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View Full Version : Apple Announces iPod Video

Jeremy Charette
10-12-2005, 07:08 PM
<div class='os_post_top_link'><a href='http://www.businessweek.com/ap/financialnews/D8D6KR0OF.htm?campaign_id=apn_tech_down&chan=tc' target='_blank'>http://www.businessweek.com/ap/financialnews/D8D6KR0OF.htm?campaign_id=apn_tech_down&chan=tc</a><br /><br /></div><i>"Apple Computer Inc. unveiled Wednesday an iPod capable of playing videos, the latest creation in its ever-evolving and hugely popular line of portable music players. The company also said music videos will also now be sold on its iTunes Music Store, for $1.99 apiece."</i><br /><br /><img src="http://www.digitalmediathoughts.com/images/indexfrontside20051011.gif" /><br /><br />From another story: has 2 1/2" color screen, resolution unknown. More news as it comes.<br /><br />UPDATE: <i>"At an invite only event held at the California Theater in San Jose, Apple Chief Executive Steve Jobs showed off the new iPod, which will be offered as a 30GB model for $299 and a 60GB version for $399. The device will also be 30 percent thinner than Apple's current iPod models, feature a 2.5-inch display, and an onboard iSight digital camera that can capture both images and video. Jobs also previewed a diminutive remote control for the new iPod on which he played both music and a video by the band Black Eyed Peas."</i>
Kevin Jackson
10-12-2005, 07:26 PM
Bigger news (to me, anyway) is that among the videos being offered in the iTunes store are television shows like Lost. Could this be the dawning of the age of downloadable television shows? It appears that way. Wonder if they can be burned to CD/DVD for watching other than on your computer/iPod?

iTunes 6 also appears to be available for download.
kiwi
10-12-2005, 07:39 PM
almost...


not really ground breaking.. this is the video playable machine they said they were working on a while back.
You wont be able to burn videos as they are DRM'd. Nice to buy episodes of TV shows, better if you could burn them to DVD though.


I think I will stick to my PPC to watch mobile video and look at getting the nano for music playback.

I was hoping for more of a Creative Vision type device..

and also a new Mac Mini
Jeremy Charette
10-12-2005, 08:05 PM
Thinner AND it plays video. Apple has learned to avoid Microsoft's problem: feature bloat. They keep it simple, and improve their products in small but significant ways. Smart. I'll probably buy one eventually. Wonder if it'll have video output through a TV via. the dock?
Jason Eaton
10-12-2005, 08:24 PM
...You wont be able to burn videos as they are DRM'd. Nice to buy episodes of TV shows, better if you could burn them to DVD though...

I think the intent was more of a one-two punch, the iMac now has the 'ten foot' interface and remote (and obviously video out to connect to a tv)... so why burn them to DVD when you can just pass them to the tv?

Anyhoots, need to see more of the interface but MS has a good head start already so Apple will need to play some catch up in that respect.

For more info... the quality of the screen on the ipod is a 2.5-inch TFT color screen, offers H.264/MPEG4-based 320x240 playback at 30 fps. So TV quality unless you moved to HDTV already :D
Jason Dunn
10-12-2005, 08:34 PM
Bigger news (to me, anyway) is that among the videos being offered in the iTunes store are television shows like Lost. Could this be the dawning of the age of downloadable television shows?

Indeed, that's very interesting news indeed - one can only wonder if we'll see a Mac Mini with a TV tuner...
Jason Dunn
10-12-2005, 08:36 PM
For more info... the quality of the screen on the ipod is a 2.5-inch TFT color screen, offers H.264/MPEG4-based 320x240 playback at 30 fps. So TV quality unless you moved to HDTV already :D

I have to disagree there a little - 320 x 240 is a big step down from 720 x 480, which is NTSC resolution. 320 x 240 would look even worse than normal TV resolution, and standard TV looks like crap on big digital screens as it is.

That said, that's decent playback on the device.
Jason Eaton
10-12-2005, 08:58 PM
I have to disagree there a little - 320 x 240 is a big step down from 720 x 480, which is NTSC resolution. 320 x 240 would look even worse than normal TV resolution, and standard TV looks like crap on big digital screens as it is.

Thanks for the correction, I had regular tv much lower in my mind for some reason with interlaced and progressive and such. Perhaps they plan to up-sample at the quicktime player end.
rzanology
10-12-2005, 10:05 PM
I am sooo not impressed. I walk around with my x50v and a psp everyday, and if you're trying push something to catch my attention, then something has to be done with that screen. It is waaaaay to small for video. You can't even get wide screen on that thing....I had my hopes up that apple would come through with something as stylish and ground breaking as the ipod when it was first introduced....but i guess not. Also...is there still no removable battery on this thing? Will i still be forced to use only one computer? What happens when i want to play my wmv real or avi files or my ripped dvds? Not impressed at all. Apple still dragging their feet if you ask me....long live PPC as media king!
James Fee
10-12-2005, 10:43 PM
&lt;snip>Finally someone actually releases a video player with real content and everyone downplays it. Unlike you my friend, I'll be able to watch real shows without having to record them myself and I can fit my iPod in my pocket unlike those brick v50s and PSPs. Content is king and Apple has it and at a resonable price.

The marketplace has spoken, they want a thinner player, not one with a removable battery so give up on your removable battery complaints. Only the few care.
Suhit Gupta
10-13-2005, 12:58 AM
&lt;snip>Finally someone actually releases a video player with real content and everyone downplays it. Unlike you my friend, I'll be able to watch real shows without having to record them myself and I can fit my iPod in my pocket unlike those brick v50s and PSPs. Content is king and Apple has it and at a resonable price.
But you have to admit that the screen size is pretty tiny. I agree with rzanology that the 4+" screen of the PSP is much better. Honestly, I love mine.

Suhit
Darius Wey
10-13-2005, 09:54 AM
The geek in me wants this. But the realist in me tells me that my Pocket PC is just as good a solution (or even a better one). Sure, it doesn't have all the bells and whistles of pain-free iTMS integration, but heck, at least I can play AVI and MPEG-2.
kiwi
10-13-2005, 02:17 PM
The geek in me wants this. But the realist in me tells me that my Pocket PC is just as good a solution (or even a better one). Sure, it doesn't have all the bells and whistles of pain-free iTMS integration, but heck, at least I can play AVI and MPEG-2.

ha ha! exactly the same thing I am thinking.. my PPC is far more suited for playback of my videos. I was thinking about the Nano for subway commuting since I moved my old Gold Mini to the car for driving listening..

I was thinking about the new Ipod for storing my digital camera photos if I go on Holiday - could be handy. Also, I get a small discount thru my employee program with apple.. okay - so its only $23 but still.. ;)

..must ... hold ... out...
James Fee
10-13-2005, 02:21 PM
But you have to admit that the screen size is pretty tiny. I agree with rzanology that the 4+" screen of the PSP is much better. Honestly, I love mine.Sure, but how much storage space does a PSP have? Not enough to really allow it to be a video player.

My honest feeling about all this is that the PSP, PPC and iPod are all very poor solutions to view video. The PSP has a great screen, but it doesn't have enough storage space, the PPC has a large screen, but it also has a serious lack of storage space and while the iPod has tons of space, its screen is too small for most people.

The big news out of all this is the video sales in iTunes. Microsoft should have done this over a year ago, but they didn't probably because they want people to use MCE. I'd rather pay $2 an episode and have no commercials and in a format ready for travel, than the hassle of getting my recordings off of my TiVo and on to my depreciated Dell Axims.
kiwi
10-13-2005, 02:31 PM
[quote="
My honest feeling about all this is that the PSP, PPC and iPod are all very poor solutions to view video. The PSP has a great screen, but it doesn't have enough storage space, the PPC has a large screen, but it also has a serious lack of storage space and while the iPod has tons of space, its screen is too small for most people."
quote]

I think this is where the creative Zen Vision (See Here (http://www.creative.com/products/pmp/) for info) looks to be more along the lines of a Video Ipod or media centre.

I really like using iTunes as my media software and thats what put me off other devices. Dang!
James Fee
10-13-2005, 04:59 PM
I was thinking last night, while I can't imagine watching video on an iPod, using the AV cable to watch shows on my hotel room TV sounds nice. On the plane I can listen to music and then at the hotel watch all the shows I've missed while on the plane.

What I am interested to see is if all shows will cost the same. My wife brought up the point that if she subscribed to General Hospital, that would cost her about $10 a week that might get expensive, but I suspect Apple wouldn't want to charge less or lose the fight with the RIAA over music costs.
Phoenix
10-13-2005, 09:17 PM
Am I the only one who is disappointed by the fact that this Video Ipod only lasts for somewhere between two and three hours when playing video?

You'd watch a couple of shows and have no juice left to listen to music or look at photos.

No thanks.


I like the idea of video capability, but they're going to have to work on the battery life. Having such a small amount of battery power while watching video really dissolves my interest in this new Ipod.
Jason Dunn
10-13-2005, 11:48 PM
The big news out of all this is the video sales in iTunes. Microsoft should have done this over a year ago, but they didn't probably because they want people to use MCE. I'd rather pay $2 an episode and have no commercials and in a format ready for travel, than the hassle of getting my recordings off of my TiVo and on to my depreciated Dell Axims.

I hear what you're saying - the "ready to go" format is great, but 320 x 240? That will look HORRIBLE on a TV screen. Apple is really only targetting the "I'm sitting in front of my computer and watching a 5 minute music video" crowd. Are people really going to watch a badly pixellated 320 x 240 TV show that's an hour long?
Jason Dunn
10-13-2005, 11:50 PM
What I am interested to see is if all shows will cost the same. My wife brought up the point that if she subscribed to General Hospital, that would cost her about $10 a week that might get expensive, but I suspect Apple wouldn't want to charge less or lose the fight with the RIAA over music costs.

I think the pricing is a real problem - not so much for the one-off "I like that music video so I'll buy it for 2 bucks" purchases, but the "I watch three TV shows a week and do I really want to spend $24 on them?". I think that's where Apple will lose big time.