New iPod Next Week?

[madmaxmedia]

Given that miniDV (NTSC) is 720 x 480 and the iSight is 640x480, that wouldn't be too much of a drop in quality. Especially if you can record in H.264 (better than miniDV compression) and iPod storage (compared to miniDV tapes).

And the price (new device + iSight + 20GB iPod) would probably still be lower than an HD-based camcorder (especially given the number of people who already have an iPod, it makes the Apple solution purchasing price even lower).

The only missing thing would be the HD and widescreen part.

Which means three things, really:
- introduction of the iSight 2, HD and widescreen capabilities. Which makes no sense whatsoever, until a few seconds later.
- introduction of the new "Apple camcorder", which uses the iSight or iSight 2 (iSight 2 required for HD and/or widescreen) and has a cable to connect any dock connector iPod for the actual data recording which makes the camcorder even lighter (hard drive-based iPod required for HD recording).
- introduction of the 80GB iPod, to allow for longer recording times. It replaces the 60GB iPod. The 30GB iPod is also dropped in favor of a 40GB model. These new iPods get the new features found on the iPod nano.

And THAT is what Steve meant when he said "2005 would be the year of HD".

I like those ideas! If they were going to use an iSight and iPod, then I doubt it would have a separate display. Which means it would need to use a video iPod for playback, don't you think? The 'camcorder' would need some controller and processing chip, connectors, and a good physical body with handle and buttons (although the iPod click wheel would be used for controls too), but that would be about it. Probably another battery though. I wonder how much something like that would cost...

It seems unlikely Apple would ever do such a product, but if the video quality were good I would be all over it. It would be pretty small too, may be the same footprint of an iPod but thicker. Especially since I will be getting a new iPod soon, and already have an iSight...

 

[nbs2]

I'm just wondering if maybe the invite is not one, but two concepts roled into one. Now, I may have missed a post addressing this, but there is a lot to read, and is all started to blur for me. Anyway, I was thinking that the curtain, which someone in this (or another) thread pointed out is the same as the curtain in iDVD. I'm just wondering if the one more thing is the hardware element that everybody is riled up about and the curtain is symbolic of movie management. iT takes care of music, iP for photos, but nothing for movies that people have, be they home movies or ripped or (down the obviously long road) downloaded movies. I see it as a central organizer for the movies that makes working with iM a little bit easier, makes way for easy selection of movies for display on whatever display you choose (TV or monitor).

Again, someone may have mentioned this and I'm rehashing a dead topic. If so, let me know so I can go back and see what people said rather than dinking around waiting for someone to care.

 

[piquet]

just to muddy the water

i've been reading the above debate with interest, but i go an email from apple today, 30th of september i ordered the 2ghz 20 inch imac g5 with the 400gb hd, ordered it, told the build time would be about 48 hours and it wpould be with me on 7th, the order detail listed to be shipped on or before 5/10/05, well yesterday came and went and still it was in manufacturing.

today i got the email from mac saying they were very busy and it would now ship on the 13th

now it could be coincidence, but....

pk

 

[SiliconAddict]

*shrugs* disappointing to say the least. But I can spend my money somewhere else. I would have liked Apple simplicity and design....I can go with Archos or the Zen. A friend has a Zen but it’s too thick. The Archos AV700 is OK but a 7" screen is a bit too big. I'll probably look into importing the viliv P1...
http://www.pmpevent.com/

If Apple doesn't want to play in the market fine. The rest of the world will simply pass them by and when Apple does come to the market eventually their hardware will be a dime a dozen because if you look realyl close the PVP market is more mature then most think. Its just that it hasn't penetrated the US yet. Whether that is because the OEMs think it would flop I don’t know. I do know that no one has tried. Over the last couple days people have kept screaming that people don’t want portable movies ot TV shows. This is an asinine comment in that no one has really tried to push it yet. So making such a final and complete statement is just dumb. The attempts so far have been half hearted and a complete joke. The hardware is there. The software isn’t. Sounds familiar? Again if Apple doesn’t pick up the ball someone else will at some point down the road so no skin off my back. I personally think Apple is so scared of screwing something up that they are scared to innovate. And as cool as the Nano is its NOT innovation. It’s the progressive next step of the iPod in a music player form. Nothing new. Nothing revolutionary. Nothing to rock the boat from the status quo. To possibly scare its user base to someone else. Same old warmed over Music iPod. This type of behavior is the same behavior Palm has had over the last 4 years. They don’t know what to do next so they come out with the same warmed over stuff. Obviously things are different with Apple. 1. The iPod is sexy. 2. The iPod is trendy. 3. iTunes. 4. iTMS. 5. iPod + iTunes + iTMS = Something no on else in the industry has. So yes there are differences but I see small bits of similarities on their forward progression. Yes the competition makes some astounding crap. No debate on that. But at least they are trying to do something new. Something different. It may not be guaranteed to succeed but they are being REAL innovators. Apple on the other hand sits back and pats them self on the back by releasing a smaller iPod.
Frustration is knowing that Apple could do more but won’t either because they are scared or because they own the market and doesn’t want to move out of their comfort zone.

 

[MacVault]

One more thing...

If it's just a mild update to the iPod or powermacs/books (as Think Secret is forcasting), then why would apple use the phrase, "One more thing...", on the invitations???

 

[Fabio_gsilva]

(...)

Oh sod it! POWERBOOK G5 NEXT TUESDAY! WOOOO HOOOO!

Or, at least, POWERBOOK G5 NEXT WEDNESDAY!!!

 

[p0intblank]

I still don't get curtains in the background; I just I will just have to wait and see. But one thing is important to me: as long as the dual-core Power Mac G5s are unveiled, I'll be happy. I've been waiting for a little while for this update to happen, and I really need a desktop Mac for my graphics work.

 

[freeny]

*shrugs* disappointing to say the least. But I can spend my money somewhere else. I would have liked Apple simplicity and design....I can go with Archos or the Zen. A friend has a Zen but it’s too thick. The Archos AV700 is OK but a 7" screen is a bit too big. I'll probably look into importing the viliv P1...
http://www.pmpevent.com/

If Apple doesn't want to play in the market fine. The rest of the world will simply pass them by and when Apple does come to the market eventually their hardware will be a dime a dozen because if you look realyl close the PVP market is more mature then most think. Its just that it hasn't penetrated the US yet. Whether that is because the OEMs think it would flop I don’t know. I do know that no one has tried. Over the last couple days people have kept screaming that people don’t want portable movies ot TV shows. This is an asinine comment in that no one has really tried to push it yet. So making such a final and complete statement is just dumb. The attempts so far have been half hearted and a complete joke. The hardware is there. The software isn’t. Sounds familiar? Again if Apple doesn’t pick up the ball someone else will at some point down the road so no skin off my back. I personally think Apple is so scared of screwing something up that they are scared to innovate. And as cool as the Nano is its NOT innovation. It’s the progressive next step of the iPod in a music player form. Nothing new. Nothing revolutionary. Nothing to rock the boat from the status quo. To possibly scare its user base to someone else. Same old warmed over Music iPod. This type of behavior is the same behavior Palm has had over the last 4 years. They don’t know what to do next so they come out with the same warmed over stuff. Obviously things are different with Apple. 1. The iPod is sexy. 2. The iPod is trendy. 3. iTunes. 4. iTMS. 5. iPod + iTunes + iTMS = Something no on else in the industry has. So yes there are differences but I see small bits of similarities on their forward progression. Yes the competition makes some astounding crap. No debate on that. But at least they are trying to do something new. Something different. It may not be guaranteed to succeed but they are being REAL innovators. Apple on the other hand sits back and pats them self on the back by releasing a smaller iPod.
Frustration is knowing that Apple could do more but won’t either because they are scared or because they own the market and doesn’t want to move out of their comfort zone.

nice work addict. video ipod next week definately. if there isnt a video ipod next week i guess i can go and grab one of these.

 

[celavato]

I don't understand why would someone buy 80gb iPod just to carry music and photos? Cmon guys, who are you, photographer of National Geographic?!? My 5 year worth music archive is hardly 35gbs, plus 5-6gbs of photo, and thats it.. I'm really curious to see who has 80gb of music here?

So what I am saying is, if not video capable there is no logical reason to raise the bar to 80gbs for iPod. But if it's gonna be showing videos on-the-go, then I could carry some divxs and stuff, and then 80gbs iPod is meaningful..

A music library in Apple Lossless format can quickly add up and exceed even 80GB.

 

[Lynxpro]

Could be onto something there. The only thing is, that wouldn't be as much of a mass market product as an iPod. Good thinking, though. The Beatles announcement coupled with Asteroid would do it, though.
Squire

I'd prefer an Apple branded Hotz Box myself...

 

[Mitch1984]

How about those crappy little flash-based players he talked about? Jobs says something is not right for reason 'x' then has the engineers create a reason to outweigh problem 'x'. If you could read everything he's said about a possible video iPod, they all have an out. No content? Make content. Full-length movie on small screen? Make shorter video content available. Poor UI? Make it better. That's one of his genius-like qualities.

Squire

Apple are all about making difficult things simple. So I totally agree.

Could be onto something there. The only thing is, that wouldn't be as much of a mass market product as an iPod. Good thinking, though. The Beatles announcement coupled with Asteroid would do it, though.

Squire

Haven't they got beef with The Beatles over the use of the name Apple?
Isn't that why they're being stingy not putting it on iTunes.

 

[Lynxpro]

AND ONE MORE THING ---curtains roll back ---- some sort of video device --home theather --- hooks up to every vid device in home --- I don't know enough about the tech. like most of you guys

Could be time to short TiVo stock...

 

[Lynxpro]

Until some form of broadband can cover about 75-80% of the USA I doubt we'll see any full feature movies anytime soon.
It would help if Apple came out with software that allowed you to rip your DVD's to a HD for backup or for your own personal usage.

I could see Apple doing that but assessing a small conversion fee to be paid to the MPAA to cover your converted copy to your iPod Video.

Then again, its not like iTunes prevents you from ripping music from CDs for use on your iPod. However, most CDs aren't encrypted, most unlike DVDs.

 

[Mitch1984]

Maybe the idea of the video ipod is not to view hollywood movies, but to sort of share your home videos, like how you share your home photos with with ipod photo.

Definately, that's what it's going to be for the time being.

 

[Yebot]

Clearly "toughboy" is about 13-15 years old. Give him about 5-10 years and he'll realize there's a whole other world of music other/better than Jessica Simpson and he'll be dying for a larger iPod.
__________________
Annoy a conservative - THINK for YOURSELF!

Maybe "toughboy" will be PROUD and LIBERAL enough to steal mass quantities of music from bitorrents and fill up an 80gig pod too.



Annoy musicians - STEAL thier MUSIC!

 

[madmaxmedia]

*shrugs* disappointing to say the least. But I can spend my money somewhere else. I would have liked Apple simplicity and design....I can go with Archos or the Zen. A friend has a Zen but it’s too thick. The Archos AV700 is OK but a 7" screen is a bit too big. I'll probably look into importing the viliv P1...

If Apple doesn't want to play in the market fine. The rest of the world will simply pass them by and when Apple does come to the market eventually their hardware will be a dime a dozen because if you look realyl close the PVP market is more mature then most think. Its just that it hasn't penetrated the US yet. Whether that is because the OEMs think it would flop I don’t know. I do know that no one has tried. Over the last couple days people have kept screaming that people don’t want portable movies ot TV shows. This is an asinine comment in that no one has really tried to push it yet. So making such a final and complete statement is just dumb. The attempts so far have been half hearted and a complete joke. The hardware is there. The software isn’t. Sounds familiar? Again if Apple doesn’t pick up the ball someone else will at some point down the road so no skin off my back. I personally think Apple is so scared of screwing something up that they are scared to innovate. And as cool as the Nano is its NOT innovation. It’s the progressive next step of the iPod in a music player form. Nothing new. Nothing revolutionary. Nothing to rock the boat from the status quo. To possibly scare its user base to someone else. Same old warmed over Music iPod. This type of behavior is the same behavior Palm has had over the last 4 years. They don’t know what to do next so they come out with the same warmed over stuff. Obviously things are different with Apple. 1. The iPod is sexy. 2. The iPod is trendy. 3. iTunes. 4. iTMS. 5. iPod + iTunes + iTMS = Something no on else in the industry has. So yes there are differences but I see small bits of similarities on their forward progression. Yes the competition makes some astounding crap. No debate on that. But at least they are trying to do something new. Something different. It may not be guaranteed to succeed but they are being REAL innovators. Apple on the other hand sits back and pats them self on the back by releasing a smaller iPod.
Frustration is knowing that Apple could do more but won’t either because they are scared or because they own the market and doesn’t want to move out of their comfort zone.

I am sure Apple knows all these things, which is why I still think they are coming out with a video iPod + content. But we'll all debate this ad infinitum until Wednesday. And if a video iPod isn't released, we'll debate it until it is, or continue debating forever...

More interestingly, that viliv is a pretty nice-looking unit! I can't read the site (I think it's Korean), but it's got a 4" LCD, 20/30GB HD, CF slot, and a touchwheel that looks a lot like a clickwheel (but doesn't seem to be.) It's actually quite similar to what's been described in various rumors, except the UI is landscape mode only (I am sure an iPod would still have a vertical UI, and display movies in landscape.) Some other things listed-

QVGA resolution (around 320 x 240 but probably a bit more for widescreen)
Wireless music player
6 hour movies, 11 hours music
Dolby Digital/DTS
Multiple video/audio codecs (Divx, xVid, MPEG 1/2/4, WMV, etc.)
Flash games
CF image viewer (from digital cameras)
FM + recorder
Removeable battery
Audio and video out
Dock
Wired remote, and wireless remote available
Text viewer
Dimensions- 161 mm x 74 mm x 18 mm (6.3" x 2.9" x .7")

I'm pretty darn impressed! I wonder how much it costs. Something like this from Apple (spec-wise, but closer to iPod size), with corresponding content library (free and paid) would be great.

Here are some more photos-
http://www.pmpevent.com/p1_photo/p1.html

EDIT- This little unit costs $350...How's that for cheap!

 

[Mr Maui]

Let's see..
Christmas is coming up..
Mainstream consumers are gonna want a new toy.
The operative word here is mainstream consumer ok?
NOT pros or scientist or musicians.Mainstream consumers..
you know those folks..The ones that like to take pictures of the family,listen to music,make home movies,surf the web and do email..

Visualize..Visualize.Visualize and most important.Think Different..

Think the new low-end eMac,iMac and perhaps even MacMini ( remember the one that got weird speed bumps with NO fanfare?)

I'll just spit it out...

Low-end "consumer oriented" macs..
iLife,OSX and a few other apps have been natively ported to Intel already..
The apps that "mainstream consumers" will want to use over the holidays.
I'd be willing to bet Office for the Mac has been ported to Intel from the same time OSX was..

Visualize and Think Different..

The first Macintel low-end machines for Christmas.Who wouldn't want one??

I can't completely disagree with this possibility. I'm sure I'm not the only one who's noticed the little Mac 101 blurb up in the corner of Apple's website ... more than likely targeting newbies and more specifically, SWITCHERS, getting them ready for Mac on Intel (which I speculate will increase Apple's marketshare).

 

[dontmatter]

form factor, NOT capacity! I've got the biggest collection of music of anybody I know (30 days), and I don't need any more capacity than my 20 giger.

the twenty sells way more than the sixtey. So the logical thing to do would be.... add capacity? no! make it small and sexy, and maintain or even slightly reduce capacity!

grr. end rant.

 

[GlamTech]

Madonna Ipod?

"Will Oprah join the kabbalah cabal?" Rush & Molloy speculate today from their column on the New York Daily News, adding rumoured details about the promotion of "Confessions On A Dance Floor".
"Madonna has been talking up the mystical form of Judaism to the already-spiritual talk-show queen for two years, in hopes that her fellow icon could help bring the Artist Occasionally Known as Esther's belief system to mainstream America, according to our source."

"The UK based pop star has sent Oprah books and E-mails about kabbalah, a spy tells us, but Angela De Paul in Oprah's office told us she wasn't aware that her boss had received any of the red-string propaganda. In a country where conservative Christians have shown their might in recent years, an endorsement of kabbalah by Winfrey, who has 9 million loyal viewers, would have a powerful effect. Her seal of approval has boosted everything from book sales to her own upcoming Broadway musical, "The Color Purple."
"Madonna knows that, and that's why she's chosen Oprah's show for her first interview since she took a tumble off a horse, our source says. Her Madgesty's reportedly going to let Oprah bring cameras into her British country manor to see how the other 0.000001% lives, and she'll also perform two numbers from her upcoming CD, "Confessions on a Dance Floor."

"For those who crave more, the diva's designing her own iPod, loaded with every recording she's ever made, and - call out the New York faithful - she's planning a concert here for MTV, sources tell us."

http://www.madonnatribe.com/images_press5/nydailynews_oct06_big.jpg

 

[shawnce]

form factor, NOT capacity! I've got the biggest collection of music of anybody I know (30 days), and I don't need any more capacity than my 20 giger.

What did you compress your music at? My audio library has around 16 days of music and it is over 26 GB in size (about 2/3 from CDs and he rest iTMS). I also have around 25 GB of photos that is nice to keep on my iPod as well for those ad-hoc family / friend get-togethers.

 

[Mr Maui]

I've done a 180 on thinking "one more thing" means just one announcement (with the others being handled outside the event). I can see Steve presenting it just like that (and I think your general predictions are good).

So I now think everything (Macs and iPods alike) WILL be in the presentation, even if some of the releases are minor... just to give Steve the chance to SAY "one more thing"

Which everyone will know is coming, and yes, that means it's a BIG one more thing.

" ... Oh, an one more thing ...

Apple has acquired Microsoft and will now own the world!"

 

[Bear]

form factor, NOT capacity! I've got the biggest collection of music of anybody I know (30 days), and I don't need any more capacity than my 20 giger.

I know a lot of people with more than 20GB of MP3s from their CD collection. Look outward as well as inward and you wown't bump into things.

the twenty sells way more than the sixtey. So the logical thing to do would be.... add capacity? no! make it small and sexy, and maintain or even slightly reduce capacity!

Maybe the price has something to do with it? Also, what if they can increase the capacity, shrink the iPod Color and maintain the current price?

You are forgetting about the economics of disk manufacturing. One of those is that if Apple wanted a 10GB 1.8" Drive, it's liable to be a larger drive with the capacity reduced by firmware on the drive and it would cost about the same. So why not go with the largest disk Apple can get for the same price?

 

[BWhaler]

Personally, I hope Apple announces the "Powerbook HD"

It is the year of HD, after all, and Apple needs to move away from the G4/G5 moniker as the Intel switch looms larger it will only amplify the problem with sales and positioning.

My Rev B 17" is getting a little long in the teeth, so here's what I wish for so I can feel great about buying a new PowerBook next week:

-HD display
-DDR2 memory
-ATIx800 GPU
-Faster FSB (This is CRITICAL since this is the bottleneck in the Powerbooks.)
-8X Dual sided burner
-7200 RPM drive. At least 100 gigs, but more would be better.
-More functionality in the touch pad. (e.g two finger double clicks...)
-Lighter and better battery life (Of course. And I know I can't have it all but it's my wish list.)
- A price cut. I don't mind paying more for Apple, but the top of the line PowerBooks are slightly out of the sweet spot of the market right now. I figure if it is a small update, we'll see a minor price drop. If it is a PowerBook HD with tons of innovation, the prices will stay the same. Because this is a major media event and not a quiet update, I suspect we will see some serious announcements and no price drop.

Honestly, I just hope the 17" gets a bump next week so I know I am buying at the current "peak." But getting my wish list will make me feel better about dropping that much money...

 

[BWhaler]

Just checked the ship times in oz and the 15 and 17 inch poerbooks jumped from 24hrs this morning to 5-7 days as we speak, looking good for part of the rumor

GREAT sloothing Barney.

 

[thejadedmonkey]

End: unlimited edition U2
Begin: iPod Madonna Edition


And the store is still telling me between 12 hours and 1-2 days depending on the comp...