Slashdot Mirror
Apple Quietly Releases New iPods
redletterdave writes "At the company's media event last month, Apple introduced its fifth-generation iPod Touch and seventh-generation iPod Nano, but only mentioned an October timeframe for when it would start filling pre-orders. Without an official word, it looks like the official launch day for the new iPods is today. Apple Stores around the country are currently stocked with the new iPods and customers who pre-ordered are finally receiving email notifications that their orders have shipped, or are 'preparing to ship.' Still, it is interesting to note that Apple didn't make a special announcement or even post a press release to announce the launch of its newest media players, especially as the competition heats up before the holiday season."
Umm, they had a huge event where they unveiled new iphones and ipods. what is quiet about it? the release date I guess? regardless, they're here now. I've got a new ipod touch on order, so I should be getting it soon. the price went up - $299. I wonder how the price of the ipad mini will compare to this?
eh? in media players? what competition?
It's just shipping. What's the big deal about shipping...?
...non-iPod media player of equal storage and superior features for third of iPod price.
From the specs on Apples page:
Maximum operating altitude: 10,000 feet (3000 m)
Really? What would cause this. This means it can't be used in places like Leadville, CO for example. Is this some sleazy warranty trick? Granted, this is the same for the 4th generation but I don't understand why any media player would be limited to 10,000 feet.
Apple Quietly Releases New iPods
Not quietly enough, obviously...
(I kid, I kid!)
They didn't make a special announcement, because there is nothing special about the product
But apparently Slashdot thinks otherwise
Slashdot will pick up anything from Apple, including "quiet release"
Muchas Gracias, Señor Edward Snowden !
Care to elaborate on that? Do you mean the competition between the various Apple players? Or are you suggesting there are other serious players in this market?
I'm not seeing how adding video will help this product. It's a little "over-featured" and "over-priced" to be successful, in my opinion.
Strange that Apple wouldn't release the iTunes overhaul in conjunction with these iPods. That overhaul is well overdue, more than any iPod refresh...
Do people still buy these things? And 300 dollars is outrageous. My phone was 80 dollars, no contract. A 32gb microsd is 20 dollars. So 100 dollars total for a device that can outperform this I-Pod touch in everything, even media playing thanks to winamp and winamp remote.
I have a friend who has an iPod instead of an iPhone. She is almost always in range of free wifi, and uses two apps that provide free phone (including dial in) and free texting. Cheaper than an iPhone and lighter too.
Atlas stands on the earth and carries the celestial sphere on his shoulders.
Strange - I thought I had that ticked, but I can still see this story.
"The greatest lesson in life is to know that even fools are right sometimes" - Winston Churchill
I use it for jogging all the time. So much better to have a light weight nano on my waist than a bulky phone on my arm.
All an iPod is is an over priced flash drive. Who actually uses it for anything other than a music storage device? Most of the time you either "dock" it or you just use your smart phone instead when you're on the go.
An iPod touch is an iPhone without the phone. Sorry, but none of my flash drives can run iPhone apps or have a camera or connect to Wifi.
The iPod nano has the Nike+ app and a FM radio and you can watch videos on it. You must have some fancy flash drives if they can do that.
If you are gonna knock something, at least do enough research about what you are knocking that you don't come across as, uh, ..., less than knowledgable.
Slashdot will pick up anything from Apple, including "quiet release"
Quiet release sounds like what an Apple fanboy does after he finds out his iPod preorder shipped.
If they are using the new port then they will be just like the new Iphones, the built in controls in the car will not be able to control the device...
A number of things with a USB port (like cars) can still control iOS devices with a lightning port, simply using he included cable.
Other devices that had dedicated dock connectors can still work just fine with the new connector if you get the adaptor. The only thing that will not work is playing video or "iPod Out", which was displaying a virtual iPod screen on some other device (since it needs video). That's not much of a loss though as the iPod Out interface was laggy and really low res.
"There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
they're not authenticator chips. They're demuxing chips.
Not that it matters to the /. crowd. Unless you can be super cheap and buy a 5 pack of cables for 10 bucks IT'S EVIL AND MUST BE ELIMINATED.
Non impediti ratione cogitationus.
Only because Mom can hear everything through the heating ducts. The loud stuff is reserved for the Apple Store.
Really? What would cause this. This means it can't be used in places like Leadville, CO for example.
I was driving and hiking around the mountains at higher elevations than that all weekend. An iPhone 5 (with the same specs) worked just fine. I have no idea why the continue to include specs like this in totally solid-state devices, but it probably has to do with ranges all the components were tested in and they just don't want to legally claim it will work under conditions they have not tested.
"There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
Maximum operating altitude: 10,000 feet (3000 m)
Really? What would cause this.
Probably because some chip inside the iPod says its maximum operating altitude is 10,0000 ft. If a supplier says that is all the chip is rated for that is what Apple has to put on the box.
Interestingly chip suppliers sometimes have chips that are mil-spec (military grade) that are rated for higher altitudes. What is the difference, aside from price, sometimes it is merely a matter of testing. Chips rated as mil-spec may actually get tested at low pressure (simulating high altitude). Regular chips get no such testing and may actually be capable of working at higher altitudes.
.... at the special media event which announced the pre-orders of the iPhone 5. Unlike the iPhone however no specificl launch date or pre-order was done.
All an iPod is is an over priced flash drive. Who actually uses it for anything other than a music storage device? Most of the time you either "dock" it or you just use your smart phone instead when you're on the go.
An iPod touch is an iPhone without the phone. Sorry, but none of my flash drives can run iPhone apps or have a camera or connect to Wifi.
AFAIk the ipod touch can't be used as flash drive, or at least, not as easy as one. Please pick another model for flash drive comparison
I don't have a smart phone, because I care about battery life and call quality and don't give a shit about playing Angry Birds on the toilet. However, I do have an iPod, because I like having 150gb of storage for my content (actually, I don't like it enough for that -- it really needs to be upped to a terabyte, but that's never going to happen, I guess).
Can you explain that, please?
I didn't call them evil. I will call them greedy as hell and fleecing the users for an expensive cable that they have made a particular way to charge far more.
I had a sucky sig.
Strange - I thought I had that ticked, but I can still see this story.
My bad, I had the "increase advertising" option ticked, it must be bleeding over to other users.
"There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
But when the port is meant for more than just USB, then the matter of fleecing becomes less obvious.
Also, 19 bucks for a cable isn't expensive. It isn't cheap but not what I'd call expensive. It's not meant to be just for charge and sync it's also meant for all sorts of peripherals.
Non impediti ratione cogitationus.
Of course Apple launched them quietly after all the flak they took for hearing damage caused by loud iPods.
It's an iPhone - without the phone capabilities. I find it really handy to not just check mails, but also the weather, stocks, a calculator, time in different cities and YouTube. Only complaint - lack of an SD card slot, and the inability to store music videos the way one can store music audios. Otherwise, it's a great thing to have while waiting in a restaurant, at the doctors or for the car to get done.
No, there is actually a story here. IPhones and Galaxies and HTCs are being launched by companies like ATT, Veriozon, Orange, Sprint, etc. But growth of handheld devices is skyrocketing in urban environments around the world. 80% of the Earth population now has electricity, and 47% of households have access to wifi (or soon will). Just as (and this is lost on wealthy audiences) MOST display devices sold in 2006 (by number, not by dollar) had both an SVGA jack and a TV tuner, because most buyers (India, China, Indonesia, Egypt, etc.) could not afford, or have room in the house, for both a TV and a computer, there is a very large market which IPods are aimed at. WIFI. Using Google Voice or Skype to speak on an IPod over Wi-Fi is a frightening trend to the telecommunications firms which promote the IPhone. I would expect this kind of relative silence over a device which does not require $90 per month individual subscription and data fees. Why do almost all the comments on this article treat the Phone-company-Less device as a toy? Because Slashdot readers live in a world where buying a laptop AND a desktop AND a television AND a cell phone AND a pad AND a pod seems just slightly consumptive. See pictures of slums with electricity and wifi, a third to half of the world telecom market, here. http://retroworks.blogspot.com/2012/04/useless-lists-of-jobs-beneath-wealthy.html
Gently reply
...because there is nothing special about the product
Pretty much true, up to a point. I have owned 2 iPods, of which the second, one of the now ageing 6G 160GB models looks good for a few years yet, and I quite like the fact that the independent device isn't draining the battery of my phone. In its defence, I would claim that as a standalone music player (and certainly as an audiobook player), the machine was pretty much ideal for its purpose for the couple of years I was using a hand-me-down MacBook as my primary computer.
Unfortunately, the experience is soured by Apple's predatory lock-in approach with iTunes and DRM, since I have returned to Linux as my primary OS. While most of the content I use is ripped from CDs (and is therefore DRM-free), the bulk of my audiobooks (available only from Audible) are a PITA to transfer to other platforms However, that doesn't mean I won't make the effort. If (rather, when) my current iPod breaks, I won't bother replacing it, I'll just use my phone.
Just because you can afford something doesn't mean you have to throw away your money. If you're not careful, all those monthly bills can easily add up to nearly the cost of your rent.
Are you seriously suggesting the newest 'touch' was 'quietly released' due to some conspiracy by the 'telecommunications firms which promote the Iphone"?
Could you stand in a mirror and read your post to yourself for me? After doing so, can you say it doesn't sound just a wee bit tin-foil-hat-ish?
The iPod shuffle, the cheapest device Apple makes, can be used as a USB flash drive.
The iPhone, the iPod touch and the iPad can NOT be used as flash drives.
What's wrong with Apple?
Move to Canada, my friend. I've never heard of a "Jimmy Donal Wales".
My employer provides a "smart" phone - a BlackBerry Bold. It's... terrible for anything other than very light browsing and, of course, its core business functions (not that it performs many of these terribly well, either, but that's for another post). The phone's best feature, by far, is that it's free. And, as I have a free smart phone with the basic necessities, I'd rather not shell out my own cash just to have a second phone to carry around. In my case, an extra $75/month+ is a lot to pay for a better interface and some additional capability.
Enter the iPod Touch. For $300 and no monthly bill, I get access to all of the apps I wanted, a pocketable device I can use anywhere there's WiFi, a lot of music, a few videos, a decent point 'n shoot camera, etc.
It's not that I haven't considered tablets; I like my Nexus 7 a lot, but the iPod Touch is far more portable.
Not a conspiracy... But heavily marketing the non-phone handhelds (virtually identical technology to the phones) would potentially be perceived as "biting the hand" that has fed Apple billions. @Jhon, are you suggesting the telecomm industry isn't writing about the threats to growth in hand-held phone service by VOIP and wifi in their own stock prospectus? Was CEA catering to paranoids in establishing the Emerging Markets series on this topic at CES? Here's an article from 2007, does it sound crazy? http://www.voip-news.com/articles/voip-blog/coming-soon-wifi-voip-52019/ By the way, I get the same sneers when I tell people about the size of the PC-monitor-TV-combo market, I get sent to the mirror a lot when talking about 3 billion consumers in the good enough market.
Gently reply
"Nobody ever went broke underestimating the intelligence of the American public." -- H. L. Mencken
Mencken failed to draw the general lesson: it's not just true of Americans.
Oh, I'm sorry sir, I thought you were referring to me, Mr. Wensleydale.
Even more significantly, the "adapter" actually does digital to analog conversion as well, so the legacy interface works with analog output. You just won't find a microcontroller with DAC in a $3 cable...
That's in the adaptor though, not the plain Lightning cable which is what I think the original post was about.
That does help explain why an adaptor is sort of expensive.
"There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
Apple can only eat crow so many times in one month.
I haven't thought of anything clever to put here, but then again most of you haven't either.
Wow, I didn't even realize the cable had a chip in it.
And speaking of lightning cables... I'm not really one for silly aftermarket bling cases, cables, etc, but an electroluminescent cable that changes speed based on the battery charge? That's kind of cool :)
http://www.tgdaily.com/mobility-features/66737-apples-lightning-cable-cloned
Thrill-seeker demand up. Holiday Store-buster Blame Down. Profit up. Stock value up.
Tech support = quantity > quality
Status quo.
How many price is mini ipod. dog Waste bags