hold 40 DVD movies!

But heres the problem. If any of you have ever tried to back up a DVD to your hard drive, or especially copy it onto CDs, you would know it can take hours! The average consumer doesnt want to do ANYTHING that takes hours!

If Apple goes through with a DVD video ipod, they have better have found a new process that is a LOT faster!

[thebladerunner]

Check a macnn.com thread where someone posted this before and mentioned DVD copyright protection (submitted as feedback to a news story...). Similar to iPod, you can move it the DVD to the Pod but not distribute it....I do believe this guy now

iPod II makes perfect sense to me now:

* DVR/Tivo device with Video out (Show it to other people who just have a TV or use it in business for presentations. Think of it: Export your PowerPoint as QT movie and play it back from your Pod !!!)

* Attach it to your local Mac and you have a TiVo...or to your TV and again you have a Tivo.

* Exchange pictures/v-Cards etc. with other users using 802.11g or Bluetooth. Will also work with new mobile phones....

Not sure if a colour screen makes sense though. Nicest thing would be 3D glasses ;-)

[melchior]

compression of a dvd takes huors, but i have a couple of dvd's uncompressed on my fw drive.

still i don't believe it. apple, not the riaa themselves, sent cease and decint letters to owc to femove the idvd patch for burning dvd's

[zim]

This might not be much of help because I forget the name of the developer but..... I recall, towards the end of last year, hearing something about a company (movie company) developing a web site that you would log onto and download movies. The movies would be contained within a file that would be good for viewing for x number of days (I also think I recall that it had something to do with ms media player so this may not even apply to us). at the end of your "rental" the movie would delete itself... again, I wish I could remember who it was in hollywood that was doing it but it was legitimate I also remember blockbuster wanted to do something like this with dvds that would not need to be returned because they would go bad after x number of days (not that I support that idea but the concept of renting movies that you download through broadband is sorta interesting).

[MikeH]

An iPod with a colour screen could be interesting if it's made to link up with iPhoto, or better still to download directly from a digital camera to an iPod when the cameras own card is full. Images could then be transported and previewed on the built in screen, or onto a TV in the form of a slide show with a sound track.

DVD playback seems like a gimmick to me, I think the screen would be to small to make it worthwhile, not to mention copyright issues.

[thebladerunner]

Hello, here is the posting from Macnn.com. Didn't believe him at first, but makes much more sense now after Reuters / News.com and CNN took up the Video iPod story....

File this one under FACT - MacNN.com Reader 101291
1/4/03, 12:29 am EST
Through his connections in the movie industry via Pixar, Jobs has negotiated with most major studios so that they are ok with the new device. Basically like an iPod with video. The color screen is not great, the device is meant to be used with external video sources. It has S video out with an adaptor to use RCA style video out. It also has DVI and a VGA adaptor for running monitors, the obvious problem being no native ADC support.

Uses various Apple proprietary schemes to compress DVDs to a much smaller files that generally look better than divx files. But for this go round, the audio out is a basic headphone one so don't expect to hook it up to a surround sound system. It's more like video to go with the obvious inherent compromises. And because the biggest drive they can use for the size of the device is 40GB, don't expect to hold your entire movie collection on it. However, it will be great for showing off your own stored videos, quicktime movies, etc, and take them with you. E.g, you film a presentation with a DV cam, process it in iMovie, then transfer it to your device and show the presentation at the meeting you traveled to across country. Yes you could just burn a DVD and take it with you, but how many offices have DVD players? With some external speakers and by hooking it up to a projector, you can replay it for whoever in most offices around the world.

Here's the bad part. In order to copy your DVDs, each one will need to be verified. When you attempt to copy, you will be required to register your DVD. Because of the unique copy protection on DVDs, no DVD can be registered more than once, so people won't be able to rent at blockbuster and transfer the movie to your device, nor will you be able to extract the DVDs from the device to another computer. People may be annoyed by having to register all their DVDs, but Apple has made it pretty painless. People will be amazed and of course a few years down the line, things like DTS decoding, better quality video, and larger capacity hard drives will be part of the package. At nearly $1000, people will be hesitant until they learn that it also has TiVo like capabilities!

anyway, I've said too much and I don't want the person who I go this info from to get in trouble.


So, what do you think ? Price sounds a bit steep....

[MikeH]

That sounds interesting, and more plausable than most Video iPod rumors, but $1000 is hardly an impulse buy is it - how much is a DVD iBook in dollars?

[mcrain]

I just found out that one of my friends is exhibiting at MWSF. He said he'd call me with any interesting details that might not make the keynote.

[Knox]

Originally posted by zim
This might not be much of help because I forget the name of the developer but..... I recall, towards the end of last year, hearing something about a company (movie company) developing a web site that you would log onto and download movies.

I think http://www.movielink.com/ could be what you're talking about, although i can't really check since it doesn't even let you view the site unless you're in the US...

[Tom800]

If it's something good then great. If we're all disappointed, well, at least there are girls... My stamina is worn out, this isn't fun no more, bring on macworld and let it be good.

[greenstork]

I don't claim to know much about this stuff but isn't MPEG-4 an excellent compression method. It takes up relatively little hard drive space, certainly far less than divx. This, I feel would enable a portable DVD type device. It doesn't seem that far out of reach for Apple.

[Monomni]

I dunno... this seems possible, but not entirely probable. I have lost respect for CNN's journalism, so I wouldn't call that a hugely reliable or certain source.

Besides, wouldn't Apple be better served to improve/upgrade existing products or release new items that have a wider appeal (in practical uses as well as price)???

Just my realistic/cynical perspective...

Cheers to all other mac fans in suspense!
:D

[moosecat]

Originally posted by MikeH
That sounds interesting, and more plausable than most Video iPod rumors, but $1000 is hardly an impulse buy is it - how much is a DVD iBook in dollars?

A couple months ago, someone who worked for a retail store posted a rumor either here or at Spymac about data in the retailer's system indicating an upcoming $999 Apple product. The code number for the unknown product seemed to have a format different from other Apple devices, which suggested it wasn't just a revised version of something. It was classified in the retailer's system under MP3 players, or electronic accessories, or something like that.

I think that thread petered out (in part because the product was supposed to be due in early December). But perhaps this is it...

[Bear]

Originally posted by thebladerunner
Here's the bad part. In order to copy your DVDs, each one will need to be verified. When you attempt to copy, you will be required to register your DVD. Because of the unique copy protection on DVDs, no DVD can be registered more than once, so people won't be able to rent at blockbuster and transfer the movie to your device, nor will you be able to extract the DVDs from the device to another computer. People may be annoyed by having to register all their DVDs, but Apple has made it pretty painless. People will be amazed and of course a few years down the line, things like DTS decoding, better quality video, and larger capacity hard drives will be part of the package. At nearly $1000, people will be hesitant until they learn that it also has TiVo like capabilities!

This part sounds a bit odd. I can see where you won't be able to copy off the device. But each DVD of the same pressing has the same encryption key. TO do it any other way would require so much processing power for pressing DVDs that the price would've been prohibitive.

[JBracy]

Originally posted by xazior
Maybe an Apple digital camera. An Apple dig cam would seem like a logical addition to the digital hub.

Been there done that. (Am I showing my age? Or does no one else remember the QuickTake cameras?)

[Rocketman]

Originally posted by Macrumors
With one day left before MacWorld Expo and most significantly, the Keynote speech... it's best to review and remind our readers to have some perspective prior to the big event - especially for recent switchers.

As a rumor site, this site gathers and reports on the entire range of rumors and possibilities for the expo. As a result, the range of rumors and predictions range from the mundane to the impossible. The actual truth lies somewhere in the middle.

Expectations should rest on the realistic... with a bit of hope for the unexpected. As with all expos, there will be groups of users pleased, ambivalent, or outright angry with the outcome..

I consider this to be one of the more appropriate posts made this year. Too often expectations are well out of proportion.

Apple may indeed introduce something insanely great. If so the response will be astonishing. But if all they do is announce incremental feature upgrades and a single new product, it is all to easy to forget Apple already has a very impressive technology base. What we need is more market share, to bring the day of IBM 960 chips closer to consumers, and to add some minor features such as working rondevoux, USB2, Firewire 2, and another iApp.

Hardware? A cell phone enabled computer as well as such an interface for the entire installed base of Mac users would be nice and very easy to pull off.

A CMOS videocam with internal HD and in an iPod form factor or so.

Sometimes it is best to assume status quo and see for yourself what greatness presents itself. Apple itself was disappointed by last year according to their own financial disclosures. On that basis alone one would expect them to out-do themselves this time, eh?

Looking forward to tomorrow.

Rocketman

[adamcoop]

Just out of interest, did anybody else get up at 4.00 am to watch the keynote, only to realise they where a day ahead of themselves?

Uh, good. Me either.

[adamcoop]

Originally posted by JBracy


Been there done that. (Am I showing my age? Or does no one else remember the QuickTake cameras?)

Yeah, we had one of those at school. I think it had 320x200 or maybe even 640x480 res.

[wesmac]

Has anyone noticed the 15" display is gone from the Apple online store? The 19" display sounds more and more likely. It would be very cool if it goes for $999, with other displays dropping prices accordingly.

[MikeH]

I think you'll find the 15" display was discontinued several months ago, and was followed by mass speculation of a 19" display that has so far failed to materialise.