iPod Generation 4 Released

I_am_Rambi writes "According to MSNBC "The considerably tweaked fourth-generation iPod will roll out this week, and Newsweek got an advance peek. It looks a bit different, operates more efficiently, has a few more features and costs less. Here are the highlights...." Improved battery life, upto 12 hours, a click wheel, more efficient menus, multiple on the go play list, and probably one of the best changes is a lower price. $399 (down from $499) for a 40 gig, $299 (down from $399) for a 20 gig, and there are no 15 gig versions." And you can read Apple's iPod site for the full details.

15gb

[rbolkey]

I guess they had to get rid of it. With $100 drop across the table, they would have been cheaper than the minis. Unfortunately, my price point would have been the 15gb with the $100 drop.

Firmware update

[Saven Marek]

is their a firmware update to bring the new features to my older ipod??? battery life is down allot and its only 2 years old. It still works but not as well as it used to and an update to get 50% more battery life would bring mine back to a new state, if it is by working differently instead of new battery technology, which I doubt.

anyone?????

The Nets Biggest Adult Anime Gallery's [sharkfire.net]

european price markup - why?

[davids-world.com]

the European version sells for 284 (370) Euros excluding sales tax (which is usually another 15-20 percent!). That is USD 353 plus tax. Why the markup?
Are there higher import taxes for electronics from Taiwan?

Or is the Eurpean market just considered not so competitive?

(Btw: Canon is doing that as well with their digital cameras. Really annoying!)

OGG Vorbis, what does it take to get the support?

[coe]

Taken directly from apple's spec sheet for the new ipod:

--
Audio formats supported: AAC (16 to 320 Kbps), MP3 (32 to 320 Kbps), MP3 VBR, Audible, AIFF, Apple Lossless and WAV
--

I mean what does it take for us to get the OGG support into iPod? For 3 generations of this machine, one major target audiance of "switch" campaing has been unix users. We, the guys who support and now have started to love the new apple have begged for this support into iPod.

4th generation. And still no support. Lots of feedback sent, even on the official apple forums and nothing. Not even an official explanation why not.

How many generations this will take?

For example, I have over 110GB of music and other audio recorded in OGG format, rendering iPod totally useless for me. I did a quick "hey, whats your status" in my local university and situation was the same. iPod feels, looks and sounds too good to be true, everyone of us wants one. Expect for one big but.. where in the hell is the inhouse OGG support.

I know the problems with ARM processor inside iPod and lack of integer based OGG coded, but now that there is one (tremor) (http://www.xiph.org/ogg/vorbis/) and it's even in BSD license, I cant belive apple choose yet again to leave OGG support out of iPod.

Could someone please take a club and bash the ingorant iPod tech division to little pieces, since I and many like me, would pay huge sums for this support.

It could even be "silent" "no warranty" "not supported" type of deal, just could someone please answer why cant this one of the most advanced piece of modern consumer technology lack the most important feature..

OGG VORBIS - Support.

60gb = no stock!

[kefa]

And what happened to the 60gb version? I thought Apple had signed a deal with hitachi/toshiba (or whoever it was)!

Apple are upgrading existing orders

[gataylor]

My fiance ordered a 20GB iPod for me on Friday (through Apple's online UK store). Apple just sent her an email saying:

Today Apple announced an exciting new generation of iPods!
We have automatically upgraded your 20GB iPod to the new 40GB iPod, at no additional cost and added the iPod Carrying Case, Wired Remote and Earphones (which are no longer included with the new 40GB iPod) free of charge.

Kudos to Apple for doing this!

Geoff

New software with "old" iPods?

[Kurt Granroth]

I haven't had an iPod long enough to know: does the software for a new generation ever propogate back to the previous generation? I have a 3G iPod and am looking longingly at "Shuffle Songs" option at the top-level menu.

Basically, I listen to a lot of songs and audiobooks on my iPod. I find it necessary to "shuffle" my songs since the iPod won't honor any sort of iTunes playlist order.. but I don't want my audiobooks shuffled at all (skipping from chapter 5 to 19 and back to 13 isn't as fun as it sounds). Having a setting right on the top menu would be too handy.

So do these features ever propagate back or is my 3G software likely to never change again?

Re:Life-saving feature?

[tc1970]

Yes, I do consider radio is as important as the POTS. During last year's Black-Out, they were about the only things that worked. Radio stations kept people informed when nothing else did during that time. Trust me, it is a "life-saving" feature for some people (of course, in a different sense).

Re:Apple are upgrading existing orders

[archen]

Apple is well known for doing this. Not so long ago people who bought a Mac with OSX 10.2 got an upgrade to 10.3 if they had purchaced one within 3 months of the new OS upgrade. My iBook had a defect with the logic board and Apple just replaced it for free - 10 months after the warrenty expired. They payed for all shipping and handling and expenses. They also offered to upgrade my CD/DVD drive but I already had the newer version. Try getting THAT kind of service from Dell.

SO WHAT?!

[SPYvSPY]

I have found both the dock and the carrying case to be nearly useless. Also, the dock probably costs Apple about two cents to make (assuming they've recovered the cost for their plastic mold), and the carrying case probably costs them about thirty cents (a little cardboard, some fabric and some elastic). I doubt this is where Apple is getting its cost savings. Anyway, your better off buying aftermarket items that are just plain better.

So, how long before the 60gb is released?

[mbourgon]

We already know Toshiba is making them, they just got dumb and leaked the news before Steve did. Just like when ATI leaked info in advance on one of the cards. (One difference: while Steve didn't mention the ATI, it was still available via the web site)

Or is this a way to make the iPods appear cheaper, since there's no $500 one? Now, the apparent difference between a Windows-type Media Device (which, say, sells for $600) and an iPod is $200, not $100.

It's great to see the new generation.

[RegalBegal]

I'm a proud owner of a 3G 40gig. I'll eventually save up for the 60gig when it comes out.

In the meantime I can't help but think all the loyal third-party vendors of accessories for the 3G (there were alot after the holiday boom) would be a bit miffed that Apple changed the design again. Leaving them to re-make many of their already well sold products.

Re:Man!

[AragornSonOfArathorn]

Yep, they'll let me exchange my 3rd gen 15GB for the 4th gen 20GB.

<mr burns>EXCELLENT</mr burns> :)

Re:Apple are upgrading existing orders

[Anonymous Coward]

That's Apple's SoP. Anytime you buy a product just before the intro of a newer shipping product, they automatically upgrade the item without costs. It's a bit rare these days, though since they often announce things that ship weeks later. In the case of the OS, you also get a coupon for a free upgrade if your Mac or OS X purchase is within 30 days.

Customer satisfaction. It's the reason why I stick with Apple. Can't say the same with the hell I went through with Gateway and Dell.

Re:Oh, the POOR ogg people.

[raygundan]

I believe AAC uses vector quantization similar to VQF, and is "where the technology went" after that debacle. I will reiterate my recommendation for everybody again, because I don't think I was very clear:

Keep all your music encoded LOSSLESSLY, with somethig like FLAC. Convert to the lossy-format-du-jour as necessary, whether that's mp3, ogg, vqf, aac, wma, or whatever. It's much, much easier than going back to the source, and you can do it programatically. Even CDs have to be fed in, and if you have any LPs/tapes/etc..., you're screwed on reencoding. (realtime only, plus editing for length, noise cleanup, and manual tagging)

It Does Not Matter what tech looks like the "next big thing." You will guess wrong at some point, so pick a plan that saves your source quality (FLAC), and uses an open codec that can't disappear. Then if you're wrong, you have a backup plan that doesn't take forever.

Re:Selling Like Hotcakes?

[sootman]

In his biography, Lee Iacocca mentions in 1964/65, when the Mustang was introduced and doing very well (over 400k sold in the first 12 months) he saw a sign in a diner window that said "Our hotcakes are selling like Mustangs!"

Apple = nice guys.

[Matt Clare]

On Monday I replaced my now falling apart PowerBook G3 with a PowerBook 15' and through an educational offer in Canada 'Cram and Jam [apple.com]' I also bought an iPod for $90 after rebate. I knew the 4th Gen was soon, but I needed that PowerBook and I can't knock a $90 15GB 3rd Gen iPod.

Things got even better today when they e-mailed me to tell me I'd now get a 20GB and the ship date was moved from the 27th to the 21st!

Now I just hope that PowerBook shows up at work with the afternoon mail!

Re:european price markup - why?

[Oddly_Drac]

"For example, in the UK at least, you can return anything you buy within 10 days of buying it, for full refund, even if you simply decide you don't like it anymore."

14 days. It's a standard contractual 'cooling off' period where you can suddenly decide you don't want it. However, collecting on that clause in the Sale of Goods Act is _extremely_ hard unless you have something heavy to bludgeon the store with. Woolworths, for example, decided that they didn't want to play in terms of computer games, DVDs and CDs. I tend to go around pointing out that signs taped to the cash desk don't actually invalidate statutory rights...

One little known clause is 'fitness of purpose'; anything you buy has to be fit for the purpose for which it was bought.

Of course, my favourite is the implied and statutory 12 month warranty. I've had many an argument over a limited time warranty before now.

However, this is all normally policed by Trading Standards, and they _really_ have their hands full dealing with internet purchases/scams.

BTW, the major cost increase in the UK compared with anywhere else is importation duties and the recognition of the UK market as a cash cow...

Re:Prediction

[Jucius Maximus]

"If I could just hook the thing up to my machine and put my music on it, then fine. But I have concerns about the DRM, about having to use Mac or Windows, and about the price."

It's amazing how a few facts can dispel FUD like this.

The iPod acts like a regular hard drive in an enclosure. There is no need to have iTunes or even a Mac or a Windows box. You can access the filesystem directly and copy your files over.

There are freely available m4a and mp3 encoders out there for you to encode to you heart's content. AAC is an open standard. Also it supports .wav and .aiff formats, the former of which is pretty universal.

As to DRM: What DRM, aside from the music store? If you don't want that, then don't use the iTMS. (Good luck finding another clearly legal online music store with less restrictive terms.) Just buy your physical CDs and rip to your heart's content.

Expensive I can understand, buy how exactly does the iPod lock you into any platform you don't want to use?

You have just been educated. Have a nice day.

Re:SO WHAT?!

[Monkelectric]

Its not about cost savings. That is a time honored tradition with electronics. It's all psychology. Say you buy a PDA and it doesn't come with a cradle and screen protectors and a protective case. Said PDA is also very cheap, say, 300$.

The PDA company then sells the cradle, protectors and case at far above their "value", knowing that a large percentage of customers will just grab them when they buy the PDA. That way they get to advertise their 300$ price ont he low profit item (the PDA), and make quite a bit more on high profit items like stylses and screen protectors and what not.

cross fader or gapless?

[dcgaber]

I would really like to not have a second or two pause between my mp3 tracks, particularly when listening to live shows or dj mixes that just sound stupid with that little gap. Am I missing something and is this currently possible? Or is Apple just not going to support this (what I consider) must have feature?

Re:Apple are upgrading existing orders

[nordicfrost]

Long story (happy ending): I ordered a Apple keyboard, it arrived after 4 days. I noticed it had a crooked spacebar keu + I really didn't like the feel of the keyboard. I told them what the problem was, and they sent a new KB, + an over night pickup package for the broken one. The KB arrived, and it was an US model. Now, since I live in Norway, we use all kinds of crazy characters like Æ, Ø and Å. I called Apple again, they were sincerely embarrased to have made such a mistake and sent a new keyboard. Is arrived the news day (which is REALLY remarkable here in Norway. It seems that "next day" is really "nexy day (I FEEL like putting it in the mail)" along with thereturn package. Put they screwed up again and sent the old model. But I tested it and liked it. So I called Apple again. I told them what happened and the woman said: oh no! I'm so sorry! I'll send you a new one. But I said; listen why don't you send a little reimbursement instead? she said what kind of reimburesent? I: I kinda, you know... ...like that aplle bluetooth mouse of yours.... Could I get a rebate? She: I see. Ok, 'll put that on you order list. But no rebate. Me: WHAT? She I'll throw it in for free since we screwd up. Me ... (stunned by the discovery of true customer service.)

Re:They do sell cheaper iPods!

[YouHaveSnail]

Pointing to Creative's Nomad line as iPod knockoffs is far from accurate.

Whatever you think of the quality of either iPod or Creative's Zen Touch, it's hard to debate that the Zen Touch is a "cheaper knockoff" of the iPod. It's obviously cheaper (i.e. less expensive) and a look at it's picture [creative.com] shows clearly that it's a knockoff [m-w.com], (i.e a copy of something popular). The UI as depicted looks quite like that of the iPod, and the form is about the same. Really, the only thing it appears to be missing is Apple's scroll wheel interface, and Apple probably has a patent on that.

So if you prefer the phrase "uncostly imitation" to "cheaper knockoff," that's fine with me.

But heck, the Zen can't even play AAC files! You can't use it with the world's most popular online music store! And it's not even all that much less expensive. I think I'll stick with "cheaper knockoff," thanks.