Wireless Internet iPods?

[mdavey]

Let's assume that this technology is feasable and ready. Is Verizon really going to provide that bandwidth for free to iPod users? I don't think so.

Just think laterally for a moment.

How does making a cell call from abroad work right now? You use a local network with a roaming agreement with your usual provider and the local network permits the call and then requests payment from your local provider for the cost of the call.

Okay, things are a little bit more complex than that with cell phones - usually the customer pays a premium for making a roaming call and there is also the aspect of line rental - but those are just specifics of the currently chosen business model.

So, how could this work? Have an ipod with a smart card chip (the chip contains your Apple ID and a unique serial number). The ipod identifies itself to the wireless network using the ids on the smart card. Some firmware on the wireless access point knows how to resolve that id to a service provider (Apple) and makes a secure connection to the service provider, passing on the ids. Apple verifies both the serial number of the access point and the ids from the iPod smart chip and permits the connection.

Each access point owner gets a revenue stream for allowing conenctions throught to Apple, with the payments depending on the number, quality and length of connections. This kind of setup will appeal to access-point providers in broadly the same way that Google AdSense appeals to website owners. Crucially, it will appeal both to the private individual who lives in a small village and to large corporations like Verizon with high-bandwith access points in popular metropolitan areas.

 

[myshoeshurt]

I'm not sure if anyone's mentioned this, but remember Apple trademarking "iPod Hi-Fi" as well?

 

[iQuit]

I can see it now, A guy listening to the radio says "I like this song, I think I'll download it straight from my iPod." Download music, even your music...no matter where you are.

 

[iQuit]

A high fidelity iPod???

I'm not sure if anyone's mentioned this, but remember Apple trademarking "iPod Hi-Fi" as well?

 

[mdavey]

A high fidelity iPod???

iWeb? Marketing departments aren't governed by the semantics and syntax of the English language. I thought everyone knew that

 

[EricNau]

I'm not sure if anyone's mentioned this, but remember Apple trademarking "iPod Hi-Fi" as well?

Ya, that's a stupid name. I hope they don't use it.

 

[strange days]

I can see it now, A guy listening to the radio says "I like this song, I think I'll download it straight from my iPod." Download music, even your music...no matter where you are.

exactly, and think about video when you're bored on a train, bus, airplane, whatever journey...

 

[mandis]

iPod this, iPod that...

Oh Common now people! It's been a week since the new Intel Macs came out and you are still talking about the iPod?

It's a damn music player for Christ's sake! All it does is play music, videos for people who don't need glasses, and gets scratched!

 

[egsaxy]

Ha! Jobs is not just Pixar's CEO. He simply OWNS Pixar. Why would he do that for? Money? Jobs, who is already filthy rich, more than time he has got to spend it? No way it is going to happen, unless there is more to this than is being told.

i'm sure this has been addressed already but, Steve Jobs is the CEO and Chairman of Pixar. http://corporate.pixar.com/management.cfm

that is all.

 

[EricNau]

i'm sure this has been addressed already but, Steve Jobs is the CEO and Chairman of Pixar. http://corporate.pixar.com/management.cfm

that is all.

Yes, he is the CEO and Chairman of Pixar, but he also owns a large portion of the company. Steve Jobs and some other employees bought Lucasfilm for $10 million in 1986, making what we now know as Pixar.

So elmimmo would be partially right, as Steve Jobs owns a large portion of Pixar, but he doesn't own all of it.

 

[richdun]

Yes, he is the CEO and Chairman of Pixar, but he also owns a large portion of the company. Steve Jobs and some other employees bought Lucasfilm for $10 million in 1986, making what we now know as Pixar.

So elmimmo would be partially right, as Steve Jobs owns a large portion of Pixar, but he doesn't own all of it.

Reports earlier in the week said he had a 51% share. The most interesting thing about that, though, is that a Disney stock-based buyout would give Jobs something like 5% of Disney (Disney's market cap is something like $60 billion, Pixar's at $7-8 billion) - making him the largest individual stockholder, and virtually assuring a position on their Board. Very interesting potential there.

And Pixar was formerly Lucasfilm's computer animation group. Lucasfilm is still firmly in the hands of George Lucas.

 

[4np]

Exactly

I think we are all missing the point here.

Wireless functions will be beneficial to the customer and to Apple as they could introduce the iTunes Music Store to the iPod so we can BUY music from our iPods

I agree that iTunes buys will be the major feature. The other functionality will be that you can stream your iPod's audio and video to your (rumored) video capable ariport express. And ofcourse you can also sync your iPod wirelessly. Also, would it be shipped with a 'mini browser' then?

The only thing Apple has to do is ship a power charger with the iPods 'cause if your wireless all the time you probably will not be able to charge it through your USB connector

 

[kadajawi]

How does making a cell call from abroad work right now? You use a local network with a roaming agreement with your usual provider and the local network permits the call and then requests payment from your local provider for the cost of the call.

Wait a second: Who's going to pay for this? Even with 110 € monthly fees you only get 1 GB of traffic, if you're using more than that you'll pay 0,80 € per MB here in Germany. A new iPod every 3 or 4 months? Paying more for each MP3 than in the iTMS just to hear it?
Even if Apple would get special contracts etc. they surely wouldn't offer bandwidth for free. And I doubt people would like to pay high monthly fees when they instead could buy a harddisk player.

 

[Peace]

Disney Buys Pixar

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/money/ma...d=242&sSheet=/money/2006/01/22/ixcitytop.html


The board of Pixar Animation Studios, the digital animations company, is set to meet tomorrow to approve the company's $7bn (£3.9bn) takeover by Disney.
The all-share deal will make Steve Jobs, the chief executive of Apple, around $3.5bn and the single largest shareholder in Disney. Jobs created Pixar in 1986 when he paid $10m for the computer animations division of Lucasfilm, owned by Stars Wars creator George Lucas.

 

[mdavey]

Wait a second: Who's going to pay for this? Even with 110 € monthly fees you only get 1 GB of traffic, if you're using more than that you'll pay 0,80 € per MB here in Germany. A new iPod every 3 or 4 months? Paying more for each MP3 than in the iTMS just to hear it?
Even if Apple would get special contracts etc. they surely wouldn't offer bandwidth for free. And I doubt people would like to pay high monthly fees when they instead could buy a harddisk player.

Not everywhere is as expensive as Germany for bandwidth. The US is fast moving towards free email and audio (VoIP, Internet radio, etc) with consumers just paying for video bandwidth.

Apple, just like any online business, wants to make sure that you can purchase their product whenever the urge takes you. There is a relentless drive to offer items for sale 24x7, in as many places as possible (wherever you are) and to give you as much content choice as possible. There is money in ensuring that you can buy content while you are on the move.

So, yes, Apple would pay the wireless access point providers a backhander for allowing the iPod consumer a connection. Sometimes the consumer will choose to buy some new content or listen to a radio station (and therefore hear advertising) rather than listen to their existing music collection. Again, look at the revenues that the 3G 'phone companies are generating by selling interactive games, news bulletins, sports highlights, weather forecasts, horoscopes and so on.

 

[decksnap]

Mobile Me sounds more to me like the idea of everyone carrying around their user on their ipod. Set it on the desk next to someone elses computer, and run the system as you would at home. No OS on the iPod. I mean we've now got music, pictures, contacts and calendars on the iPod. Why not add wireless and make a little program to manage running your whole user on any system you saddle up to?

 

[FoxyKaye]

If this did actually happen, i would be amazed.

Me too. Though it would be enough for me to start saving for the second generation of whatever this iPod would look like (since I'm not one to buy Rev. A models). That would be a grand replacement for my current iPod: video capacity, wireless internet, FM tuner headphones and a giant HDD.

Wireless functions will be beneficial to the customer and to Apple as they could introduce the iTunes Music Store to the iPod so we can BUY music from our iPods

Exactly - another way for Apple to make money from impulse purchasing.

An iPod with internet access.... wouldnt it make more sense to make a PDA that can play music?

Well, a lot of them can right now, but none of which I am aware run iTunes. Though Apple has built in some limited PDA functionlity with the newer iPods, so maybe they could push the envelope on this further. I'd personally be thrilled with this kind of device - everything but a cell phone and camera. Though this, of course, re-ignites the unified device debate...

One thing's for sure, if iPods add all these additional capacities (assuming the rumor is true), they'd better have the battery equivalent of a "Mr. Fusion" to keep them running.

 

[maya]

Or, er, splash power for that matter

The future is in bio-waste.

 

[Whistleway]

color me skeptic.
more buzzwords don't make this more useful than it already is. wireless what? ahh, wireless microwave. how cool it would be.

 

[funwithfunkis90]

O Dag!

This rumor gets me a thinkin....

So remember the apple plasma idea?

What if, down the road, maybe ten years or so. Apple introduces the ultimate home/road entertainment system called the...hmm...iHome... just kidding how about just MAC. Basically, the MAC is a big plasma screen TV with the dual dual dual 17gHZ proocessors (ok maybe not) running okapi (OS 14.3) and iLife '15. When the MAC is booted up you have a choice of TV or COMPUTER and you can choose either. When in either mode a quick tap of F8 or the menu button on the remote (I'll get back to the remote later) will switch between computer and tv with a front row-like animation. These two modes can work toegther, the TV can be recorded on the 5TB hardrive and TV shows can be archived in iTunes.

So here's the cool part that has to do with the wireless iPod. The remote is a little smaller than the iPod now and a lot thinner, like nano thin, with one big screen coverin the front. This remote would control regular TV watchin on the MAC and serve as a road entertainement system or an iPod if you will. The remote would connnect wirelessly to the MAC and all TV shows, movies, music you recorded would be available on the go. No HD just a gig of flash memor in case of wireless disconection. Apple would sell this MAC with the included remote and wireless keyboard in both black and white for 3000. And of course for the people who don't wanna drop 3000 on this nice package, the remote/ipod could be bought seperatly for 300.

To go alongside this MAC, would be the MobileMe which is a tablet computer that connects wirelessly to the MAC and doubles as a laptop. 1000 dollars, also available in white or black.

The pro line would be all in titanium (duh) and be like the cinema displays now, but with the G13 quadruple dual dual dual 400 gHZ intel processor and available in 70" and 100" sizes. (maybe thats an overkill) price: i dunno

pretty nifty right?

 

[BlueRevolution]

I don't know about it being called iHome (or even MAC), if Apple's name selection continues its slide, by the time you're talking about we'll be looking at names along the lines of iFellatio.

 

[mechcon]

about f****ng time!!!! to be able to find shared itunes wireless access points, podcasts, and above else online radio??? PURE BLISS!!!

BRING IT ON APPLE


p.s. if anyone at the ipod division reads this? add in internal recording capabilities, and i may switch to ipods, but until then? the iriver stays with me

 

[funwithfunkis90]

I don't know about it being called iHome (or even MAC), if Apple's name selection continues its slide, by the time you're talking about we'll be looking at names along the lines of iFellatio.

i got it! how about iDon'tBuyThisProduct or the iDBTP which is impossible to pronounce, thus further adding to its cutting edge appeal...

 

[batmccoy]

Wireless Only for your Home

If the iPod was wireless everywhere...all it would be is another version of Satellite radio—requiring a monthly subscription.

What I need is an iPod that connects to my Mac wirelessly—so I don't have to use a cable each time to sync. Imagine turning the iPod on in the house and a message pops up "there are new songs in your iTunes Library, would you like to transfer them now?" Or photos for that matter.

The model for the current iPod is that it stores things...it doesn't actually grab new things on it's own. It's a pod. It carries things.

Removing the wires from the desktop is more practical. Just like the mouse and keyboard.

-BM

 

[batmccoy]

Wireless @ Home

Or heck, buy a song in iTunes, and hit transfer...iTunes connects to your iPod in the other room and updates it. Maybe the iPod is in the car. Boom! Auto on...auto transfer.

Helps manage multiple iPods.

That's all we need.

BM