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New iPod In Early August?

It strikes me that whenever manufacturers (Apple included) want to create "buzz" around a product without actually doing much to change its core features they introduce color. I'd imagine this is Apple's way of responding to competing MP3 players and download services for the summer, and the serious revisions to the iPod (i.e. color screen, video options, etc...) will come next year. It's also a great way of introducing the new higher-capacity Toshiba drives into the product without having to wait for an overall revamp, perhaps in 2005, when the overall capacity of the drives might exceed 100Gig. Plus, competing products are already promoting 60Gig capacity, so Apple can work this in with minimal effort.

All that being said, since I'm the proud owner of a 2G 20Gig iPod, I'll probably wait until a more serious overhaul before I'd consider buying a new one.

And the previous two points being made, my reaction to the latest iPod revision is: "Ohhhhh, purple. Coooooool." :D
 
Battery

ZildjianKX said:
The only important feature they can add to the iPod is better battery life. I don't care how cool the new model is... if it doesn't have better battery life (like double), I really don't care.
Click to expand...

Not sure that battery life must necessarily be upgraded, since they seem to be sticking with a sleek form factor and it sounds like they will make it smaller. In the end, if you need really excessive battery life you can get an aftermarket iPod battery booster or use a charger during road trips, etc. I rarely need 7-8 hours of battery in a normal day. However, increased battery would be a good thing!
 
"Apple will announce new iPod models in August, reliable sources have confirmed to Think Secret. The new models will be smaller, sleeker, and will come in a variety of colors."

Sounds exactly like the iPod mini... makes me wonder why we need two iPod product lines.
 
I don't think they could get away with having a new iPod without increasing the battery life, it seems to be the number one request people have. If they want to go the color screen route there must be some new use for it, I prefer black and white for simple text. So I guess colour would mean album art and photo previews, not really worth it in my opinion.

I can't really think how the iPod could look better than white on chrome but I'm sure they will manage it as always. At least it would be more durable than the current scratch magnet.
 
ooh, exciting

i got a 20gb a few months ago but if a new range were significantly different i'd 'invest' in a mate for it :p :D

(and then a baby for them!)
 
jbembe said:
Not sure that battery life must necessarily be upgraded, since they seem to be sticking with a sleek form factor and it sounds like they will make it smaller. In the end, if you need really excessive battery life you can get an aftermarket iPod battery booster or use a charger during road trips, etc. I rarely need 7-8 hours of battery in a normal day. However, increased battery would be a good thing!
Click to expand...

I'm just thinking on this battery issue maybe they could make the ipod smaller and improve the battery life if they can find away to make it more efficient. I wonder if there would be a way of decreasing the power usage without improvements to the disk, maybe a lower power chip or less hard drive spinning up etc. I though hard disks get more efficient as the density increases also.
 
more battery life or not more battery life!!!

ZildjianKX said:
The only important feature they can add to the iPod is better battery life. I don't care how cool the new model is... if it doesn't have better battery life (like double), I really don't care.
Click to expand...

Like this says, I bought a MiniDisc Player 2 years ago, while working i Japan. One of the best features with one AA 56 hours of continuous play or 20 hours with the sony rechargeable battery. Apple give me something similar to the 20 hours and I'm getting one. More space is nice and colors are cool. But nothing will beat my desire for more battery life.

Again, more battery life or not more battery life. That is the question, to see me spending more $$$$$$


iBert

PS: Just turned to Macs this past Xmas. And the phreaking Rule!!!! :D
 
iPod, Always a Smart Investment.

Foxer said:
Of course there are new iPod's coming. I just traded up from a 30gb to a 40gb last week. I'm not complaining though, I need bigger than 40gb. (Damn you Apple Lossless!)
Click to expand...

The great thing about the iPod is that even when a new model comes out, there is still so much demand that you can get a good price for your current iPod on ebay.
Of course, that being said, if they come out with a video/audio iPod with 2 terrabytes of holographic storage in a credit-card form factor and a full-width TFT flexible screen, we'll all be pretty screwed trying to unload our current models.
 
Smaller usually means less battery life

Unfortunately, I doubt the battery life would be improved with a smaller iPod... just the opposite. But I find nothing wrong with "up to 8 hours". Other manufacturers claim longer battery life. Does anyone know EXACTLY how long the Dell DJ battery really lasts on one charge?

There will also be a BLUE model... but that's being offered by HP. :rolleyes:
 
bluebull said:
Does this mean that when if I get a new iPod, then it won't match my pretty white iMac? That would be unfortunate. I do hope the color bit is wrong. Other than that, I'm excited though :cool:
Click to expand...

That is it! The new iMac's are delayed because of colors! :D
 
jbembe said:
Not sure that battery life must necessarily be upgraded, since they seem to be sticking with a sleek form factor and it sounds like they will make it smaller. In the end, if you need really excessive battery life you can get an aftermarket iPod battery booster or use a charger during road trips, etc. I rarely need 7-8 hours of battery in a normal day. However, increased battery would be a good thing!
Click to expand...
I use the iPod when flying. Having the 10+ hours helps between waiting in the airport for your flight and then being on the plane all day. Having to deal with a booster would be a bit sucky as the iPod currently fits in my shirt pocket, and the booster would make it not fit.
 
dornball said:
other mp3 player companies are putting out players with 16 or even 24 hours of play time. please, please let apple improve the battery life. double the curent offering would be nice.

creative zen (24 hrs. playback):
http://creative.com/products/product.asp?prodid=10274

and i know sony is coming out with one, though i can't seem to find a link right now.

-dornball
Click to expand...

I'm sure that's playing back 64kbps WMA files. They'll sound really good. :rolleyes:

At least Apple quotes figures using real-life possibilities, aka 128kbps AAC files.
 
If Apple don't put a colour screen capable of playing video soon-ish, they'll miss the boat.

Hopefully, it'll be available worldwide immediately....

The battery life of the current iPods isn't long enough.. apple really need to improve things.
 
Bear said:
I use the iPod when flying. Having the 10+ hours helps between waiting in the airport for your flight and then being on the plane all day. Having to deal with a booster would be a bit sucky as the iPod currently fits in my shirt pocket, and the booster would make it not fit.
Click to expand...

Good point. I normally keep on high alert in airports for open electric plugs to give my iPod more juice before stepping on the plane so I can squeeze every moment of life out of it. Some airports are very accessible, others are not. I wouldn't mind not having to worry about this so much anymore!
 
jet3004 said:
Initiate CAPS....

CAPS Initiated...

THERE WILL NEVER BE A NEWTON. IT IS DEAD.

CAPS Off.

I hope for video in the iPod someday, but there will be no Newton.

There will be a swiss army knife that pops out of the side of the iPod before there is a Newton.
Click to expand...

easy big fella, somebody's got a case of the mondays ;)

i wouldn't go as far to say the swiss army knife bit, but i dont want apple to lose site of what the iPod is. an mp3 player. its *not* a do it all thingamajiger. i wasn't so much saying that there was *going* to be a newton around the corner, just that i hope apple keeps their gadgets seperated. i dont wanna have to pay for all the extra crap if i just want to play music

(and i still don't see why apple won't get in to the handheld business one day...) :D
 
On a few recent occasions, SJ has said he wanted to make the iPod 0 to 15% cheaper than current pricing. I wonder if that wish will take affect in this iteration?

Interesting that Apple are returning to multicoloureddevices again.. Wonder what is in store for new iMacs... are all Apple consumer level products returning to multicolours?
 
Foxer said:
Of course there are new iPod's coming. I just traded up from a 30gb to a 40gb last week. I'm not complaining though, I need bigger than 40gb. (Damn you Apple Lossless!)

I look forward to seeing what they might look like. One that looks aluminum (I'm assuming an actual aluminum iPod is impractical for some reason) thereby matching the G5 and PB's would be be very cool. I'd pick that one up.
Click to expand...

I think the minis are made out of aluminum so it's not impractical.
 
There's only a couple of things I wish and they're pretty much software based as far as I'm concerned:

1. Ability to choose the On-The-Go Playlist for the Alarm Clock playlist.
2. Ability to choose a different volume when using Sleep Timer (so that you get louder --or quieter if you prefer-- music when you need to wake up).
3. A fix for notifications on Calendar.. now if I have a notification there it shows up about every day. anyone else have this problem? it's annouying.
4. Home on iPod.

5. A new peripheral: earbuds that have about 30cm shorter cord ...the current model has a far too long cord when used with the remote. It get's on my way.

Also, if they end up adding a color screen it would be nice if you could have the pictures of the people on your contact list shown on the ipod screen when checking a contact (of course this option should be made so that you can choose if you wanna use it or not).

That's pretty much everything I can think of right now.

edit: make it a bit cheaper? would get those whining bastards buying them too. say 10% off the price. dunno if it's possible though..
 
Stella said:
If Apple don't put a colour screen capable of playing video soon-ish, they'll miss the boat.

Hopefully, it'll be available worldwide immediately....

The battery life of the current iPods isn't long enough.. apple really need to improve things.
Click to expand...

What boat will they miss? The one where those type of devices are a misserable failure? No one wants to watch video on a tiny screen...and besides...what video would you watch? Tiny quicktime movies? A movie ripped from dvd would fill the ipod up in no time.
 
ZildjianKX said:
The only important feature they can add to the iPod is better battery life. I don't care how cool the new model is... if it doesn't have better battery life (like double), I really don't care.
Click to expand...

I agree with more battery life, however, for me that wouldn't be the only important feature. I need a microphone in jack. I'm pretty sure the iPod is already equipped with the ability to record, but there's no way to attach a high quality mic.

Being a drummer/musician, this would prove to be very handy, especially if the the iPod converted the signal to aac lossless, kbs - 160, 128, 112, or mp3 etc. (your choice) right on the fly. It would mean massive storage and hours of recording.
 
ZildjianKX said:
The only important feature they can add to the iPod is better battery life. I don't care how cool the new model is... if it doesn't have better battery life (like double), I really don't care.
Click to expand...

That is by far one of the best posts I have read on this topic, and I agree 100%
 
To the people worried about waiting on the Cram and Jam special, i believe that there is already wording in the special that limits it to specific models of notebooks and ipods. So, if a new ipod were to be announced prior to the Cram and Jam special being complete, the new ipods would not be an option for it, just like the ipod minis are not in the rebate. I agree with a lot of people on here, if Apple wants to release a new ipod... they need to step it up a bit and provide more features (mainly battery life) instead of just some color casing and a bigger capacity. Does anyone know if Apple uses lithium-polymer batteries in the ipods or just lithium-ion? I was trying to figure out why things like the iRiver get a lot more battery life, and they have lithium-polymer batteries which supposedly have a much lower profile than the ion ones.
 
sorryiwasdreami said:
I agree with more battery life, however, for me that wouldn't be the only important feature. I need a microphone in jack. I'm pretty sure the iPod is already equipped with the ability to record, but there's no way to attach a high quality mic.

Being a drummer/musician, this would prove to be very handy, especially if the the iPod converted the signal to aac lossless, kbs - 160, 128, 112, or mp3 etc. (your choice) right on the fly. It would mean massive storage and hours of recording.
Click to expand...

Well, I meant most important feature. If it doesn't have better battery life, then nothing else matters to me after that.
 
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