New iPod Appears On Front Cover Of Newsweek

[Kent Pribbernow]

<div class='os_post_top_link'><a href='http://thinksecret.com/news/newipods2.html' target='_blank'>http://thinksecret.com/news/newipods2.html</a><br /><br /></div>For the second time a major publication steals Steve Jobs thunder by prematurely publishing information on new Apple Products. Back in 2002 it was Time Magazine Canada who proudly displayed the new flat panel iMac on its front cover just one day before it was to be unveiled at MacWorld. And now, Newsweek has trumped Steve Jobs by showcasing the all new iPod on its upcoming cover, before the official product launch on Monday. <br /><br />Only a photo of Jobs holding the sleek white iPod appears on the front cover, but judging from the picture it appears to be the same overall design as the current iPod, except for the inclusion of a similar scroll wheel featured on the iPod Mini. And for those of you that were hoping for a color screen, I am afraid Apple chose to stay with monochrome...not that it matters. <br /><br />The biggest disappointment for me is that Apple appears to be sticking with the same white Lucite shell, which is a fingerprint magnet . I had my heart set on anodized aluminum. :( <br /><br /><img src="http://www.digitalmediathoughts.com/images/newsweeksmall.jpg" />

[James Fee]

Well I do like the look better than the row of buttons above the wheel. That never did much for me.

[Kent Pribbernow]

Agreed, I love the iPod mini wheel as well. But I was hoping for aluminum in place of that shiny fingerprint haven finish. Oye!

[Jason Dunn]

No WMA support, no sale.

[Lee Yuan Sheng]

Eh, looks the same, what's the difference? The design is starting to get stale to me.

[James Fee]

Eh, looks the same, what's the difference? The design is starting to get stale to me.
The four rows of buttons across the top are gone. I think it looks much cleaner than before. And I guess it is smaller and thinner. Of course I won't be able to tell until I can buy one (first I have to distract my wife, who probably thinks my 2g iPod is still good 8) ).

[James Fee]

No WMA support, no sale.
You know what is funny? At this point, no AAC support, no sale for me. :D

Guess Apple has me....

[Suhit Gupta]

The four rows of buttons across the top are gone. I think it looks much cleaner than before. And I guess it is smaller and thinner. Of course I won't be able to tell until I can buy one (first I have to distract my wife, who probably thinks my 2g iPod is still good 8) ).
Umm, all I can say is 'big whoop'. There was all this hype about some radical new design and a color screen and a ton of other features but there doesn't appear to be anything radically different. I hope that there is at least some internal feature difference (disk space and battery power?), but I guess we aren't going to know until Monday.

Suhit

[klinux]

I have kept my 2G iPod (20GB) because the 3G iPod's interface just was not as good. I am glad to see them moving to the Mini's interface.

[EscapePod]

Apple sucks and always will. The world did not need another music compression format. Apple didn't learn anything about propriety with their stinkin' PCs, and they just got lucky on the iPod.

I found my iPod to be a worthless piece of Apple trash. Sold it to some pimply faced punk.

[Kent Pribbernow]

More info from the newsweek article:

"Drive capacities for the new iPod are the same, maxing out at 40GB. However, as anticipated, Apple will offer the models at lower prices. The 40GB unit will ship for $399 and the 20GB model will sell for $299, a $100 reduction in price. Apple is no longer selling a 15GB model.

According to the story, the new iPod features an enclosure that's a millimeter thinner and includes a streamlined click wheel similar to that of the iPod mini, as shown in the cover photo. The new models also boast a 50% improvement in battery life, to 12 hours between charges. None of the fourth-generation iPods will ship in colors.

The new iPod models also include "more efficient menus," such as a top-level "Music" entry and single-click shuffling of music libraries; users can also create multiple on-the-go playlists and delete individual songs from them. In addition, the story says that audiobooks are easier for users to find and can take advantage of features that play audio at slower or faster speeds while maintaining natural-sounding playback."

[Suhit Gupta]

The 12 hour batter life is probably the biggest improvement IMHO.

Suhit

[Cameron K]

Apple sucks and always will. The world did not need another music compression format. Apple didn't learn anything about propriety with their stinkin' PCs, and they just got lucky on the iPod.

I found my iPod to be a worthless piece of Apple trash. Sold it to some pimply faced punk.

Thanks for those....eloquent words. I'm sure we were all enlightened by them. :)

[Tim Williamson]

Well, I guess this means I'll be taking back my 15GB iPod that I just bought 2 weeks ago and wait for this model to come out. The battery life, was one of my gripes about my 15GB, and it looks like the new iPod will just about double the battery life.

[Kent Pribbernow]

Apple sucks and always will. The world did not need another music compression format. Apple didn't learn anything about propriety with their stinkin' PCs, and they just got lucky on the iPod.

I found my iPod to be a worthless piece of Apple trash. Sold it to some pimply faced punk.

The force is strong in this one.

[attisb]

What's up with Steve on the cover? He looks kind of pissed and confused.

[Mojo Jojo]

Umm, all I can say is 'big whoop'. There was all this hype about some radical new design and a color screen and a ton of other features but there doesn't appear to be anything radically different. I hope that there is at least some internal feature difference (disk space and battery power?), but I guess we aren't going to know until Monday.

Suhit

Welcome to 'reporting' on Apple products. The Apple group has always been steadfast in not releasing information on products until they wish too. Which leaves fansites of Apple in a lurch for news. Usually it starts out on some small site with a 'friend of a friend who works for...' story then gets quoted by someone else until the rumor and wishfull thinking part gets seperated from the 'details'. Take everything with a grain of salt and understanding that sometimes people see what they wish to see.

In the end the stories turn into troll bait and brings out the Apple bashers followed by the defenders then the slanderers ensue...

Short is that Apple keeps everything close to the vest due to small market size. Any confirmation on new products yet to come usually kills sales of already selling products.

The next story you will hear is that Apple is upset at News Week for 'leaking' info before they could present it. :)

[dean_shan]

What's up with Steve on the cover? He looks kind of pissed and confused.

Maybe casue Newsweek leaked the photos to soon. Unless that was his master plan &lt;evil laugh>.

[bdegroodt]

What's up with Steve on the cover? He looks kind of pissed and confused.
Interesting you should say this. I was wondering about the entire cover. Read the 2 "teasers" at the top of the page. Then think about how dark the picture (pursposely underexposed?) of Jobs appears to be (especially from upper right through center of face). I'm sure part of it is to call attention to the iPod (by contrasting the background), but it's a very interesting editorial choice made for this entire cover.

[dgage]

Well, I just purchased the new iPod 20 GB. I have been looking at an iPod for a while but I couldn't get past the battery life since I am a consultant and travel cross-country alot. I looked at the iRiver closely but people have been complaining lately that they haven't kept their promises of regular updates and planned features. I actually have the Nomad Muvo2 4GB as I was planning to remove the microdrive and use it with my PDA to play music but music on a PDA just isn't up to a dedicated player yet. Not sure what I will do with the microdrive yet but eBay is looking good. The biggest problem I have with the Muvo2 is charging it. You have to "Eject" the Muvo2 from your computer for it to start charging. And that means you can't listen to it while charging...unless you carry their power brick and I have enough stuff to carry thank you very much. The new iPod 20 GB allows charging from USB or Firewire so I should be just fine. And finally, they have decent battery life. I just hope that battery lasts.

David

[Suhit Gupta]

BTW, some people are having discrepancies with their iPod orders - there appears to be no remote the case in the iPod package - http://www.austinv.com/comment.php?comment.news.273

So please be careful when placing orders.

Suhit

[MyquiH]

Okay, so I'm a Windows slut (I can't help it -- Microsoft's OS provides my food and shelter), and I want iPod-like functionality but with WMA support... However, the iPod is the ONLY portable mp3 player I've seen that has such a slick FM transmitter add-on. The "generic" FM transmitters are all huge and cumbersome, while the iPod model is slick and plugs neatly on the top of the unit. Don't make me buy an iPod, please, Dell, Creative Labs, SOMEONE make a nice FM transmitter!

Myq