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iPod ThinkSecret declares no touchscreen iPod.

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gloss

macrumors 601
Original poster
May 9, 2006
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ThinkSecret seems to be saying that those interface vids we all saw were indeed mockups for the 6G iPod. Even scarier, those short/squat iPod mockups that have been floating around may be eerily accurate.

To this I say, blah. I've got a semi-broken 4G iPod waiting to be replaced, and if this is true it looks like it'll be waiting a while longer.
 
Do you suppose there's ANY chance 5G & 5.5G owners will get a change to buy just the "new OS" and load it on our existing iPods since the change appears to be 90% software?

That I would do.
 
RumMunkey said:
Do you suppose there's ANY chance 5G & 5.5G owners will get a change to buy just the "new OS" and load it on our existing iPods since the change appears to be 90% software?

That I would do.
Click to expand...

no. historically software upgrades are never applied to previous models.

interesting. i was skeptical of a touchscreen ipod. for several reasons.
how close it is to the iPhone launch and getting around the ability to use your iPod while not looking at it. which is a good thing. i don't want to have to take my iPod out every time i want to change a song.

the one thing the iPod is lacking though is a decent screen for watching videos. i don't watch anything on there as it is now. but if it was fullscreen and widescreen like the iPhone i might.
 
Well there's a scary thought. One of my many questions is this: what stopped them from releasing this a year ago? If these are indeed the only changes we're gonna be seeing then I don't understand why we don't already have it. It doesn't sound like much of a generation change at all. So they shaved some height off of it, and perhaps changed the finish of it? That's no improvement. It seems it would be awkward to hold and just as susceptable to scratches as ever. The quality of videos won't be improved at all either if we still have such low resolution screens. If true, then disappointing.

Well since most online music stores are gaining EMI's DRM-free music, when's that 2nd gen Zune coming out?
 
No crap there won't be a touchscreen iPod. (assuming the iPods get updated for x-mas) You'd have to be an idiot to think that Apple would either
a) release a better spece'd $250 device that competes directly with their $500 device, or b) raise the price of iPod so high it gets priced out of the market.
 
vandlism said:
Well there's a scary thought. One of my many questions is this: what stopped them from releasing this a year ago? If these are indeed the only changes we're gonna be seeing then I don't understand why we don't already have it.
Click to expand...

Exactly. I'm not buying this rumor. Thinksecret is being fed incorrect information, IMO. I still believe that the clickwheel is dead. "Widescreen video ipod" has been the refrain coming from the masses for the last year at least. We've already seen it on the iPhone. It just makes sense to do the same thing on the iPod.
 
thejadedmonkey said:
...there won't be a touchscreen iPod....you'd have to be an idiot to think that Apple would ... release a better spece'd $250 device that competes directly with their $500 device, or raise the price of iPod so high it gets priced out of the market.
Click to expand...

You're right in these comments, unfortunately no one is making these claims. A widescreen iPod with a touchscreen competes with the iPhone how exactly? Because they look the same and both play music/video? There are 100+ million iPods out there, and many of their owners are happy with their phones, phone service, but might be willing to get themselves a video capable iPod. Not to mention the amount of people who would get the iPod merely for it's storage. They are two clearly defined markets. If anything, the iPhone competes with the iPod nano as it replaces a phone and an iPod nano for people. It is no replacement for a full-on iPod.

Also, the price of the low end iPod would remain around $300 to compete with the rest of the market. The most expensive component of the iPhone is the flash memory, something the iPod does without. There are many components in the iPhone that would not be in the iPod. If the iPod adopted the touch screen, that's just more parts standardization and the cost to Apple for both the iPhone and the iPod would drop.
 
thejadedmonkey said:
No crap there won't be a touchscreen iPod. (assuming the iPods get updated for x-mas) You'd have to be an idiot to think that Apple would either
a) release a better spece'd $250 device that competes directly with their $500 device, or b) raise the price of iPod so high it gets priced out of the market.
Click to expand...

Even ThinkSecret says one is coming, just not perhaps until 2008. Their report is only a question of timing.

imac/cheese said:
ThinkSecret hasn't been incredibly accurate lately.
Click to expand...

You mean, like over the last 2 years? This is obviously some strange usage of the word "lately" that I wasn't aware of. ;)
 
aidanpendragon said:
Even ThinkSecret says one is coming, just not perhaps until 2008. Their report is only a question of timing.



You mean, like over the last 2 years? This is obviously some strange usage of the word "lately" that I wasn't aware of. ;)
Click to expand...

Well, I really just started looking at these forums in May so I can't speak for anytime before that but I have yet to see ThinkSecret be accurate. From the sounds of this rumor, hopefully that trend continues. ;)
 
imac/cheese said:
ThinkSecret hasn't been incredibly accurate lately.
Click to expand...

They nailed FileMaker 9, but seriously, I agree TS has been pretty iffy ever since 'Asteroid'. That could lead one to believe that they're spreading or being fed misinformation. However, they're not the first to report this and most of their most recent rumors haven't had enough time to materialize.

As you can tell, I'm looking forward to an iPod update but hoping for something more than it to be the ever-shrinking iPod. In reality, I would hope for widescreen and a more resiliant (while not sacrificing design) body with perhaps a mention of iTS movie rentals? The iPod Hi-Fi updates can wait for another day I guess.
 
They, I'm hoping as much as anyone else that they're wrong (they aren't even the first to report the 'shaved one inch' version of the iPod), but I thought it'd be worth posting.

Hopefully AppleInsider will be able to produce some sort of rebuttal and restore my faith in the universe.
 
I've been holding out for a groundbreaking 6th Gen, this sounds just like an minor visual change to the current 5th Gen, iPods that are TWO YEARS OLD already! I pray that ThinkSecret is wrong, but I certainly won't be paying for this crap! I'll hold onto my 4th gen until an iPod worth buying comes out!
 
imac/cheese said:
Well, I really just started looking at these forums in May so I can't speak for anytime before that but I have yet to see ThinkSecret be accurate. From the sounds of this rumor, hopefully that trend continues. ;)
Click to expand...

Yeah, they built up a solid reputation in the past that has steadily been diminishing. Lately, their most accurate "stories" are either predictions made 2 days before an event - when most everyone suspects what will happen - or retroactive revisions done to correct their claims in line with what actually happened. AppleInsider seems to have a better hit % in the last year or so.

And in general...why would Apple release the iPhone and pitch it as "the best iPod we've ever made," but restrict those features' potential? They build a great screen for mobile video - then fail to couple it with enough memory to actually watch video? Forget 8GB! Maybe August is too wishful thinking, but this thing is coming out sooner or later.

Frankly, I don't care if it has Wi-Fi, Internet, browsers, or anything else that could crowd the iPhone market. All I want is a widescreen to watch video on the go, memory to hold it, and a battery to sustain it. Multitouch would be nice, but as long as you don't sacrifice screen for physical controls, whatever.

The whole "let's take the iPod but make it squatter & uglier" doesn't make a lot of sense. There are good alternative explanations from why MR was asked to pull that video (non-shipping concept/prototype?). Maybe it'll be a Nano revision - but even then, the form factor fits the audience (non-video music w./some photos).
 
I hope that the Blackberry like proportions are wrong. It looks like a poor choice for playing back widescreen video and there is all that wasted space either side of the click wheel. Furthermore, there is just something very unaesthetic about those proportions.
 
Loge said:
I hope that the Blackberry like proportions are wrong. It looks like a poor choice for playing back widescreen video and there is all that wasted space either side of the click wheel. Furthermore, there is just something very unaesthetic about those proportions.
Click to expand...

Agreed. According to TS the screen will remain the same, but 9to5mac says it will be a quarter of an inch wider. I don't want to put that in my pocket...

Touching upon the Wi-Fi idea: I don't want it to gain any iPhone functions in this respect, but I would definitely love the ability to play music to an AirPort Express or to stream music ala Bonjour/iTunes Sharing to other iPods. This would be similar to the Zune functionality, but eliminate DRM by allowing only streaming. It would also address Jobs' concerns: "I've seen the demonstrations on the Internet about how you can find another person using a Zune and give them a song they can play three times. It takes forever. By the time you've gone through all that, the girl's got up and left!"

Lastly, I've always thought an iPod could perfectly replace bringing a DVD to a friend's house or dorm room. Drop an iPod in the dock and watch a movie. If it could simply be connected to an AppleTV through that mysterious USB port and a dock then navigated using the AppleTV and remote..I'd take eight..well at least the pair.
 
when the ipod hi-fi was launcyhed, the rumora were saying that the tiouchscreen ipod would arrive at that launch... the fun new products event held at infinate loop. that was feb 28th 2006, more then a year later and still no touchscreen ipod... im still furious:mad::mad::mad:
 
..and there had better be a white version.

Anyone else want to believe that the 6th gen iPods will come with the new iPhone earbuds that have play/pause controls? I'd certainly love it. The more I think about it, I believe my favorite iPod was the 3rd gen. Sure it scratched easily, but the backlit touch buttons were awesome and it had a nice blue screen. Not to mention it came with the earbuds, earbud covers, the dock, dock port covers, a dock, a charger, firewire (anyone else remember this gem?), a belt clip case, a pouch, AND a remote. I miss firewire. It was fast, could be daisy-chained and would charge all the time.
 
The True APPLE FAN BOYS, will disregard the Appleinsider posts and just camp out to get the new iPod video even if it hasn't changed that much
 
iPod minus an inch would just be ugly, it's the perfect size to hold in one's hand. I really think multitouch would be nice on an iPod, it's been two years (5.5 gen doesn't count) and we haven't seen any significant upgrade. As of right now, I can't get an iPhone so I really want the iPhone without the phone part, and really without the flash memory too... nobody's paying $5000 for a 64 Gb iPod because that's just outrageous and the general buyers of the iPod really don't care about storage medium, they care about capacity. However, were the 6 Gen iPod to use a full body touch screen it would need a major battery to power all that stuff in it. The screen would be taking up too much power along with the hard drive for the thing to have much of a battery life. I say that we're fine as we are now, but an iPod with a touch screen would be nice, but capacity wise, for a hard drive Apple better be makin' some breakthroughs on batteries (maybe the option to turn off the screen like on the iPhone). Just my ideas.
 
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