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Media Event, iMac, iPod Details and Notes

Yeah 3-5 for all PM's and 5-7 for BTO PM's...defintely looking at new PM's Tuesday. Also 5-7 on BTO 15- and 17-inch PB's...which indicates there will be new 15- and 17-inch PB's on Tuesday. I think the 12-inch PB may be end-of-life...it's still 1-3 for BTO. 14-inch iBooks have jumped to 3-5 for BTO...don't know if that means anything, though.

Far-fetched scenarios:
a)12-inch PB and 14-inch iBook are EOL...merge the laptop lines.

b)Entirely new widescreen iBook replaces the current iBooks and 12-inch PB...black polycarb exterior.

c)iBooks add black as a color Tuesday.
 
Why widescreen?

For those complaining of the lack of a widescreen iPod, why would you want it? It's a waste of space.

The current one has a screen that is just about as wide as you can get it, but it happens to be 4:3 aspect ratio. What does this mean? This means that 16:9 sources will play at their full width, but will have black bars above and below. If you have a black iPod, you won't even notice. It will look wide screen to you. Yet 4:3 content will still play 'full frame'.

What happens if you put a 16:9 screen on? 16:9 content will look fine, but 4:3 content will be postage-stamp sized, with borders on the SIDES.

Or, you make the iPod wider to accommodate the new screen. In which case, 4:3 content will STILL look the size it is on the just-released iPod. And you'll have an ugly-ass iPod. Remember, the iPod's size and shape is largely determined by the size of its hard drive. The best you could do for a 'wide screen' iPod is to put the screen on sideways. But then you lose the usability of the scroll wheel. (As it becomes microscopic.)

We won't see a widescreen iPod anytime soon. A dedicated VIDEO player with reconfigured controls, maybe. But not a 'music player'.
 
ViPod Glare

riversky said:
Why would Steve not announce PowerBook and PowerMac updates today with the worlds press there!!!! He said himself both the iMacs and new iPods will ship NEXT week. So why do some of you and the rumor sites keep saying PowerBooks and Macs are on the way. Why not announce them today as well and say they will ship in the next 7-10 days. Makes no sense!! No one can explain that.

I say all the Power lines will be updated at Macworld. What else would there be then to reveal but the next PowerBooks and PowerMacs now that the iPod and iMac and mini lines have been updated!
Click to expand...

Why in Gods name would Stevo give up an opportunity to have all the worlds' media feeding out of his hand again in (hopefully) the very near future...Let's see, whose thunder does he have to steal in the next couple weeks?? Hmmm...

The tease is very professionally seasoned.. DDR2 and PCIe coyly slipped
into in imacs without alot of fanfare..

(I mean compared to the glare of the ViPod)

Who isn't salivating already over the thought of competitively nimble G5 PM's finally, after the big 200mhz insult??

....And everyone now has weeks to stoke the rumor mills till the announcment..

Everybody wins.
 
The Presentation

Thing is, I could watch Steve Jobs do a presentation for hours without getting bored.

Wouldn't it be cool if we had a President someday who could address the country with a State Of The Union address in a similar fashion?
 
Macrumors said:
- Apple's FrontRow media interface is only available on the iMac, but appears to be Apple's first step into the Media Center-like devices/interfaces. ... At present the FrontRow interface is meant to be viewed on the iMac and not through a television.
Click to expand...
What do you get when you connect an iPod to a television and operate it through the remote? I would think the interface would look like FrontRow.
 
My wish list for the future:
- Give me HDTV support for the iPod and future video downloads (next logical update, right? Oh, wait. Let's not forget a replaceable battery, too ;) )
- More TV shows
- AirPort Express + Video + Front Row
- Front Row built-in to Mac Mini and PowerMac
- Front Row USB version and software as a separate release

The iMac with its X600 Pro and XT on a PCI-Express bus?! PowerMac updates will look nice after all :)

I'd jump at the iMac if it wasn't for the price. I'm about to purchase a Mac Mini setup, but I would love to have a iMac instead. But, for my needs, it's too much power even if Front Row is so frickin' cool! I suspect the Mac Mini will have Front Row soon enough :) For now, I will wait for the next Mac Mini update or a Front Row package for non-iMacs.

iPod was okay. Next logical step. Didn't expect much more. Just hope more TV shows jump on quickly. Disappointed music videos aren't free at all now though. I would've liked a AirPort Express with Front Row support or something like it instead of having to use an iPod and Dock for watching things on your TV. AirPort Express and Front Row would do a good job of non-mobile media playing away from the computer.
 
jacob1201 said:
Front Row=TiVo's death. Finally sold TiVo stock and added to my AAPL stock. This is gonna be HUGE!
Click to expand...

Why is that? Front Row is not a PVR.
That brings up a point I've been thinking about since the day the first widescreen iMacs were announced: why no video in? A 20 inch screen and PVR software would make this perfect for college dorm/small apartment life. Right now, though, you still have to buy third party adapters if you want that functionality.

Maybe this will come with the iMac x86s? If they did that, and integrated PVR into Front Row, that would be a scary force, indeed. They might 0wn the HTPC market pretty quickly... especially if they built a unit with the horsepower to do HDTV recording, and put it in a headless box.

edit: ok, I see others said the same thing, already. :)
 
both 15"s and 17" powerbooks are now 5-7 days for BTO. interesting that they went from 6-8 to 5-7 right around midnight (start of a new day).

honestly, i am only trying to convince myself new powerbooks are going to be released next tuesday. :eek:
 
I broke down and bought an episode of Lost to see how it would look.

320 x 240 is higher resolution than it sounds, or rather than it sounded to me at first. However, it is severely lacking compared to equally long 41 minute programs that have been captured by tv enthusiasts and posted to the Internet .

I in particular recently downloaded a 41 minute episode of Smallville. It comes in widescreen and has none of the artifacts that the iTunes Lost episode had. To me the Smallville episode looks like higher quality than a DVD. It came in at 358 mb. And remember this was recorded off someone's personal TV, transfered to a computer and encoded by an enthusiast, not a major company.

The Lost episode is 210 mb.

So yes, bigger file better quality. But if that's what's going on in the black market, it's what consumers want. Is H264 really the best answer? If it is, why does the video look so VHSish..........?
 
I think the biggest to come out of this is the fact you have a powerful network Disney/ABC making an agreement to sell episodes of their top-rated shows. That just opens the door to all the things everyone wants to see in the future. I look forward to see more shows from different networks to add-on. This small initial TV line-up will begin to snowball when other networks and maybe even cable networks see its value.
 
hits a lot of sweet spots.

For the watercooler types, bringing your ipod with the latest edition (the previous night's) of a popular show, will be the new wunderthang. Little clip on speakers will be necessities.

For political types, catching the talking head' latest for distribution amongst the intelligensia.

For homemakers, complete editions of Martha Stewart, or Oprah.

Everything but feature length films, which will be, I suspect very disapointing, at least until the real video ipod or tablet arrives.

Keep an eye out on Quicktime adoption and content, as this it the battle that Apple wants, and needs, to win.
 
Firewire cable

Actually no it doesn't :p Removed to cut cost (or possible size) since there's very little (but vocal :p ) demand for it.

I prefer FW because I can boot from it. That's a sad loss. But USB2 speed isn't all that bad, and I'm sure Apple's right that VERY few iPod owners care.[/QUOTE]

Actually, it does. You can buy a firewire to Dock connector from Apple for around 20 bucks. However, it states that it is not compatible with the Nano.
 
swingerofbirch said:
So yes, bigger file better quality. But if that's what's going on in the black market, it's what consumers want. Is H264 really the best answer? If it is, why does the video look so VHSish..........?
Click to expand...

It's not H.264 that is to blame. It's the low bitrate they are using.
 
I was hoping to put some of the music videos from itunes on my PSP but looks like Apple already thought of that. DAMN! Now I have to buy the new ipod
 
I think the biggest story of the day was the iMac + FrontRow + remote combo. Now all they need to do is embed a TV tuner (well the iMac would just then gain back the inches it just lost...) and come up with some PVR software. Maybe some partnership with el Gato?

Imagine then the next ad campaign: After "Where did the computer go?"...

"Where did the TV go?"
"Where did the VCR go?"
"Where did the DVD player go?"
"Where did the CD player go?"
"Where did all the remotes go?"

I could go on and on... "Where did all my CDs go?" Well, remember you ripped them into iTunes! "Where did all my money go?" Ahem...

And all of this is technically possible NOW! That's not the case with the Mini yet, given its technical limitations (hard drive, video card, room for "hiding" the TV tuner...)

Exciting times! The last remaining bastion to me seems: "Where did my gaming console go?"...
 
Big thing about video ipods...

I'm waiting to see if video podcasting takes off. How many amateur documentary, animation, and experimental video makers are out there that would love an easy way to distribute their stuff? I see this as a potentially big deal...

Isaac
 
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