Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

New iPod Next Week?

Maybe we're all waaay off

Has anybody stopped to think that the One More Thing... is nothing to do with any of Apple's existing product line. Nothing to do with PBs or PMs or video ipods :rolleyes:

I think SJ might be releasing a brand new product. Something that we would never think of, but would snap up in an instant.

Maybe the Newton PDA will be making a comeback :)

As for a video iPod and the red curtains - what do you normally use to cover up something before you unveil it?
 
Originally Posted by ingenious_7
Has anybody stopped to think that the One More Thing... is nothing to do with any of Apple's existing product line. Nothing to do with PBs or PMs or video ipods

I think SJ might be releasing a brand new product. Something that we would never think of, but would snap up in an instant.

Maybe the Newton PDA will be making a comeback

As for a video iPod and the red curtains - what do you normally use to cover up something before you unveil it?
Click to expand...
Very good point about the red curtins - I hadn't thought of that.

And really..."One more thing" could mean almost anything, it could mean what you suggested, or it may mean they "forgot" something at the last special event (or really it wasn't ready yet). - - I have no idea
 
http://www.engadget.com/entry/1234000550062232/

LOL, this has become practically like decoding the Bible code...

If you add up all the text on Apple's web site, then reverse align the text (or something like that), and throw away every other letter, there are 29 instances of the phrases 'iPod', 'video', and 'Oct'. That must mean it is coming!!!!

Also, I did a steganography analysis of that red curtain invite, and it actually says that Steve Jobs is the AntiChrist. The 'One More Thing' is the announcement of the end of the world...
 
hepcat57 said:
3. Compression with music is (arguably) less noticeable to the senses than compressed video would be. This is my opinion, but for 'the masses', 128AAC suits...while I'm not so sure you'd like to purchase a video that is lossy.
Click to expand...

All consumer digital video formats, including DVD, HDTV, MiniDV (and HDV), and satellite TV, use lossy video compression algorithms. H.264, which is the highlight of QuickTime 7.0, provides DVD-quality compression at 1/5th the bandwidth. And with good encoder, it's arguably superior to DVD. For instance, 480p samples at QuickTime.com are encoded at 600-700 kbps vs. 4-6 mbps typically used by DVD.

5. It's just as easy to carry a case of 48 DVDs to a friend's house as it would be carrying a vPod. Not to mention the time needed to encode those DVDs. If you want your home videos, that's what iMovie/iDVD are for.
Click to expand...

48 DVDs will require quite a bit of strength. I suppose if you store them on album-style binder it's far easier, but even than carrying a video-enabled iPod should be easier still.

7. TV shows/podcasts would be nice, but music videos suck and get boring very quickly.
Click to expand...

I think that's what the initial focus will be (if such device debuts). Downloading TV shows will require far smaller bandwidth then movies. An hour-long drama will be about 200 MB, and about half as much will be needed for a 30-minute sitcom. That's still far greater than a song, but if you are used to purchasing an album, the experience won't be so bad.

And if iPod does debut, I suspect upgraded Airport Express and/or new iPod dock will provide easy integration with your home theater.
 
one more thing

everyone is on the topic of video.....

What about the "ihome" - if the ihome performed like an ipod, downloading movies from a cable or wireless connection straight into a home theatre unit.

This could mean that a movie could be saved on a harddrive on the "ihome" or the PC itself, then burned to DVD a number of specific times just like itunes to CD via Fairplay.

"ihome" would also be able to stream PC media directly to a home theatre

I know SJ has already mentioned he doesn't see the crossover of PC to home theatre anytime soon. But I am thinking he means more PC use than anything in a lounge environment rather than actual media like Music and Movies. (that is inevitable)

Its been mentioned that there are no agreements in place yet to provide movies via streaming, however, since Jobs is Pixar chief, and is again on friendly terms with Disney, and Sony is also now at least on speaking terms with Jobs - as per previous Keynotes with Sony's chief being on stage - its possible that some limited content may be available - Steve always has been able to leverage support from wherever he needs it most so I'm thinking if this is it, its going to be substantial like the first release of itunes ??

also, since Steve and Apple are on the blueray bandwagon, this would also tie in nicely...Sounds all too neat really
 
I'm betting on a iPad

ingenious_7 said:
Has anybody stopped to think that the One More Thing... is nothing to do with any of Apple's existing product line. Nothing to do with PBs or PMs or video ipods :rolleyes:

I think SJ might be releasing a brand new product. Something that we would never think of, but would snap up in an instant.

Maybe the Newton PDA will be making a comeback :)

As for a video iPod and the red curtains - what do you normally use to cover up something before you unveil it?
Click to expand...

I think you may be right on here.

My friend walks around his apartment with a wireless touch screen monitor that controls his pc in the closet. It's 15" and sorta bulky but still convenient. He just bought a 10" screen with windows-CE that is a PDA out and about but can also control the pc in his closet when he is at home. Ever sense the mini I have thought how nice it would be to have a smaller screen tablet type device like this to sort of act like a remote control for all of it at home yet independant on its own. A smaller screen PDA, say 5"-7" and weighing about 1-1.5lbs with a 40-80gb HD, that syncs with my iApps would be the most useful thing in my opinion. A smaller tablet that I can carry around and use all the stuff that I produce on my Powerbook. Something that is not as powerful but more mobile. Check out swissboys posts. Apple has allot of different things. I think this will be "one additional thing"

Don
 
Something I have not yet seen mentioned.... the elgato eyeHome digital media player recently had a HUGE rebate on it. This could easly have been clearing the stock in anticipation or knowledge of a apple branded product comming out to fill it's spot. My bet is on a diskless media player of some sorts.
 
My Guess: PB or PM to come with Flash Hard Drives

You heard it here first, from me, Lukas! Hahaha... I am no insider. Okay, my guess is that Steve is holding this special event to debut something new and revolutionary. Even a dual core G5 PM would not warrant such an event invitation. Sure, that may happen, but that is not the what will cause all the oooohhhs and aaaahhhs. Even a dual core PowerBook won't be grounds for holding such an event with a keynote.

There must be somethng groundbreaking. And we have read about how Steve has fallen in love with flash. Well, methinks he will--in his true pinoneering spirit--break new ground once again...once again in a MAJOR way. And that will mean PowerBooks or PowerMacs to now come with flash hard drives.

Remember, you heard it from me, Lukas, first!!! :)
 
Airport Video Express?? I'll buy two tomorow!

Screw the video iPod what a dumb idea... But get an airport express that supports good quality video and digital audio out, then your on to something awesome. You have a viable market for people paying to download movies, even watching a dvd quality movie with DD5.1 while they are being downloaded! I have to do something with this new 6Mbps comcast connection :) You could also transmit some cool looking iTunes visualizations (they need more) to the videoExpress.
 
Podfuture....and Wall Street....and more....

madmaxmedia said:
The only other thing I have to say is that podfuture is da man, I think his call about a video iPod will be right on, just like with the Nano...
Click to expand...

Podfuture was indeed "dead spot on" with the iPod nano, so much so that it gives me the willies when he mentions a video iPod next week.

Not that I'm altogether blown away with the idea of a video iPod.
I have a 12" PB...not a large screen but good enough to watch the occasional DVD when I'm on the road...can't imagine watching similar content on an iPod.

Is this a case where people want to see a new product such as the Video iPod even if they do not fully understand why they would want such a device in the first place?

But I have to say this. Podfuture isn't alone. Analysts at the Wall Street Journal and PiperJaffray among others, are chiming in. They all feel that a Video iPod is just around the bend.
 
I think we should just all admit that we have no idea what is coming out, and give a big hand to apple... for stumping us. So far the things I've heard are...
-iPod update
-iPod Movie
-Airport Express w/ video
-PowerMac update
-Powerbook Update
-Bringing back the Newtons
+ much more

heck - we've made so many guesses one of them is bound to be right! :p
Good Job Apple!
 
One of the resistances that Steve Jobs had to releasing a "video iPod" was the fact that there was no legitimate channel for video content for such a device. You could use it for your home movies, but who even has time to edit those? and who would want to watch that more than once?
So what's changed since Steve said that? PSP and UMD. There is now a format and infrastructure created that is putting titles legitimately into the marketplace, and on a medium that has a DRM that hasn't been effectively broken*.
Sony has learned from it's loss in the VHS Betamax format war that if a format is to be successful, it must be made widely available. "Oh, but Sony hasn't licensed the technology for UMD!" you say. Well what if they just did. Not announced publicly, but Sony shopping the playback technology around to a few fo the CE companies to incorporate into their winter lines and gain a larger foothold for UMD while at the same time trying to increase the number of studios that can author to UMD. UMD becomes more standard, and the studios like it because it's more secure than DVD.
There is a place for the PSP, and that is amongst gamers. Somewhere between 5 and 10 million of them should be out there. The main problem with the PSP though is that it is also a game system. It's not quite pocket sized. A truly pocket sized player that could hold other content, oh say 4-6 gigs in a flash format (cough nano cough) for downloading small deletable clips such as music videos and last night's Daily Show (kinda like a podcast) via a subscription AND play purchased movie content on UMD would be something. The iPod wasn't entirely new technology or concept, it was existing parts and existing ideas done exactly right.
For the record, this is just fitting pieces of recent events together. I don't have any inside knowledge of either Sony or Apple. In fact I'd be surprised if Steve Jobs embraced a disc format for a portable device no matter how much stage time he shared with Sony's CEO last January.

*So yes mr/ms smartypants the PSP has been hacked to output the video by a couple of super geeks. So what? There is no such thing as a UMD burner so what are you going to do with the file you manage to output from your disassembled and soldered PSP? And since Apple would be controlling the hardware, what's to stop them from making the vPod only play legitimately downloaded video clips? What if you couldn't rip a DVD and reformat it to some version of H.264 that the vPod runs?
 
MacTruck said:
NO and NO. Only a dual G5 2.3ghz and up can even watch HD. Now try encoding in HD, forget about it. HD looks great but for all the trouble and cost I don't know. If apple came out with a dual core dual G5 then maybe.
Click to expand...



your...........simply wrong.

i can watch HD content (the highest rez apple has at their quick time site) on my girlfriends iMac no problem.

and its beautiful. by the way thats the 1.8GHZ iMac....no problemo.
 
I think it's something that Apple had originally planed for the Special Event last month, but decided it too big/important/cool to release with other products. Therefore, now just 1 month later they are building up this event, so everyone will be watching.
 
mainemike said:
Podfuture was indeed "dead spot on" with the iPod nano, so much so that it gives me the willies when he mentions a video iPod next week.

Not that I'm altogether blown away with the idea of a video iPod.
I have a 12" PB...not a large screen but good enough to watch the occasional DVD when I'm on the road...can't imagine watching similar content on an iPod.

Is this a case where people want to see a new product such as the Video iPod even if they do not fully understand why they would want such a device in the first place?

But I have to say this. Podfuture isn't alone. Analysts at the Wall Street Journal and PiperJaffray among others, are chiming in. They all feel that a Video iPod is just around the bend.
Click to expand...

What if it output wirelessly to TV via Airport Express? What if there was a lot of cool, unique free and paid content in a video directory within iTunes? What if you could rip 20 or 30 movies onto an iPod, and still have 20+ GB left for music? What if every time you ran across a web page with a QT stream, there was a button to 'Send to iPod'? These are all the sorts of things that a video-enabled iPod could do.

Even then, I understand it's not the Second Coming or anything like that. But it's a cool feature addition to the full-sized iPod, and a great way for Apple to continue its dominance over Creative, Sony, etc...

Other analysts have chimed in, but podfuture was much earlier than all of them. His description was also later repeated by the other sites. And everyone else has sorta hedged their bets, saying that it probably will, or should come. Podfuture is the only one who said it was a done deal, now just wait until October...
 
Originally Posted by beatle888
your...........simply wrong.

i can watch HD content (the highest rez apple has at their quick time site) on my girlfriends iMac no problem.

and its beautiful. by the way thats the 1.8GHZ iMac....no problemo.
Click to expand...

I also have an iMac G5 (Rev. B, 2.0 GHz, 128 MB Video RAM, & 1 GB Memory) and it can play the highest quality (1080p), but sometimes it does lag a little (really bad if any other program is open). Yesterday I tried the middle quailty (720p) and it had some bad problems, don't know why.
Anayway, an iMac can do it, but it's pushing it.
But I'm sure a dual G5 2.3 GHz could do it no problems.
 
Talking To A Teenager

I asked my teenage son what he'd think about a video iPod.
"That would be the best!"
I asked him why he thought this.
"It would just be so cool."
OK, I said. But how would it be cooler than the PSP you already have, or the portable DVD player that we use on road trips? (The portable DVD player has a 10 inch screen....and we had to use it on road trips, because most hotels/motels we stayed in did not allow you to jack your portable devices directly into their TV sets, unless you were staying at a facility geared towards business meetings).
"Well, it would just be cool, that's all," said my son. "It would be better. Videos on my iPod? That would be so cool."
"Yes, but how would it be better than what we already have?" I persisted.
"It would be better", said my son.
End of conversation.

I don't know, folks....maybe I'm getting old but I'm having a hard time with the "lust factor" for a video iPod. The original iPod affected me deeply. I loved the idea that I could travel with my music....MY music....any time, any place, and with no CDs or jewel cases sliding and thumping around the car as I made sharp turns. The iPod changed my life in certain respects.
One of those rare things where I asked myself, "how would you get along without this thing?" and "where have you been all of my life?!"

Sorry, I can't seem to muster the same enthusiasm for a video enabled iPod. But my teenage son can.
 
Originally Posted by mainemike
I don't know, folks....maybe I'm getting old but I'm having a hard time with the "lust factor" for a video iPod. The original iPod affected me deeply. I loved the idea that I could travel with my music....MY music....any time, any place, and with no CDs or jewel cases sliding and thumping around the car as I made sharp turns. The iPod changed my life in certain respects.
One of those rare things where I asked myself, "how would you get along without this thing?" and "where have you been all of my life?!"

Sorry, I can't seem to muster the same enthusiasm for a video enabled iPod. But my teenage son can.
Click to expand...
Just think...If you were going on vacation, you could bring your 20 (or so) favorate DVD's with you, on your iPod. When you want to watch one, get out the cable, hook it up to your TV, and tada! You have all your favorate DVD's on an iPod! No More DVD players!
 
madmaxmedia said:
What if it output wirelessly to TV via Airport Express? What if there was a lot of cool, unique free and paid content in a video directory within iTunes? What if you could rip 20 or 30 movies onto an iPod, and still have 20+ GB left for music? What if every time you ran across a web page with a QT stream, there was a button to 'Send to iPod'? These are all the sorts of things that a video-enabled iPod could do.
Click to expand...

Lots of "ifs", but nice ideas.

Wireless to a TV via Airport Express? Is this something you'd use at home with a DVD player and a nice TV set? Why?
Let's take this show on the road.
My experience with Airport Express on an epic road trip this summer was actually quite underwhelming. I was quite surprised at just how useless my Airport Express was in certain motels and hotels with wireless networks. In the places I stayed at with strong networks, I didn't need the Airport Express at all, and in the places with feeble wireless networks, the Airport Express didn't make much of a difference, as it couldn't quite connect to the network any more than my Powerbook could. I'm sure there are people who can contradict me with different experiences, but I'm talking about a trip in which I traveled across 11 states, staying in "name brand" chain motel/hotels.
I dunno - when Steve Jobs said that he doesn't see the market for computers and television - I'm inclined to believe him.
At least for now.
 
mainemike said:
Sorry, I can't seem to muster the same enthusiasm for a video enabled iPod. But my teenage son can.
Click to expand...

Sure, part of the equation is what kind of unique and compelling content will there be. And that's something that Apple needs to, and will address if such a device is released.

Part of the reason for your son's enthusiasm gets back to just how great a product the iPod is. The iPod is one of the best designed consumer electronics devices ever. If there's content, and there's a video iPod, it will get the ball rolling in the portable video market like no other can.

It's not enough of a reason in itself to do it, but it's not like there needs to be. We're just talking about adding video playback to existing iPods. They already have color screens and the controller chips can do video. So why not add video to the iPod?
 
EricNau said:
Just think...If you were going on vacation, you could bring your 20 (or so) favorate DVD's with you, on your iPod. When you want to watch one, get out the cable, hook it up to your TV, and tada! You have all your favorate DVD's on an iPod! No More DVD players!
Click to expand...

Ah....but therein lies the rub.

Many TV sets that you'll encounter on the road do not allow you to hook up your DVD players (or iPods) or whatever. The composite connections are either missing or nonexistent with many motel/hotel TV sets.
 
madmaxmedia said:
It's not enough of a reason in itself to do it, but it's not like there needs to be. We're just talking about adding video playback to existing iPods. They already have color screens and the controller chips can do video. So why not add video to the iPod?
Click to expand...

I take your point, and that's probably all the justification Apple will need to unveil a video iPod. There will always be someone willing to buy it.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back