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iPod Video Coming to a Car Near You
_am99_ writes "In the "one more thing" media event today, an iPod that can play Video was announced. The initial content seems to be music videos that can be purchased from the iTunes Music Store." In related news aquachannel writes "Apple has just updated their iPodYourCar page to include a slew of new car companies. This means that there'll be a lot of cars that you can buy off the showroom floor and use your iPod with your car - right off the floor and out of the box."
This would be a big hit if they can stick to that price of $1.99 per video and have variety in the content provided. Already they have a winner with music videos and Pixar offerring six short films. MTV has turned in to a channel that has nothing to do with music. Also I don't have to put up with all the crappy vidoes with MTV stupid logos and artwork, assuming Apple is going to just give me a clean video. Along with that it'd be nice if they can provide other content like stand-up routines or I'd love if Jon Stewart could force comedy central to provide it's videos for video ipod.
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2005/10/12/tech/mai n937689.shtml
Act I: The iMac G5. We sold over a million of them in its first year. What better place to put the computer than right behind the display? Today we're introducing and all new iMac. [It looks extremely similar] Three great new features.
... from your sofa. We've done a remote control, Apple style. It's got six buttons. [Demo: He presses remote and a menu for Music / Photo / DVD / Video zooms in. There's a giant iPod-style interface for music. "I can enjoy my music from across the room and see the artwork."
... it's on an iPod! New silhouette ad with Eminem -- it's not silhouette but a limited color palette. Steve likes the ads so much he runs each one twice. ]
(1) It's even thinner. The 20-inch is now thinner than the 17 used to be.
(2) iSight videocam. The new mac has an iSight built in. The camera has even better specs. Right out of the box videoconferencing without any extra stuff. We wrote a new app called PhotoBooth. [Demo: It has a built in flash - the entire display flashes. There are special effects including "Warhol" and effects that morph your face goofily.]
(3) Front Row. It s a new way to experience the media on your computer. It's an incredible way to enjoy your music, your videos, and your photos
Photos navigates through everything in iPhoto with slide show effects for albums.
"Now, a lot of people watch DVDs in their iMac, and it would be nice to control them from across the room. Now you can." [Loads DVD of The Incredibles with menu that blurs out the typically unusable menu on the DVD with an iPod-style menu. Movie posters and trailers in HD format streamed from apple.com] This remote control, I just wanted to point something that to me captures what Apple is all about. [Shot of huge button-congested remotes next to the tiny 6-button Apple remote]
Specs: Bluetooth, Superdrive, Mighty Mouse standard. 17-inch $1299. 20-inch $1699. Available today.
Act II: The iPod. We announced yesterday that we had shipped almost 30 million iPods. Our market share, 75% of all MP3 players shipping. Five weeks ago we introduced the iPod nano. And you know what? We shipped over a million iPod nanos in the first 17 days, and we could not meet demand. But what about the white iPod? It's been a huge success for us. And therefore, we're going to replace it. The new white iPod. And yes, it does video.
Specs: Same width and height as current model, but thinner. QVGA (324 x 240) pixel 260,000 color 2.5-inch display. h.264 and MPEG-4 at 30 fps. TV out. 30GB and 60GB models. Same width and height. 30GB is 31% thinner than the curent 20GB model [Making it 0.44-inches thick--say wha?]. 60G is 12% thinner than 20GB. 30G up to 75 hours of video, $299. 60G up to 150 hours video, $399. Shipping in one week.
And, by popular demand, we make it in black. They also come with a nice carrying case, to keep 'em all perfect. [Thin plastic sleeve--aw shucks]
[AD: U2 performing live. Oh wait
The new iPod will be 30% thinner than the current 20GB iPod (making it 0.44-inches thick--say wha?), and will feature a 60GB version (which should be thinner than the current 0.63-inch thick 20GB iPod), and editions of both in black.
What's the device named, you ask? The iPod. That's it, just The iPod. Well spare you the Prince jokes. The iPod will have TV out.
Stevie has iTunes 6.0 up there--only about a month after introducing iTunes 5.0.
iTunes 6.0 will also feature video and the iTunes Music Store will feature Fairplay DRMed video downloads (big surprise, right?).
At launch over 2,000 music videos will be made available at a cost of $1.99 apiece. You can download iTunes 6.0 starting today.
Oh, and one more thing...
It's not only music videos you can buy. No, Apple's set up to allow you to purchase TV shows for $1.99 apiece. Get Desperate Housewives or four other ABC shows premiering on iTunes at two bucks an ep. Videos are native QVGA resolution.
More details to come...
"Scientists don't change their minds, they just die." -- Max Planck
And here I thought they were finally releasing the successor to the Apple IIGS.
/// even better this time. Or they bristled at the term "Apple ][ Minus" and went back to Integer BASIC without Autostart. Or they followed up on that Pippin console.
Or they fixed up the Apple
Quiet you, it could still happen.
The coolest voice ever.
no bluetooth. doesnt support ogg vorbis. lame.
Has anyone begun selling Video iPod pornography yet?
Cyric Zndovzny at your service.
According to Stuff magazine:
"You'll be able to buy TV shows from the iTunes Music Store - Desperate Housewives, Lost and more shows from ABC and Disney." I guess that means Terry Hatcher will be getting into MY pants!
Even though Apple seems to be doing great with DRMed AAC files on iPods, iPods would have totally failed if they didn't support mp3s to begin with. I wonder if the video iPod will be able to gain traction without supporting the large collections of TV episodes, music videos, and movies that users already have in their collection in Divx format.
Talk about unexpected... that Apple sure can keep a secret!
TV shows (like Lost) one day after they air, and you know damn well what's next... movies.
A video airtunes device didn't materialize, but a dock with video out and remote control did.
Ironically, the word ironically is often used incorrectly.
Even more than the price comparison, the big deal here is that Apple has gotten a big content provider to agree to a different distribution method than broadcast TV. Up until now, you were lucky to get the content providers to agree to video-on-demand for cable subscribers (only HBO and a few other cable outlets signed up). If ABC is going to offer shows for sale via Internet download, this could be a watershed event.
This is ridiculous. I'm sure I'm not the only one of the several thousands who must have submitted all the OTHER news:
-iTunes 6
-New iMac with built-in Firewire camera
-New app called FrontRow for playing media from your sofa, 6 button iPod-like remote -compared to Microsoft Media Center's 40 buttons
-New PhotoBooth app for taking pictures that actually uses iMac's screen as a flash
-Television shows and music videos for sale through iTunes at $1.99.
Etc....
Instead, we get "Yeah, they mentioned iPod video today, and here's a lame car link. Disregard all the other news, like Apple taking Microsoft on directly in the living room..."
"Sufferin' succotash."
I noticed on Apple's page that the eMac is gone. It is no longer on Apple's hardware website (except under "eMac for Education"), and it is no longer sold at the Apple store.
I guess the Mac Mini must have made the eMac a bit redundant, so sales of the eMac must have dropped tremendously.
Don't forget iMovie; Apple is big on people creating their own video.
Looks like Handbrake just got a lot more popular.
"For every right, an equal responsibility..."
I think the coolest part are the somewhat reasonable prices on the new iMacs.
For $1299 you get 17" LCD, built in good quality webcam, 1.9 GHz G5, 512 MB, 160 GB, dual layer slot load DVD writer, Radeon X600 Pro, 802.11g, bluetooth, a wired funky MightyMouse, a remote control, and a bunch of preinstalled software.
My PSP doesn't play Divx (or XVID, or WMV, etc.) But that doesn't stop me from watching a lot of my weekly video content on it. With an app like PSPWare to do the conversion from a myriad of formats to the quality setting of my choice, I don't have a problem. As the iPod with Video plays H.264 and MPEG4, I would imagine a similiar application will work just fine to do the conversion and loading for you.
[UID-HeinzIntel]
Uh, on the apple main page it shows how you can put your home movies on the new iPod... Also, the iPod supported mp3 and non-drm AAC since day 1, why wouldn't they support the same with the video iPod....
Monstar L
Okay, the new iPods and such are nice, and you should understand that I'm a bit biased, as I'm typing this on a 500 Mhz TiBook that desperately needs replacing:
Where are the upgraded PowerBooks and PowerMacs? We seem to get a new iPod model every two weeks, but no new PowerBooks for over 10 months?
Grrrrrrr!
All iPods with a Dock connector work with the FrontRow remote. All you need is their new "Universal Dock" with a remote receiver.
For more information, click here.
ABC has LOST and Desperate Housewives up for $1.99 in itunes right now...
see flickr photo of LOST page
i mean it'll have to be a much more extensive library, but it is an interesting baby step in the right direction... (that is till we find out the DRM times out/expires or something... wondering what I'm *buying* for $1.99 exactly)
e.
Build Your Own PVR/HTPC news, reviews, &
Does anyone know if FrontRow (and remote) will be available for anything other than the new iMac?
I can't find any info about this on Apple's site.
I read
Its only 3 hours of batter life.
I read
See the original thread from the time of the original iPod launch.
Drill baby drill - on Mars
---Well, they are in the middle of a massive shift to intel x86 based processors. That might have something to do with it.---
If that's the case, then why upgrade the iMac now, the Mini a few weeks ago, the Xserve last month, and the iBook in July? None of these feature x86 processors yet, and they seem to have managed to increase performance for them.
And whatever happened to those dual core and low power G5 chips that IBM claimed to have?
It's also a way for the new management to kiss up to Steve Jobs, who happens to be the CEO of the successful animation company that walked away from Disney recently because of the old management...
"Sufferin' succotash."
DivX is a CODEC which implements the MPEG-4 bytestream format. Like XviD and the QuickTime MPEG-4 encoder, it produces MPEG-4 bytestreams of the form playable by the iPod (assuming it satisfies the bitrate / resolution constraints, and has an audio stream that the iPod can play, e.g. MPEG-4 AAC) and any other MPEG-4 player.
I am TheRaven on Soylent News
From there, the sky's the limit, because you own purchased video forever. Watch as many times as you choose, share between five computers, burn to data CDs or sync to the new iPod.
Sounds like it's exactly like the DRM for music, except you can't burn actual DVDs. Until someone posts the workaround next week.
Warning: Apple/Nintendo fangirl. Likes her electronics cute & cuddly. May be rabid.
Then again, if you take it in and ask nicely and they say "no", ask louder and gripe more. If they still say no, whine and cry and gripe and ask for the manager.
Then you'll be surprised. :)
The real story is content distribution. Apple just broke into the video distribution market in a huge way. Add this video itunes service with the new iMac remote control and you can guess were apple is headed. They are headed straight to your living room. MicroSoft has the same strategy to dominate the living room. MS has chosen another route with their Media Center version of Windows. I would say Apple just took a huge lead. It will be interesting how this play out...
What amazes me is that Disney (owner of ABC), which was the last major media company to start selling DVDs, was the first company to provide downloadable video to Apple this way.
Granted their partnership with Jobs' Pixar Animation Studios was probably a big reason they agreed, but nevertheless -- this is a big switch (IMO) from the Disney I used to know. Hopefully it won't be long before other studios and networks see the download numbers for "Lost" and jump in. I bet if HBO can be persuaded to offer their shows on the iTMS (iTunes Media Store, now, I suppose), sales at the Store would skyrocket.
How is an encumbered DVD, with its CSS DRM that you can bypass with DeCSS, different from Apple's AVC (H.264) with FairPlay DRM, which can be similarly bypassed?
With a DVD, you'd have to rip it, then reencode it into DIVIX or something appropriate for a portable, which takes a LONG time. Apple's solution seems rather smart, and looks like a very natural extension of the iTMS.
I like options:
If you want high quality media, you continue buying CDs and DVDs, and rip them yourself at whatever bitrate makes you happy.
If you want the convenience of an online store (the new "Just for you - Beta" looks pretty cool) and instant access to lots of pop content, you can pay a small fee and download smallish, ready to go files.
Apple is offering both options to fit the desires of a broad swath of people.
Compare this to Microsoft's WMP, which sought to kill MP3s entirely, and replace them with locked up WMA files with brutal restrictions, and very limited playback options.
I just downloaded Lost. I figured $1.99 was worth seeing the video quality, finding out out the file size, and watching my favorite TV show of the season while I work. ;-)
;-) ). The video is very watchable.
The file is indeed 320x240, and for 43 minutes and change, is 197 megabytes. The download took a little time; I'm not sure how much since I forgot to clock it.
The video is compressed very well. It looks clear and crisp, and the audio sounds great. In fact, I scaled it up to full screen and had a cluster of people watching a few choice scenes (we were trying to identify the manufacturer of the reel-to-reel drives
This will be interesting... I wonder what sorts of bonus material they will include?
Also, its interesting to note that video is not very well integrated into iTunes (for Windows). For example, when I right-click on the file, it still says "Show Song File." Also, you'd think that Apple, being Apple, would stick my downloaded videos into another folder than "My Music" in "My Documents."
These are small things. However, these are the things that Apple generally gets right.
~ Mike
Michael C. Hollinger
One thing I noted was that I couldn't find a way to get the video to full screen from within iTunes. I opened the file from my paid copy of Quicktime to go full screen.
Anyway, as you say, the compression is impressive. For 100mb less than what you'll find on bittorrent (albiet not in 16:9) you get the whole program without ads, and also (and this is in my opinion pretty big) no intrusive messages along the bottom or top of the screen placed by the television network. It's one of the most obnoxious and annoying practices on U.S. TV (a network bloated with advertising places MORE advertising along the screen's margins during programming? No thanks.) If you were to download what is basically a TV rip from Bittorrent, these advertisements are unavoidable even if the normal ads are cut.
The quality looks just as good as what you're likely to find on BT, as is the sound. I even put it on fullscreen on my 23" cinema display, it still looks great. I give this a thumbs up. Not having seen more than a couple epsidoes of the original Lost, I'm tempted by the $34 download of season 1, a little cheaper than the DVD, but no extra features and lower res... Decisions decisions...
Yup...
Help me out, because I'm genuinelly curious. For four more dollars you get the DVD with no DRM, which you can rip with free software down to a portable format, which comes on its own physical media in case you ever have to free up some harddrive space, which has all the extras (if you care). So in other words, you spend an extra 4 dollars and you get both versions.
I don't get why you'd even consider the download. I see the value added in buying tonights episode of Lost if you missed it and want to watch it on the train tomorrow, but once it's out on DVD I'd need a much better price break than 11%... personally I would've expected pay per view kind of prices, 3-5 bucks for a movie, maybe 10 bucks for a season of Lost, I dunno if that would even cover cost of bandwidth, but it's about what it's worth IMO.
Now, the real nice gadget is the Tivo (or whatever DVR) to IPod dock, so people who already have a DVR can take their TV shows on public transit and airplanes and such without paying again.
Apple have been pretty smart with this new iPod. The old mantra is "no-one wants to watch a movie on a portable player". Might be true - but Apple have sidestepped that issue by selling TV shows, not movies, at launch. TV shows are shorter (less tiring to watch on a small screen, quicker to download) and more profitable (TV shows already make money through advertising - this is just extra cash for them); and they don't compete so directly with DVDs like downloadable movies do (most of these shows will be offered for download before they're even available on DVD).
Very smart.
I think that the killer app for the new iTunes/iPod is old TV shows. Have you ever wanted to watch an old TV show that isn't on DVD and isn't carried in reruns? There are plenty of shows that have followings, but aren't worth it for the networks to play. So, hire a team to go through your archives and digitize old TV shows and put them on iTunes. Instant revenue off of an already existing product. The hang-ups of course are paying to digitize them and figuring out how to pay all of the residuals to the actors.
I don't think the cost would be overly excessive, considering that it is a one-time cost. And I'm guessing they have ways of figuring out residuals from their experience putting old shows on DVD.
Just my 2 cents, but I would be willing to pay $2 for an episode or two of some old shows to watch. Plus, I could take them on the plane with my new video capable iPod.
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