WiFi iPods in Second Half of 2007?

[Digital Skunk]

I'm going to "flip" it around, and say this: I'd love an iPod with small (but sizeable) amount of flash memory with wifi capabilities. Why? Because, then you can STREAM your ENTIRE LIBRARY from wherever. The device can be TINY and yet you can bring your entire LIBRARY anywhere you are whereever there's a wifi connection which as time passes will be more and more easily accessible.

Why spend the space/size etc on physical memory when you can just stream it ANYWHERE?

That's my perspective
w00master

Cuz it will suck away your battery life more than the HDD would. Even with NAND streaming over WiFi will be a battery hog. And that streaming stuff leaves the possiblity of thievery open. Also, WiFi everywhere (unlocked WiFi) isn't here just yet and may not be happening any time in the near future.

I do like your idea of flash memory though. It will suck for those with libraries in the 30 - 50+ GB range... but us smucks with about 14GB or less would love to see an iPod with flash memory and supurb battery life. iPhone sized of course with that kick arse interface. 32 - 64GB capacity.... Yeah... I like that.

 

[TomSmithMacEd]

next iPod just the iPhone without phone capabilities???

 

[Digital Skunk]

Don't care. All I want is something to replace my 60GB iPod. Pref. a 100GB video iPod. That way I can put all my music on the thing and season 1,2, and 3 of BSG.

Battlestar ROCKS

 

[Digital Skunk]

next iPod just the iPhone without phone capabilities???

That's all I want... don't forget the 32 - 64GB of flash memory...

 

[Fuchal]

The internet communicator part would allow you to, presumably, purchase anything from the iTunes store from any wi-fi hot spot.

Imagine you're driving to meet a friend at Starbucks and hear a song on the radio you want to buy. Once you get there, you can download the song directly to your iPod without needing your laptop. Then, when that hot girl/guy sits down at the next table, you can say, "Hey, you gotta hear this song!" and hand over your earbuds to them (just as Jobs would suggest).

This is the same business model wireless phones have tried to promote in regard to music, but traditional phones are slow to download and troublesome to manage music.

Instead of sending a song to the other person, i'd be nicer if you could use the Wi-Fi to purchase the song for the other person as a gift and also buy a bottle of wine.

 

[age234]

iPhone without the phone? Widescreen touchscreen iPod + Internet device, would be tremendous.

 

[BayAreaMacFan]

I really doubt it'll be the iPhone without the phone. It will for sure have multi-touch IMO, but they will have to differentiate it from the iPhone. They don't want to take away sales from it.

 

[suneohair]

I really doubt it'll be the iPhone without the phone. It will for sure have multi-touch IMO, but they will have to differentiate it from the iPhone. They don't want to take away sales from it.

I doubt sales would be take away from the iPhone if they have an iPod sans cellphone capability. Besides, they won't be putting OS X on that iPod so a major feature would be lost there.

 

[skellener]

A Wi-Pod could be cool for syncing. No more cables to hassle with (except for charging of course). But I'm not sure if they would allow transfers to other iPods, especially in the wake of DRM free music on it's way.

It would be cool though if you could see other iPods and listen to their music just like seeing everyone's iTunes on your network (like at work or school). That way you could at least listen to other people's music with necessarily stealing it. Maybe with a "bookmark" feature of some type that allowed you to remember a song from another iPod then when you get home, you could find it easily on iTunes for purchase.

 

[w00master]

Cuz it will suck away your battery life more than the HDD would. Even with NAND streaming over WiFi will be a battery hog. And that streaming stuff leaves the possiblity of thievery open. Also, WiFi everywhere (unlocked WiFi) isn't here just yet and may not be happening any time in the near future.

I do like your idea of flash memory though. It will suck for those with libraries in the 30 - 50+ GB range... but us smucks with about 14GB or less would love to see an iPod with flash memory and supurb battery life. iPhone sized of course with that kick arse interface. 32 - 64GB capacity.... Yeah... I like that.

Sure, in the beginning it would, but things improve through time: battery life, more efficient use of power in wifi devices etc. What I'm really talking about is my "ideal" device and what wifi can really do for all of us in the (possible) near future. I'd rather house everything in one location rather than duplicate files in mulitple areas.

I understand the idea of "thievery" by stealing from your own wifi stream, but to be honest there are secure ways of defeating most of these issues. In terms of wifi access, yes, you're definitely right. It is rather limited, but it is a rapidly growing thing, and in my area (Atlanta) we will soon have citywide wifi available to everyone so the idea of streaming all of media wherever I am is growing increasingly appealing to me.

Ultimately, I posted my "dream" wifi device idea because people kept of poo-pooing the idea of a wifi idea: "Why do I need it?" "What's so great about it?" Well, I want it, and I think once the potential is realized, *EVERYONE* will want it as well. Think of the *future* advantages of a wifi ipod:

1. Smaller, thinner, sleaker, more compact.
2. Give Apple (and others) more room to develop a better UI, experience, better features, etc. instead of additional worry about: how are we going to fit a harddrive/flash drive in here?
3. Media space is no longer an issue for a portable device, because all of our content is streamed.
4. Less moving parts, more durability, etc.

Imho, this is the future. As technology gets better, power consumption on wifi devices get more efficient, etc. people will understand why people like me WANT wifi in their iPod.

w00master

 

[kiang]

this won't happen IMO. Apple's next-gen communication device is the iPhone, not the iPod, so why would they make a competitor for their own new product?
also, it takes a lot of power to use the WiFi connector, and one of the major complains of the iPod is battery life, so I think the next iPod will have:
touchscreen
better battery life
improved versions of all the functions the G5 iPod has

 

[SiliconAddict]

Battlestar ROCKS

I want a license plate holder that says


My other transportation


is a Viper Mark VII

...

Yes I am geek. Hear me roar.

 

[SiliconAddict]

this won't happen IMO. Apple's next-gen communication device is the iPhone, not the iPod, so why would they make a competitor for their own new product?
also, it takes a lot of power to use the WiFi connector, and one of the major complains of the iPod is battery life, so I think the next iPod will have:
touchscreen
better battery life
improved versions of all the functions the G5 iPod has

Adding wifi to the thing without functionality doesn't compete against the iPhone at all, in any way. As for power consumption. How is it any worse then WIFI in an iPhone? Its not like you are going to have WIFI on all the time anyways. When you don't need it turn it off and your batt life is fine. When you need\want it bring a charger. Better to have the option and not use it. Its not like you can add it on later, and WIFI radios are cheap and small as heck at this point.

 

[Kelmon]

I could also see wireless streaming to ANY TV, so you could show your holiday snaps at a friends house, who has an TV, wirelessly, or just show the movies or music that you carry with you that way.
There is a purpose for wireless technology on an iPod.

This makes the most sense to me. When TV was demonstrated Steve used the example of Phil bringing his MacBook over to show Steve a video that was streamed to Steve's TV. However, it makes much more sense that Phil is either using his iPhone or wireless-enabled iPod to carry his media around to a friend's house rather than a laptop. Much more portable and natural.

Beyond this the obvious (unless you're Microsoft) wireless syncing to your base computer and handy iPhone-eque widgets would be useful. I can't see web browsing or iTunes working on a small screen so I don't see those as useful features.

 

[jhande]

I sincerely doubt it, especially due to how much power WiFi connectivity would draw.

Just like the true video iPod, I think that a major revolution will have to take place in battery technology for this to see the light of day.

Exactly. I've been a Palm user for many years, and a heavy e-book reader. I used to recharge my Palm Vx every three days or so. With the Treo, I basically have to do it every single day. With BT enabled continuously, sometimes a couple of times a day.

So, I've bitten the bullet and ordered a product from a company I detest. I've ordered a Sony E-book reader (the PRS-500), based on eink technology. I know it's a second gen product, with long page refreshes etc. BUT it has an exceptional battery life. 7,500 page turns, and according to the users at mobileread.com, that translates (for most of them) to more than a week without recharging.

I am getting a book reader - nothing more or less. When the iPhone/iPod can last for 24 hours of use, then by all means pile up the connectivity. Until then, power is my main criteria.

 

[Much Ado]

Battlestar ROCKS

Amen to that.

...But these rumors are starting to take their toll on my mind. Yes i know, it's a Mac rumors website, but i just wish for once rumors could not get my hopes up so much and then dash them again in an instant.

Leopard to be announced at Macworld!!11!!1!oneone!

Perhaps we should set up a "new MBPs with Santa Rosa coming 2011" thread, just so we can be pleasantly surprised when we find out we were all being too pessimistic for once.

MA.

 

[Porco]

I don't personally see the point of WiFi in an iPod. I'd rather have the extra battery life it would need and use it for existing and/or other functions. But then I'm not a huge fan of WiFi anyway, I think it has its uses and places but is generally overrated and overused.

 

[localoid]

I really doubt it'll be the iPhone without the phone. It will for sure have multi-touch IMO, but they will have to differentiate it from the iPhone. They don't want to take away sales from it.

Well, if Apple doesn't take the iPod to the next step -- to the personal ultra-mobile Internet connectivity level -- you can be certain several major players will try to take a bite out of Apple's iPhone market.

Intel's big UMPC push will come April 17th. The UMPC teaser video is kind of interesting..

 

[bigbossbmb]

Well, if Apple doesn't take the iPod to the next step -- to the personal ultra-mobile Internet connectivity level -- you can be certain several major players will try to take a bite out of Apple's iPhone market.

Intel's big UMPC push will come April 17th. The UMPC teaser video is kind of interesting..

that video was neat... but the whole time I was thinking of how Apple could implement a multi-touch interface and make it smaller and really sweet.

 

[localoid]

that video was neat... but the whole time I was thinking of how Apple could implement a multi-touch interface and make it smaller and really sweet.

Yes, what could the Apple design gods turn out, if they were so inclined?

 

[Machead III]

Duke Nukem forever in Second Half of 2007?

 

[logandzwon]

Sounds likly to me. (1) Steve loves making MS look stupid. Their WiFi is stupid and is being reported as such. Steve would love to make a funcional Wifi for that reason alone. (2) The iPhone takes a lot of radical approces to a bunch of functions. Some of said functions the iPod does today. Some of the functions the Apple TV does today. I makes sense to standarize the way these functions work and feel. I imagine in a couple generations the iPhone and the iPod will be very similiar in a lot of ways. Both will run on OS X lite, have touch screens, have coverflow.

Now, the big reson I think we'll Wifi as one of the first parts of this shift is because of the AppleTV, or more directly, the way iTunes works with ATV. A Wifi iPod could sync over Wifi with basicly no change to iTunes. They already wrote the whole thing in order to make Apple TV work. Imagine you iPod syncs whenever your home, rather then whenever you plug it in. If your wifi covers your driveway, you don't even need to take it out your car, (you know, since 70% of new cars support the iPod or whatever he said at that keynote.)

 

[localoid]

Another video depicting UMPC in the not too distant future...

 

[Evangelion]

this won't happen IMO. Apple's next-gen communication device is the iPhone, not the iPod, so why would they make a competitor for their own new product?

because the two are not really alternatives to each other. i'm looking to replace my 6gb ipod with a new mediaplayer. i already have a company-issued cell-phone, and i want the new device to have 30-40gb of storage. and the iphone is still around 6 months away from europe. so no iphone for me.

on the other hand, someone who is looking for a phone, would not consider an ipod to be an alternative, since it's not a phone. and in any case, so what if people bought an ipod instead of iphone? last time i checked, iphone brings a lot of money to apple.

 

[surferfromuk]

I think that it's very likely we'll see a new ipod this year because those two guys doing all the work in Apple these days will have finished making the iphone and will have a couple of months clear between June and August to kill before they crack on with completing Leopard.

So I'm guessing Ben and Jerrys calendar looks like this ;

May/June - iPhone
(June 29th : 2 hours for Apple TV fixes)
July - ipod,
August - month in Jamaica - Steve's parting words : 'Think up those new features guys or don't come back'
Sep/Oct - Leopard

To compensate for 'near apple burnout' they'll indulge in a month of drugs, booze and orgiastic partying in Jamaica. As such I expect Leopard to have a 'pirates of the caribbean' GUI theme : Antique wood to replace the brushed metal, caskets instead of folders , olde type fonts on unscrolling parchment for pop up menus etc etc. The 'so called' secret feature will be a treasure map built into leopard leading to a real world stash of empty rum bottles.