Rumored iPod Flash Leaked

An anonymous reader writes "Apparently a -->detailed design of the new Flash-based iPod--> has been leaked. It doesn't have a screen and is this size of a cookie!" With size estimates ranging from 256 megs to a gig, it will have a much lower price point, and can be worn around your neck. Assuming it's not just a rumor. Update: 12/07 19:31 GMT by M : Temporary working link.

Comments

Daring Fireball covered this

[MoneyT]

And I think gave a good argument why it isn't likely:

Here

Re:Daring Fireball covered this

[rbrunner]

I run with my iPod mini all the time. No skips.

Re:Daring Fireball covered this

[BrerBear]

I've owned 5, 10, and 30 GB iPods, and I run regularly. The iPods got me through marathon training. Having them definitely made things easier once you enter hour #3 on a long run.

However, having your iPod start to flake out an hour in is also a real downer, and I've experienced a lot of problems with them while running that I never experienced just playing them stationary or walking around. Everything from lockups and reboots, endless skipping, to playing with no sound. Usually a reset or a "timeout" where I hold it stationary does the trick, but I would probably agree that a hard drive based player is not ideal for running. The 10GB seemed to have the least problems among the lot.

I'm definitely in the market for a flash player.

Re:Daring Fireball covered this

[wankledot]

18 months? Go FUD. I've had my original iPod since the day they were released and it still works great.

The iPod suffers from the same problems any lithium battery-powered device does. If you use it certain ways, the battery will quickly die, the same as ANY MP3 player with that type of battery.

Re:Daring Fireball covered this

[wankledot]

"Like your cell phone, laptop, etc. It's OK to partial charge it now and again, but it's bad overall"

Actually that's completely wrong. Lithium batteries only have so many charge cycles, and it's better to leave them charged and drain them rarely. Your method was great for old batteries, but not new ones.

www.Apple.com/batteries/

Re:Daring Fireball covered this

[Space Cow]

Just thought that you might like to know that you are taking the worst possible approach to maintaining the life of your lithium batteries. Lithium battery life is shortened by all of the following:

*) High charge state in warm/hot conditions
*) Deep discharge cycles
*) Extreme discharge (not possible with most modern electronics - built in safety circuits prevent this)

Two generally recommended practices are:

1) Charge early and often. Keep the battery at close to full charge.

2) When storing the battery for long periods of time without use (more than several weeks), discharge to about 40% of capacity and store in a cold location. Avoid freezing the battery, but down to 40-50 degree F will help preserve the charge capacity.

The reason people see their laptop batteries fail quickly is because they keep high charge levels with high temperature for months on end. This will shorten the useful life dramatically.

Take it or leave it, but I work in the consumer electronics industry and deal with the technical issues related to Lithium-ion batteries frequently.

Article Text

[Jck_Strw]

TheMacMind isn't known in the Mac world as being the source of intel on the latest Apple products, however through an anyonmous tipster (to you! We happen to know this person is 100% valid), we've been tipped off to a whole bevy of facts about the new Flash-based iPod from Apple. We also had this confirmed by a second contact at Apple.

When I first heard about the iPod Flash, I met it with the same scepticism as Daring Fireball did.

AppleInsider brought you the basic concept, but TheMacMind is here to let loose about how the new iPod works, what it looks like, and how it feels! And we're looking forward to being there when it's released at MacWorld San Francisco! (Sorry Steve, we couldn't resist!)

The Meat: Milano cookie. That's the basic principle. I like Tim-Tams, but that's just me. Rounded edges, flat, and tiny. We're looking at something that is about 2.5" long, 1.5" wide, and just .5" thick.

Get this: NO SCREEN. Got a cellphone with one of those flat joysticks? This is apparently how you'll get around on the screenless iPod. Left and right move between songs, up and down change the volume, and pressing straight down will play/pause your music. With any other company, I'd be incredibly doubtful that their techs would be able to pull off anything useable. Scroll through 250 songs in one big list? We're betting Apple has something better up their sleeve, and we'll hopefully be able to tell you about the interface in the next few days. Evenything goes in and out through a full-size FireWire port. Apparently, they are also virtually indestructible. We did a mock up of the iPod Flash in 3D. You can see how big it is compared to a business card (the same size as an iPod mini) and an Apple Firewire cable.

What does that tiny size mean? Well, the iPod Flash is meant to be worn around the neck. Yep, a nice little lanyard will keep the smallest of the iPod family twirling around your neck while jogging.

AppleInsider said "less than $200", but we we're told that the Flash iPod will be priced at $99. Freaking sweet, we're hoping that that's right on the money! There have been reports of storage capacities from 256 MB - 1 GB, which would correlate with that price. This release will make an iPod available to people in any price range.

TheMacMind
Image by Robert Padbury
rpadbury@themacmind.com

Another Site with Flash iPod info.

[the zonked]

More info about the Flash Ipod http://www.engadget.com/entry/1234000040022898/

Concept Image Mirror

[dark_lotus]

Yikes!

TMM switched hosting companies recently, and they've taken us offline. We thought we could survive a slashdotting, alas, we cannot.

Here's a mirror of the image (hosted on .mac) http://homepage.mac.com/dark_lotus/ipodflash.jpg