AppleInsider says iPod Boombox

[Philsy]

If Apple does something like this, it would be nice to think it will do a better job than the likes of Bose and come up with a product that actually sounds half decent.

They could start by taking a look at this:

http://www.arcam.co.uk/microsite/p4.html

 

[GregA]

I can believe it. I've expected Apple to produce more non-iPod consumer electronics before now.

I have no opinion on the boombox thing, though, without knowing what it is. Anything I've thought of has already been done--not that Apple couldn't do it well too.

Well we have seen a set of speakers with the iPod nestled inbetween. What other boombox-related developments are there?

Apple could easily make a set of speakers with the AirTunes/Airport-Express nestled inbetween. Add the ability to change the playlist, skip a song, etc. That would be a nice device for the bedroom.
(edit: ahh, okay I see Roku has done this, and I know eyeHome can stream music... so nothing new here!)
Would integrating a dock for the iPod - so the boom-box can choose to run from the Mac, or from the iPod - be novel? If it allows the iPod to sync wirelessly?

Still, if apple is putting much effort into something like this, I hope it's aimed more at the generic communication technologies between wireless components... and that this box is just a simple resultant technology.

 

[petej]

I just hope that if the boombox concept is real that they put a useful size screen on the front of it between the speakers. The screen could then be used for running iTunes, visualisations - cool for a boombox, and for playing videos. This would make it different from past boombox incarnations. I just hope that they can keep the cost under control. Wireless connectivity would be a bonus.

 

[Bern]

Right now my credit card is breaking out in a cold sweat

 

[aswitcher]

AppleInsider says that Apple is gearing up to launch a "HomePod" sort of device. Read about it here:

http://www.appleinsider.com/article.php?id=1412

.

This makes a lot of sense given their buisness model is about selling ipods, so selling accessories rolls off that nicely.

Theory (building on what others have already said here)

If they bought out an "ipod" with speakers and an audio out, basically like the Logitech MM50 but with a HDD built in + build in an Airport Express. Make the HDD 100 gig or 120 or even a real hdd with 250 gig. Certainly an s-video out and maybe an s-video (HMDI anyone) in to record programs.

Basically it would function like an iPod for all DRM issues. It would have a much larger battery life for good portability. It would also be used without speakers to stream music via other airport expresses or physically link to a sterio / tv to act as a multimedia server.

And hey, they could even put a bigger screen on it to support video. 5" perhaps.

 

[JoeG4]

Another Apple product everyone goes goo goo over I could care less about.

I want more very Apple computers. Powerful machines that are unlike anything out before, unique in style (to where "design oriented" PC companies rip it off like wild monkies), Apple-refined, Apple-priced (I don't care for cheap Macs and I'm not convinced that switching 1 chip on the board is magically going to turn them into Dells with apple logos on them), etc etc..

I want a machine that truly tempts me to replace my QuickSilver! Muwahhaha.

In all reality, an entirely Apple machine (Big blue Apple board that doesn't fit in anything else), with dual dualcore opterons and tons of cache would be my droolworhty box right about now! Yes, tons of cache. Not bloated benchmarks on some stupid 3d shootemup test I couldn't give 2 farts about.

And I don't get the point of bolting DVR features into a Mac that would never in a million years be brute enough to handle encoding and decoding simultaneously (that "tivo killer" you guys were drooling about).. It wouldn't be anything like a Mac Mini, it'd be the size of an 80's VCR pretty quick! --- Especially if it used Intel processors (vs MIPS processors).

Yeah, think about it -- encoding (recording) a set (yes two) 1920x1080 streams while decoding (watching) a third one. Shoot, a dual PowerMac gets it in the balls decoding ONE of these (I think the topend ones do it with no lag but that's it).. and I know, you guys are completely filled with RDF believing a laptop chip is going to be like a gazillion times faster than 4 2.5ghz PPC cores, but let's look at reality for a minute here.

If Steve-o releases a dual tuner single output DVR-capable Mac between the size of a Mac Mini and a G4 Cube (more towards the Mac Mini's size) that has all the ding dongs and speed that YOU ding dongs think it will have, still be in the price range of a Mac Mini, I'll eat my hat and tape it and whatever else (or just eat my words and apologize for being so mean). LOL.

And that's a Mac Zealot speaking

Now, as for Apple peripherals. .... I wouldn't be surprised, and Apple's made some great speakers for their size before (that you could attribute to Apple's part, anyway).. I'd be thrilled to see something with Klipsch goodness, scared at the price of anything Bose based, and well, it's more likely we'll see more Harman Kardon goodness.

Yep, good ole' HK/JBL, Apple's been good friends with them for years now!

We'll just have to see, maybe we'll still see them video-enabled Airport Expresses with FrontRow interface (that I'd love to see).

 

[steebu]

anyone remember the wireless ipod patent?

its gonna be an awesome wireless airtunes speaker set. an airtunes+ipod dock does most of the work and sends the music to 2 or more wireless receiver+speakers.

no video streaming yet people.

 

[dernhelm]

I just hope that if the boombox concept is real that they put a useful size screen on the front of it between the speakers. The screen could then be used for running iTunes, visualisations - cool for a boombox, and for playing videos. This would make it different from past boombox incarnations. I just hope that they can keep the cost under control. Wireless connectivity would be a bonus.

Wow, you actually almost made this sound interesting!

 

[hyperpasta]

It's not the alternate theory. It is in fact the rumor. Read the article. It says "one source called the gadget an oversized iPod with boombox-type speakers".

The scope seems very clear to me. Whether it downloads the music via USB, FireWire, Ethernet, or WiFi, is unclear.

Sorry if it was unclear. By taps into I meant that it used wireless and didn't have any storage on it.

 

[gnasher729]

Yeah, think about it -- encoding (recording) a set (yes two) 1920x1080 streams while decoding (watching) a third one.

Nobody in their right mind would _encode_ anything above standard terrestrial TV resolution. Everything else comes into your TV in a highly compressed form. All you do for recording is to grab the compressed signal, as it comes in. Any 1920x1080 stream will originate from H.264 and will be transmitted to some decoder in that form. There is no need to compress anything, it is already compressed. Just grab it and save it to disk.

 

[-hh]

It's not the alternate theory. It is in fact the rumor. Read the article. It says "one source called the gadget an oversized iPod with boombox-type speakers".

An "oversized iPod" could be one way to describe a mini.

This all could be little more than a mini with a set of speakers bolted on, and probably with an integrated iPod dock built in.

Run it on OS X with a different startup screen and an iPod-like Application that runs upon boot-up, and the average consumer will never know.

The scope seems very clear to me. Whether it downloads the music via USB, FireWire, Ethernet, or WiFi, is unclear.

Probably WiFi (811.2g) and Satellite Radio...with room for growth for TiVO.


-hh

 

[Proud Liberal]

Man, is there anything that hasn't been rumored for this upcoming expo? I'm just waiting for some powermac rumors and I think we'll have run the gambit.

yeah, there is something that hasn't been rumored for this event, a few things actually - things that are important to me at least

• 80GB/100GB iPods - it's not like the drives don't exist...
• gapless playback

Just my 2 cents for the day...

 

[lifeboy001]

With the right partner making speaker, it's possible. It's not like Bose is known for making good speakers, particularly its SoundDock (which is just okay considering it's small).

This is a pretty bold statement...While Bose is very pricey, it is pretty high end for the consumer level. Listen to a pair of 901s or Acoustimass modules instead of a pathetic sound dock. Its quite hard to find a better set of speakers at a reasonable price, and I would perfer Bose for my office over anything else available. I did take an acoustics lab with Professor Bose himself though, so I might be biased...Anyway, I doubt Apple would choose to work with Bose on price issues alone, and Bose can continue to make docks for the iPod provided they don't use the iPod name.

 

[Philsy]

This is a pretty bold statement...While Bose is very pricey, it is pretty high end for the consumer level. Listen to a pair of 901s or Acoustimass modules instead of a pathetic sound dock. Its quite hard to find a better set of speakers at a reasonable price, and I would perfer Bose for my office over anything else available. I did take an acoustics lab with Professor Bose himself though, so I might be biased...Anyway, I doubt Apple would choose to work with Bose on price issues alone, and Bose can continue to make docks for the iPod provided they don't use the iPod name.

Bose stuff is hardly hifi sound quality - it's OK for in the kitchen, say. Apple should be aiming higher.

 

[mklos]

Damn! I was hoping for a MacWorld WITHOUT the friggin' iPod being involved. It would be nice. Kinda bring back the old days when Apple focused its efforts on COMPUTERS!!!! You know those wonderful things that look good and have the best OS in the world? The things that most of Apple's revenues come from? Anyone remember those things?

 

[Loge]

• 80GB/100GB iPods - it's not like the drives don't exist...
• gapless playback

Toshiba have an 80 GB 1.8 inch drive apparently; but who is making the 100GB drive ?

 

[Stella]

Not to sound like a jerk, but I seriously hope Apple isn't wasting away valuable R&D resources on boomboxes (even if they're wireless). I'm sure we could come up with a list of at least 1000 things that would be more important than this...

iPod accessories market is a gold mind, what do you expect - apple not trying to dig - they'll make more profit than on computers ( accessories + iPods )

 

[1984]

Bose does some great things in terms of packing in a lot of bass into a small enclosure but for the money you can get better quality elsewhere. Something like the SoundDock isn't so bad but when you start shelling out $1200 or more on an Accoustic Wave system you are just wasting your money. For that amount you can get much, much, much better quality.

 

[Philsy]

Bose does some great things in terms of packing in a lot of bass into a small enclosure but for the money you can get better quality elsewhere. Something like the SoundDock isn't so bad but when you start shelling out $1200 or more on an Accoustic Wave system you are just wasting your money. For that amount you can get much, much, much better quality.

This goes back to my suggestion that the Arcam Solo would be a good model for Apple to look at. Something with a similar form factor and a built-in dock would be nice.

Of course, you're always going to be stuck with the inferior sound quality of MP3-type files...

 

[Proud Liberal]

Toshiba have an 80 GB 1.8 inch drive apparently; but who is making the 100GB drive ?

I guess I was referring more to the 80GB drive than the 100GB, although there are 2.5" 100GB HDDs, but obviously those wouldn't be compatible with the iPod...I have just heard elsewhere that the current 80GB 1.8" drives are not compatible with the form factor of the 5G iPod

 

[-hh]

It's not like Bose is known for making good speakers, particularly its SoundDock (which is just okay considering it's small).

Unfortunately, when you then take Bose's prices into account, their products aren't IMO really worth buying...poor overall values. For example, the Sounddock is $300, the Wave is another $500, and their Quietcomfort headphones are another $300...boom, we're at $1100 already.

There are competitors that provide at least ~90% of the performance (sometimes more) at a fraction of Bose's prices. YMMV, but for the three examples I listed above, I'd consider the Altec Lansing inMotion for $100 (66% less); Tivoli Audio Kloss Model One for $100 (80% less); Plane Quiet NC6 headphones for $60 (80% less), totalling to only $260.

YMMV on what to do with the $840 saved with this specific alternative suggestion, but I'm on the East Coast, so this time of year, it will buy two airline tickets to London with enough enough left over for tickets to a live theatre performance.


-hh

 

[Philsy]

YMMV on what to do with the $840 saved with this specific alternative suggestion, but I'm on the East Coast, so this time of year, it will buy two airline tickets to London with enough enough left over for tickets to a live theatre performance.

-hh

Hey, yes - come over here and smell some burning petrol

 

[ShavenYak]

Engrish?

One of the new products are said to include a iPod Boombox

In other news, all our base are belong to Apple.

 

[Photorun]

My god Macworld Sounds Huge This year...I am overwhelmed by what to expect

PEOPLE PEOPLE this is RUMOR site, and AppleInsider hasn't had a correct prediction since the revised white iBook came out (they scooped it a day before, and by only a day), so that's five years of fabrication, false claims, and out and out outlandish manure they've been shoveling on the masses now since 2000. AppleInsider couldn't predict the results of yesterday's weather while reading today's paper.

My point? STOP IT! Those who jump on things like this and then will for whatever reason blame Apple when it doesn't come out only hurt themselves and/or the community when you go "boo hoo, we were promised this" NO, you weren't promised ANYTHING, you read a rumor of a rumor on a rumor site and you're a chump and clearly not paying attention. Want Mac news? Read Macworld or MacNN.com or some such, come here for folly and wild rampant speculation, or visit AppleInsider for crazy-arse pie-in-the-sky things that will never come true.

 

[-hh]

I guess I was referring more to the 80GB drive than the 100GB, although there are 2.5" 100GB HDDs, but obviously those wouldn't be compatible with the iPod...

Okay, but does it really matter what fits/doesn't into "XYZ Existing Product" when the rumor is that Apple's probably designing a new enclosure?

For example, the mac mini uses a 2.5" laptop drive, which are available at 100GB 9and 120GB).

Now look at the market application.

For example, for a bedside clock/radio type of product, the form factor of a mac mini is roughly comparable to what most people have today on their nightstands...just add integrated speakers and an iPod dock.

Alternatively, if the intended product is to live in the TV room, the typical form factor here is the 19" rack, which are approximated by VCR's and DVD players. Can you say "1990 vintage Macintosh LC II Pizza Box"? .

Supposing something smaller than a 1" tall x 18" wide x ~15" deep enclosure, it would be pretty remedial to package the guts of a mini into a shorter-but-larger-volume box that can then use a 3.5" drive.

Why do so? Because at current retail prices, $80 buys you a 250GB 3.5" drive...as much storage capacity as the top-end Quad PowerMac comes standard with, which should suffice for holding one's music collection, as well as a respectable iPhoto image collection and an iTMS video collection too.


-hh