Let's recapitulate
- 2005 "the year of HD"
- Sony president on stage
- "One more thing" press invitation with red curtains on the background (iDVD theme)
- Universal to put movies on-line before the end of the year (which means less than 3 months from now)
It doesn't have to be an iPod video. Heck, lots of people use iTunes on their computer but
don't have an iPod. The Mac mini would be a perfect living room computer for movie playback, except for the fact that
it's not powerful enough to handle HD content. And we know for a fact that even the still-not-announced-Mac-mini still has a Radeon 9200 (which means no hardware-based H.264 acceleration).
So either Apple thinks people will watch movies on their computers (software-only solution) or they're coming out with some device to connect your computer to your television (software+hardware combo).
It
could be a video iPod. Heck, the iPod (and iPod photo) can already display pictures on TV. And there's the rumors about the "one more thing" that recent iPods can do (but has been kept "disabled" until now).
Add iTunes' current ability of video files (music videos), the recent release of Quicktime 7 for Windows (for H.264) and it's pretty obvious IMO.
I predict a new version of iTunes and upgraded iPods (40 and 80GB) on the 12th. And massive sales of the iPod dock (with video output). Those new iPods could even be using Hitachi's new perpendicular recording technology and have the same size (if not the exact same casings) as the previous iPod mini. Just add a color screen and those new drives and you're good to go.
The only question is: will they allow the iPod nano to play videos? (it doesn't have video-out capability, and my guess is that video playback on the iPod display will only be a bonus for those wishing to view content on the bus, subway, train/plane flights, etc).
Edit: just thought about something... control. If the iPod is connected to a dock for video output, will you really want to get up to control the movies? I guess not. So I'll have to add a new dock+remote to my list of predictions. In true Apple style, the dock would include an infrared port and work with your current VHS/TV/DVD player remote (somehow). Or maybe simply include a custom remote. And the iPod
cannot be the remote because it doesn't have wireless capabilities and the battery life isn't long enough (audio, video and wireless? You'd be lucky to get 2 hours from a full charge). Unless you want your iPod player/remote to be connected with a 10 meters wire to your television?
