New iPods - Video Support, TV Episodes, Music Videos

[840quadra]

I am curious to see if the IR reciever in the new iMac is compatible with the origonal Apple Remote.

I am going to bring mine into the Apple Store, and test it out when they get their first new iMac comptuers in. I know the buttons aren't the same, but I am still curious to find out.

 

[whooleytoo]

Can you buy the Lost episodes in iTMS UK? It's a real pity, but they aren't available here (in Ireland).

Actually, one thing I noticed in the Irish iTMS, is how bad it now looks! Unlike the US store which looks "full", there are gaps in the Irish page where US-specific features (Lost episodes, free songs etc.) would have been. Looks messy, very unlike Apple.

Edit: Ok, they've improved the front page since last night, but the Music Videos page is still a bit icky..

 

[lord_flash]

When it comes to TV shows, at the moment its for only the states. The Rest of the World don't yet benefit. I expect Apple haven't been arsed to start any negotiations.

Yeah, and it's not like they've done a fantastic job in the States either. Some awful-looking kids shows, Lost, and Ddesperate Housewives? You've gotta wonder whether they just couldn't get any more support from the networks.

And it's all 4:3 when 16:9 is taking over the world.

Why did I hear it was shown in the UK when there wasn't some sort of content deal with the BBC?

 

[mattc]

Australia misses out again!!!

Great products and the ability to download video and TV is great, however once again Australia misses out because of no Music Store. Come on Apple, lets get it going!!!

 

[840quadra]

Great products and the ability to download video and TV is great, however once again Australia misses out because of no Music Store. Come on Apple, lets get it going!!!

I am sure it is more of an issue with your local government, and record companies as opposed to Apple. If apple could, I am sure they would be selling music via ITMS to world, however Lawyers don't really love Apple .

 

[no1]

i am very dissapointed. i thought to buy new ipod, but i don`t know anymore. it`s too big and heavy for me. i have about 20g of music so i don`t want ipod nano either. I want small and silver (something that looks like silver ipod mini) 30g ipod.. without video support.

 

[Mac_Freak]

i am very dissapointed. i thought to buy new ipod, but i don`t know anymore. it`s too big and heavy for me. i have about 20g of music so i don`t want ipod nano either. I want small and silver (something that looks like silver ipod mini) 30g ipod.. without video support.

You know that the new iPod is smaller then the one that it replaced, right?
If you wanted something of the size of iPod mini with 30GB then your out of luck as there is now way for that to happen yet.

 

[swindmill]

I am sure it is more of an issue with your local government, and record companies as opposed to Apple. If apple could, I am sure they would be selling music via ITMS to world, however Lawyers don't really love Apple .

It definitely is not Apple's fault, but you can't blame it on lawyers either. In cases like those, lawyers are just disinterested representatives.

 

[mflat5]

How Jobs is smarter than you think - video iPod is brill!

So with the advent of the nifty, semi-gimmicky video iPod, Apple has done it again with smart strategy, timing and a cool new product.

Jobs and Apple know that the holiday rush is approaching / in the midst and that they need to capitalize in 2005 to maintain momentum. Fall seasons are crucial times for business to not only garner sales, but also maintain a sense of consumer awareness and "test out" brand loyalty.

The introduction of a video iPod will hopefully maintain momentum for Apple, help sales and act as a guinea pig for the future full-fledged video iPod. Analysts (Gartner, for example, I believe) have predicted that this iPod video is a test to see the market demand for portable video -- seems right to me.

Think about it -- Apple is not foolhearted enough to spend tons of cash on R&D, design, manufacturing, licensing (with film companies) and distribution on a new brand new, completely redesigned and expensive iPod with tons of content that may not sell well. Given the fact that Apple's shares have recently dropped more than 10% is an indication that they could be on the aggressive, yet cautious side on spending too much to get a minimal return. They are a business.

The new iPod, while not revolutionary in video content or design yet, is a step in the right testing direction. FROM A BUSINESS STANDPOINT, the new iPod has the following going for it:

- minimal design overhaul = less expenditure and time to develop and manufacture
- familiar design = furthering consumer loyalty and recognition
- brand loyalty is sustained b/c it's Apple, it's an iPod by Apple and b/c it's relatively the same
- larger screen = still does not compromise the integrity of the iPod from previous, yet provides a better amount of viewable area

Jobs / Apple is smarter than you think. The iPod has truly crossed over into the mainstream -- early adopters and "tech-heads" are relatively smaller than mass audiences and they would be foolish to abandon that. The bar has been set for them.

Now only if it could translate into eventual higher sales for its OS and computer products...

 

[Riot_Mac]

I'm sure this has been answered but I couldnt find it skimming over all the posts. Do we know if the iPod video will play mpeg4 and h.264 larger than 480x480. What about my movies that I export from iMovie? Or will it only play the video files from the itunes store? Will it scale down a movie that is in 720x480 to a cropped 480x480 so it looks right on a sd tv?
All in all i think it looks like a great product. I will mostly likely be purchasing one especially if it does what I am asking above.
Thanks!

 

[snowmoon]

Jobs / Apple is smarter than you think. The iPod has truly crossed over into the mainstream -- early adopters and "tech-heads" are relatively smaller than mass audiences and they would be foolish to abandon that. The bar has been set for them.

Now only if it could translate into eventual higher sales for its OS and computer products...

That would assume that he CARES is if transalates. iPods already account for something like 40% of the revenue of the company and it's growing at a substantial clip. If the iPod/iTunes does expand into iMeda and do Movie rentals or Movie downloads it will continue to outpace the computer sales as apples biggest seller. I'm personally in the market for a mac once the transistion is complete ( my laptop works just fine for now ) and Im sure I will be moving to mac accessories as they become appealing to me ( Airport Express and others ).

So, we may be over analizing this situation. Stevie may or may not care about halo as each part of this equation stands on their own. The only thing that is nice about switchers is they become dependant on Apple for 2-5 years for hardware and software ( or 3rd party profit sharing a-la "the dock" ). But apple is making more profits on the nano than they are probably making on the mac mini or the entry level iBooks. A good company will push it's strong suit and here is the iPod from both a consumer recognition ( all mp3 players are now ipods ) and from a profit motive standpoint.

 

[achie25]

I think the video ipod is great. But I will wait a year or so before buying one. I just got a 4G 20 gig photo ipod. so I will wait for future upgrades to the video ipod. It will be hard to do once the video library begins to expand

 

[Mr Maui]

It definitely is not Apple's fault, but you can't blame it on lawyers either. In cases like those, lawyers are just disinterested representatives.

When there is money at stake, lawyers are VERY interested. They get paid no matter which way the ruling goes. Kinda like stockbrokers.

 

[nagromme]

I have around $500 saved and I can't decide whether to get a PSP or an iPod. Even if they do look like they wouldn't fit in my pocket.... Maybe I should keep saving for an iMac.

Go with the iMac. It LOOKS big, but it's deceptive. Fits easily in my front pocket

A really nice feature on the new iPods is the optional "iPod Camera Connector" that lets you use the iPod as a storage device for transferring photos from a digital camera. I wish they had done this sooner!

That's been out for about a year And for a long time before that, Belkin made a similar product.

Now only if it could translate into eventual higher sales for its OS and computer products...

It has already begun

I'm sure this has been answered but I couldnt find it skimming over all the posts. Do we know if the iPod video will play mpeg4 and h.264 larger than 480x480. What about my movies that I export from iMovie? Or will it only play the video files from the itunes store? Will it scale down a movie that is in 720x480 to a cropped 480x480 so it looks right on a sd tv?

The iPod plays at 320x240 (4:3), and there will be black bars (of course) if you use other shapes. You can convert other QuickTime formats for iPod use using QuickTime Pro. (I'd like to think iTunes or maybe iMovie can do it without a $30 QTPro key, but I'm not sure. I expect there will be shareware or something to do the task soon if not.)

 

[nemaslov]

where is the 80GB?

I would have ordered a new iPod right away if they released a 80GB version. My 60 is full and I don't want to delete songs. I don't care about the video storage so I will wait for the big one.. That rumour was wrong.

 

[Mr Maui]

I would have ordered a new iPod right away if they released a 80GB version. My 60 is full and I don't want to delete songs. I don't care about the video storage so I will wait for the big one.. That rumour was wrong.

From whom did the 80GB rumor begin? We can add a new "strike" against their accuracy.

 

[danistheman50]

Does anybody know of any free programs that will convert the myriad of video formats (especially DIVX and XVID) to h.264 at the proper resolution so I can watch my family guy and that 70's show episodes on my new 5g iPod?

 

[snowmoon]

From whom did the 80GB rumor begin? We can add a new "strike" against their accuracy.

Toshiba... their new drives ( the ones sourced for iPod's ) comes with 1 or 2 platter configurations each at 40GB. It's a natural expectaion that the iPod would update their capactiy as the drives came along. Actually I'm expecting that they will silently upgrade the iPods in the next month.

In fact people are scrating their heads since the reduction in thikness of the 5g iPod can only be attributed to thinner drives, but they are still advertizing 30/60 and that doesn't make any sense since those drives are sourced from Toshiba as 40/80 ( in theory of course ).

 

[bankshot]

Sorry for your loss... I'm paranoid about my iPod getting ripped off - it's practically a new form of currency in NYC. What were the circumstances of the theft?

LJ

It was stolen from a secure area at work, about the last place I would have expected. Since the story is off topic to this thread, I decided to post a new one. Read over there if you're curious:

What Apple stuff have you had stolen?

 

[Jesus]

I notice the new iPod is USB-only. So the transition is now complete - none of the current iPods support Firewire. Oh well. That said, it does still look nice and I'm glad I held off buying an iPod until now. The video probably won't do anything for me, but the thinner case and less weight are positives.

I phoned apple, the new ipod does support firewire.

Sorry if this has been addressed earlier

Jesus

 

[madmaxmedia]

Does anybody know of any free programs that will convert the myriad of video formats (especially DIVX and XVID) to h.264 at the proper resolution so I can watch my family guy and that 70's show episodes on my new 5g iPod?

ffmpegx (just google it)

I anticipate they will release a new update soon with a couple of good presets for outputting to the new iPod. Some possibilities-
-Best quality H264 (takes a long time, but great quality and good compression)
-Hi-Res MPEG4 (makes no difference on iPod screen, but should be better TV out, higher bitrate required.)
-Medium-Res MPEG5 (320 x 240, not as good as H264 but faster processing time.)

 

[Riot_Mac]

ffmpegx (just google it)

I anticipate they will release a new update soon with a couple of good presets for outputting to the new iPod. Some possibilities-
-Best quality H264 (takes a long time, but great quality and good compression)
-Hi-Res MPEG4 (makes no difference on iPod screen, but should be better TV out, higher bitrate required.)
-Medium-Res MPEG5 (320 x 240, not as good as H264 but faster processing time.)

if the ipod can only output at 320x240 to a tv, the picture is going to look bad. hopefully it is just 320x240 on the ipod screen and not on the tv.

 

[madmaxmedia]

The iPod plays at 320x240 (4:3), and there will be black bars (of course) if you use other shapes. You can convert other QuickTime formats for iPod use using QuickTime Pro. (I'd like to think iTunes or maybe iMovie can do it without a $30 QTPro key, but I'm not sure. I expect there will be shareware or something to do the task soon if not.)

MPEG4 video can be up to 480 x 480. It won't make a difference on the iPod screen, but may give better resolution with the TV out.

I learned one very interesting thing about H264. It supports objects (kind of like vector graphics), which scale better than pure bitmaps. So that may be one reason why fullscreen viewing of these H264 clips from iTMS actually looks okay. I bought the first episode of Lost, and it actually is watchable fullscreen on my 15" PowerBook (although 2x is definitely better.) Obviously the iTunes viewer is also doing various tricks such as interpolation, aliasing, etc. You can't make extra resolution and detail where none exists, but you can make it look reasonably sharp at 2x.

Another interesting thing about H264 is that it is more or less a platform than an actual codec. Improvements will be made in encoding quality, but will still be compatible with all H264 players. These are some of the reasons why H264 takes so long to encode videos.

if the ipod can only output at 320x240 to a tv, the picture is going to look bad. hopefully it is just 320x240 on the ipod screen and not on the tv.

Unfortunately, it is only 320 x 240. Decoding higher resolution video simply take too much power and juice for now. But on a regular analog TV, I think you will be surprised. Based on viewing 'Lost' on my PB, I think viewing on a TV will look close to regular broadcast TV (but obviously inferior to DVD quality.)

It's not ideal by any stretch, but represents a pretty reasonable compromise in an iPod that decreased in size and did not go up in price.

In time, we will get further improvements. I think next year we will have say VGA level resolution (both in the iTMS content and what the iPod can handle.)

I phoned apple, the new ipod does support firewire.

Sorry if this has been addressed earlier

Jesus

Did you ask them if you could load the iPod via Firewire? The Apple store indicates otherwise. If you look at the compatible devices for the USB cable and the Firewire cable, only the USB cable is listed as compatible with 'iPod with video'.

IF that is the case, it's too bad. I have USB 2 on my computers so no worries for me, but I know some people will be disappointed.

 

[mongoos150]

Does anybody know of any free programs that will convert the myriad of video formats (especially DIVX and XVID) to h.264 at the proper resolution so I can watch my family guy and that 70's show episodes on my new 5g iPod?

Are you sure you'll be able to transfer your own h.264 videos onto iPod? I know you can put your own home videos on it...If so I'm buying one.

 

[devman]

Unfortunately, it is only 320 x 240.

Do you have a link for that. Several other fora are asking what the TV Out resolution is. No-one seems to know for sure.