iPod with Color Display and Bluetooth?

[mo0805]

I am sooo sick of friggin iPods!
I guess they'll be dropping their powermac line altogether soon.

who threw a wrench in your gears? if it wasn't for iPods and the iTunes Music Store, Apple wouldn't be where it is today. Apple uses the revenue it generates from iPod sales to make your powermacs better, so quit your mf bitching.

 

[joeconvert]

Forgiven

forgive me if im wrong, but usb isn't wireless, because there is no way to transmit energy, and usb can generally do that (that's how the shuffle is charged) if they were to do somthing other than bluetooth, i don't see why they would do 802.11b instead of 802.11g. 802.11g is smaller, faster, and to my knowledge, uses less energy.

Wireless USB is an emerging standard.

http://www.usb.org/wusb/home

Unrelated to WUSB, but it is indeed possible to transmit energy. BUt that is out of scope of this discussion.

 

[joeconvert]

How About NOW?

who threw a wrench in your gears? if it wasn't for iPods and the iTunes Music Store, Apple wouldn't be where it is today. Apple uses the revenue it generates from iPod sales to make your powermacs better, so quit your mf bitching.

Yes, but Apple hasn't made them better in quite some time.

Even if we assume IBM can't get their act together on the G5, there are plenty of ehancements that could have been made in the interim to improve the value proposition.

 

[R.Youden]

I dont think that Apple will put BlueTooth into iPods, they need high speed Wi-Fi. But if the DO put in BlueTooth I can see on very cool feature here:

You hve your BlueTooth phone (probably the iTunes phone only at first) and you can navigate the iTunes Music Store directly from your iPod as long as you have the phone within 30 feet or what ever the distance is. Or you can download you songs on the iTunes phone and transfer data to the iPod without a computer. BlueTooth is really only useful in phones, it will never be used for major syncing. Just my thoughts.

 

[mo0805]

Yes, but Apple hasn't made them better in quite some time.

Even if we assume IBM can't get their act together on the G5, there are plenty of ehancements that could have been made in the interim to improve the value proposition.

like what?

 

[virividox]

Couple this with Airport Express and you've got one hell of a system

http://www.ipodmechanic.com

transfering at bluetooth speeds hahaha one hell of a slow system

 

[d.perel]

How does rendevous/bonjour work? would I have to buy extra software for it to work on my mac?

 

[snueff]

I WANT JAVA ON THE IPOD

I think it would be great to have java like j2me on the ipod

 

[rockthecasbah]

eh

Im all for phasing out the grayscale iPods and adding features but:

1. battery life must improve (please get up to 20 hours!!!!!)
2. no bulk is added, and some is decreased on 60gb
3. there are no holes in the iPod line from 20gb removal
4. prices do not increase just because of a color screen

If they can work out the kinks, i guess the next gen iPod lines will be kickin'. However, I'd rather have a slim color screen line that a beefier more advanced iPod. All the majority of people would use it for is music and photos, video wouldn't be good on a small screen like that.

 

[d.perel]

I don't think dropping the "photo" part of the name is that big of a surprise. With the next revisions, I would expect the entire big iPod line to have color screens. The thing I don't see as viable is the Bluetooth. You certainly can't sync your library over BT. The only viable thing I see with BT might be syncing calender, address book and Notes.

I would guess bluetooth localozed messaging between ipods (maybe even voice messages!) like with newer Game Boy Systems

 

[Goliath]

... bt is such an uncommon interface so far.. it is almost useless to most computers. the only decent use is for apples wireless mouse and keyboard, and in hope for somthing really good will come out for it.

Salling clicker is by far and away the best implementation of a useful bluetooth application- I can control my whole mac with it from the comfort of my sofa. Anyone who hasn't used it is missing out of a great product. Yes B/T mouse and keyboard are great but being able to browse my iTunes library, control dvd player, garageband, eye tv and pretty much everything else is amazing and all for £7

 

[mpw]

Colour screens I think would be obvious upgrade just to keep things fresh.

I think BT would be a great addition to really move the iPod on. If they go for it they should use BT2.0, adding it to the iPod should be hard if it can be added to a mobile phone and wouldn’t cost much although they could charge a premium for it and it would draw people up to the top of the range more than just 20 extra GB’s.

Feature wise I can see it being used to iSync your calendar etc. You could transfer your music but why would you?

However I can see it being used to download music via any BT2.0 mobile for that one song you simple must have.

I think the killer app. out of the box would be adding a discreet mic. to the earbuds and pairing with your mobile as a headset that cuts the music when you get a call.

Of course the real killer app. would be wireless headphones. Not only v.cool but another must have product Apple can charge for on top of the iPod.

You can bet that if Apple put BT2.0 on the iPod there’ll be a rush of BT enabled hi-fi and A/V gear to pair with.

 

[Mac]

BT 2.0 is the key

I think BT would be a great addition to really move the iPod on. If they go for it they should use BT2.0

However I can see it being used to download music via any BT2.0 mobile for that one song you simple must have.

You can bet that if Apple put BT2.0 on the iPod there’ll be a rush of BT enabled hi-fi and A/V gear to pair with.

I fully agree with you. BT 2.0 is the key to get the speed that is necessary for it to work. BT 1.1 is far too slow.

Adding WiFi to it would also be nice. But with both BT and Wifi you have the battery issue.

All of us with BT phones know how looooong they stay up and ready - NOT. I get only 1,5 day with my phone on BT, but 5 without.

Thought provoking.

 

[wPod]

all color screens is a logical next step for the evolution of the iPod. heck, to keep up with competition such as from creative, apple will have to incorporate color screens in all ipods, including the mini! as for wireless, i still, and will always want wifi, or even a wifi add-on for the iPod so i can connect wirelessly to the airport express. cause lets face it, fm modulators stink and it is a pain hooking directly to the sound system!

 

[michaeljs]

Bluetooth 2.0 + EDR can do 3 Mbps which should be good enough for CD-quality audio.

Potential uses for Bluetooth:

1. No more FM transmitters hooray!!! Moto (and others) will release Bluetooth enabled car stereos. I think some cars already have them (like the Acura TL).

I'd like to see... I get a call on my BT enabled mobile, my BT enabled ipod which I'm listening to, goes into pause mode and routes the call to my iPod headphones (and remote with built in mic). I finish the call and the iPod fades back in!

 

[1macker1]

WHen did thy change it from rendevous to bonjour? And I never really understood wth rendevous was good for to begin with.

How does rendevous/bonjour work? would I have to buy extra software for it to work on my mac?

 

[Yvan256]

Interesting. But I think the iPod is fine as is, just drop the iPod 20GB, lower the price of the iPod photo & drop the 'photo' from the name, include an 80GB model, and start including a firewire cord again!

Not the FireWire comments again...

Listen: 95% of computers are Windows. Only the newest Windows computers have FireWire (and not all new computers, on top of that).

Making 95% of your customers buy an additionnal USB 2 cable is bad business. I know I was mad when I paid top dollars for my iPod and then had to come back to the store and shell out even more money simply to be able to use the damn thing.

Also, all new Macs have USB 2.0, which means you can use your iPod out-of-the-box. Just not as fast.

And maybe the iPod's HD isn't even fast enough to even fill USB 2.0's bandwidth... Ever thought about that?

Making something "FireWire" doesn't mean it can fully use it. Just look at the iPod shuffle... Sure, it's USB 2.0, but the flash memory inside it is way slower then the max bandwidth of USB 2.0. Do a timing with a static 512MB/1GB playlist between a regular iPod (connected via USB 2.0) and the iPod shuffle. The regular iPod is (way) faster even though they're both connected via USB 2.0.

 

[virus1]

Salling clicker is by far and away the best implementation of a useful bluetooth application- I can control my whole mac with it from the comfort of my sofa. Anyone who hasn't used it is missing out of a great product. Yes B/T mouse and keyboard are great but being able to browse my iTunes library, control dvd player, garageband, eye tv and pretty much everything else is amazing and all for £7

ya $20 is pretty cheap for a remote like that. too bad it requires $300+ phones that cost $80 a month to use.. so if i wanted to use that for just a month, aha.. $400. i think i will just get up out of my damn chair thank you very much..

 

[Yvan256]

i'm pretty sure this is what will happen. the drives used in the ipod minis have now hit 20gb and the next iteration of drives for the full-sized ipods should deliver 40-60gb with the form factor of the current 20gb ipod, so the current "music-only, black and white, full-sized" ipod will be dropped.

I'd guess h.264 compatability on the 5g ipods with either wireless usb or 802.11b capability for transfer. bluetooth is way too slow for transfer (usb and 802.11b are pretty damn slow too) but it could work for ical/addressbook sync or a remote control for your mac.

Wait a minute... iPod mini 20GB? Where did you dream that? Sure, Hitachi announced their "perpendicular" technology, but that's probably months away from commercial production! And if you're talking about that then the next iPods will be more around 120-150GB than 40-60GB! (but with the thickness of the current 20GB)

As for H.264 compatibility, that'd be way cool for music videos and movie trailers! (how many times have I been to the movies only to have friends ask "what's THAT movie?" With a H.264 iPod I could show them the trailers!)

Would also be nice to carry around your home movies. But this iPod would need an S-Video output right on it to actually be useful, no stupid cable (but knowing Apple, it will require a cable for video output). Which means that if you go somewhere, you have to remember your cable or else you're stuck with the tiny iPod display (which is fine for showing a movie trailer on the go, but no good for showing a home movie at someone else's home).

 

[Yvan256]

All I want is to be able to run my Keynote presentations from it! I know, perhaps 10G that feature will arrive....
...oh yeah and the sig of course!

That'd be nice, too.

But if the new iPod does play H.264, then with Tiger you'll be able to export to H.264 via Keynote. Hopefully the iPod will be able to play QuickTime too (even if only in H.264 format). QuickTime already supports presentation (go ahead, try it now), so that would make it possible to use your 5G iPod for Keynote presentations. Just don't forget your cable to connect it to the video display.

 

[dan-o-mac]

ya $20 is pretty cheap for a remote like that. too bad it requires $300+ phones that cost $80 a month to use.. so if i wanted to use that for just a month, aha.. $400. i think i will just get up out of my damn chair thank you very much..

My T610 cost $75, and i pay $45 a month for my plan. I don't get your point. I'm assuming most people buy a cell phone to use as a phone, not a remote. The cost of your phone and plan has nothing to do with using it as a remote, it's just an extra feature thats cool to use if you have the capability.

 

[dan-o-mac]

Would also be nice to carry around your home movies. But this iPod would need an S-Video output right on it to actually be useful, no stupid cable (but knowing Apple, it will require a cable for video output). Which means that if you go somewhere, you have to remember your cable or else you're stuck with the tiny iPod display (which is fine for showing a movie trailer on the go, but no good for showing a home movie at someone else's home).

(but knowing Apple, it will require a cable for video output)

How many portable video players have built in S-Video output? how silly would a built in S-Video look on an ipod.

 

[Machead III]

I think after the ultra minor update from 3g to 4g, Apple should be planning a more substantial evolution of the line. Let's hope for color screens, bluetooth (which, considering about 30% of my college has an iPod) could be extremely cool with song swapping or the like, 3gpp and quicktime playback, ability to connect it up to a TV and watch video straight off it (not sure how practical that is though), downloadable games from iTMS and a change appearance (brushed metal to match the iMac G5?).

Now THAT would be an awesome iPod.

Hey, maybe with bluetooth you could have wireless headsets? Maybe more than one person could listen to your track! MAYBE YOU COULD PLAY 2 PLAYER MUSIC QUIZ!!!

 

[rog]

I am sooo sick of friggin iPods!
I guess they'll be dropping their powermac line altogether soon.

I thought they already did. Their latest quarter sales seem to indicate that at least.

 

[Ultimatetone]

Personally speaking (of course) I am hoping for something that would lure Archos / Sony PSP fans.

I just want an entertainment/learning device that I can -

• retrieve and send e-mail, address book, calendar functions
• listen or view content (on the device or output to larger tv/monitor)
• browse the web via wi-fi

...for less than an notebook (otherwise, I'd buy a notebook!)

Perhaps an Apple product with the following attributes -

• 3.8" screen or larger
• bluetooth for keyboard / mouse
• A/V in / out (for PVR functionality)
• H.264 (MPEG-4) record / playback ability
• scaled-down OS X w/Wi-Fi for web browsing

My 'feature list' may be too 'niche,' but I *cannot* bring myself to purchase -

• a portable DVD player (that is not MPEG-4 compatible)
• a 'notebook-priced,' feature-laden, Archos device
• a PDA from HP, Dell, ASUS or whomever (with no harddrive)
• a Treo(Palm) or Blackberry cell phone
• a Sony PSP (overpriced Memory Sticks, no harddrive)
• an Apple iPod (without video playback)

I have located off-shore, harddrive-based, 'portable' media players and they are reasonably priced, too.
Of course, they run on AC power only or a lack their own screen (sigh).

NYKO plans to release a Video screen to adapt to current, full-size iPods
(and possibly add an interface for PVR I/O functions as well)...
thus placing your iPod-based 'video solution' at around $500-600 (incl. the iPod)

Ultimatetone

Oh yeah...

I am still waiting (several years now) for a Nextel / Motorola WiFi-capable iDen cell phone.