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Apple Music Event Sept. 7

I posted all my speculation on AppleInsider earlier.

Basically, I'm in the vPod camp. Now that I've seen the article on ThinkSecret it has cemented my belief even further.

The invite shows a watch pocket prominently. Whilst a 2GB AAC+ bluetooth wristwatch/pocketwatch would be cool coupled with bluetooth headphones (also these would remove the distinctive mugger-attractive white cords), I think it means 1000 music videos in your pocket. I did the math on AppleInsider, so read the thread there to get it, but basically I worked out with H.264 (MPEG4) you can get broadcast quality video (720x480 DVD resolution) in 1Mbit/s. 240Mbits per song for video, which is 30MB. 1000 music videos on the new 40GB vPod, with enough space for 2000 standard songs as well. 2000 music videos on the new 80GB vPod, with space for 4000 standard songs, or 1000 music videos and space for 10000 songs and 10000 photos.

Oh, the PP5022 supports MPEG4 decoding: http://www.portalplayer.com/products/documents/5022_Brief_Mar05.pdf

However maybe there will be two launches. The 1000 video vPod, and the 1000 song Shuffle/Flash Mini. The iPhone might get a mention as well, but this phone is more for Motorola to hype in their press conference in New York on the same day.

There'll be a new dock connector of course, so that vPod enabled cars can stream video from the iPod to the headrest mounted displays to sedate the kids in the back. All 682 minutes of LOTR:EE will squeeze down to under 6GB of storage using H.264 for example.
 
Hattig said:
I think it means 1000 music videos in your pocket.
Click to expand...

Not a dig at you, Hattig, but am I the only person who really can't see the point of being able to download music videos or watch them multiple times. On the UK iTMS the new sniffies album was £7.99 normally or you could pay £9.99 to get a video of the current single and a digital booklet. I really just don't see the appeal given there are sites online where you can watch the videos streaming.

Movies and TV shows, slightly more although again, it would be more for those on long plane/backseat trips - commuters likely wouldn't use them much for more fear of mugging! Music videos just don't seem to have the massmarket appeal that would be required to make this thing take off particularly with Sony pushing the movie aspect of the PSP.
 
music_event.jpg
 
I have serious issue with mobile phones, half of them the reception is rubbish, most of them the battery life is rubbish and what remains are guaranteed to be superceeded within a matter of months.

Would I get an apple/moto phone? If it was free on contract yes..... if not, there isnt a prayer.

I cant speculate as to what will actually come out but im amused at how everyone is trying to read something into the words of the announcement!

Adam
 
Applespider said:
Not a dig at you, Hattig, but am I the only person who really can't see the point of being able to download music videos or watch them multiple times. On the UK iTMS the new sniffies album was £7.99 normally or you could pay £9.99 to get a video of the current single and a digital booklet. I really just don't see the appeal given there are sites online where you can watch the videos streaming.

Movies and TV shows, slightly more although again, it would be more for those on long plane/backseat trips - commuters likely wouldn't use them much for more fear of mugging! Music videos just don't seem to have the massmarket appeal that would be required to make this thing take off particularly with Sony pushing the movie aspect of the PSP.
Click to expand...

Good point. However, there really isn't that much else in terms of content available right now, is there? I think what it boils down to is the ongoing idea that (most) people wouldn't want to watch a full-length movie on a two-inch screen. How many times have we seen that comment posted in reference to a video iPod? News clips, last night's sports highlights, 30-minute Disney animated pieces, and music videos would be bearable.

Finally, months ago (can't remember where) I read that while the record companies detest the current pricing, they'd absolutely love to recoup some of their investment in music videos which, for the most part, don't make money. Here's where a subscription service might actually make sense (the article went on). While the majority of people want to own, not rent, their music, many people might be more open to the idea of a subscription-based music video service.

(And if you were keen on ripping your DVD collection onto your iPod, all the power to you. You can do that, too.)

Squire
 
Well, I'm at work so I didn't have time to read ALL of this thread (made it through the first 4 pages and the last page)...

I'm going to get on the iPod Video bandwagon. It's the natural extension of the iPod photo line, and the lack of video playback, no matter how rudimentary, in the iPod photo was conspicuous, imo.

I'm hoping, however, that they don't screw this up and limit it to playback on the iPod screen of short videos. This NEEDS to be able to connect to a TV and playback full length features. If they bundle it with a cable that connects to the dock and outputs to a SVideo and stereo RCA style audio jacks, and sell HD and digital audio connection kits it may work.

Well, will work if they launch iTunes 5 with it. If you can buy/rent a movie for download onto the iPod and playback anywhere you plug it in it'll be big. Especially if they get a deal to distribute TV shows in a per episode commercial free basis. Unfortunately, we'd have heard rumblings about contracts to distributed digital media, be it movies or TV, before now I would think.

This leads me to believe that the vPod is going suck, at first at least. So that leads me to the big questions... how much would you pay for a downloaded movie rental? Downloaded purchase? What sort of DRM terms would you accept? How much would you pay to rent/buy an episode of a TV show? Would you pay for a whole season up front?
 
1000 songs in your pocket changed everything. Here we go again.

That's we as in Apple. This is a Motorola product. I'm sure they'll mention the phone as a side dish but as it's not their own I doubt it will be the main course.
 
mrgreen4242 said:
Especially if they get a deal to distribute TV shows in a per episode commercial free basis.
Click to expand...

This is exactly what I was thinking, like 'vPod-Casting' or something, sounds like a good business move to me...
 
hmmm.

I don't know about the rest of you, but I think the speculation about 1000 music video is hogwash.

Who the heck wants to watch music videos over and over?

Maybe it this were 1983 or something, it would be cool. But, I really doubt Apple is building something expressly for music videos today.
 
ijimk said:
i hope this is the phone, I have been waiting for this ever since i heard of it... :p
Click to expand...


im not really into the phone. I already have the treo 650 and that will play music, videos, make phone call, and just about anything else.
Id rather have the vPod.
 
Applespider said:
Not a dig at you, Hattig, but am I the only person who really can't see the point of being able to download music videos or watch them multiple times. On the UK iTMS the new sniffies album was £7.99 normally or you could pay £9.99 to get a video of the current single and a digital booklet. I really just don't see the appeal given there are sites online where you can watch the videos streaming.
Click to expand...

I was thinking more along the lines that I certainly would pay to own unadulterated decent quality music videos, but just buying compressed music on its own hasn't attracted me so far. I certainly can't be bothered to (1) find the sites with streaming music videos (2) remember them and (3) try and connect to them when I want to show someone a music video when I'm out and about.

A 128kbps AAC song (4MB) costs 79p. If the video for the song (30MB) was around £1.49 to £1.99 I'd certainly be up for buying it.
 
the ongoing idea that (most) people wouldn't want to watch a full-length movie on a two-inch screen.
Click to expand...

What if it isn't a 2" screen? What if the vPod is a completely different form factor from the iPod? What if it's the tablet we've heard various rumblings about? That might be large enough to watch full-length movies on. Bigger than the PSP, but still portable.

Still, I agree that we'd probably have heard something about the movie licensing by now. Although, Apple has been pretty air-tight on the rumor front recently.
 
Shattering Fast said:
This is exactly what I was thinking, like 'vPod-Casting' or something, sounds like a good business move to me...
Click to expand...
I'm going to kick the BBC until they make a morning edition news broadcast vpodcast that will be on my vPod when I pick it up in the morning, and hence can watch it on my way to work.
 
A look at very rumor...

OK. Here's every rumor and why it will/will not happen.

iPod shuffle - All that can happen here is that the 512 MB and 1 GB modles merge into 1 GB for $99. From here I see price reductions and possibly a 2GB model later on (MWSF?).

iPod mini - It's too expensive to boost the capacity AND add a color screen. We'll see the same capcity but color added sometime in the future... I don't know when, though.

iPod 5G - Is this the mysterious video iPod? It could very well be. I don't want it too be, though. Until this event was announced, I was pretty sure this would make its debut at Macworld. But it could be true.

Seperate Video iPod - Please be true! I JUST got a 4G color 2 months ago thinking the next big updated was at MWSF! This actually makes more sense to me as well from a video-watching perspective. Different, video-oriented controls and a bigger screen make sense for a video iPod, but I wouldn't mess with the original iPod formula.

ThinkSecret noted earlier on that the 5G iPods may be silver instead of white. This seems strange for Apple to throw its image down the drain and start fresh. Maybe the ThinkSecret 5G iPod = Seperate Video iPod? Just a thought.

iPhone - It could very well happen at the event, but it won't be the main announcement.

iFlicks - If a video iPod comes out, and it does have a big-screen form factor, it only makes sense to launch iFlicks, or a movie download store. Make it renting only, though. $3.99 to rent a movie for a week. Self-destructs. H.264 format optimized for video iPod (possibly with SD and HD options, BitTorrent support for fast downloads). Free download for Mac + PC. Works with your iTunes account.

AirPort 3 - The perfect companion to iFlicks, the Airport line should be upped to 802.11n and he Airport Express should get AirFlicks for streaming video to a TV in H.264. I have no reason to say it will happen, but if Apple seriosuly gets into video, then this makes sense.
 
Sox said:
What if it isn't a 2" screen? What if the vPod is a completely different form factor from the iPod? What if it's the tablet we've heard various rumblings about? That might be large enough to watch full-length movies on. Bigger than the PSP, but still portable.
Click to expand...

I'm one of those people who likes speculating based on the actual message in the invite. That said, whatever is introduced is likely to be able to fit in your pocket. Can a PSP comfortably fit in your pocket? (That's not sarcasm. I really don't know.) As much as I'd love a tablet-like device, I don't want to get my hopes up. Also, we should keep in mind that it is a music event.

<edit> As 922 pointed out below, it is not necessarily a music event. I apologize for jumping to conclusions.

[thinking out loud]Evolution of the iPod. B/W screen=>color=> video? Incrementally increasing storage capacities. More functions. Style. Perhaps a bone thrown in for the Mac users that might entice potential switchers. Better iTunes. Perhaps more AirPort Express features. AE remote? Ability to input a la PDA? Should I stop procrastinating and finish this essay?[/thinking out loud]


Squire
 
Sox said:
What if it isn't a 2" screen? What if the vPod is a completely different form factor from the iPod? What if it's the tablet we've heard various rumblings about? That might be large enough to watch full-length movies on. Bigger than the PSP, but still portable.

Still, I agree that we'd probably have heard something about the movie licensing by now. Although, Apple has been pretty air-tight on the rumor front recently.
Click to expand...

You watch video differently to selecting music.

Take your iPod, rotate it 90 degrees (if you are right-handed, the screen should be on the left, and your thumb should be over the bottom of the scrollwheel.

Now get a permanent marker, and draw a widescreen format box that is as high as the current iPod's screen is wide, and 1.6x wider than that height. It should cover the existing screen, and extend right over the top of the scrollwheel.

Now shrink the scrollwheel and move it right (but still centred, so left handed users don't have to do strange contortions). Imagine your thumb doing circular motions on it to get an idea of a decent size.

The vPod will have a tilt sensor to detect if it is being held left or right handed, and react to the tilt wheel accordingly (switch backwards and forwards), and rotate the display by 180 degrees. If being held upright it will have the standard iPod interface but much taller, with upcoming songs being listed underneath. If playing video in this aspect, the video will be shrunk to the width of the screen, and pertinant information will be displayed around it.

There, you have the vPod form factor. I'm sure someone here will make a mockup.
 
Not a music event

Nobody said this was a music event. The invite says:

"1000 songs in your pocket chnaged everything. Here we go again."

That's "We're introducing something new thats just as big as the iPod was"
Not "We're introducing a new music-related product."

Of course, it could be music-related.
 
922 said:
Nobody said this was a music event. The invite says:

"1000 songs in your pocket chnaged everything. Here we go again."

That's "We're introducing something new thats just as big as the iPod was"
Not "We're introducing a new music-related product."

Of course, it could be music-related.
Click to expand...

Excellent point. My bad.

Squire
 
Why bother?

Hattig said:
Take your iPod, rotate it 90 degrees (if you are right-handed, the screen should be on the left, and your thumb should be over the bottom of the scrollwheel.

Now get a permanent marker, and draw a widescreen format box that is as high as the current iPod's screen is wide, and 1.6x wider than that height. It should go over the top of the scrollwheel.

Now shrink the scrollwheel and move it right (but still centred, so left handed users don't have to do strange contortions). Imagine your thumb doing circular motions on it to get an idea of a decent size.

The vPod will have a tilt sensor to detect if it is being held left or right handed, and react to the tilt wheel accordingly (switch backwards and forwards), and rotate the display by 180 degrees. If being held upright it will have the standard iPod interface but much taller, with upcoming songs being listed underneath. If playing video in this aspect, the video will be shrunk to the width of the screen, and pertinant information will be displayed around it.

There, you have the vPod form factor. I'm sure someone here will make a mockup.
Click to expand...

Umm... why? Why not make a new device just for video? A widescreen device that's just small enough to fit in your pocket. With new, innovative controls. iTunes goes to iFlicks, gets your H.264 movies, and shrinks them down to video iPod size. 1000 movies in your pocket! THen plug into a TV and play them on a big screen if you want.
 
Answering myself...

I thought I might answer some of my own questions... How much would I pay to...

Rent a downloaded movie? $1.99-4.99 depending on quality and 'newness'. Specifically:
  • New Release in HD (720p or up) ... $4.99
  • New Release in DVD quality (480p) ... $2.99-$3.49
  • 'Older' HD movie ... $2.99-3.49
  • 'Older' DVD quality ... $1.99-2.99

Buy a movie? $5.99 for older, DVD quality w/ no special features, $9.99 for newer DVD, no features, $12.99-14.99 for HD, up to $19.99 for HD special editions (features: alt endings, deleted scenes, commentary, making of's). What would be a 'neat' feature/idea would be to sell the basic movie for X (based on quality and newness) and then charge $0.50 to $1 for various special feature add-ons...

Rent a TV show? $.99-$1.99 depending on length and how good the show is.
Own an episode? $1.99-$2.99, again depending on length and how good it is. That would put the price equal to most DVD box sets (about 22 episodes a season, so $44-66 per season) If the show was broadcast in HD, I'd expect the d/l to be HD as well. I would honestly consider downloading shows that had commericals in them if they were fast-forwardable, but the price would have to be kept down. $.99 max.

I would pay for whole seasons up front, if there was a discount or weekly special feature download that was exclusive to season subscribers (for example, deleted scenes from the episode, interviews with cast/crew, gag real, etc.) Say 5-8 minutes worth for a 30-min show, and 7-12 min for an hour show to pad it out to an actual 30/60 minutes when you subtract commercials.

I would also think that iTunes/iFlicks gift cards would go through the roof. Getting someone an album worths of music downloads is a good present but there's only so much music most people want, so if you are looking for a slightly more expensive gift ($15 is good for a "name draw" type present, but not much for a loved one or close friend) getting them a season pass to a TV show they like, or 12 movie rentals would be a really nice gift I think.
 
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