What's Next for Apple?

[0098386]

1 Wireless iPod
2 vPod (Video iPod)
3 iHome (Media Center)
4 iPod on Wheels (Enhanced iPod/Car interaction)
5 iPhone (Apple Branded)

1) brilliant idea, but could be quite slow (FW at 400mbps? USB2 at +400mbps? BT/Airport at...? yea). i do see something like that happening. i predict a huge change in the iPod market when the next big thing comes along (probably wireless), that they will drop the white and opt for black. iPods are becoming too common now, re-kickstart the market Apple!
2) no way
3) possibly. a more 'wireless' mac mini (remote?) with TV-in and other more home friendly features
4) could tie in with Wireless iPod, streaming music to car stereo?
5) id buy it 😀 that could be the only phone that would switch me from Siemens.

and the watch? looks beautiful but it wouldnt last long on me, my current watch is a G-Shock effort and its extrememly tough. i need tough watches.

 

[GregA]

iPhone LANDLINE

The picture of the "iHome" looks closer to what I think Apple could do on the phone front.

Forget 3G/GSM/CDMA phones. Think your normal home phones (and IP phones).

Stage 1 - make iChat AV able to make and receive phone calls with the normal phone network. Then add video chat capability with the other people providing video phones (ISDN, and the 3G mobile networks).

Stage 2 - make a phone that plugs into the home network instead of the phone socket. Put iChat AV on the phone. Give it a screen and small camera, and access to your Mac's address book.

Stage 3 - let the phone do anything an iPod can do. Then add Dashboard.

Stage 4 - make a wireless version of the above. So you can use your phone anywhere in your house, and in internet cafes too.

 

[Derekasaurus]

personally I'm hoping by the time my iPod needs to be replaced(either wears out or is completly filled) I'll be able to replace it with a 100gb blue tooth iPod, that would be pimp.

Bluetooth is a low-speed standard. It would take days to sync 100GB over BT. Even if you assume the first sync will be by wire, you'll still be waiting nearly a minute per song for updates. Wi-Fi, maybe, but that's another story with problems of its own. I hope Apple focuses on other innovations before wasting effort to replace one small white wire.

 

[jouster]

One thing I think worth pointing out is that if there ever is a video iPod, it won't be called a vPod. The name iPod is far too valuable in terms of brand recognition to ignore. That's why the mini isn't called the mPod, the shuffle isn't the sPod and the photo isn't called the pPod. Uh...aside from the unfortunate vegetable coincidence....

 

[ccuilla]

2 vPod (Video iPod)
3 iHome (Media Center)

2 no (jobs himself said its a dumb idea, video encoding takes longer than just watching, 2 inch screen would suck, etc.)
3 no (jobs says tv and computer wont mix, brain turns on while at computer, off while at tv)

2. How utterly uncreative of you...and you already have iPod photo to show you the way. Correct, no one is going to watch movies on a 2" screen...but they will on their 27-42" screens...with a cable...running from their iPod 100GB. Duh. Now was that so hard to envision.

3. How many people has so grossing extrapolated what Jobs has said about TV into either "Jobs hates TV" or "Apple won't do a TV-related product because you turn your brain off and Apple doesn't want you to do that". Baloney. He has merely pointed out the differences between the usage models of the two things (TV and computers). He hasn't necessarily indicated that one usage model is better or worse than the other...just that they are different...and that what is especially stupid is to not recognize this and build products that try (and fail) to serve both purposes. Sheesh.

 

[mark6051]

wireless ipod

With airport extreme built into most of apples products these days. What about a wireless ipod with a miniaturised airport card built in. might be slightly longer or thicker and maybe a few grams heavier. It would sync as soon as you come within range of your apple desktop or laptop. and it would be hellishly faster than bluetooth ?

It could even be secure coded so you control who accesses it and when.

I don't see why that isn't technically possible, still to slow for wireless video though 🙁

 

[iGary]

Has anybody mentioned a PowerBook G5 yet?

Seriously though, none of the items discussed interests me aside from an iPod that I could put home movies on. Not only would I immediately buy the iPod video, but I would use iMovie and actually get a video camera. 😀

Also, please, Santa Steve - a sub $2,000 dual 2.0, non crippled G5 Powermac this year. Thank you.

 

[Ferio]

Video iPod

How about keping the form factor of the iPod but essentially using it like a remote? What if the main screen was only for indexing and displaying the same info as the front of a DVD player and the controls did the play/pause/forward etc as they do now? Something like this (old model - http://www.cnn.com/TECH/computing/9911/18/comdex.eyetrek.idg/) - but I am sure that Apple can do better with current technology. I am thinking something like the display that IBM featured in one of their TV ads a few years ago for portable computing. Lets face it, you won't be walking/driving around watching video (at least not legally).
With the compression available in Tiger you could fit quite a few movies on a 80GB or 100GB unit. Might get a bit thicker, but thats a good price to pay for the convenience.
But then - have you seen a DVD playback on a Sony PSP? Quite good for portable use and a nice form factor. Add Apples twist, good HD storage, .264 and it could be amazing.

 

[DTphonehome]

...tethered? wait...i thought the entire point of bluetooth headphones was for them to be wire less?

<SARCASM>
Wow, nothing gets past you, Sherlock. You should work for the FBI with your thought-provoking insight.
</SARCASM>

 

[egor]

Jobs hasn't actually fully answered the iHome idea. What he's said he is against is a combination of tv and computer, I agree on that, using a computer is not an event where you sit around with people. But a media centre is very different from that. Having a central server which records as well as picks up tv via cable, aerial or satellite and then transmits the data on demand to different nodes for each tv in a home is already half-popular... tivo was/is revolutionary and had it been released a few years later it would have been much more succesfull. Apart from a menu driven interface which would be no more complicated than that which your average digital set-top box gives you I think it is a very distant idea from that originally answered by Jobs.

 

[chameeeleon]

I think the PSP is going to prove that there's a market for a compact portable video player - consumers rebuying movies they already own on DVD on UMD just to watch on the go :S? If Apple came out with a widescreen iPod with a screen like the PSP's, a harddrive and a video-out, I know I'd buy it.

 

[GregA]

How about keping the form factor of the iPod but essentially using it like a remote? What if the main screen was only for indexing and displaying the same info as the front of a DVD player and the controls did the play/pause/forward etc as they do now? <snip>
With the compression available in Tiger you could fit quite a few movies on a 80GB or 100GB unit. Might get a bit thicker, but thats a good price to pay for the convenience.

Have you noticed how fast the battery drains just showing slide shows? The battery life of the iPod RELIES on loading 4 or 5 songs into memory and spinning down the hard disk for 15 minutes, and any other function uses it up pretty fast.

I do like playing music from my computer straight to my stereo (and I'd like it even more with video!). If apple wants to make a remote control using wireless (or bluetooth) that is BASED on the look and feel of an iPod that'd be great, and I bet they can make it half the thickness of an iPod too.

 

[AndrewMT]

I always thought the idea of watching a movie on an ipod-sized device would be great - that's until I got my PSP. The PSP's screen is both large and beautiful for such a small device, but watching Spiderman 2 was quite uncomfortble. I either had to hold the PSP in my hand or lean it against something. If you watch the movie more than half-an-arm's length away, your eyes start to hurt as they try to focus on small details and action. If you hold the PSP while you watch, your neck and your arms (if they are not laying against something) get sore. I imagine Jobs has gone through several vPod prototypes and has come to the same conclusion.

Watching a movie on your TV via the video-out capabilities of the iPod Photo, however, would be a nice addition to the iPod's skimpy list of features.

 

[zv470]

Apple phone...

I would love an Apple cellphone. It would return the cellphone to it's originally intended function: to make and receive calls.

My dream phone would have:
01) no camera (until it's compatible with iChat AV)
02) no mp3 (edit: well I guess it could)
03) seamless outer-casing so no dust can get behind the buttons
04) trackpad style buttons
05) no screen (just kidding) 😀
06) bluetooth iSync integration (and something similar for Windows users)
07) no moving parts
08) no flashing lights
09) the backlight would fade out nicely like the iPod back light
10) read-only mode* (which would activate after some in-activity)

*Instead of keylock the phone would have a read-only mode, that disables accidental call making or modification of information. You could still view information on the phone with no need to hit un-keylock all the time.

11) shuffle mode: randomly call a friend. ( 😀 sorry couldn't resist)
12) and time sync with you computer clock.

any thoughts? 🙂

 

[zv470]

Apple iPod video...

I agree with you AndrewMT. Watching a movie on a small screen is not practical. But I think I could watch TV programs on an iPod video.

Imagine:

The Dock for the "iPod video" could be connected to a video source so you could record TV programs onto a tiny hard drive (which is inside the dock).

When you come home, you connect the iPod to the dock to transfer the programs so you can watch them on your way to work or at work. 😀

 

[broken_keyboard]

I got Business 2.0 and I have to say that those mock-ups look really nice. And I'm not sure why you ^ think they have no imagination... These people design stuff for a living. They live on imagination!

Yeah, they are nicely drawn pictures, but these ideas:

Wireless iPod
vPod (Video iPod)
iHome (Media Center)
iPod on Wheels (Enhanced iPod/Car interaction)
iPhone (Apple Branded)

are things anyone could think of, given the current Apple range.

 

[Mechcozmo]

Also, please, Santa Steve - a sub $2,000 dual 2.0, non crippled G5 Powermac this year. Thank you.

That would be far more welcome than a PowerBook G5! Please, Steve! Please! It can't be that hard, can it?

I would love an Apple cellphone. It would return the cellphone to it's originally intended function: to make and receive calls.

My dream phone would have:
01) no camera (until it's compatible with iChat AV)
02) no mp3 (edit: well I guess it could)
03) seamless outer-casing so no dust can get behind the buttons
04) trackpad style buttons
05) no screen (just kidding) 😀
06) bluetooth iSync integration (and something similar for Windows users)
07) no moving parts
08) no flashing lights
09) the backlight would fade out nicely like the iPod back light
10) read-only mode* (which would activate after some in-activity)

*Instead of keylock the phone would have a read-only mode, that disables accidental call making or modification of information. You could still view information on the phone with no need to hit un-keylock all the time.

11) shuffle mode: randomly call a friend. ( 😀 sorry couldn't resist)
12) and time sync with you computer clock.

any thoughts? 🙂

Most of those ideas are actually pretty good... save for #11 and #5...

 

[crees!]

I'm not a serious gamer, but I played with the new PSP (PlayStation Portable) this week. Man, that thing is SWEET. No harddisk but it uses mini CDs for the games and also has a flash memory slot. I came with a sampler CD that had about 10 music videos on it (widescreen). You can store mp3s and photos too. The graphics are amazing in my opinion. Even though this is more of a gaming device, Sony definitely has the jump on Apple in creating a "video iPod" and with some style. I'm seriously considering buying one of these suckers cause they're that cool.

 

[pimentoLoaf]

i want an iToaster, iWaffler and iHibachi -- all with a Sage green...

... whaddya mean they don't have colored Mac products anymore?

 

[blueflame]

Ive had this idea

Ive had this idea of waht the video ipod looked like ever since they first rounded the ipod edges.
I imagine the exact ipod look as no, less the wheel...
now dont panic
the screen is almost the entire face of the ipod, widescreen
on the side, or in the case of watching movies the top... there would be a single liniar touchpad like thing, kind of like the new RIO's, but white or grey and most of the side, with parts of the touchpad that could be pressed down much like the click wheel.
headphone port the same, and hold.
optional clip on stand. with Bluetooth and mabye sattilite? delivering h.264 content streaming from the sattilites.
downside? 2 hr battery.


hey, if anyone could make a really nice mock up of this it would make me really happy.
andreas

 

[shabbasuraj]

TRUE iPDA device

multi-button laser mouse

G6...

PERHAPS NOT...

 

[jared_kipe]

The phone is nice, video ipod would be nice, but oh man do I want a sweet apple watch that has weather and stocks, or just a watch. I love me an apple watch.

 

[Scottgfx]

It's not the first time something like this has been done either. MacWorld, many years ago, paid FrogDesign to do some mock-ups of future Mac systems.

The Business 2.0 article is interesting to me because the designer is a former Apple design director. When I look at those designs, I see the 20th Anniversary Mac and the Pismo Powerbook. Bob may not be the flavor-of-the-month at Apple right now, but I still find his designs to be quite fetching. Two different design philosophies, and neither one is more valid than the other. There is an excellent book on the Apple Design Group. I believe redlightrunner.com still sells it. Probably Amazon too.

Speaking of design; I was looking at the hilarious Microsoft document of picking the "right" MP3 player. Why the heck are their chosen players telling me what format, bitrate, and other useless info on the devices LCD display. While I'm out jogging, I'm gonna look down and say, "Holy Crap!, I'm listening to a WMA at 64kb/s!!!". (OK, if I jogged) 🙂

Nope, not at all. Published because it was a slow news day. As noted in my writeup, I don't put much credence into the article... it's just the usual wishful thinking.

arn

 

[aussie_geek]

what tha...

Seriously, where is Apple going with things like this. Soon we will have a special iPod for everything. Imagine having an iPod on your watch, one to take photo's on and then another one to access all of your stuff at home? Come on - that's getting ridiculous!! 🙄

If all of these iPods are released, it would be a tough job to keep track of what's on each one... Hang on, we would have a G5Pod for that 😛

aussie_geek

 

[Platform]

iHome is the wrong way to think of it.

Howabout iServe, as in Xserve for consumers.

😀

That would be real nice 😀 Running Xgrid on a few 🙄

But can apple come out with a few new computers instead of iPod's it is just too much iPod 🙁