iPod Accessories From Apple?

[MacRumors]

Since the introduction of the iPod, add-ons for the iPod have been the realm of third party product developers only, but now Apple may be looking to broaden the scope of what it can offer. According to AppleInsider (http://www.appleinsider.com/article.php?id=659), Apple is now looking for hardware engineers to develop its own line of iPod accessories. Last month a job listing was posted for engineering WiFi & video integration (http://www.macrumors.com/pages/2004/08/20040825013920.shtml) into the iPod. It's unclear whether this is related to that position, or if it is a different position entirely, or simply just looking for an in-house liason between Apple and third party developers.

[liketom]

thought this was old news?

[whenpaulsparks]

shouldn't this be page 2?

[ojames]

shouldn't this be page 2?

Why? i saw the job posting in the appleinsider forums and it was dated e yesterday. thats considered old already? heh or maybe you are just speedy gonzalas ....areeba areeba....whatever... to the point, i'd rather apple make my iPod accessories than some of these other companies. We'd also get cooler accessories sooner! i think this is clearly an apple accessories in the wings. the posting says "The iPod and Special Projects Group (SPG) is looking for a Sr. Hardware Engineer for Accessories." to me that sounds like apple brand ipod accessories on their way faster than speedy gonzalas up there (just kiddin bro!)

[Mr_Ed]

shouldn't this be page 2?
Slow news week = everything is Page 1 :D

[t300]

Slow news week = everything is Page 1 :D

Yeah, and taken from AppleInsider.

[wPod]

they had a similar posting earlier. sounds about the same. im just hoping for that wi-fi adapter for my iPod so i can hook it to airport express! then what more computer accesory would i need? (other than a better/cooler stereo and monitor)

[bcsmith]

Why? i saw the job posting in the appleinsider forums and it was dated e yesterday. thats considered old already? heh or maybe you are just speedy gonzalas ....areeba areeba....whatever... to the point, i'd rather apple make my iPod accessories than some of these other companies. We'd also get cooler accessories sooner! i think this is clearly an apple accessories in the wings. the posting says "The iPod and Special Projects Group (SPG) is looking for a Sr. Hardware Engineer for Accessories." to me that sounds like apple brand ipod accessories on their way faster than speedy gonzalas up there (just kiddin bro!)

A story may have been posted about it yesterday, but rumors of these job postings have been around for a while. We haven't seen anything from them yet, and it is always good to stoke the fire to see what people think will come from these groups.

Personally, I'd like to see a death ray attachment for my iPod. Don't think that it will happen anytime soon, but could you imagine the army that Apple could have at its disposal if iPod became Weapons of Mass Destruction. There'd be no stopping it.

[swissmann]

I'd rather see some work done on the inside of the iPod instead of trinkets to add on. Put a built in mic, phone, PDA. I know there are mixed feelings about this and an old topic. I'm mostly just saying if you can make things internal not external and keep the size you are way better off. Who wants to carry around an iPod and a bag full of accessories. It defeats the smallness of the iPod.

[Inkmonkey]

I'd rather see some work done on the inside of the iPod instead of trinkets to add on. Put a built in mic, phone, PDA. I know there are mixed feelings about this and an old topic. I'm mostly just saying if you can make things internal not external and keep the size you are way better off. Who wants to carry around an iPod and a bag full of accessories. It defeats the smallness of the iPod.

And what you are suggesting would defeat the simplicity of the iPod.

[ojames]

And what you are suggesting would defeat the simplicity of the iPod.

What ever happened to this LCD iPod Remote (http://www.macrumors.com/pages/2003/10/20031027185550.shtml) that macrumors reported on weeback in the days? i seem to remember a report recently where Steve Jobs was quoted when he wasnt supposed to have been quoted and he hinted that apple may do a remote... i will look for it.

BRING ON THE ACCESSORIES

[macridah]

this is cool. I'm ready for some ipod accessories, apple style: easy to use, elegant, and innovative.

[Porchland]

The ear buds just don't work for me in the gym, and the sports headphones I've been using are -- GASP! -- blue.

[dongmin]

Apple job listings indicate that the ideal candidates will become contributors to a top notch team responsible "for the design, implementation, and integration of digital and analog electronics."

Appleinsider is reading A LOT into a simple job posting for engineers for the iPod division. And the last I checked, Apple already makes a bunch of accessories for the iPod: remote, dock, earbuds, case, armband, cables, etc.

Yes, a very slow rumor week. For that matter, a very slow rumor month. Maybe it's about time to start the G5 PowerBook rumors again...

[t300]

Maybe it's about time to start the G5 PowerBook rumors again...

NO...THANK...YOU...

[CholEoptera36]

Maybe it's about time to start the G5 PowerBook rumors again...

Anything but that... :p

[Mord]

this sure is goign to piss belkin and other ipod acsessory makers off.

[swissmann]

And what you are suggesting would defeat the simplicity of the iPod.

I disagree. The iPod now has a limited calendar application. I never know it is there because I use my Palm instead. It doesn't detract from the simplicity of the music part of the iPod. I think having all these extra things to plug in or having multiple devices to carry around is where the complication lies.

[CholEoptera36]

I think having all these extra things to plug in or having multiple devices to carry around is where the complication lies.

I may very well be the only person on here who agree's with you, but you're right IMO. Ear buds and base stations almost push the limit on clutter for something as small as an iPod as it is. :)

[srobert]

I'd rather see some work done on the inside of the iPod instead of trinkets to add on. Put a built in mic, phone, PDA. I know there are mixed feelings about this and an old topic. I'm mostly just saying if you can make things internal not external and keep the size you are way better off. Who wants to carry around an iPod and a bag full of accessories. It defeats the smallness of the iPod.

That's not an iPod anymore. And most users won't want to pay the extra 200$ for those features they might not need. What you're discribing is a PDA. You might want to buy that instead of an iPod. It might better suit your needs.

[må¥å]

The issue with the iPod and mini is battery power, they did an alright job with the 4G however that is not a great improvement, Come on Apple they seem to be falling back on battery power on they mp3 players, and top of that you want to add more into or attact onto the iPod and mini, lets see battery power fall back to the previous versions.


The #1 request for iPod and mini is battery, Apple is not getting they act together on this. I don't need all the fancy WiFi, ird remote, Blue Tooth, yada yada yada......If it is going to cut on battery power toss it out.


Soemthing tells me that the iPod OS along with HW management is not working to effective performance thus the battery won't even last on a single full charge for 18 hours.


Great if we need to keep teh iPod and mini plugged it makes it a portable need to be plugged into the power socket music libary player. :rolleyes: Beats the purpose.

[yoda13]

I think that more accessories for the iPod is a great thing, but they should be optional, and not built in to the iPod as some are saying. The batteries are marginal at best in terms of amount of time available between charges and most people like the simplicity of the iPods. So more accessries=good, built in additions=bad. Just my two cents.

[sinisterdesign]

maybe slightly off-topic, but since this is a pretty ho-hum topic and this does fall under the topic of accessories...

where's that AXp remote that steve knowingly smiled at the mention of?? i just moved into a loft and i'm sick of running down the stairs, going through the kitchen into the back office in order to skip a song!

[MM2270]

Uhm… has anyone noticed THIS (http://store.apple.com/1-800-MY-APPLE/WebObjects/AppleStore/) on the Apple Store? I just spotted it. Not really an accessory of course (heh) but pretty cool if you ask me.

Edit: Whoops, OK, refresh the Apple Store page if it doesn't show up right away. You'll see it.

[Macaddicttt]

I agree with most people here. Keep them as accessories. Putting more features in the iPod will drain its battery and might cause other problems. One of the reasons iPods are so good is their rock-solid firmware/software. Once you start screwing with that, adding a whole bunch of stuff on to it, it gets cluttered and unstable. (See OS 9.) But if Apple starts making accessories, great. They might be more expensive than those from Belkin, etc., but they'll most likely be of a much higher quality. Personally, I think a remote from Apple would be cool (although wouldn't that require some tinkering that I just said was no good above?).

[swissmann]

That's not an iPod anymore. And most users won't want to pay the extra 200$ for those features they might not need. What you're discribing is a PDA. You might want to buy that instead of an iPod. It might better suit your needs.

Can you tell me about a PDA that has a 20 GB hard drive and runs an Apple OS? If you can I will go buy it and stop hoping that the iPod turns into something more like a PDA.

[Wash!!]

Can you tell me about a PDA that has a 20 GB hard drive and runs an Apple OS? If you can I will go buy it and stop hoping that the iPod turns into something more like a PDA.

Minus the 20 GB drive.... :D

[kirk26]

The iPod does what is should and only should do. Play music. Get a PDA if you want the rest.

[x86isslow]

to make an apple PDA:
1 12" apple laptop
1 wacom tablet
OSX.

[QFace]

they had a similar posting earlier. sounds about the same. im just hoping for that wi-fi adapter for my iPod so i can hook it to airport express! then what more computer accesory would i need? (other than a better/cooler stereo and monitor)

amen to this, though I agree that the only thing the iPod is trully missing to make it a perfect product is ridiciously long batter life.

[WM.]

The issue with the iPod and mini is battery power, they did an alright job with the 4G however that is not a great improvement, Come on Apple they seem to be falling back on battery power on they mp3 players, and top of that you want to add more into or attact onto the iPod and mini, lets see battery power fall back to the previous versions.

The #1 request for iPod and mini is battery, Apple is not getting they act together on this. I don't need all the fancy WiFi, ird remote, Blue Tooth, yada yada yada......If it is going to cut on battery power toss it out.

Soemthing tells me that the iPod OS along with HW management is not working to effective performance thus the battery won't even last on a single full charge for 18 hours.

Great if we need to keep teh iPod and mini plugged it makes it a portable need to be plugged into the power socket music libary player. :rolleyes: Beats the purpose.
The problem isn't the hardware or software, or laziness on Apple's part. The problem is that the current iPod uses a physically smaller battery than its competitors and predecessors do. Less size = less capacity.

The smaller battery was the change between the 1G/2G and 3G iPods that allowed them to become thinner: the 1G/2G's were basically a sandwich of (in no particular order) the battery, hard drive, PCB, and scroll wheel/screen. All four layers were pretty close to the same size. With the 3G's, they went to a much smaller battery and fit it into a section cut out of the PCB--so there were only three layers: hard drive, battery/PCB, and scroll wheel/buttons/screen.

I'm sure Apple could go back to the 1G/2G-sized batteries if they thought their customers would be willing to trade several millimeters of thickness and a couple (?) ounces for a significant increase in battery life. Personally, I don't have an iPod, but it's hard for me to imagine having any problems with a 12-hour battery life, and AFAIC thinner (and lighter) is better.

FWIW
WM

[iMeowbot]

Uhm… has anyone noticed THIS (http://store.apple.com/1-800-MY-APPLE/WebObjects/AppleStore/) on the Apple Store? I just spotted it. Not really an accessory of course (heh) but pretty cool if you ask me.
Okay, I give up. I'm seeing AirPort Express, Cram and Jam, yet another cheesy speaker dock and the iMac G5. Was there something else up?

I don't know, maybe the iMac is supposed to be the elusive AirTunes companion, given the way they're pushing wireless options and all. But I think they (or a third party) could do better.

[narco]

Apple really doesn't like the 3rd party developers, hu?

They should rename WWDC to We Will Demolish Corporations.

.narco

[iMeowbot]

Appleinsider is reading A LOT into a simple job posting for engineers for the iPod division. And the last I checked, Apple already makes a bunch of accessories for the iPod: remote, dock, earbuds, case, armband, cables, etc.
Yep, and Apple do have a need to work up reference designs to support a third party accessory market. The slide mentioned on this thread depicting a fictional LCD remote was a part of such efforts; while you won't find protocols and interfaces published on Apple's public Web site, they do provide those details to licensed vendors.

[bcsmith]

Apple really doesn't like the 3rd party developers, hu?

They should rename WWDC to We Will Demolish Corporations.

.narco

Why shouldn't Apple be allowed to make peripherals for its products? I understand that 3rd party developers make great add-ons for Apple products, be it software or hardware. These products may even work an ivory soap-esque 99.44% of the time, but Apple's will work 100% of the time - and they are usually just a touch more elegent.

Apple doesn't want to crush (or demolish) its third party developers, but why shouldn't Apple be allowed to get in on the fun?

[g4cubed]

I'd rather see some work done on the inside of the iPod instead of trinkets to add on. Put a built in mic, phone, PDA. I know there are mixed feelings about this and an old topic. I'm mostly just saying if you can make things internal not external and keep the size you are way better off. Who wants to carry around an iPod and a bag full of accessories. It defeats the smallness of the iPod.

And these features you're talking about won't change the size? :eek:

[Sol]

By now Apple should have added a digital output to the iPod docks. Airport Express has it so why not the dock? Hi Fi enthusiasts would greatly appreciate this simple feature.

Connecting to a car stereo is still a major pain. This may have more to do with all the proprietery plugs that exists for different brands of car stereo components. Ideally the iPod should slide into a car dock and provide a line signal to the CD player. Alpine have such a solution but you must buy an Alpine CD player and an iPod interface. BMW's solution requires a new BMW car (yeah, right after I buy a dual 2.5 GHz PowerMac and two 30 " Apple displays). The Neo iOn is limited to American car stereos (I wish I knew that before I ordered mine).

It would also be great to have a CD-quality microphone attachment. The current solutons compromise sound quality and that is simply not good enough since SONY have featured optical inputs in their MiniDiscs for years.

As for the iPod itself, I would love to see an option in the interface to select what kind of signal the port at the top outputs. The choices should be the standard headphone signal, line out and digital. Such a feature would simplify the process of connecting to a car stereo (some have line-in at the front) or a hi fi system. It is not like people take their docks with them when they go to friends' houses.

[SeanMcg]

I'm assuming that you are referring to the new Bose speaker dock. Contrary to a previous post, I don't consider it cheesy and Bose puts out some nice stuff. I'd like to hear it before making any comments. I'm surprised it took them this long to get on board with the iPod.

[Inkmonkey]

Why shouldn't Apple be allowed to make peripherals for its products? I understand that 3rd party developers make great add-ons for Apple products, be it software or hardware. These products may even work an ivory soap-esque 99.44% of the time, but Apple's will work 100% of the time - and they are usually just a touch more elegent.

Apple doesn't want to crush (or demolish) its third party developers, but why shouldn't Apple be allowed to get in on the fun?

I think everyone is assuming that they are going to make similar (but better) items to those of the 3rd party developers. I somehow doubt that we'll be seeing an Apple FM transmitter or mic.
I think if they build anything it will be unique and integrated perfectly into the iLife and digital hub strategies.

[gunthian]

The only thing I'd really like to see is a built-in AM/FM tuner to listen to the radio on the iPod. Am I the only one who wants this?

[CholEoptera36]

These products may even work an ivory soap-esque 99.44% of the time, but Apple's will work 100% of the time - and they are usually just a touch more elegent.

Apple's products don't work 100% of the time. I agree more elegant though... I'd probly add the word innovative too. But no consumor product is even realisticly near 100% fault proof. We live in a dissposable world.

[Inkmonkey]

The only thing I'd really like to see is a built-in AM/FM tuner to listen to the radio on the iPod. Am I the only one who wants this?
You just might be. ;)
Actually I'm sure there are lots of people who want this. I'm not one of them and will never understand why someone would buy a 20-40 GB "MP3 player" and listen to the radio on it. Just put the iPod on shuffle. It'll be all of your songs (so I assume they are all ones that you like) and no commercials.

[mobility3]

AUDIO INPUTS PLEASE!!

Either a line-in and/or a microphone preamp would be greatly appreciated. The industry ban on these features needs to be lifted once and for all. APPLE can pave the way.

[myapplseedshurt]

You just might be. ;)
Actually I'm sure there are lots of people who want this. I'm not one of them and will never understand why someone would buy a 20-40 GB "MP3 player" and listen to the radio on it. Just put the iPod on shuffle. It'll be all of your songs (so I assume they are all ones that you like) and no commercials.

Helloooooo...... NPR !?!?!? are you forgetting This American Life???? Wait-Wait Dont Tell Me??? Car Talk????

man, you need to get a life :D :p

[markayak]

Steve said no one wants to watch video on an iPod... but if it could have a virtual 30" display...

http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/040915/155164_1.html

m&

[Inkmonkey]

Helloooooo...... NPR !?!?!? are you forgetting This American Life???? Wait-Wait Dont Tell Me??? Car Talk????

man, you need to get a life :D :p

You're talking geek gibberish and I'm the one who needs to get a life?

[Surreal]

Since we are all saying what we want in an ipod...

i want line in recording

and get this...i don't care about battery life when RECORDING... (i mean i am going to plug it in most of the time :-))

and i could deal with a centimeter more ipod. LoL exagguration, but i assume you get my point.

while i actually don't have any true complaints about the ipod...i want line in recording with a passion.

built in mic is a bad idea...the cost of the mic would have to be considered...and then ..what quality would be given? with a line in, if you didnt need a mic, you didnt get one...and if you wanted one, you could get a GOOD one.

given line in isnt GREAT...but that was the only thing minidisc had for it...and look how far it carried THAT media...i mean
, no one really LIKED minidiscs...but musicians used them and appreciated the line in more than anything.

[MM2270]

Personally, I'd like to see a death ray attachment for my iPod. Don't think that it will happen anytime soon, but could you imagine the army that Apple could have at its disposal if iPod became Weapons of Mass Destruction. There'd be no stopping it.

Heh, it's actually CLOSER than you think.:

http://griffintechnology.com/products/ibeam/ :p

[C-Mezak]

Helloooooo...... NPR !?!?!? are you forgetting This American Life???? Wait-Wait Dont Tell Me??? Car Talk????

man, you need to get a life :D :p

If you can afford it you can get all of those shows in ipod-friendly format from audible.com. I can't! : (

I dont keep up with this stuff, but arent there faily miniaturized fm radios out there? Small enough that it wouldnt be an inconvenience to have it with you as well as your ipod. Of course small things tend to get lost . . .

[gunthian]

You just might be. ;)
Actually I'm sure there are lots of people who want this. I'm not one of them and will never understand why someone would buy a 20-40 GB "MP3 player" and listen to the radio on it. Just put the iPod on shuffle. It'll be all of your songs (so I assume they are all ones that you like) and no commercials.

Well, there are several radio programs that I like to listen to, none of which are available off-air, while I'm at home. But I'm also a frequent traveller; and while the iPod already works great for storing/listening to all the music I own, and doubles as a portable hard drive for storing digital photos and random other documents, there are some things that you need a radio for, such as listening to news reports, talk shows, weather reports, local programming (which is often not in English and otherwise inaccessible), and so on. Besides, listening to the radio for a bit, especially in other countries, can add some randomness and variety to the music you're listening to, rather than listening to the same music you own over and over again (especially good if you don't buy massive amounts of music and don't own thousands of songs).

Individual radios are cheap and can be small, true. But it would be much more convenient if I didn't have to carry around an extra device just for the radio. Especially since it would be a very small and uncostly addition for Apple to throw in. (doesn't the iRiver or whatever it's called already have a built-in tuner? I don't want to buy that, though, because I need the portable hard drive functionality, too). Additionally, having the tuner built-in would let you be able to record radio shows or music off of a station into mp3 right on your iPod (assuming they let you do that in the software, which they should).

An added bonus of the built-in tuner would be that, together with one of the transmitters, you could share music wirelessly on-the-fly with other iPods. Like that jack-sharing fad, only wireless. Depends on how powerful those transmitters are, I guess.

I also agree with the line-in request for recording purposes. If you're travelling, and don't have a computer, the line-in would let you be able to encode music from new CD's you buy, or even cassettes, direct from any player with an appropriate line-out cable.

[swissmann]

And these features you're talking about won't change the size? :eek:

Yes, they probably would make it bigger, but I have hopes that like the G5 fit in this huge PowerMac enclosure and then found itself behind a monitor in less than 2 inches of space the iPod will find itself in the same space with a lot of other things in it. I don't think it is impossible.

[whooleytoo]

I haven't seen if this has already been posted in this thread but The Scotsman (http://business.scotsman.com/technology.cfm?id=1135582004) has it that Infinite Data Storage are working with someone to build a direct iPod to digital camera solution - Apple obviously being the most likley culprit.

[Rower_CPU]

I haven't seen if this has already been posted in this thread but The Scotsman (http://business.scotsman.com/technology.cfm?id=1135582004) has it that Infinite Data Storage are working with someone to build a direct iPod to digital camera solution - Apple obviously being the most likley culprit.

Something like the Belkin Digital Camera Link (http://catalog.belkin.com/IWCatProductPage.process?Merchant_Id=&Section_Id=2062&pcount=&Product_Id=173207)?

[whooleytoo]

Something like the Belkin Digital Camera Link (http://catalog.belkin.com/IWCatProductPage.process?Merchant_Id=&Section_Id=2062&pcount=&Product_Id=173207)?

Quite possibly, though I'd be hoping an Apple solution (should one exist) would be a lot less bulky. The Belkin solution requires you to lug about the large adaptor and a separate USB cable along with the camera and iPod, I'm hoping for a solution which is just one cable, from iPod to camera, perhaps with a bulky connector at one end.