iPod Video Photo

[nickms777]

Not a fake

I don't know if this is an iPod but, it is not a fake. All of the external lighting elements are congruent in both the reflections present on the background material upon which the device is sitting and the the internal reflections of the acrylic face of the device. When adjusted for perspective, the plug on the right of the device is centered similar to the iPod dock connector. Further adjustment of the image, with repsect to brightness and contrast shows the the brown paper covering the plug is slightly off center. Finally, based on the similarity of the plug to the two wire dock connectors included with some iPods it seems very likely that the brown paper was used to cover the normal logo present on such plugs.

With respect to the "fakeipod" link, I disagree entirely. The authors comparison of the black mark in the bottom right hand corner to other black elements in the image is wrong. The black mark in the bottom right hand corner was added probably to erase a time stamp in the original image. As for the authors other comments on colours in the image. It is very difficult to say how the quality of the camera used coupled with compression jpeg or other format artifacts would affect the detail of the image but, since there is some debate over the "8" vs. "B" in the image claerly artifacts are present.

 

[MIDI_EVIL]

We need Columbo !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Do you think he uses iPod?

Rich.

 

[taylan]

cool, but so what?

if it's real (and i think it is), then it could be really cool. but that's all there is to it. it's just a cool toy. it's not even close to what psp can do, and it probably will be selling for a similar (if not higher) price.

imho, use a 3G ipod to listen to music, use a psp for everything else. a psp with a 1gb memory stick still beats the hell out of any other portable multimedia device.

i don't care about games that much, just put wireless and bluetooth in the ipod, then this balance could change. until then, there is no way i would buy that thing, it doesn't matter how cool it looks.

 

[motulist]

I don't know if this has been posted yet but this guy seems to think it is fake and his argument is pretty impressive. What does everyone else think?

http://www.folio.superbaka.com/fakepod.html

That guy put a lot of work into that, but his arguments are all very weak. His basic premise is that a visual anomaly means a sign of a fake. To me, the visual anomalies he points out almost seems to bolster the credibility. For instance, he claims that some of the colors look painted in by photo software and some look like an actual picture copied from another lcd device. To me it seems like, of course the colors are going to have very different qualities. Color on a screen is made up of many tiny dots, certain solid colors will make regular patterns of dots that are picked up in very different ways by a low quality digital camera and then will be affected very differently once a high degree of jpg compression is applied. So one would expect that a low quality digital photo of different colored solid bars on an lcd screen would look very different when scrutinized closely. I agree with the guy in that these visual anomalies exist, but to me they only seem to support, rather than discredit, the validity of these pictures.

 

[(L)]

There seems to be quite a bit of discussion about the Chinese characters on the label. Being a native Chinese speaker, perhaps I could try to throw some light on it.

The characters, written in 'simplified' Chinese (the written form used in the People's Republic of China and not a 'computer font' as some has suggested), literally mean 'this side' - the first character 'this' and the second character 'side'. The phrase made up by those two characters could mean 'this side' as in 'the house is on this side of the fence' OR it could mean 'here', as in please come over here'. It could also mean a number of other things which is not really relevant to the current discussion. However, it does not automatically mean 'this side up' because 'this side' does not give an indication of up or down, left or right, etc.

The characters are not particulary well written but I don't write that well myself either! However, the writer could be trying to write in print and sometimes that could make the writing look awkward.

For what it's worth, I would have thought it simpler for the writer to use the character '?' ('up') if he wants to indicate which side is up.

My $0.02.

OK, I totally believe you. Umm, though I'm a bit confused...first you say it's simplified Chinese, which I already knew from the translation widget, but then you say that it's not computer font, though the writer "could be trying to write in print." Which is it? In Japanese anyway, handwriting is never supposed to look have shinnyou (left side L shaped thing) like that, which is only found in printed matter. I obviously applied that thinking to Chinese, since really it's not much simpler to copy the font since the print is that way for legibility, and furthermore there are a couple Chinese fonts that look more like handwritten characters.

I'd thought it could more likely mean "this side up" from experimenting with the widget, which returned the same thing as "this side" but a different thing for "this side down". I'll eat my words on that one.

You won me over by explaining why two sources claiming to have Chinese coworkers came up with "this side" and "here," separately. Makes sense.

I had also thought that in Japanese it would have just been ??(hope that turns out right), but that settles it for me. "Here" and "this side" don't work even if a supervisor thought his workers were impossibly dumb, as others have claimed is "industry standard." And if UP is going to work, I find it extremely improbable that a true Chinese would write the more complex "this side" (and get it wrong even copying print, or is the printed form also a handwriting norm?), rather improbable that a halfway intelligent supervisor would ask for / query "this side up" (which unfortunately does yield the characters in question) instead of "up."

Thank you for clearing it up for me. If you could tell me why a character similar to ??was written on the real 5G leak (sorry I forgot the link), I'd be even more grateful.

 

[firebox]

if it's real (and i think it is), then it could be really cool. but that's all there is to it. it's just a cool toy. it's not even close to what psp can do, and it probably will be selling for a similar (if not higher) price.

imho, use a 3G ipod to listen to music, use a psp for everything else. a psp with a 1gb memory stick still beats the hell out of any other portable multimedia device.

i don't care about games that much, just put wireless and bluetooth in the ipod, then this balance could change. until then, there is no way i would buy that thing, it doesn't matter how cool it looks.

YEAH 1G memory!?!?!! ....so where do you store all of your data? Picks, videos, musical works in progress, software... etc. [edit] o yeah....DISKS!! ZZZzzzzz [edit]

a PSP plays games, on a tiny screen, and that's it really... I've never seen ANYONE using one in public, also NOT ONE of my tech-head buddies owns one (and there are a fair few of us, so if the PSP beats the hell out of every other portable multimedia device out there, why do all my friends own iPods?

lol....1GB...."multimedia device"....

 

[motulist]

Comparing the 5g rumor pic to this pic, there is a handwritten character that, while it is written slightly differently, it looks similar enough that I think it may have been written by the same person.

But what character is this? It sorta looks like a 7, but not really.

 

[motulist]

But what character is this? It sorta looks like a 7, but not really.

Oops, here's the image.

 

[CaptainValor]

Ok, my two cents for why I believe this is fake, and why even if it is true, it'll be a disaster...

1. Someone already pointed out the OBVIOUS copy/paste lines in a number of places. The person who did this photoshop job is quite talented, but they were still human and made some mistakes.

2. The blacks are WAY TOO GOOD. There is no LCD display that can render out blacks that well. The best you can get is a very dark grey. Also, I don't find it the least bit ironic that one of the copy/paste lines is by the upper left black block.

Here's how I propose this fake was made:

Someone took a regular iPod 5G and created some color bar pictures to display on the screen. They took TWO PHOTOS with their camera, for the two sides of the color bar image (that's why the glowing around the brighter areas is accurate; that's how the 5G display looks). Also, they took a label off of OSX Server (and btw, I did zoom in and do some contrast adjustment and that IS a 8), and put this label over the display for one of the pictures (that's how they got the shine-through effect so well). They then imported both pictures into photoshop, merged the two half-screens together, and heavily compressed the photo so as to hide the fakeness markers. Easy as pie, my grandma could do this.

Now, here's why I believe that even if Apple does release an iPod like this, it will suck...

Sure, a bigger, touchable screen sounds like a great idea at first, but think about it... That means that when you are holding the iPod horizontally, your thumbs will be covering parts of the screen, and thus covering some of what is displayed. Additionally, I don't care how "scratch-proof" Apple may claim to make their screens, screen scratches will happen a lot quicker if you have to actually touch the screen all the time. And finally, PEOPLE HAVE GRIME ON THEIR FINGERS. After repeatedly touching the iPod screen and smearing your finger in a circle, you will see a nice, circular SMEAR MARK on your beautiful iPod screen. Btw, the PSP avoids all of these issues because of the grips on either side of its screen.

I had thought about proposing this design to Apple years ago, but quickly discounted it because of the BLATANTLY OBVIOUS usage problems. It's all great in theory, but in practice it would be devastating.

 

[motulist]

Ok, my two cents for why I believe this is fake, and why even if it is true, it'll be a disaster...

1. Someone already pointed out the OBVIOUS copy/paste lines in a number of places. The person who did this photoshop job is quite talented, but they were still human and made some mistakes.

2. The blacks are WAY TOO GOOD. There is no LCD display that can render out blacks that well. The best you can get is a very dark grey. Also, I don't find it the least bit ironic that one of the copy/paste lines is by the upper left black block.

Here's how I propose this fake was made:

Someone took a regular iPod 5G and created some color bar pictures to display on the screen. They took TWO PHOTOS with their camera, for the two sides of the color bar image (that's why the glowing around the brighter areas is accurate; that's how the 5G display looks). Also, they took a label off of OSX Server (and btw, I did zoom in and do some contrast adjustment and that IS a 8), and put this label over the display for one of the pictures (that's how they got the shine-through effect so well). They then imported both pictures into photoshop, merged the two half-screens together, and heavily compressed the photo so as to hide the fakeness markers. Easy as pie, my grandma could do this.

Now, here's why I believe that even if Apple does release an iPod like this, it will suck...

Sure, a bigger, touchable screen sounds like a great idea at first, but think about it... That means that when you are holding the iPod horizontally, your thumbs will be covering parts of the screen, and thus covering some of what is displayed. Additionally, I don't care how "scratch-proof" Apple may claim to make their screens, screen scratches will happen a lot quicker if you have to actually touch the screen all the time. And finally, PEOPLE HAVE GRIME ON THEIR FINGERS. After repeatedly touching the iPod screen and smearing your finger in a circle, you will see a nice, circular SMEAR MARK on your beautiful iPod screen. Btw, the PSP avoids all of these issues because of the grips on either side of its screen.

I had thought about proposing this design to Apple years ago, but quickly discounted it because of the BLATANTLY OBVIOUS usage problems. It's all great in theory, but in practice it would be devastating.

I think that this is a real physical device and not a photoshop job, but that says nothing about the details of the device. It could be something someone threw together from old ipod parts, it could be another companies product, it could be a red herring put out by Apple to throw us rumors folk off the trail. Remember the Apple plasma screen computer anyone?

 

[MacTruck]

Its all real. I can't wait. This follows with apples filed patents for the touch screen navigaion and it makes sense to make the screen bigger. Whats so hard to believe?

 

[Chundles]

But what character is this? It sorta looks like a 7, but not really.

It is a 7, it's called a "continental seven."

 

[(L)]

That guy put a lot of work into that, but his arguments are all very weak. His basic premise is that a visual anomaly means a sign of a fake. To me, the visual anomalies he points out almost seems to bolster the credibility. For instance, he claims that some of the colors look painted in by photo software and some look like an actual picture copied from another lcd device. To me it seems like, of course the colors are going to have very different qualities. Color on a screen is made up of many tiny dots, certain solid colors will make regular patterns of dots that are picked up in very different ways by a low quality digital camera and then will be affected very differently once a high degree of jpg compression is applied. So one would expect that a low quality digital photo of different colored solid bars on an lcd screen would look very different when scrutinized closely. I agree with the guy in that these visual anomalies exist, but to me they only seem to support, rather than discredit, the validity of these pictures.

That's a LOT of "seeming" going on, when you don't demonstrate the ability to discern between anomalies expected from real photos and anomalies indicative of hoax-work. Now, I'm no photoshopper and I don't claim that the other guy did much differentiating either, but most of his points were not the existence of anomalies, but the lack of what always shows up. An anomaly like you say may have the implication that such is to be expected. But anomalies consistent with photomanipulation and defying natural optics entirely are a different deal. So, IF the edited images the guy posted are real edits, things like the uneven "airbrushing," the single corner being blurry on one color tile, inconsistent monitor quality, absolutely no sign of natural lighting and in its place rectangular changes in luminosity...these things should make you go "hmm" not "hey, impossible anomalies are likely therefore this thing is real." Being able to do the latter should be reserved for religious belief systems.

 

[(L)]

It is a 7, it's called a "continental seven."

Really? It has a name? Or you be playin? Some people cross Z's too. Continental Z's?

 

[taylan]

YEAH 1G memory!?!?!! ....so where do you store all of your data? Picks, videos, musical works in progress, software... etc. [edit] o yeah....DISKS!! ZZZzzzzz [edit]

a PSP plays games, on a tiny screen, and that's it really... I've never seen ANYONE using one in public, also NOT ONE of my tech-head buddies owns one (and there are a fair few of us, so if the PSP beats the hell out of every other portable multimedia device out there, why do all my friends own iPods?

lol....1GB...."multimedia device"....

personally, i wouldn't want to carry all my multimedia files with me. that would mean trying to carry around 300gb of movies and music. no portable device can do that, including the ipod. i prefer picking the ones i want, putting them on my psp and watching them on my way to work, or while travelling.

as for psp's popularity, i see lots of people playing games and watching movies on psp's here in toronto. i can check my mail on my psp, put my notes on it, sync the latest episode of 24 and watch it on a beautiful, large screen. 1gb is more than enough for all these things.

but if you are looking for something to carry around all your videos, picks, etc. ipod could be a better choice. but as i said, without wireless support ipod is a dead device for me. it's completely useless.

 

[(L)]

Its all real. I can't wait. This follows with apples filed patents for the touch screen navigaion and it makes sense to make the screen bigger. Whats so hard to believe?

Yeah, the thing in the photo doesn't look bad at all, if it were to be a product (except maybe the test cable). The argument is over the authenticity of the photo. And yeah, the argument's pretty dumb, since the photo doesn't reveal anything surprising. Seriously, if anyone's going to take a real photo, show me the connectors, the back, the manual, the insides, or something! Not just a test screen. If it weren't for thet Chinese and the labeling, it'd probably look exactly like whatever's coming up. What a boring pic!

 

[scienceguy]

I call FAKE! That is totally a photochop!! It's a B, NOT AN 8!!

Now why would I do that? I want to believe it's real as much as the next guy...

 

[(L)]

personally, i wouldn't want to carry all my multimedia files with me. that would mean trying to carry around 300gb of movies and music. no portable device can do that, including the ipod. i prefer picking the ones i want, putting them on my psp and watching them on my way to work, or while travelling.

as for psp's popularity, i see lots of people playing games and watching movies on psp's here in toronto. i can check my mail on my psp, put my notes on it, sync the latest episode of 24 and watch it on a beautiful, large screen. 1gb is more than enough for all these things.

but if you are looking for something to carry around all your videos, picks, etc. ipod could be a better choice. but as i said, without wireless support ipod is a dead device for me. it's completely useless.

How'd this get in here? Oh, never mind! PSP vs iPod isn't much of a comparison anyway, being marketed in totally different ways. The large screen is a win, but proprietary disks from electronics megacreep Sony to watch movies? It's good at playing games (though games have gotten more and more cliche), but multimedia? Try laptop. (The iPod will be flawed for some time, which I won't go into, though I expect the last major flaw to be fixed, and IF then, to be moving to high-density flash memory.)

 

[shrimpdesign]

I'm not saying this is real or fake, but those lines look just like the jpg compression lines that are all over the image. Plus, for such a great fake having a visible copy and paste line that was not even attempted to be blurred away seems unlikely.

The photo you attached was because it was photgraphed on a tarp, they're just creases, not artifacts.

 

[(L)]

Now why would I do that? I want to believe it's real as much as the next guy...

That's what I don't get. We all pretty much take for granted that a 6G iPod is in the works, whether or not it comes out Tues. The photo, fake or real, has no influence on release date, although I guess it would point to "very soon." But the image itself is not very enlightening. What's so great if the photo is real and the product we already knew was coming is coming in the shape we imagined? So what?

 

[Bobajobbob]

Damn good fake if it is a fake but I still remain sceptical and it is not for reasons gleaned from this photo.

I just cannot believe that touch controls would work with a video device, especially not one as prone to scratching as an iPod. If I so much as breath on my nano it breaks out in scuffs.

If this is real then personally I beleive that that the controls will be on the remote and the interface will be Front Rowesque. That way sticky fingers remain a long way from the screen. Perhaps they will put a scroll click wheel on a remote?

Just ideas but put a cut down iCal and address book in the front row interface as well, allow syncing from a mac and you have a nice read only pda.

 

[(L)]

Using my current iPod as an example, it's not a problem at all to hold it horizontally. Kinda like a tiny PSP with two hands, but just one hand is comfortable too. Besides, I think the UI will still be largely vertically-oriented. Someone posted a picture demonstrating that earlier this week (http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v305/tylerdykstra/6gui.jpg)

And if one more person either asks or points out what the Chinese characters mean, my head is going to explode.

Yes and no...it will be difficult to comfortably hold an iPod with borders that slim without touching the screen. Not a problem at all using your fingertips, but try holding that up like that for a bit. Hold it for 20 minutes to watch a tv show. One hand. Or on a bus. This is a tough call for me...will Apple release it with the aesthetically pleasing but rather unwieldy look or something more practical? Or will they put grips on it or something and disappoint me? A slide-out handle seems kinda stupid too. But then, a bigger border means you could use your button and punch buttons instead of potentially or gradually smearing your touchscreen. Well, crap.

The Chinese characters thing seems to point to "this side" and "here", not "this side up" like I was plugging earlier (with everything else), but why the guy didn't just put "up" instead of such is beyond me.

PS, I think the UI orientation might just change according to how it's held. That, now, would be smart.

 

[milo]

I'm not saying you're wrong, but the picture has obviously been taken by quite a poor camera with poor lighting so can we really trust the colours represented here?

That may be the reason they're off, but if that were the case , wouldn't all the colors be off? I think it's suspicious that there's a color that looks about right next to a color that's completely wrong.

I think the "fakepod" page has some good points, there are just too many things that seem fishy.

 

[(L)]

Comparing the 5g rumor pic to this pic, there is a handwritten character that, while it is written slightly differently, it looks similar enough that I think it may have been written by the same person.

Ah, I see where that came from. Lol. That's a good one. When I write Japanese, I also tend to change half the character each time I write it. You know, because I'M AN INSANE PIGEON-EATING ZOMBY.

 

[motulist]

The photo you attached was because it was photgraphed on a tarp, they're just creases, not artifacts.

Don't take this the wrong way, but there is no way in heck those are creases. I'm 99% sure that they are artifacts, but they are 100% definitely some sort of digital thing in the image and not a physical part of the objects photographed. They are PERFECTLY perpendicular, and I could go on and on pointing out why it is a digital artifact and not a real part of the physical objects, but I don't have to, it's very obvious. No offense.

p.s. You have to actually click on the attached image to see it in detail. I'm guessing that's why you didn't see what I was talking about.