The Beat Goes On: Nano, Touch, Beatles, Wireless?

[madmaxmedia]

There doesn't need to be internal competition between iPhone and iPod sales, you guys are assuming it to be the case. The iPod doesn't compete with the iPhone, it competes with Zune, Creative, etc.

First of all, if there is an iPod with Wifi, it will get Safari, Youtube, iChat, etc. at some point (Apple provided or not.) Mobile Safari is way too great a browser not to include. And no, there will be NO DRM-free song sharing, are you crazy? You can't even copy songs from iPod to computer right now (without 3rd party apps), why would Apple suddenly reverse stance on copying music wirelessly? That's much less likely than getting Safari on the iPod.

Second of all, any iPod with wifi and added features is going to cost closer to $600 than $300. That being the case, Apple will make a lot of money REGARDLESS of which device you buy. Want a phone? Buy the iPhone. Have a phone already, or want more storage space? Buy the iPod. Apple wins either way.

They might start the line at $299, but a $299 fullscreen iPod will not have wifi. More likely there would be 3 price points, with a maybe a $399 model with 120GB and no wifi, and a $499 model with 120GB and wifi.

The iPod/iPhone IS the next Newton, the one that most people actually want and need. iLife-type apps (music, photos, movies), a great mobile browser, iChat, etc. ALL working seamlessly and wonderfully right out of the box with the killer iPhone-type UI.

But wifi is coming, either in one week or one year. The same rigamarole comes up with every new generation of iPods- they're for music, they'll never add another feature. Yet the one constant of the iPod has been constant change, this product came out in what, 2001? The very name 'iPod' was chosen because it is non-specific (as opposed to using an app named 'iTunes' to manage movies, the iPhone, Address Book syncing, etc.)

 

[JGowan]

Why this is a "big deal"

You CAN just rip The Beatles collection into itunes yourself. I'm not sure what the big deal is.

With that logic, why does iTunes even exist? You "can just rip" ANY music into iTunes yourself.

There's a couple of reasons this is a big deal:

1) The Beatles have held out longer in being sold online in digital form than just about any of the big acts have. Rolling Stones and Madonna have both finally come online (Stones made a horrible choice, I think, for going with RealNetworks). And while Robert Plant has all of his stuff online (including the remasterd box set NINE LIVES), Led Zeppelin is still a "hold out".

2) It has been known for some time that The Beatles entire catalogue was being completely remastered. I'm sure Paul McCartney and George Martin were both heavily involved in this (McCartney would certainly hate a repeat of what happened to "Let It Be" -- especially to ALL of the material.) Will the music sound better? God, I surely hope so. Considering how good "Let It Be... Naked" sounded, I think it could. And while LIB...N was pretty drastic, it was understandable for those aware of the history of that album. With that being said, while I don't mind the rest of the catalogue being tweaked for the better, I DO NOT WANT the music to change. I want all the same guitar solos and other parts to remain completely in tact. I want all the keys to stay the same. There's some things on LIB...N that I just shake my head at and say "why?" but I think, as a whole, it is a better album now.

3) EMI is a partner to iTunes Plus-256kbps ACC. The music will sound excellent, even as a digital download. Music ripped up until now on the store at 128K ACC... it was, well, tolerable. Thank God The Beatles are EMI and will be offered at the higher bit rate. I've downloaded a number of albums on the Plus side and think they sound terrific (although I've been ripping my music at 320K for some time now).

4) The old becomes new again. This music is OLD. Even "Let It Be", their last released album (or the youngest), is almost 40 years old. Apart from hearing some of the hits on an Oldies radio station, what chance does a person have to sample the entire collection in his/her own home? I would imagine most people born from 1980 on up have very little knowledge of who The Beatles really were. A casual fan might purchase "1" and think they pretty much have all the good stuff. Not even close. With The Beatles on iTunes it truly opens up the potential for new fans.

5) If Steve Jobs offered up a Limited Edition iPod to U2, you KNOW that The Beatles will have one. Could be very awesome indeed. Considering the history of the Apples, I'm sure Jobs will only offer the coolest iPod ever with The Beatles. We'll see Sep. 5!

 

[OldTimey]

sharing music wirelessly is not something the record labels would be too keen on.

if the ipod is running OSX, i don't see apple including wifi on the ipod. An OSX/wifi ipod will be hacked before it reaches stores...if it doesn't ship with a web browser/mail program, you can bet your lucky stars that someone will develop one pretty quick.

look how far the iPhone hacks have come. The only surefire way for apple to avoid people overriding a "crippled" wifi iPod is to not include wifi period.

(thats not to say a third party wouldnt develop a wifi accessory...if the ipod is running osx...anything is possible.)

 

[8bitrevolution]

There doesn't need to be internal competition between iPhone and iPod sales, you guys are assuming it to be the case. The iPod doesn't compete with the iPhone, it competes with Zune, Creative, etc.

Amen.

 

[OldTimey]

if it runs osx and has wifi+safari and mail...then uhh yea it does compete with iphone.

If the new ipod is: full screen, has wifi+safari, im getting an iPod. If it doesn't, im getting an iPhone.

I can't be the only one that feels this way. To say they don't compete with each other, even now with the 5.5g ipod, is a somewhat ludicrous statement.

 

[betoranaldi]

With all this wifi talk, I hope they update the Airport Express to draft.n

I am about to upgrade my wireless system and was planning on getting one, would be nice to have all .n stuff so I don't need to run a mixed network.

Plus the Airport Express is a few years old and is due for an update.

 

[Much Ado]

With all this wifi talk, I hope they update the Airport Extreme to draft.n

Plus the Airport Extreme is a few years old and is due for an update.

http://www.apple.com/airportextreme/

 

[JGowan]

JGowan's thoughts...

I hope they at least have FM tuners and bluetooth.

Agreed. I have wanted a built in FM tuner forever. The best possible scenario would be a way to record the radio program. And not just push a button and record, but a way to set a recording to start a specific time (TIVO/VCR-like). With software included that messured sound levels, I'm sure Apple could create a way to just record the spoken word. Perfect for news shows, talk shows, etc. Certainly they wouldn't allow recording songs but news should be ok, right?

Bluetooth is the future man... Wouldn't it be nice to sync your iPod without ever plugging it in? Or maybe use your iPod as a remote?

I agree that the iPod as a remote for your MAC would be cool, I have to say that Bluetooth song transfers would be murderously slow.

Is it just me, or has every generation of iPods been preceded by a flood or rumors predicting WiFi/Bluetooth?

With the iPhone already HAVING WiFi, I don't think it's a stretch of the imagination this time. Finally. A rumor not based on pure dreaming.

Adding the entire Beatles makes perfect sense given all the band's members' catalogs being added in the past weeks.

Where the hell is George?! Perhaps I'm not searching right, but I only got one lame song that he sang as a guest on a Bob Dylan album. From what I can tell, EMI owns some of his stuff, although I believe he had his own label, Dark Horse. Anyone? What's the story on George's music?

I wouldn't be surprised if what is being called the new nano turns out to be the new "regular iPod", but these are just guesses based on pessimism.

Yes that would be the wrong decision and I don't you need to worry. That sounds like a horrible ideal. People have long thought of the REAL iPod as about the size as a deck of cards. Going to something so skinny would lose a lot of customers, I think. Revolt.

I think that they'll try to pass off this new iPod touch thing as something different than the regular iPod and give it a higher price. I just don't think they'll sell this for 250-350 while selling the iPhone for 500-600.

Agreed. Something is going to happen here with this new "touch" iPod being an entity of its own, the HIGH END model, as it were. Apple realizes that, while Touch is cool, there are millions that will balk at that big of a change, either in the technology or the price associated with it. I think we'll see:

1) Shuffle -- increase on capacity only (in my opinion, they're perfect).

2) Nano -- increase on capacity only (in my opinion, they're perfect). But there might be some small cosmetic changes

3) iPod -- increase in capacity. Price will be positively changed or more bang for the buck. I believe some cosmetic changes. It will get better and will be the iPod of choice for those who want a great full-size iPod without having to go touch or take out a bank loan.

4) iPod Touch -- Fill in the blank here according to your latest fantasies. But include a really big Hard Drive and a big price. I would imagine in the neighborhood of the iPhone's current price-points, $499 & $599.

 

[CaptainCaveMann]

Please bring a Multi touch ipod with Wifi and Safari browser!!!! That would be awesome, us T-Mobile customers and the like need it! No we want it! How cool would it be on your next trip to Europe to not have to bring your laptop but just have your ipod and find a hot spot to send email home? Amazing.

Well, either way we will all find out in a few days : )

 

[techlover828]

I'm so excited, my guess,
fat ipod nano 8GB and 16GB (or maybe 16-32) to replace current video.
iPod nano price reduction or larger capacities for same price.
Shuffle, cheaper? maybe 2GB
And then (drum roll please) the all new ipod (hopefully bt and wifi but maybe not)

thats whats going to happen, maybe

 

[betoranaldi]

http://www.apple.com/airportextreme/

DOH! I mean Airport Express

 

[nerfjames]

anyone notice...

in the iPod Touch mockup, the album of choice is Nerf Herder's "MY E.P.". Great album.

if you're into poppy punk......

-j

 

[twoodcc]

looking forward to this event. Hopefully more stuff will be released as well

 

[elcid]

Wireless wont be n. I would be thrilled with b/g/a and with WPA Enterprise. Secure it up sheesh!

 

[ben5959]

Thank You!!!!!!

if it runs osx and has wifi+safari and mail...then uhh yea it does compete with iphone.

If the new ipod is: full screen, has wifi+safari, im getting an iPod. If it doesn't, im getting an iPhone.

I can't be the only one that feels this way. To say they don't compete with each other, even now with the 5.5g ipod, is a somewhat ludicrous statement.

Thank you oldtimey, this was my point all along, that people would come to this decision if the new ipod had all of these features, and apple realizes this, therefore WILL NOT include these features in their new line!

by the way, has anyone heard reports of people being shocked by their iphones, mine was doing this while it charged, so i sent it to apple and they sent me a new one. kinda scary!

 

[Cloudsurfer]

With that logic, why does iTunes even exist?

Because

a) not everyone has every album;
b) downloading music and movies is not legal in every country.

I have never used the iTunes Store, simply because downloading is legal over here. Okay, the quality isn't always as great, but it's not bad either.

 

[JCC]

if it runs osx and has wifi+safari and mail...then uhh yea it does compete with iphone.

If the new ipod is: full screen, has wifi+safari, im getting an iPod. If it doesn't, im getting an iPhone.

If this is the case, then you don't really want a phone. If you don't actually want a phone, why are you considering buying one?

This is sort of like saying, "I don't need an expensive toaster. But the toaster comes with a chafing dish I really like, so I'll by the expensive toaster to get the chafing dish."

 

[nemaslov]

Because

a) not everyone has every album;
b) downloading music and movies is not legal in every country.

I have never used the iTunes Store, simply because downloading is legal over here. Okay, the quality isn't always as great, but it's not bad either.

And if you are taking songs for free you are stealing right out from the pockets of the artists. Kind of like me going into you house and taking some of you things.

 

[techlover828]

If this is the case, then you don't really want a phone. If you don't actually want a phone, why are you considering buying one?

This is sort of like saying, "I don't need an expensive toaster. But the toaster comes with a chafing dish I really like, so I'll by the expensive toaster to get the chafing dish."

ok?

 

[Cloudsurfer]

I'm so excited, my guess,
fat ipod nano 8GB and 16GB (or maybe 16-32) to replace current video.

I resized the mockup of Engaget in Photoshop to real size (I have it at home, don't have access to the file here...) and the screen is pretty small... much bigger than the 2G nano, of course, but still not a comfortable replacement for the true video iPod--especially if the new iPod will have a big iPhone-ish widescreen.

That said, I don't believe the new fat nano will have more than 16GB of storage. Costs aside, I don't think anyone would plant full-length movies on a 'low-end' iPod with a small screen like that. 32GB would make for a nice portable flash drive, though.

I think the base model will come with 4GB in silver, for 149€. The colored models will come in an 8GB configuration for 199€ (I would personally go for this model) and the top-end black model will come in 16GB... for 249€. My two cents

(A less optimistic view would be that the new nano won't even play video at all and will just use the screen for the iPod games and coverflow... in which case I think it will keep the current capacities.)

 

[Cloudsurfer]

And if you are taking songs for free you are stealing right out from the pockets of the artists. Kind of like me going into you house and taking some of you things.

Eh... no, not exactly. It's legal over here for a reason. We pay for these downloading rights through our ISP bills and every time we buy blank media such as DVD-R's and flash drives. As such, blank media over here is more expensive than in, say, the United States.

 

[artalliance]

Nope

edit:
maybe im just a little pissy because I DID buy the ipone and id be kind upset if they offered everything else except the phone function to an ipod for half the price

Use some common sense here
IF they include WIFI and a touch screen, this will be their top-of-the-line model. At least $450 or $500. So you don't have to feel too bad for getting all that plus a phone for $600.

 

[autrefois]

Obviously, based on the use of the phrase "The Beat Goes On", Apple are coming out with a Sonny and Cher iPod.

I see this has already been brought up earlier in the thread, but seriously it does seem like the Beatles reference is pretty promising (crosses fingers).

 

[techlover828]

Obviously, based on the use of the phrase "The Beat Goes On", Apple are coming out with a Sonny and Cher iPod.

i'd definatly pick one of those up.

 

[OldTimey]

If this is the case, then you don't really want a phone. If you don't actually want a phone, why are you considering buying one?

This is sort of like saying, "I don't need an expensive toaster. But the toaster comes with a chafing dish I really like, so I'll by the expensive toaster to get the chafing dish."

your analogy is somewhat faulty, and proves my point if nothing else... no i don't need an expensive toaster, nobody does, really. But if i NEED that chafing dish, then hell, i'll save my money and get the expensive toaster. Now...if a much less expensive toaster comes around with the same chaffing dish...which one do you think im going to buy?

besides...most of the iphone users i know use their iPhones to talk on the PHONE a lot less than they do as PDA's with wifi or 8GB iPods.

the bottom line is, neither the iPhone nor a wifi iPod would meet all the needs i have. I will always have a combination of devices in my pocket, for now.

it's either:

iPhone (phone + PDA)
+
30gig iPod 5G (for all my music and videos, 8gigs just dont cut it)

OR

80Gig iPod 6G with Wifi+OSX (PDA+all my music and videos)
+
Nokia 6030 (phone)


so yes, i need a phone, but it doesnt have to be an iPhone...

But bottom line, listen, i dont know if the new iPod will have WIFI. I dont think it will. but that's up to Steve. Who knows. if it does, awesome for me. But to say it won't cut into iPhone sales is idiotic. I for one, won't be buying an iPhone if the iPod has wifi+PDA functions. That's one less sale of the iPhone+2year contract. HELLO! others will feel the same way as i do. i am not alone. If the new ipods have wifi...i dont see that actually HELPING iPhone sales in any way...is that what you think would happen???