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Technology (Apple) Businesses Apple Technology

Apple To Introduce Video iPod? 276

Posted by Hemos from the probably-not dept.
xombo writes "iPoding and Mac Rumors as well as eWeek newsletter and Reuters seem to think that Apple will be introducing either a video-capable iPod -or- even better a Tablet Mac which may run into direct competition with Microsoft's similar product. "The one thing you can say for sure is that they do have a lot of product out there right now and they're going to be hesitant to draw too much attention away from their existing products" by introducing new ones now, said Roger Kay, an analyst at market research firm International Data Corp. Instead, Apple may unveil the long-anticipated video-enabled iPod, which will likely work initially only on Macintosh computers, Enderle said. Apple's existing inkwell and Newton technologies seem to make them in the perfect position to take on Microsoft in what could be the biggest battle for the most worthless market sector (Tablet PCs), however as a Newton owner I think that the some-what-larger-than-Palm device size that the Newton line sported is much more user friendly and usable. Read the Reuters article at reuters.." It'd be nice, but I'm skeptical on it actually being that.
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Apple To Introduce Video iPod? More

Apple To Introduce Video iPod?

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  • In other news... (Score:5, Funny)

    by Anonymous Coward on Monday January 06, 2003 @08:49AM (#5024757)
    Rumors suggest Apple may solve world hunger, send a manned mission to Mars by 2004, and release a machine which is fast enough to compete with PCs.

  • Two words: Apple. Rumors. (Score:5, Interesting)

    by UncleAlias ( 157955 ) on Monday January 06, 2003 @08:51AM (#5024772) Homepage
    Thank you for playing.

    (Gotta love Macworld Expo...)
    • This if the third or fourth different Apple rumor I read about today.

      MacWorld Expo starts tomorrow. Rather than speculate (odd are, incorrectly), just wait the 24 hours until Steve Jobs speaks.

      Oh. And the award for stupidest speculation goes to ... An article in news.com makes a seemingly definitive statement about the specs of the new product. Then in the next paragraph says, "Then again, it could be something entirely different ..."

  • Have faith (Score:3, Funny)

    by 0x0d0a ( 568518 ) on Monday January 06, 2003 @08:52AM (#5024777) Journal
    however as a Newton owner I think that the some-what-larger-than-Palm device size that the Newton line sported is much more user friendly and usable.

    Cmon, Apple's due for a limited-edition device. "The 25th Anniversary Newton" has a nice ring to it, no? :-)

    • Re:Have faith (Score:4, Interesting)

      by Alan Partridge ( 516639 ) on Monday January 06, 2003 @08:59AM (#5024818) Journal
      I would absolutely LOVE Apple to bring out a small tablet machine. Something with a sub 8" screen, Newton handwriting recog, OSX, Airport and/or Bluetooth would be the ideal machine for me. Handhelds aren't there yet, but notebooks and tablet-notebooks are all wrong. I KNOW Apple could make such a device better than anyone else, after all, it'd be little different to an iBook sans optical drive, with a 1.8 inch HD instead of a 2.5 and a touchscreen replacing both the screen and keyboard.

      Are you listening Apple? I'd actually BUY one at $1000 or less.

      Tomorrow.

      • Re:Have faith (Score:2, Funny)

        by 0x0d0a ( 568518 )
        Newton handwriting recog

        "Egg freckles"
        • you never used one, obviously.

          presumably you aren't aware that Newton handwriting recognition (ie Inkwell) is already built in to Mac OSX.

          eat up Martha

          • Re:Have faith (Score:5, Insightful)

            by Oculus Habent ( 562837 ) <oculus.habent@g[ ]l.com ['mai' in gap]> on Monday January 06, 2003 @11:39AM (#5025881) Journal
            All the bits Apple's been putting into the OS would go wuite nicely into a tablet or PDA. I think a "sub-tablet" would be good.

            Bluetooth - sync Address Book, iCal, etc. or use your Bluetooth enabled cellphone to connect to the internet.

            802.11 - Communicate with devices that have removable media and access the internet.

            iSync - easily update your tablet/PDA to your mac. .Mac - online storage/addresses/calendar for a web-enabled PDA/tablet with limited internal storage.

            Inkwell - why the hell else would they put handwriting recognition on desktops? So grpahic designers don't have to switch away from the tablet when they take down project details? Right.

            Quartz Extreme - this makes desktops faster but also frees up processing power on portables, making them zippier.

            Sherlock 3 - a simple interface for all sorts of web-based information is a great addition to the desktop, but think how convenient it is to have stocks, movies, flight info, phone numbers, eBay, a dictionary and translation services in a single application that requires very little typing

            QuickTime 6 - support for MPEG-4; perfect for moderate-to-low bandwidth video applications.

            Universal Access - All sorts of access functions for disabled individuals translate well to tablets... Modifier key lock is a great example.

            All right, I'll stop. I'm not saying that we will see a tablet or PDA tomorrow, but the Magic 8-ball says: Outlook Promising.

            • Re:Have faith (Score:5, Interesting)

              by Alan Partridge ( 516639 ) on Monday January 06, 2003 @12:29PM (#5026217) Journal
              Sounds like we're on the same wavelength. Thing is, I don't see why this machine shouldn't be - mobo wise - virtually identical to the current 12.1inch iBook. Deleting the optical drive and providing a smaller screen should save power straight away, and using an iPod style HD with a large cache should keep down power/heat and weight even further. Give it a beautiful pop-up stylus a la Newton and one of the modern generation of transflective colour screens (so you can use it in any light) and I think we've got a winner. The Newton's StrongARM was pretty powerful, but a 5-6-7-800Mhz G3 would be in a different league. I'm pulling numbers out of my arse, but maybe a 10hour battery life would be possible with judicious Energy Saver defaults? Best of all, of course, it'd be a REAL computer - not some lightweight syncable adjunct. If it had the iBooks usual roster of ports you'd be able to network via 10/100 enet, Firewire or AIrPort - or just use it in target disk mode to maintain file sync.

              This is the product that I WANT from Apple, because this is what PDAs and notebooks can't do for me today. My girlfriend's Clie SJ-30 is pretty cool, but it doesn't "read" my writing like my old MP2100 does - but my poor old Newton can barely talk to the 'net (or my PowerMac G4 or Win2K machines). And notebooks - even small ones like the iBook - aren't small enough and the batteries don't last long enough.

              Bring on the iPad!

      • Re:Have faith (Score:5, Funny)

        by MouseR ( 3264 ) on Monday January 06, 2003 @11:05AM (#5025653) Homepage

        Are you listening Apple? I'd actually BUY one at $1000 or less.

        Get an iBook.

  • Archos is a nice alternative (Score:5, Informative)

    by Joel Rowbottom ( 89350 ) on Monday January 06, 2003 @08:52AM (#5024782) Homepage
    Archos [archos.com] have been doing this for a while with their Multimedia 20 [archos.com] product - it's using USB2 rather than Firewire but it's a lovely friendly unit, and also has things like CompactFlash adaptors so you can use it as a backup for your digicam. Plus if you plug it into your Linux box you can mount it as a standard USB storage device.

    I've got a standard Jukebox 20, and the wife has the FM radio version, both are really reliable little units and there's even open-source firmware available for it called Rockbox [rockbox.haxx.se].

    Well worth a look, and IMHO superior to the iPod - certainly the ones I've played with anyway.

    • I agree with this post (Score:2, Insightful)

      by Anonymous Coward
      the archos is a little chunky, but not an obese fatass like most slashbots. It can also be had for roughly half the cost of a comparible ipod and has a warranty longer than 90 days.

      The USB2 is as fast as firewire; and it works without drivers on XP - comes up just like another hard drive. The big problem with the multimedia one they put out, there is an extra adaptor you have to get to use firewire or usb2. That was a major error in my eyes, since usb2 was built into the previous versions. Also, despite the repeated lies by steve jobs whores, the sound is better on the archos and most versions will record other sources to mp3. Of course the best sound comes from the Nomads, but those things are fatter than cowboi kneel.

      • Re:I agree with this post (Score:5, Insightful)

        by Anonymous Coward on Monday January 06, 2003 @10:15AM (#5025298)
        the archos is a little chunky
        It is an enormous, ugly piece of shit compared to the iPod.
        has a warranty longer than 90 days.
        The iPod has a year warranty.
        The USB2 is as fast as firewire
        Under certain ideal conditions.
        and it works without drivers on XP - comes up just like another hard drive.
        Wow, like the iPod always has.

      • Re:I agree with this post (Score:2, Informative)

        by Anonymous Coward
        want to try plugging two hard drives into your usb2.0 ports on your motherboard, and I'll plug two hard drives into the firewire ports on my mac, lets see who can write and read a 5gb file from each drive faster...

        I'll beat you by at least 40%, if you don't know why visit google.

    • Re:Archos is a nice alternative (Score:4, Informative)

      by Anonymous Coward on Monday January 06, 2003 @11:30AM (#5025825)
      You jest that the Archos is better than an ipod?

      I have both the ipod (20GB) and the Archos Jukebox. It came with a 6GB disk and I upgraded to 30GB. (This is not the video device).

      The s/w on the Archos is totally crap, but the hw is not bad. However the constant hard disk speed up/slow down is very very annoying. I upgraded to the gpl-ware Rockbox which is a vast improvement on the Archos s/w.

      But - the flipping thing takes an age to boot up and doesnt remember where you were when you turn on. The ipod is flawless in this respect (it has no real OFF button - but just goes to sleep where you are).

      The slow boot up and disk seeking for songs makes it great as a piece of hifi but not a portable device (its too big and bulky).

      The ipod is superior than the Archos in a lot of areas.

      But having said that - the Archos is much cheaper than an ipod. They are both good devices but the Archos is NOT better than an ipod.

    • >it's using USB2 rather than Firewire

      That would be wrong sir! Its only USB 1.1 (got time to wait?) with and option to add FIREWIRE or USB2 support. Didn't see the price.

      From the specification:

      Interface: USB 1.1 (PC & Mac). Optional interface : USB 2.0 (PC) or FireWire (PC & Mac)
  • The bottom line is that they are too expensive. Do not look for anyone except the rich kids in college to flaunt them. A great concept, converting your handwritten notes to say MS Word, but they are too expensive, except for the affluent. Hell..I still can't afford a laptop..
    • I do software development for the government focused on training and tracking. We take tablet PCs and Pocket PCs very seriously for this type of work... in fact we are already doing enterprise level R&D with them as a target platform. Remember, the government collects a lot of information about things and then must manage it. This is easier said that done...
      • I don't think this will fly in the consumer market though - look at all of the hospital and other field-type application that PDAs get used for. The people don't think of them as PDAs, because they're just using a tool to do a specific job. I can see tablets in a similar position, where they are adapted for specific uses in specific environments, and they do great.

        I, for one, don't have good enough handwriting for anything to recognize. Even graffiti didn't get it right more than about 80% of the time.

        Ironically, the only people left with decent handwriting seem to be older folks who didn't use computers until much later in life; their handwriting clarity was important for communication. Us "kids" (i'm 34) who use a computer all day generally can't hand write for shite.
    • The bottom line is that they are too expensive..... except for the affluent

      See the section this story is in? You just defined Apple - it wouldn't matter, they'd still be able to sell them to the Apple faithful.

    • A great concept,... but they are too expensive, except for the affluent.

      That never stopped Apple before. *cough*Cube*cough* (not to mention the $10k TAM.)

  • Hypocritical? (Score:4, Interesting)

    by m00nun1t ( 588082 ) on Monday January 06, 2003 @08:57AM (#5024812) Homepage
    It's interesting when MS released the tablet, the majority of /. said "ho hum". Now, when there is a rumour about Apple releasing a tablet, the comment is..


    "...-or- even better a Tablet Mac which may run into direct competition with Microsoft's similar product..."


    Why is Apple releasing a tablet so great if the idea of a tablet is so dull? Is this just MS bashing in disguise - "it is competing with Microsoft so it must be good". Constantly comparing yourself to the competition is a great way to give them credibility.

    • It's interesting when MS released the tablet, the majority of /. said "ho hum".

      From the article itself:

      biggest battle for the most worthless market sector (Tablet PCs)

    • Re:Hypocritical? (Score:4, Insightful)

      by zaren ( 204877 ) <fishrocket@gmail.com> on Monday January 06, 2003 @09:08AM (#5024883) Journal
      As was stated in the origginal article posting:

      "Apple's existing inkwell and Newton technologies seem to make them in the perfect position to take on Microsoft in what could be the biggest battle for the most worthless market sector (Tablet PCs)..."

      I couldn't have put it better myself (so I copy and paste ;) . Surely Apple could produce a kick-ass tablet... but why? There's no market for it right now.
    • have you ever played with one of these "tablet" PCs? They're FAR too big/heavy/fragile to make any sense. Something with and 8-9" screen (800x600?) and half to a third of the weight is what's required. Tablet PCs are just notebooks with more expensive screens!
    • The article posting said, "in what could be the biggest battle for the most worthless market sector (Tablet PCs)." It goes on to say something like, "it would at least be nicer than a Newton or a Palm".

      This is hardly a ringing denunciation of MS while at the same time praising Apple. None of the posts as of the time I'm writing this are heaping praise on Apple either.

    • Re:Hypocritical? (Score:5, Interesting)

      by marcsiry ( 38594 ) on Monday January 06, 2003 @09:14AM (#5024918) Homepage
      I'd think it's more along the lines of a recognition that when Apple finally does something in a market segment, it's usually well designed and elegant.

      There were tons of LCD all-in-ones- even that IBM machine, with the arm holding the screen- but the flat-panel iMac integrated the components in a way that surpassed them all in terms of utility and aesthetics (if you don't agree, you probably haven't seen/fiddled with one).

      There's plenty of hard-drive MP3 players around- so why has "iPod" become almost synonymous with "portable music player?" It's because the ingenious scroll wheel and interface of Apple's machine- after about sixty seconds of messing with it, you're whipping through those menus like a pro and giggling with delight. I'm embarrassed to say it's a bit intoxicating (and I don't even own one; I play with them in stores). Every other MP3 player I've used is a confusing muddle of mode buttons and flashing LCD messages.

      Conversely, one can see Microsoft's usual lack of consideration in Pocket PC's (and presumably their Tablets- I haven't seen one). It's basically "big Windows," with all the annoying interface doo-dads crammed onto a teeny screen. Does having four one-inch square windows with scroll bars on a handheld screen really serve the user?

      In contrast, the Newton's interface was a dream- and that was the Neanderthal of handhelds! The expectation of an Apple tablet is that it will deliver the holy grail of tablet computing- easy usability with a pen only. Apple's reliance on its iSync technology to get all the information from its keyboard-enabled computers into your peripheral devices could be a major part of that plan.

      As usual, the expectations of what Apple will deliver may not meet up with the reality. However, they have had enough successes in the past to continue to generate excitement.
    • I think that the point is that there *will* be competition for an MS product, rather than MS getting there first and dominating.

      The M$/TablePC issue has nothing to do with whether or not the TabletPC is a good idea - done well, it probably *is* a good idea.

      It has everything to do with whether or not M$ get there first and prevent others from competing in this new market sector using underhanded techniques, that's all.

      As, has been demonstrated, they are prone to doing...

    • Re:Hypocritical? (Score:2, Informative)

      by Ineffable 27 ( 203704 )
      That quote -- "...-or- even better a Tablet Mac which may run into direct competition with Microsoft's similar product..." -- was not put there by the submitter or editor, but is a direct quote from the wire service article. So it does not reflect any Slasdot 'bias.'
    • Because the rumor *ISNT* that apple is going to release a tablet pc, the rumor is apple is going to release a tablet-style upsized pda. Whereas Microsoft is so buisy trying to justify rediciouls windows license costs and has to turn every machine into a "desktop replacement", one would simply have to buy a 5machine license for osx when the next upgrade rolls around. This would make a "tablet" with an 8inch screen running osx actually useful, as opposed to the crap microsoft is trying to push right now (tablets *are* the future, tablets as desktop replacements are not).

      Huge difference between the proposed products.

  • oh please (Score:2, Insightful)

    by tps12 ( 105590 )
    Does anyone really need something like this? The iPod you can use in the car, while working out, or while sitting at your desk. Ripping or downloading songs is fast and the files are small. None of these things are true for an iVideoPod. The only place you could use such a thing would be on a bus or train or something, where most of the passengers tend to be older and poor (not exactly Apple's niche market, to put it nicely). If they want to continue to grab the rich college girl market, they'll need to come up with something more reasonable.

    • Re:oh please (Score:5, Funny)

      by torpor ( 458 ) <ibisum@@@gmail...com> on Monday January 06, 2003 @09:21AM (#5024963) Homepage Journal
      Duh. Have you not seen 3G phones in your neighborhood, capable of doing video?

      iVideoPod would be a good place to put those recorded videos your girlfriend sent you on your v-phone while you were away in Iraq bombing nazi's^H^H^H^H^H^Hiraqi's^H^H^H^H^H^H^Hsheep ...

      And anyway, you're forgetting something very vital and extremely important here: pr0n.

      I'd use my iVideoPod in the bathroom, mostly. Saves having to hunt around for a fresh Hustler, anyway ....

      • Re:oh please (Score:5, Funny)

        by Maudib ( 223520 ) on Monday January 06, 2003 @09:44AM (#5025088)
        I'd use my iVideoPod in the bathroom, mostly. Saves having to hunt around for a fresh Hustler, anyway ....

        Good lord man! What you need is an iPod with airport in the bathroom. OSX is so friggin brilliant it knows whether you want teen sluts or hot anal.

      • Re:oh please (Score:2, Funny)

        by Jered ( 32096 )
        I'd use my iVideoPod in the bathroom, mostly. Saves having to hunt around for a fresh Hustler, anyway ....

        Uhm; I don't think that's what the 'Sticky Keys' control panel option is for. HTH.

    • I watched a 90 minute DVD on my iBook on the bus into work this very morning. I take a 30+ mile bus journey twice a day, and the weekly fare is less than the equivalent in car-parking fees.

      In most European countries a lot of people commute to work by bus, train or tram.

  • allapple.com make the best predictions (Score:5, Informative)

    by edLin ( 5192 ) on Monday January 06, 2003 @08:59AM (#5024820) Homepage
    This guy really knows what he is talking about [allapple.com].

  • I already have one... (Score:5, Funny)

    by jdreed1024 ( 443938 ) on Monday January 06, 2003 @09:02AM (#5024839)
    Yeesh. The editors really need to check their facts. Mine's already video enabled.

    When I charge it, it displays a nice little video of the battery charge going to low to high, and back again. If that's not high-quality video, then I don't know what is...

  • Just not right (Score:5, Insightful)

    by IAmATuringMachine! ( 62994 ) on Monday January 06, 2003 @09:03AM (#5024846)
    Apple is about giving a good experience. Watching movies on an iPod is not really a good experience - massive storage requirements, pressure to have a large display on a small device, the need for battery life. Why make a video device that you can only watch one video on? I would rather them foray into consumer electronics, selling a Tivo-like device that if you subscribe to .mac you get the channel listings, or something like that. Not a video iPod....
    • The prospect of watching videos on an iPod screen doesn't strike exactly you as "insanely great"? Yeah, you got that right.

      (There is a TiVo knockoff for Macs, by the way. Uses hard drive space rather than a dedicated drive, which makes no sense to me, but whatever...)

    • No... but how about an iPod with a color screen that has 802.11.. Not for net access per se. But lets you're listening to a CD and want to check out the liner notes... download them, and there you go.

      Just an example.

      Cire
    • I agree with the parent that watching video on a handheld-size screen wouldn't be worth it in most instances. A laptop or maybe even a palmtop DVD player is about the bare minimum size, and even then its usefulness is limited.

      But just as the iPod with a built-in speaker would be useless, it's very useful with headphones. Why not a video iPod with a set of VR glasses? The only pair I've seen was kind of awful, but maybe that's the killer hardware to make the application useful.

      It'd be worthwhile for long commutes, plane trips, lying in bed and not disturbing your mate, and so on. The right video glasses would even transform portable computing -- imagine a Palm or similar sized device that could be used without a display. Enabling transparency could even allow you to see *and* see video at the same time.
    • Hmm, I don't know where you get the one video thing.. a 90 minute movie and some extra stuff takes up less than 5 gigs on DVD, and that's at full-screen resolution (720 x 576 i believe), so to shrink them down to 320 X 240 let's say, using a decent codec (quicktime 6 or whatever that's at that's supposed to be so good), I'd bet the 20 gig model could hold 20 full-length movies easy. I mean, you can fit a movie into 700 megs using DivX at a full resolution, so more like 50-80 movies on a 20 gig ipod if they used a codec like that!

      • Re:Just not right (Score:3, Insightful)

        by jonnythan ( 79727 )
        Yeah, but how long will the battery life be when you're decoding video and running a full color backlit screen?

      • Re:Just not right (Score:4, Insightful)

        by Twirlip of the Mists ( 615030 ) <twirlipofthemists@yahoo.com> on Monday January 06, 2003 @10:27AM (#5025398)
        Hmm, I don't know where you get the one video thing.. a 90 minute movie and some extra stuff takes up less than 5 gigs on DVD

        Remember that almost all DVD's are dual-layer now. So a 90+ minute movie and extra stuff takes up less than 9 gigs on DVD, not less than 5.

        I mean, you can fit a movie into 700 megs using DivX at a full resolution, so more like 50-80 movies on a 20 gig ipod if they used a codec like that!

        Yes, and you'd be watching them on a screen slightly larger than a postage stamp. Dumb, dumb idea.
      • Like the person below mentioned, I was referring to battery life. Presumably with a small device, we want a small battery. Using an embedded processor or several custon-designed ASICs and pumping a color LCD to constantly refresh, decoding the sound, etc. would be very energy-intensive as opposed to simply decoding MP3/etc. Further, who is even to say what we would be able to watch on it - I doubt DVDs. It could be a porto-porno-player, but not much else.

        If it did play DVDs, i.e., a walkman with a display, it wouldn't be any better than one of those flip-top dvd players, which aren't as good as iBooks though similarly priced.

        The solutionn is already there, and anything smaller would be walking backwards.
  • 1. Next year theyll add a voice recording function 2. Then wireless connections will be available 3. Same people will call this kind of gadget mobile phone Any questions?

  • Sounds like a guess in the right direction (Score:4, Insightful)

    by sootman ( 158191 ) on Monday January 06, 2003 @09:08AM (#5024881) Homepage Journal
    At least one of those two things--tablet or enhanced ipod/handheld--are what I think are most likely tomorrow as well. Apple has recently improved all their products--superdrive in the tibook, quartzextreme in the ibook (and man does that make a difference), powermacs up to 1.25 GHz, and the 17" imac. Speed-bumping the xserve would be nice but it's not a show-making announcement.

  • what's wrong with a little cannabalism? (Score:3, Insightful)

    by buzban ( 227721 ) <.ten.nabzub. .ta. .zub.> on Monday January 06, 2003 @09:10AM (#5024897) Homepage
    (except that i probably misspelled it...)

    The one thing you can say for sure is that they do have a lot of product out there right now and they're going to be hesitant to draw too much attention away from their existing products"

    certainly you don't want to diminish sales of your own products, but if the sales would otherwise go to someone else (e.g., somebody with a color something-or-other, or a tablet something-or-other...
    then maybe you do want to saturate the market with your own products?

  • No Way (Score:5, Insightful)

    by joel8x ( 324102 ) on Monday January 06, 2003 @09:12AM (#5024906) Homepage
    I really can't see a video iPod being successfull. It would make it so expensive and for what? Who puts on the visualizations and stares at them? I unfortunatley don't have time to get stoned and look at my computer screen, let alone shell out $500 to stare at my screen while listening to Wilco on the train. I am also not going to shell out $500 to watch a DIVX movie on a screen the size of a matchbook. Do you forget that this kind of activity would kill the battery in far less than the 13 hours I get out of mine? I can see them opting for a color screen just for the hell of it and putting an FM tuner in the mix. But as for video, it would have to be a new device altogether to be any good.

    • You can't wank for 13 hours. (Score:5, Funny)

      by torpor ( 458 ) <ibisum@@@gmail...com> on Monday January 06, 2003 @09:23AM (#5024975) Homepage Journal
      Its not possible.

      iVideoPod would be a wankers dream.

      Sheesh, its as if you guys have never even dreamt of pocket porn...

    • Re:No Way (Score:5, Informative)

      by dolanh ( 64212 ) on Monday January 06, 2003 @10:05AM (#5025227) Homepage Journal
      Unfortunately, a lot of people seem to be missing the point (or at least, a major selling point) of a "video iPod". It's not about the video -- though in the future it could be -- it's about the stills.

      The digicam market is growing very quickly as are digicam file sizes. Even large CF cards are not sufficiently large to hold enough images for a 2 week vacation -- for an avid photographer, no where near sufficient. Apple could kill two birds with one stone (kickass MP3 player, kickass digicam storage, etc) by releasing something llke this.

      Ironically, I've emailed them at least twice asking them to consider updating the iPod design to be able to store CF files directly from the card. If this rumor is true, photogs everywhere will be cheering.

      • Even large CF cards are not large. The footprint is what, 2x2"?

        If you need more storage than a single 256MB CompactFlash card can give you, buy a second CF card. They're removable for a reason.
    • i have to agree..... who would pay $500+ to watch .mpg files on a screen as big as their watch? *maybe* if it had a video out port and you could dump your iMovie onto your ipod, and from there play back on any TV? i do not know how many people would want it, but it would be kind of cool. I would find that way more valuable than a portable MP3player/digital picture frame. If it is a tiny screen, then it is not that much better than a cell phone or color PDA with a photo album. Do you need 20 gigs of photos to display on a 2.5inch screen? That's a LOT of pr0n. A bigger color LCD just makes the whole unit that much more fragile. Knowing what i do to my minidisc player(s) is what has kept me from buying an iPod so far in its somewhat durable form.

      It seems a lot fo MP3 players with radios have the radio stuff contained in the remote (like the creative MP3 player does). If Apple saw radio as a need i would think it would have been added to the current remote, or wait for the next big changeup in features/design.

      i wonder if we will ever see an iPod-like thing that can record? i guess it would be a mess to make a pretty interface and would require an iApp to download and edit your recordings....

  • Accessory... (Score:4, Interesting)

    by lennart78 ( 515598 ) on Monday January 06, 2003 @09:16AM (#5024929)
    I won't go about watching any video-material on a few square cm. display with poor color depth and/or lighting. Besides, it will probably consume a /lot/ of batteries...

    The only way to experience video anyway near pleasantly would be through a head-mounted projection display. This will, however, seriously reduce your movement and reaction capablities, but still...

    Still, I think I'll pass and stick to good 'ole audio instead...

  • What? (Score:4, Funny)

    by cca93014 ( 466820 ) on Monday January 06, 2003 @09:17AM (#5024933) Homepage
    Read the Reuters article at reuters.
    Read the Reuters article where???

  • What I'd like to see (but probably won't) (Score:5, Interesting)

    by mojofilter ( 638912 ) on Monday January 06, 2003 @09:24AM (#5024981)
    Investment in those who are supporting the platform through thick and thin, by buying them out and/or paying for more aggressive development. First, sink funding and other technical resources into finishing Chimera and maintaining it as the default OS X browser. Consider buying or subsidizing OmniGroup for their nonbrowser products to make peace and calm fears. Buy or fund the Watson folks to both enhance Sherlock and continue work on their Sherlock companion. Bundle basic functions into Sherlock -- build Watson into a more feature rich extension of .Mac services for those who ante up the $100 a year. Buy and bury Quark for good. QXP5 is terrible and the lack of an OS X product is hurting adoption rates of X and new hardware purchases. Release an OS X version of QPX6 as a glorified conversion tool to InDesign. Announce the EOF of QXP, put the last nail in the Quark coffin and embrace Adobe as a strategic partner. Further work on iSync to make it the defacto desktop synchronization tool for all Palm OS devices. Create a universal ease to using Palms, Handsprings and Clies to shore up defection from those companies customers to bargain basement Pocket PCs. Any enemy of Microsoft is a friend of Apple. Develop a TiVo and/or Replay connectivity application by purchasing or funding El Gato's EyeTV project. Don't take the time and efffort to develop a competing product when you can add the value and fuctionality end users want by working with an existing DVR hardware vendor. Apple will capture significantly more revenue if they can get just 10% of TiVo and Replay's customer base to buy a Mac by bundling innovative software than they ever will competing in an already crowded, low margin device market. Add value for an already enthusiastic customer base rather than take the R&D hit reinventing the wheel. Most early adopters have already invested in TiVo or Replay. Likewise, most are probably unwilling to abandon those in favor of a similar product from Apple. Apple needs to reward developers to encourage new ones and the formation of corporate alliances will give more customer contact with potential "switchers."

  • Apple execs should read Slashdot. (Score:5, Funny)

    by Anand_S ( 638598 ) on Monday January 06, 2003 @09:26AM (#5024990)
    A "Video iPod"? Good grief. Why would I want a device that's bigger than my PDA, and less functional than my notebook PC? Apple needs to read Slashdot and see what people really want. Then, they can start working on an iPod with a bacteria-based hard drive, made of X-Box parts, and mounted to a scooter. Of course, the manual would have to be open source.

  • Newton form factor? (Score:2, Interesting)

    by Morky ( 577776 )
    however as a Newton owner I think that the some-what-larger-than-Palm device size that the Newton line sported is much more user friendly and usable.

    The reason the Palm became popular was it was first out with the correct form factor. You couldn't carry a Newton in your pocket, so the appeal was very limited. If Newton had been the size of a Palm, it would have become popular. Palm's licensing of the OS also had an effect, but it was the convenience of the size that made it take off.

  • iTunes-iPod ... so ... *iPhoto*-??? (Score:5, Interesting)

    by Malic ( 15038 ) on Monday January 06, 2003 @09:46AM (#5025098)
    I think the rumor mills are hearing the truth but misinterpreting it. A video screen (say 6-inch diag.) iPod like device as a portable photo album could be slick.

    Don't think "QuickTime in your hand" think "iPhoto in your hand".
    • Hmm. What just about everybody here seems to be forgetting is the "do people want this" test. How many times have you been sitting on your train or in an airport or whatever and said to yourself, "Gee, I wish I could look at my own collection of photographs right now?" Zero.

      If Apple releases a new product-- I don't imagine they will, myself-- it will not be a device that people look at and say, "Oh, neat." It will be a device that people will look at and say, "I want one now. Take my money, Apple. Gimme gimme gimme."
      • Are you kidding? I'm not just talking about family photos. Imagine maps, scanned handwritten notes, thumbnail concepts for client work, or any other "graphic page" type information in your hand.
        • Again, "do people want this?" The answer is still no.

          Now, if you wanted to talk about a 12" or larger 10:16 tablet with a built-in AirPort antenna and a couple of GB of compact flash or similar solid-state memory, we'd be in business. Built on Rendezvous, when you get in range of the tablet's "base station," it becomes a thin client, letting you run any application on the desktop computer using the desktop's CPU's for processing and its own for displaying the UI. When you leave range of the AirPort LAN, the tablet's AirPort card automatically shuts down and becomes a very simple low-powered device with a built-in browser, email program, calendar, address book, notepad application, PDF viewer, and little else, the perfect cross between PDA and laptop. That'd be a hit.

          But an iPhoto appliance? Nah. Waste of effort.
  • it ain't gonna happen. the best you can hope for is an apple branded DV camcorder that doubles as an ipod with removable media (DV tapes) and can play DV video. whee.

  • enough already (Score:3, Funny)

    by Ffakr ( 468921 ) on Monday January 06, 2003 @10:03AM (#5025221) Homepage
    OK... Slashdot, News for Nerds.
    News!!

    I'm a mac geek and I'm combing the mac rumors sites like any hard core mac geek, but /. is supposed to post news, not crazy rumors.

    Sheesh! How long till CNN starts posting breaking stories about Apple rumors?

  • Messing with the iPod... (Score:3, Interesting)

    by Toy G ( 533867 ) <.toyg. .at. .libero.it.> on Monday January 06, 2003 @10:03AM (#5025222) Homepage Journal
    ... Apple should give a try to this "BluePod" concept [theregister.co.uk] before burying itself under the "portable video" idea. I mean, nobody really ever wanted video-capable cellphones (ready from almost 5 years) basically because watching coloured stuff moving on a oh-so-small screen isn't exactly a great experience. A video-iPod wouldn't be different.

    Apple is great in "thinking different", opening new markets. The "TabletPC" or "portable video" concepts are old things that no one still proved profitable.
    • Apple should give a try to this "BluePod" concept

      Um. The guy who wrote that Register article doesn't have a very good understanding of how Bluetooth works. Before two devices can interoperate, they have to be paired. It's a security sort of thing. Besides, if you were sitting on a train listening to your iPod with Bluetooth-- somehow getting around the sharing problem-- about 25 people would be in range to access your device. Bluetooth is incredibly short-range.

      This is not a good idea.

  • Video iPod? My wish list (Score:5, Interesting)

    by Dark Paladin ( 116525 ) <jhummel&johnhummel,net> on Monday January 06, 2003 @10:08AM (#5025246) Homepage
    I don't think a video iPod would be a bad thing - personally, I'd like a Palm style PDA with the 5 to 20 G drive inside - that way, I can store all my ebooks (yes, 16 MB has now become too small - thanks, Tolkein and Rowling!), documents, etc.

    But for video - something to watch sitting at the couch ("What's that dear? You want me to sit on the couch and watch Pride and Prejudice with you again? Well, that's fine - I'll put Utena on the handheld."). Here's what I'd like to see:

    1. A decent DVD ripper. Theoretically, if Apple made it so it only ripped the video to the handheld, they might - just might - avoid the legal entanglements. I know - I'm smoking crack just thinking about it, but this is a wish list. I'd like to stick a DVD into a tray in my Powermac, have it ripped to a 1 to 2 G MP4 file (including subtitles/optional languages taken care of - yes, I'm an anime geek fan, who asked you), then placed on the portable.

    2. 802.11/Bluetooth support - yes, that would make copying a 1 G file a long time - but if we're assuming this also does MP3's as well, then I'm just putting the unit in the same room and synching up. Or "streaming" video/music from somewhere else. (Could be used as part of Apple's Digital Hub theory.)

    Without turning this into a full fledged PDA, I can't think of what else I'd really like to see. (Well, unless you really want to make me a Gameboy Advance with a 1 G hard drive to cache ROM images of all my games so I don't have to swap cartidges - wait, there's that crack pipe again, my bad.)

    • I don't think a video iPod would be a bad thing - personally, I'd like a Palm style PDA with the 5 to 20 G drive inside - that way, I can store all my ebooks (yes, 16 MB has now become too small - thanks, Tolkein and Rowling!), documents, etc.

      I swear, the only reason the storage market hasn't died is because of the pack rat mentality. Do you really need all your ebooks in your pocket, or just the ones you're reading right now? I can just imagine a future where every device we own contains all the data we have in every other device because you never know when you might need it...

  • iPod PVR? now that i'd buy (Score:4, Funny)

    by jub ( 10089 ) on Monday January 06, 2003 @10:09AM (#5025261) Homepage
    a few fun facts:
    • nobody is going to watch movies on an iPod screen (not unless they make them about 8"). it would be like watching all of your movies in Finder preview mode.
    • Apple's been working on Bluetooth implementations for some time now.
    • the iPod has a surplus of processing power and configurability for being just a music player
    • my wife's biggest complaint about the iPod design is that it looks like it's running System 6.

    the obvious solution:
    Apple will be coming out with a special edition videoPod that will wirelessly connect to your incoming TV signal and allow you to record your favorite TV shows directly to your iPod. You could preview the captured shows directly on the new high-res color screen (running OS X lite), but the genius is that you can use the optional* connection kit to connect your videoPod to any TV or computer** to play your movies with full HD quality and surround sound.

    get those rumors flying!

    * = Apple always seems to charge about $20 more for "optional" cables like this

    ** = in the rev2 version, Apple will offer an optional adapter that turns the videoPod into a digital projector, so you can tack a bedsheet on the wall and watch your movies anywhere, as big as you like.

  • both will flop (Score:2, Interesting)

    by asv108 ( 141455 )
    These are just rumors and probably untrue, but if they are true I think both ideas will flop. A tablet pc is currently only viable where people need to stand up, people will not be trading in their laptops anytime soon. 2 years from now, we will all be laughing about the "tablet pc revolution."

    As far as the video i-pod is concerned, the market for such a thing would be so small. While MP3 is on just about everyone's computer, a large percentage of users are not downloading movies or editing video, mostly due to cost and bandwidth restrictions. The learning curve doesn't help either. The other reason why a vid-pod would fail is the experience would such, nobody wants to watch video on such a small screen, especially mac users who probably already have a ibook or tibook. The people who don't have laptops may be interested, but they will correctly reason that they shouldn't by such a toy, when they can save x amount of dollars more and get a full fledged laptop.

    • "A tablet pc is currently only viable where people need to stand up"

      Are you kidding? I'd love a full-color replacement to my Newton, with much more surface area on which to draw! and full color to boot! One of the things that always limited my use of my Newton was the small surface area was not very fun for just sketching stuff out... i'm used to 8.5x11 drawing canvas, damnit!

    • Re:both will flop (Score:3, Interesting)

      by veddermatic ( 143964 )
      You sir are incorrect. I have a TiBook, and I love it.. I would also be the first in line for a Mac Tablet computer. Why? two reasons:

      1) being able to write (not type) is wonderful.. esp. for adding diagrams and such to notes, something I miss sorely, and perhaps the *only* reason I still keep pen and paper around.

      2) Being able to draw on-screen in the wet-dream of every designer / artist out there. And guess what, us "art-fags" like Macs. =) Wacom offers the Cintiq , a tablet that pipes your display to itself, but if for a couple hundred buck more, I can get a whole machine that runs OS X, hells yeah!!

  • vipod? (Score:3, Funny)

    by Nate Fox ( 1271 ) on Monday January 06, 2003 @10:35AM (#5025451)
    maybe it should be called viPod. Cause emacsPod would be kinda lame.

  • Oooh! Oooh! (Score:2, Funny)

    by edbarrett ( 150317 )
    So what does the fake [moweryhome.com] iWalk [rightonmac.com] look like this time?

  • Slightly Off Topic - Tablets Aren't Worthless (Score:5, Interesting)

    by ytsejam-ppc ( 134620 ) on Monday January 06, 2003 @10:53AM (#5025579)
    "most worthless market sector (Tablet PCs)"

    I hate to post an opposing opinion, but I have had my Compaq TC1000 TabletPC for nearly a month now, and it has truly revolutionized the way I use computers. As a laptop, it is powerful enough to run SQL Server 2000, IIS and Visual Studio.Net, allowing me to have a full development environment with me wherever I go.

    As a tablet, I have learned to keep handwritten notes and sketches of my architectural meetings, which are later searchable without having to convert them to text first. It records voice dictation for small notes, and does nearly flawless speech recognition for larger documents. Every way I want to use this computer is covered, with and without keyboard or pen.

    It is small enough to throw into any carrying bag you need it to fit in, and the resolution of 1024x768 is extremely crisp and clear, especially using the Clear Type feature of XP.

    I think people who spend so much time bashing Tablets haven't bothered to see how they have revolutionized computing. Maybe not for you, but certainly for me.

    For those considering a foray into the Tablet market, I highly recommend the Compaq product [compaq.com].

    I've got VMWare workstation loaded on it, and its 30 GB drive has plenty of room for virtual machines of all my favorite operating systems...

    Don't bash it until you try it. Blanket comments like "most worthless market sector" aren't doing anyone any favors, especially the people out there that could benefit from this technology. And if it isn't for you, that's fine too.

  • FoxTrot said it best (Score:4, Funny)

    by Anonymous Coward on Monday January 06, 2003 @10:55AM (#5025589)
    http://www.ucomics.com/foxtrot/2003/01/03/
  • Jobs himself has said on more than one occasion that Apple isn't planning on a PDA. I, for one, am glad. Their efforts should be focused more on things that integrate the Mac into someone's entertainment center. Imagine what Apple could do with the media center PC concept that Microsoft has. I just added a Keyspan Digital Media Remote to my iMac about a week ago, and I totally see now what I've been missing. Now I can control iTunes from the couch, blasting through the big stereo. In addition, if Apple added PVR functionality to OS X, they'd have a leg up on the competition.

    What I'd like to see is a Firewire-based PVR with an 8" screen. Not only will it record TV, but you'll be able to watch it on the 8" screen (portably) and on the Mac and TV. It's like having a TiVo to go.

    There's more that Apple can do - how about adding SPDIF and S-Video outputs to all Macs so that we can use them as our main DVD players? How about that remote control, a la MacTV?

    There's so much that can be done to make a Mac truly the center of a digital lifestyle, and a PDA just isn't one of them. Apple should focus on entertainment, something they're good at, both with A/V and Photo products.
  • I think Apple should get together with Apple records and create a line of pies. Specifically, an apple pie. So then it would be the Apple Apple Apple pie.
    -russ
  • That would be great. They were just too ahead of their time the first time, and people wernt ready.

    The future of tablets may be underestimated as well.. 10 years from now I'd bet they are just as much a common appliance as the PDA is today.. A staple in the business world.. creeping into the home..

    Its a shame Jobs is an idiot, and got out of the market a tad too early, when they *created* the market in the first place.. Just before it really took off..

    Patience is a virtue

  • ...is the theatre which surrounds it. Most Macheads enjoy the rumor-mongering as much as Apple's actual products. They're cheaper, too. ;-)

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