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Apple's Movie Plans? Talks with Disney?

I know, don't feed the trolls! 🙂

heisetax said:
or at lest lower the quality as the 128k max rate in iTunes does.
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iTunes doesn't have a max rate of 128kbps!

You can go to 320kbps with AAC and MP3, and full CD quality (ever bit!) with AIFF or Apple Lossless.

And, with your own content, there are NO restrictions.

Are you seriously that confused, or are you just joking?
 
MacH4X0r said:
Who in the adult mac community really has any interest in...well...anything disney produces?
Unless there's something deeper here
the K-Pod!
A color iPod video for your kids!
Made of Uber-tanium, completely indestructable!

I dunno, I'd be more excited to hear them talking directly with studios for computer download services
I have no interest in watching a first run movie on a 2" LCD

It's like sitting in the back of a theater and watching another movie filmed from the back of the theater, and that movie is a movie of the back of a theater.
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I know a lot of adults that love Disney movies, myself included. I have no interest in watching them on a 2" LCD, though, but I don't think that's the intention either.
 
tmornini said:
iTunes doesn't have a max rate of 128kbps!

You can go to 320kbps with AAC and MP3, and full CD quality (ever bit!) with AIFF or Apple Lossless.

And, with your own content, there are NO restrictions.

Are you seriously that confused, or are you just joking?
Click to expand...

I think the poster was referring to songs you purchase from the iTMS, they are 128k
 
Macrumors said:


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.
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First of all when has there ever been an internal memo so blatantly bold to name the new product?

Second, licensing Disney product doesn't necessarily mean video, as in movies. They have a lot of stuff. Come to think of it, a Mickey Mouse iPod would be huge. In any case, Disney distribution is a tough nut to crack.

Third, even if it was Disney movies they were talking about I wouldn't want to put the 15 minutes + of advertisements, before the movie, on my iPod.

Which brings to mind what features would be needed in a vPod. I would need to have similar features as in DVDPlayer. How likely is that?
 
Maybe look at the bigger picture here, maybe the whole idea is not to actually view the video on the ipod, but simply the ipod contains the movie files. The iPod can then be docked (as usual) but with added output for a TV or similar display device and you can play movies out though the ipod.

What simpler way to take a few of your favourite movies on holiday with you, or even in the car!! Apple recently began work on a rival car dock, and as more and more cars have in flight entertainment for the kids, you could simply dock the ipod in the dash and run the movies straight out to the in car displays - and to keep the kids happy, Disney would be the ideal starting point.

Apple could then sell ancillary products such a a bigger screen to plug into the ipod to view movies on the go - Apple know no one in their right mind will want to watch a moview on a 2" screen!!!!!!!!!!
 
Here's something I found today. Denon makes a mini home theater system that has iPod docking capability.

Denon also just ahppens to be a major player in home theater equipment.

Here's the info on Denon's "S-series" home theater system.

Now, currently this allows you to only play audio from your iPod, but it shows that the idea of docking an iPod with movies on it into your home theater is very feasible.
 
MacH4X0r said:
Who in the adult mac community really has any interest in...well...anything disney produces?
Click to expand...

Those adults among us that also happen to have children. Especially since all current Pixar stuff is stll marketed under the Disney name. And don't think that a Video iPod loaded with Disney content that you could take on long road trips and (possibly) hook up to the in-vehicle entertainment system wouldn't be a godsend.
 
5300cs said:
If they did make a video playing iPod, would you seriously pull it out on the train/subway/bus and start watching movies?

Call me paranoid but uhhh, ATTENTION ALL THIEVES
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If you live somewhere with a lower crime rate you might. If this is your first thought when presented with the possibility of a video iPod, then perhaps you should think about moving... 🙂
 
Another Twist

I think Apple leaks these rumors on purpose. Maybe when their idea people are having a bit of "writers block". That way they can hang around places like this to see all of the ideas that come up. Kinda like a catalyst, or Big Brother, or Microsoft, or something. You have to admit there have been some interesting ideas here. Some not feasible, but interesting.

Hi Apple people, I know you are there. 😛
 
MrSugar said:
A few of my thoughts on the whole movie download and ipod video idea.

First, there needs to be extremely good compression for downloading movies. Downloading movies is no joke in comparison to songs, in order to achieve a realistic number of purchases the system of downloading and playing would have to be simple and fast.
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I think it depends entirely on where Apple sees an iPod video fitting into the grand home media scheme. If the current iPod is the model -- with the iPod video feeding much larger displays like the iPod can feed much larger stereo systems -- the video resolution will have to be large enough to display on a 2- to 5-inch display as well as on a traditional 640x480 display. If Apple changes the model for iPod video to more of a server-centric model, the iPod will only need to be powerful enough to feed its display but not necessarily a 60-inch television.

Or maybe H.264 really is the greatest thing since velcro and Apple will be able to port a feature film for download at something under a gig.

I still think the video content we get initially in any kind of iTMS video store is going to be clips and segments rather than 3-hour epics.
 
The resolution won't have to be as high as it'll be playing out through a home TV which has a much lower res than your typical mac monitor, so the compression is certainly possible.

Example: I play 600-700mb DIVX files though a TV and they quality is there, obviously not up to DVD level, but the file size is less than a fifth of the original. Combine those file sizes with the quality of Apple new HD mpeg4 codec and playing smaller files on a home TV is perfectly possible.

I'd be very very suprised if Apple would even design an iPod that played a movie though a 2" screen. It'd most likely be that you'd select which movie you wanted to play through the ipod and it'd stream it out though a AV line, which displaying artwork and progress indicator on the ipod's main screen. Basically just like needing to insert headphones to hear music, you'd need to insert a AV cable to see the movie.
 
Detlev said:
I think Apple leaks these rumors on purpose. Maybe when their idea people are having a bit of "writers block". That way they can hang around places like this to see all of the ideas that come up. Kinda like a catalyst, or Big Brother, or Microsoft, or something. You have to admit there have been some interesting ideas here. Some not feasible, but interesting.

Hi Apple people, I know you are there. 😛
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I have noticed evidence of this for a long time. It's why release dates have been changing. Our forum can be very proud in this instance that we are also helping to make Apple better. This is something that helps us.

Not just an iPod, but I would like to see movies/videos for a Mac also. Apple you also need to have a media center.
 
Watch out for Disney. They are one of those companies that is trying to make copyright last forever and never let things fall into the public domain where they are supposed to go after a period of exclusive use.

Speaking of which, what ever happened to Disney's attempt to make self-destructing DVD's? There was a big hoopla about that last year but then nothing. Did it fail?
 
pubwvj said:
Speaking of which, what ever happened to Disney's attempt to make self-destructing DVD's? There was a big hoopla about that last year but then nothing. Did it fail?
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A good question. Perhaps they worked a little too well, so none of them ever made it out of the factory.
 
I don't know if anyone has mentioned this because I didn't read through all the posts, but I noticed a lot of people are talking about the battery issue. However, if you are playing a movie through a TV or in your car, you should have no problem leaving it on charge while you're doing that. I can see the video iPod being good for flights, or any other random places you would watch a movie on your iPod. But when you're in your car, I'm sure there will be a car adapter to charge it. I don't think battery is an issue at all with the video iPod.
 
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