New iPods on the Horizon

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Posted by CmdrTaco on Wednesday October 12, 2005 @01:12AM from the still-waiting-for-video dept.

RemovableBait writes "Apple Computer plans to introduce more iPods before the end of the year", a company executive said Tuesday. From the article: Executive Vice President Tim Cook didn't say whether the new iPods will come at a press event Apple has scheduled for Wednesday morning. But during a conference call with analysts, he suggested that the iPod Nano won't be the last new iPod of the year."

16 of 367 comments (clear)

Forget slim... by Hittite+Creosote · 2005-10-12 01:14 · Score: 5, Interesting

I want a near indestructible one. Make it bulkier if you have to, just don't let it break.
Video? by SultanCemil · 2005-10-12 01:15 · Score: 5, Interesting

I know this may look like a really dumb comment in about 4 hrs but I don't see video being THAT useful. You can store a ton of low-res video on the ipod if you just want to watch it there, but the real advantage would be to take it with you to friends' houses for viewing on their TVs. Well, in that case, you want hi-res video, video that will take up quite a bit of room. Hmmm.... Wonder how those geniuses will solve THAT little problem...

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Cemil.
1. Re:Video? by Tibor+the+Hun · 2005-10-12 01:27 · Score: 5, Informative
  
  It's not about the resolution, it's about the compression.
  With h.264 even HD files can be compressed to a manageable size. With iPod's large storage capacity one could easily carry half a dozen movies on it.
  With a video out, all you'd need is a TV to plug it in.
  
  The problems are, and I have no idea if they have been solved:
  -the battery life for outputting a movie
  -is the iPod beefy enough for h.264 decoding? (Possibly, through a dedicated hardware chip)
  
  Here's a good real-world explanation of h.264 and what it can do for HD.
  
  --
  If you don't know what AltaVista is (was), get off my lawn.
2. Re:Video? by Blapto · 2005-10-12 01:31 · Score: 5, Informative
  
  What sort of length are we talking about? You can get 4 hours of video onto a DVD of 4.7GB (of a quality that you couldn't get better than on your typical household TV. If you have a fantastic plasma screen you may notice an improvement at 3 hours/DVD). So a 60GB iPod would hold about 2000 songs and 40 hours of DVD quality video. I'm sure they will be releasing larger hard drives at some point, this isn't going to require a fundamental overhaul.
3. Re:Video? by LordLucless · 2005-10-12 01:33 · Score: 5, Insightful
  
  Forget decoding, how about encoding? How many people are going to sit there and wait while their computer spends half a day encoding a DVD into h.264?
  
  --
  Just because you're paranoid doesn't mean there isn't an invisible demon about to eat your face
4. Re:Video? by iainl · 2005-10-12 01:43 · Score: 5, Insightful
  
  One acronym: iTMS.
  
  I don't think they do plan on us spending half a day encoding a DVD to h.264. I think they plan on letting us download a pre-encoded TV programme, and charging us for the privelege.
  
  Sure, it's entirely possible that Apple will let us make our own. But I don't think they plan on passing up the opportunity to flog us stuff that saves us the bother.
  
  --
  "I Know You Are But What Am I?"
Wow.. by nahorniak · 2005-10-12 01:17 · Score: 5, Insightful

Do we really need 5 posts regarding this subject? The question will be answered today. This article's basically saying "Apple will release...something... soon. Mark our words."

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P.S. This is what part of the alphabet would look like if Q and R were eliminated.
Re:Too many choices? by ibentmywookie · 2005-10-12 01:20 · Score: 5, Informative

Shuffle (512MB or 1024MB)
Nano (2GB or 4GB)
Normal (20GB or 60GB)

3 types, 2 size choices for each, with a nice $50 price difference for each model.

I think Apple are really good when it comes to coming up with a product lineup. It's other suppliers that are too confusing.

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-- The doctor said I wouldn't get so many nose bleeds if I just kept my finger out of there!
Re:Too many choices? by jjares · 2005-10-12 01:27 · Score: 5, Funny

Have you seen creative's lineup?
How 'bout both? by epohs · 2005-10-12 01:30 · Score: 5, Informative

Maybe not indestructible, but they're already pretty damn tough http://arstechnica.com/reviews/hardware/nano.ars/3
1. Re:How 'bout both? by danamania · 2005-10-12 02:00 · Score: 5, Informative
  
  I'm finding mine pretty tough. It has no case, sits in pockets and goes walking with me, sits on my messy desk, has been slept on most nights since I bought it, driven with, packed in my camera bag, it's been lost temporarily between cushions on the sofa, dropped in a mug of hot tea (oops) and been slammed in the car door of a 1960s Falcon (oops 2), which dented the back a little. It still works, the screen is crystal clear and I have to look really hard to see the two identifiable marks on the front - one an indentation on the side of the plastic, and the other is similar, but just above the click wheel - both really need looking at closely in the right kind of light to find. I've dropped it a couple of times on the desk or coffee table, I think those marks came from that.
  
  If it's a fragile scratch-prone thing then I must have a magical nano, cos I'm seeing none of that.
  
  photos at http://www.danamania.com/temp/nano2.jpg counting upwards. The first image is at one week old, others taken on the days since then - it's almost 3 weeks old now.
Re:Will the influx of new Ipods.... by MatrixCubed · 2005-10-12 01:31 · Score: 5, Funny

I've never pooped in a battery, myself.
Re:Plans..? by Poltras · 2005-10-12 01:46 · Score: 5, Funny

A iPod software developper friend told me he was writing coffee-making code.

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Of Code And Men
Apple by ogiller · 2005-10-12 01:55 · Score: 5, Interesting

You all know what Apple is missing in its line up. A Apple DVR. There is Tivo, MythTV, and Microsoft Multimedia Center. Apple needs to enter the arena.

They have the QuickTime technology.
They have the UI skills to make a better DVR.
They have the Hardware experience.
Wait and see.

Think about it. Why would you buy a iPod Video? Because, you have episodes of Star Track Enterprise, and Lost on your Apple DVR. You want to take them on the road. You need a Apple iPod Video that allows you to quickly download those programs over firewire right to a little hand held video player.

By Apple introducing a DVR they create instant content for the iPod Video. They are struggling to get the Movie Studios on board. So they need another way to create content for the iPod Video.

With out the Apple DVR where is the added value of a iPod Video?
Re:That's great! by Golias · 2005-10-12 01:58 · Score: 5, Insightful

Enough with the battery FUD.

I just replaced my iPod battery last month. It was $20, including shipping, and came with a funky little plastic tool for opening up the iPod case. Changing it was easier than a memory upgrade on most laptops.

The hardest part of the entire operation was lining up the pins to plug the hard drive back into the motherboard. That took me all of about thirty seconds.

If you can't change the battery on an iPod while following the instructions that come with almost every replacement battery, you are a goddamn idiot.

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Information wants to be anthropomorphized.
Re:Market Saturation... by Shenkerian · 2005-10-12 02:50 · Score: 5, Funny

So far Apple have succeeded at beating them off.
May I suggest that you, in the future, choose between the phrases "beating them back" and "fending them off?"

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You tell me how "whilst" differs from "while," and I'll stop calling you a pretentious jackass.