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Apple's Movie Plans? Talks with Disney?

I'm curious as to what format these videos would be. I hope they are H.264 at a good quality setting. I want them to look good on a large HD TV. If they are only good for a handheld screen forget it. I love the iPod but really miss the quality of sound from a CD - I bet it would be worse with video. (And yes I have increased my rip settings to be closer to CD sound - balance of space and quality).
 
If Apple does go video, it will not be about the iPod or portability. At least not mainly. Maybe a set top box with on demand movies, tv, audio. That could be the focus. And maybe a portable unit TOO, but not as the main selling point. No one wants them.

David 😎
 
Not video iPod

I imagine that the widescreen iBook will have new video hardware designed specifically for viewing H.264. Then eventually the mini and iMac.
 
Do you think the photo ipods out now just need some software to run videos or will there be a new ipod video released with new Hardware? 😕
 
Again,...Stevie is f'kin brilliant!
Instead of just pumping out a video capable product like so many have done, hes not doing it untill he has "content" for it.

As for Billy COURTING Hollywood for its piece of the pie,...
I'm sure the executives are just blowing smoke up Bill Arss
and seeing Stevie behind the scenes. REALLY? who da think has
more power with movie industry? Bill Gates or Steve Jobs?

"Star Wars director George Lucas told US news channel CNBC last month: "The (movie) business is going to go down, down, down before they finally realize what Steve Jobs and a few others have already realized--that there is a way to make a business model out of this and then people won't steal it quite so readily."
 
ijimk said:
Do you think the photo ipods out now just need some software to run videos or will there be a new ipod video released with new Hardware? 😕
Click to expand...

its been already been stated, and true,...theres no way that Stevie is going to let you watch full movies on a current iPod. "maybe" music videos but thats it.
 
my thoughts on a download video service...

I think Apple is primed and ready for such a move. While they seem timid about such a move (ie... "testing" the waters with music videos), we all know they must have something brewing in the labs. To me, the best way to make this system work is looking at it the same way you look at the iTMS. You download movies at a much better price point then if you were to go out and get the DVD or renting. Once you have the content, you can of course watch it on your beautiful Apple displays. Once Apple releases a Video iPod, the features should include a way to both (if you really want to) watch it on the small built-in screen and the ability to connect it to your TV. The other direction Apple must go to succeed is a great way to create your own DVDs like you can in iTunes with iDVD (or some other incarnation). You take the downloaded content, one-click DVD preparation with properly branded menus (download the menu content with movie) and there you have it. A DVD of YOUR movie YOU just purchased and CREATED cheaper then if you went to your local movie store and about the same price of renting (or cheaper). Just like music from the iTMS, the video content must be near spot on DVD quality and Apple's classic UI to simplify the experience. While going from content to DVD and content to a Video iPod will take MUCH longer then it's music counterparts, there is and would develop a great market for this direction. IMHO
 
oh ya... of course a great way to get the video from your computer to your TV without putting it on another media. Streaming it to a top box or something like that.... definitely!
 
cr2sh said:
Based on who's logic? The folks I know who have an ipod workout, ride the bus, fly frequently....

How exactly does a portable tv fit into that lifestyle? And what will they watch? Where will they store it? How will they transfer it?

I think a video ipod is one of those little *great* products that they could make, and might make... but with fail because WHO WILL USE IT?

I can put the earbuds in, leave it on play.. and do other things. A video ipod will destroy my productivity.
Click to expand...

ride the bus, fly frequently....

You are kidding right? 🙄
 
actually... thinking about it again... a Video iPod doesn't make as much sense as having the ability to create a great DVD of the movie to take with you to your friends house or whatever. For the most part, you are going to watch the movies from home, so you need some ability to get the video to your TVs. You can simply transfer the content to your laptop and watch it on trips and such. DVD media is the standard. The technology just isn't there yet to have a great way to watch movies with any great experience, the battery technology isn't sustainable to watch a couple of movies during a long trip or to keep the kids happy as they watch the same movie over and over during those 8 hr trips. Not to mention those trips are few and far between. As much as I would want a Video iPod, it is just not as overly practical as listening to music on our current iPod models.
 
greenmonsterman said:
Wow. my sarcasm-ometer is off the charts!
Click to expand...
Oh, a SARCASM-ometer... How USEFUL 🙄 *kaboom*

SiliconAddict said:
ride the bus, fly frequently....

You are kidding right? 🙄
Click to expand...

Yeah, my thoughts exactly

I wouldn't mind being able to display music videos. Whatever Apple comes up with, I'll be buying it! My 3G's looking a bit battered.

This all seems very exciting 🙂

My most interesting non-fanboy thought was sparked by the business 2.0 article.

How does Jobs do it again? Somehow the iPod overtook everything else out there - even though it isn't REALLY that different - it plays music.

So is it just an assumption that whatever Apple churns out that plays video will automatically become the best selling appliance since the iPod?
 
I think that this is a very smart move by Steve Jobs. The Mac is known for being great with media. This should draw in more switchers. Talks with Disney is a good place to start.
 
iPod video is comming

I have it from a source that within the last month or so apple was interested in purchasing a new chip; this chip was originally designed to be used in cell phones to display streaming video. I think this is a good sign that something is coming down the pipe.
 
SiliconAddict said:
ride the bus, fly frequently....

You are kidding right? 🙄
Click to expand...

Yeh you're right... that's exactly what I want to do on a bus/plane, scroll through an ipod and pick what music videos to watch. One after another after another. When was the last time you watched Mtv? I'm not 14 and it has no appeal whatsoever.

Or maybe I could start watching the 1st quarter of a disney movie....

It's boring as **** man. And if an iPod is $400, I'm not going to pay $600 to watch Bono dance around.
 
Only if they can act like Microsoft!

Macrumors said:


Macworld.co.uk provides a good summary of the recent rumors and speculation about Apple's possible expansion into the online movie market, building on the success of the iTunes Music Store and iPod.

The most recent tidbit is a Business 2.0 blog post which claims that according to an internal Disney memo, Steve Jobs has been in talks with Disney's President Bob Iger about how to license Disney content for a video iPod.

On Monday, the Wall Street Journal reported that Apple was seeking to licesnse music videos to sell through the iTunes Music Store.
Click to expand...


This will only happen if Apple thinks that they can have a monopoly like they do with iTunes Music Store & the iPod. iTunes & my 40 GB 3rd gen iPod & GB ishuffle are too restrictive for me, even though all of my music on them are from my CD collection. If I had to do it over again I'm not sure that I would have purchased either one. That mens that I would probably with great certainy not be in line to purchase an iPod with movie capabilities or purchase any movie, since they would somehow have more restrictions than the VHS & DVD movies that I have purchased, (can't use the term OWN anymore) or at lest lower the quality as the 128k max rate in iTunes does.

Count me out in any expansion.

How can this be a rumor when we all know that Steve Jobs told us that Apple is not going that way & thatSteve never tells us a lie. Being such a good salesman as he is I wonder how many times he's sold the Golden Gate Bridge as others have sold the Brooklyn Bridge.

Bill the TaxMan
 
modernpixel said:
My point being, people like watching movies on TVs - movies to-go will be fun for a week and then erased from the iPod because they'll eat up too much storage space.
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I think that's the kind of content that would be aimed at an iPod video -- at least initially. Music videos and movie trailers, which Apple already features on iTMS, are an obvious place to start. I could also see small segments of comedy shows doing well -- the monologue from "The Daily Show," an "SNL" sketch, etc. -- and news is an obvious quick hit.

Content more along the watch-and-delete podcasting lines will probably be a staple of whatever content is offered, but the revenue streams will have to be worked out. Can I get all of the NBC News content for free or will I have to pay for it? What about a deleted scene from "Desperate Housewives"?

Pushing the free content now will make way for bigger things to come, like movies, "Seinfeld" reruns, etc.
 
Dan8302 said:
I have it from a source that within the last month or so apple was interested in purchasing a new chip; this chip was originally designed to be used in cell phones to display streaming video. I think this is a good sign that something is coming down the pipe.
Click to expand...

Within the last MONTH or so Apple was INTERESTED? Sounds like your source doesn't get out much.

I don't think it's a big leap to speculate that Apple is probably much further along on a device than this based on the reports from a pretty wide range of sources that some kind of player is expected in September or October.
 
Now what i was thinking when i read all about a video ipod and the buzz when the mac mini came out that it would be a media center device

1- The Mac Mini does have a fantastic size for a device that would function as a media center
2- the Mac Mini had a system in place for a built-in ipod dock did it not and it was scrapped?
3- Video Ipod would use that dock to interface with the mac mini hooked up to your tv
It would recieve power while streaming content to the mac mini that you loaded up from your home computer (you could bring it to a friends house and such, i'd assume the mac mini MC would be able to stream over a network for in a house)
4. The Video Ipod would also have a screen..possibly comparable dimensions to the PSP - small enough to be carried but still very compact and aesthetically appealing. You'd be able to watch movies off of a built in HD or flash cards loaded up from itunes(ivideos?) and use it as a portable media center.
When you plug it into someone else's Mac Mini MC you would authorizze that computer for playback just like you do with itunes now.
Limit it to working with 5 other computers and being able to play video on the go and i'd be a very happy camper. Especially if they can cut prices substantially over a dvd release.
 
hob said:
So is it just an assumption that whatever Apple churns out that plays video will automatically become the best selling appliance since the iPod?
Click to expand...

Yep. Apple wasn't the first guy on the block with an MP3 player, and it won't be the first with a video player either. With iPod's credibility and Apple's opportunity to learn from the marketing and manufacturing mistakes of the few manufacturers that have brought personal video players to market, AND with a brand-loaded content store to fill it up, the iPod video will be the defacto standard the first day to market.

The iPod was worlds better than anything else around, but the iPod video won't even have to do that. Market power and iPod goodwill will put the new device out in front of the rest of the market.
 
cr2sh said:
Yeh you're right... that's exactly what I want to do on a bus/plane, scroll through an ipod and pick what music videos to watch. One after another after another. When was the last time you watched Mtv? I'm not 14 and it has no appeal whatsoever.

Or maybe I could start watching the 1st quarter of a disney movie....

It's boring as **** man. And if an iPod is $400, I'm not going to pay $600 to watch Bono dance around.
Click to expand...


🙄 Who's talking music videos?!? Do you actually think that a video ipod would be limited to music videos? It would doubtlessly be able to play full length feature films or TV episodes. And do you actually think a normal iPod is any more entertaining? What you going to bounce around in your seat to the music. If anything music is boring when all you are doing is just sitting there.
Hence the reason.... bus...flight.........you are kidding right?
 
I could care less about a video iPod (since I can't exactly watch videos while walking down the street or while I'm at work.. that's when I use my regular iPod the most). I just hope it drives the price of the current color iPods down so that I can afford to buy one! 🙂
 
The only movies I would be interested in owning from Disney would be the Pixar ones, which are quite expensive on DVD at the moment. Maybe a downloadable version of these movies could be, well, cheaper...
 
Steve should be talking to Warner Bros. and getting rights to all the Looney Tunes cartoons. 5-7 minute videos with high entertainment value? Perfect for a launch. I'd rather watch Bugs than Mickey any day.

Maybe we'll see the re-introduction of serials? Murder mysteries played out in 5 minute segments over 6 episodes? The Amazing Adventures of Tarzan and Jane? Of course, it'd cost more than a nickel to get the content, but this ain't 1935 no more.
 
SiliconAddict said:
🙄 Who's talking music videos?!? Do you actually think that a video ipod would be limited to music videos? It would doubtlessly be able to play full length feature films or TV episodes. And do you actually think a normal iPod is any more entertaining? What you going to bounce around in your seat to the music. If anything music is boring when all you are doing is just sitting there.
Hence the reason.... bus...flight.........you are kidding right?
Click to expand...

After you pay $600 for the device. After Apple figures out how to sell TV shows. After you go online and pay for all your favorite stuff (again) and download it. After a half hour wait.. between paying for it actually being able to watch the movie.

Then, someone who is riding on a bus or plane... could watch it on a 4" screen.

They could download a news video, pay for it and DL at nite, watch it the next morning.. and skip the $0.35 up-to-date paper.

They could watch an episode of Friends... as the bus rounds corners and makes stops. You'll have headphones and and you'll be focused on this tiny screen... completely depriving your senses...and four blocks past your stop the show will end.

A video ipod would work for someone who has absoluetly nothing else to do... for the next 30-300 minutes. I'll give you that much.
 
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