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MWSF: More Mini iPod Confirmation and Detail?

Re: steve jobs will kill em

Originally posted by NusuniAdmin
Steve jobs with his titanium fetish will probably make the mini-ipods look like mini-g5's. They will need to have 5 fans in them for proper cooling hahaha.
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That reminds me, I remeber hearing something along the lines of there being an all plastic iPod, but shock problems are keeping it from being sold. Mabey that's how they'll drop the price?
 
Originally posted by dongmin
May I ask where you can buy a 10GB iPod for $169???
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Wow, you sound oddly bitter.

Anyways, I got my $169 10 GB iPod from the Apple Store, go there and click on the red tag marked "Deals," they sell 10 GBs there (last gen) for that much and 20 GB for as low as $239 I've seen. Anyhoo, I'm assuming they're making a little profit on these so the previous poster who's you're sniping here was 100% correct and I agree, don't see why they couldn't do a 2 GB iPod for as low a price point.
 
Originally posted by ethernet76
Gross margin is 27.5 percent. Which means after everything is said and done, apple has 27.5 percent of annual sales left to invest in: long term debt, R&D, and other categories.

5% profit is not an acceptable means of profit.
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This is incremental profit. Apple has to net more money per album sold than Amazon. Money that goes straight to the bottom line.
 
Originally posted by ChronoIMG
They will cripple the 2GB and 4GB models at the software level. No way in **** are they going to let people do the same things with a 2GB that you can with the more expensive models.
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They were saying the same thing about iTunes for Windows before it was released. Identical feature set. The software is going to be the same or if nothing else someone will find a way of hacking the ROM, iPods use EEPROM right?!!, to allow the multiGB iPods ROM to be loaded onto a 1-2GB iPod. One way or another it will happen. I personally don't see apple crippling the OS out of the box but hey *shrugs* Its Apple. Who knows what they are going to do.
 
Re: Re: PowerPod

Originally posted by ethernet76
PowerPod is not a likely name. Power indicates the professional line. Powermac, powerbook are both high-end products. Where as the iMac, iBook are more consumer models.

iPod is taken and won't be moved, and apple will probably want to capitalize on the name recoginition that the iPod has.

I'm thinking ePod is lame, they won't use that.

And checking that a patent hasn't been filed for anything new recently from apple, I'm thinking iPod Jr., or just iPod.
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Uh, if you read his/her post, they did say a "pro model"
 
Re: guess

Originally posted by Jellinek
I'd guess the smaller/lower GB models are the higher end, and the price will be going down on the current iPod.

see:

http://asia.creative.com/products/portaudio/muvo_2_4gb/welcome.asp

4 gig for a ton of money...

dj
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Interesting, though you could of just listed the retail price of USD $390!!! And it's butt-ugly like all Creative crap (catered for the Asian aesthetics which we all know is somewhat cheesy)

Here's a link and an extracted info:

http://www.mobilemag.com/content/100/337/C2337/

"The lightweight and compact NOMAD MuVo2 4GB is as small as a flash memory based player at 67mm by 66.5mm, yet with its tiny Compact Flash Type II one inch micro drive it can hold up to 2100 songs in high-quality WMA format! A fraction of the size and weight of the Apple iPod, the NOMAD MuVo2 4GB holds almost as much music, yet is priced at an estimated street price of around $390 USD"
 
Re: Re: guess

Originally posted by hokka
(catered for the Asian aesthetics which we all know is somewhat cheesy)
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Thats rather subjective don't you agree?

and would you care do define "Asian aesthetics" ?
 
Sure, being a product designer and an Asian myself, I should know :)

Been cheesy meaning it's choice of materials (I never really like the choice of plastics used Creative players, they seem cheap - yes, it's not metal you see, but painted plastic), layout (look at the material rolls around the buttons - it's so 90's Sony), colour scheme (very PC centric), functionality (designed for the small handed Asian market)...

I know it can be subjective, but after you have held/used an iPod, I think we can objectively say the Creative's offering is cheesy at best, crapilicious (I made this word up) at worst... I'm sure many would agree, would you? :p
 
New iPod flash drives?

The rumored new iPods sound like they might be flash drives. Remember, those impossible to find
Digitalway USB 1.5 GB keychain drives supposedly retail for $199.

A 2 or 4 GB flash iPod sounds like a logical, cost-effective step for music & on-the-fly storage.

If they hit the shelves at a supposed $99-$150 pricepoint, that would be a bold move by Apple (and a put a smile on the face of lo-sto freaks like me!)
 
quote:Originally posted by Steven1621

what is apple thinking? the need to upgrade the xserve line asap. how can they sleep at night knowing that they are selling severs with antiquated chips in them?
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well steve has a speech at CES??

maybe he'll make some major announcements there- powermacs to 2.6 at the top, xserves to G5, blow away the pc folks with all sorts of new tech.
 
Re: volative memory???

Originally posted by zapp
Power consumption would be very low even when playing music( no hard drive to spin)
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iPod already does this. It only spins up the hard drive long enough to fill the 32MB buffer.

Originally posted by dongmin
So how do you maintain the data when the iPod is turned off? Are you proposing that the iPod is kept at a permanent low-power state?? And you do that with a battery??? And when the battery is finally drained, what happens????
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The iPod already does this. It's obvious from reading these two comments that neither one of you actually own an iPod. The iPod, when turned off, isn't actually off. It goes to a low-power sleep mode. If you leave it sleeping for a couple of days it will do a full power off. The problem with a full power off on the iPod is that it takes about 2 minutes to boot the OS the first time you turn it on. This would not be acceptable for a consumer device where you want to hit play and hear music instantly.
 
introducing the iRun......

Here's my totally uneducated guess on the mini-iPods:

in addition to catering to a low-cost market, Apple will also cater to runners who enjoy music with the iRun - a 2-4 gb flash-based digital music player. In addition to all of the postivies listed in prior posts, the iRun will be able to be taken where iPods can't - namely anywhere involving jarring motion, like running or mountain biking.

The upshot of this is that Apple wouldn't just be fleshing out it's product line, as it's quite possible that a user might own BOTH an iPod and an iRun.

I'm alos going to go out on a limb and predict that Jobs announces that the iRun will be (in some form) co-branded with Nike. While Apple likes to play by themselves, I think Apple would recognize Nike's excellent brand and can see all the potential in associating with the leading active brand. (And Nike would be associated with the leading digital music brand.)

(btw: Phillips already sells an MP3 player co-branded with Nike.)

What do you think?

(btw: I also think - contrary to popular rumors - that we'll see new PMacs AND new iMacs @ MWSF.)
 
Originally posted by zellin
If Apple doesn't need that 5 mil i can take it off their hands...
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All you have to do is figure out a guaranteed way to increase iTunes sales by at least an additional $100M over the same time period and they might be interested.
 
Originally posted by cr2sh
Could it be a stunt just like last year.. where everyone who REALLY wanted a new powerbook ran out and bought one before Christmas. They were so happy with their nice, new, 15" Ti.. and then right after Christmas, WHAM! Alumibook.

Everyone who really wanted an iPod for Christmas got one already.. an after Christmas release is just an attempt to pick up the stragglers...

How about... No?

If Apple releases a minipod, cheaper and smaller.. and does so Jan. 5... it will have been one of the worst timed releases.. ever.
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Yeah, they would have lost out on so many buyers who spent more money on current iPods this Christmas season. It's not like Apple didn't sell iPods hand-over-fist this holiday season, iPods sold out at all sorts of sotores around the country. There was no reason to release cheaper, smaller margin products before Christmas when most buyers were willing to spend more.

Bad for the consumer, maybe, but bad for Apple, no way, not with demand for current iPods at all time highs. There was no reason to offer cheaper alternatives and potentially iPods with smaller margins.
 
I JUST DON'T GET YOU PEOPLE

REALLY I DON'T WHY ARE U PEOPLE BITCHING ABOUT A $99 MINI iPod , there is a low end mp3 player market that is just ripe for the picking and Apple is going to Capitalize on this, Rio saw this also which is why they recently Released thier 1in hard drive player The Rio Nitrus (1.5gb) which retails at $299 but can be had as low as $179 at some web retailers, so it is very possible that apple can release a low cost mini iPod. if Apple were to some how manage to release a 2gb Mini iPod for $99 you can KISS THIS FLASH PLAYER MARKET GOOD BYE BECAUSE THESE THINGS WILL SELL FASTER THAN GAMEBOY SP'S AND THAT'S HOW APPLE MAKE'S IT'S PROFITS OUT OF PURE VOLUME. Honestly how many of us really need a freakin 20-40GB iPod. I myself have owned the original 5GB iPod for nearly 2yrs and still don't listen to half the stuff on it and my Music Collection is 13GB on my iMac but i don't listen to more than maybe 30% of that on a regular basis and to be Honest of u have time to listen to 20GB of Music then maybe it's time for you 2 get a hobby. a Mini iPod would fit life my just perfectly as i was considering the purchase of a small flash based MP3 player for my trips 2 to the gym. Plus have you people forgotten that thier are millions of consumers that either can't afford or are just unwilling to Fork over $400 for a freaken MP3 Player ,Parents Especially they don't want to see thier kid get beat up and robbed in school over a freakin Souped up walkman and then have $400 go down the drain. I don't care if it is the iPod, $400 is a weeks pay for alot of people in this country , and yea i know there is a $300 iPod but then ustill have to buy the dock $40 + case $40 + remote $40= $120 on top of the 300 u just spent , Do the Math . multi color mini iPods would be cool provided that it is face a plate they use like Nokia Phones, i think apple learned thier lesson from the original colored iMac . toshiba makes the 1in drives and apple has been in bed with toshiba since the birth of the Hard drive MP3 player so i'm sure Toshiba may give apple a farvorable discount on these drives. we are about to witness Apple complete thier cornering of the portable music market in the same way Sony did in the 80's and 90's . I also hope Apple finally smartens up and includes an FM tuner + with a real functional remote like the Sony Mini Disc players or Sony Walkmans , they are Perfect examples to follow. so all you nay sayer need to shut it and just accept the inevitable. It's coming and very soon.
 
Originally posted by kidA
first of all apple is not known for blowing the profit margins in an industry. they have never undersold competition before and there is no real reason for them to start now. that's dell's job.
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I'm not saying that Apple should or shouldn't do anything differently but it is important to point out that Dell has outmarketed Apple and gained a significant market share through this strategy. If Apple wants to be the be-all end-all of online music and music players, they better damn well compete on price and undersell all of the competition.

If not, Apple music products will go the way of their computers, servicing only a niche market.

I'm not saying this is bad but I don't think they want to be a niche player. They want to corner the market. To do so, they will need to market iPods completely differently than they have with their computers and drop their industry leading profit margins to compete on price.

IMO, they'd be silly not to with the market share they already have and the first mover advantage of the iTMS.
 
Originally posted by x86isslow
quote:Originally posted by Steven1621



well steve has a speech at CES??

maybe he'll make some major announcements there- powermacs to 2.6 at the top, xserves to G5, blow away the pc folks with all sorts of new tech.
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I wouldn't doubt it. Because the CES show doesn't even start until the 8th so that gives him a couple days to get things ready for CES.

I wonder if anyone is going to CES this yr.
I would goto both if I was on the west coast.
 
Originally posted by e2chris
Good point. I am not a business pro but say they get .05 cents a song times 25million songs sold. That is still 1.25 million. Is that not good?
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To a company the size of Apple,$1.25 million is pennies, and would not even pay their electric bill.
 
Re: Re: volative memory???

Originally posted by illumin8
The iPod, when turned off, isn't actually off. It goes to a low-power sleep mode. If you leave it sleeping for a couple of days it will do a full power off.
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Whatever. The point is that with RAM, you risk losing all your data when the bloody thing does power off at some point. With solid state media and HDs, obviously, that's not an issue.

So tell me again how you're gonna secure data on RAM with a battery device?
 
Re: Re: volative memory???

Originally posted by illumin8
iPod already does this. It only spins up the hard drive long enough to fill the 32MB buffer.



The iPod already does this. It's obvious from reading these two comments that neither one of you actually own an iPod. The iPod, when turned off, isn't actually off. It goes to a low-power sleep mode. If you leave it sleeping for a couple of days it will do a full power off. The problem with a full power off on the iPod is that it takes about 2 minutes to boot the OS the first time you turn it on. This would not be acceptable for a consumer device where you want to hit play and hear music instantly.
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I'm sorry, my iPod has NEVER taken 2 minutes to boot up. From full power down, it takes 20-30 seconds at the most to boot up.
 
Re: Re: Re: PowerPod

Originally posted by zellin
Uh, if you read his/her post, they did say a "pro model"
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Everyone knows. Pro is always introduced before the consumer series. Powermac before iMac, Powerbook before iBook. In terms of storage how would a 4 GB version make it the pro version? Even if it was "DJ" version don't DJ's have crates upon crates of vinyl? Also, doesn't vinyl sound 20x better than AAC or MP3?

Think about it. A Professional level iPod for 99 and 199 and consumer levels at 299,399, and 499?

That would be the equivalent of selling the iBook for more than the powerbook.
 
I would definitely get one. If its under $100 I may end up buying about 5 of them. :cool:

Off topic: When is MacWorld Expo or whatever I should be waiting for? :D
 
Toshiba, Hitachi and Cornice are not the only HD makers

GS Magicstor Inc. (based in China) currently produce two versions: 2.2/2.4GB & a 4.4/4.8GB 1" Microdrive ( http://www.gs-magicstor.com/english/products-E/index.htm )

Since it's produced in China, the price would be very competitive I would imagine... then there's also MarQlin Corp. based in San Jose ( http://www.marqlin.com/ )

Don't just look at Cornice just because it "promises" to get the price down to $50 a pop and all the media jumped on it... look deeper guys

Further more according to this article: Sub-1-inch hard disk drives on the horizon

http://news.softpedia.com/news/2/2003/December/6257.shtml

""Disk drives are going into more and more applications," said Thomas M. Coughlin, president of storage market analysis company Coughlin Associates Inc., during a storage industry conference in Tokyo in November. "Companies are looking at 1.8-inch, 1-inch and possibly 0.8-inch or 0.7-inch drives."

"Several companies are expected to launch 1.8-inch drives during 2004 and Hitachi already has two competitors in the 1-inch market space. They are Colorado-based Cornice Inc., which brands its 1.5GB drive the "Storage Element" and is already shipping the drive to customers including iRiver Co. Ltd. and Digitalway Co. Ltd. for use in MP3 players, and GS Magicstor Inc., a start-up disk maker based in China's western province of Guizhou"
 
Originally posted by Fahd
I would definitely get one. If its under $100 I may end up buying about 5 of them. :cool:

Off topic: When is MacWorld Expo or whatever I should be waiting for? :D
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Dude! Do you have internet access?
 
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