Rumors of Next Generation of Ipods 426
xyankee writes "Apple is on the verge of releasing a 60GB iPod that will not only hold a ton of music, but also sport photo-viewing capabilities! Think Secret is reporting that the new iPod will also have a 2-inch high-resolution LCD display, video-out, and enhancements to iPhoto for synchronizing photos. The best part is it'll be just 2mm thicker than regular iPods. Does this mean that iPhoto for Windows might not be far behind? Also, as a note to all the rumor pundits, Think Secret nailed the iMac G5 specs a month before its announcement, so I'm inclined to believe them with this bit as well."
Gimme more! (Score:3, Funny)
Re:Gimme more! (Score:3, Informative)
Re:Gimme more! (Score:5, Insightful)
2) One of my DVD players doesn't play back divx or ogm or WMV. Sure, it plays back normal DVDs fine - which is was advertised to do, but I'm bitter that this one doesn't so I'm going to bitch and moan and complain about a company (let's say Phillips) not keeping an antiquated *limited by hardware* product up to spec with what other modern DVD players can do.
Please.
3) Why are you abusing the headphones and putting them someplace where you know they would break? If you know that the cold is breaking them, why are you going right back to putting them in the cold?
Sorry, but you're clearly a dumbass with a mentality of you being owed everything by anything that displeases you.
Ultimate geek device (Score:5, Funny)
How handy !(pun intended)
Just don't (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Ultimate geek device (Score:4, Funny)
Credible (Score:5, Interesting)
Re:Credible (Score:5, Informative)
But ThinkSecret tends to be weary of these sorts of rumors, and usually doesn't post something like this unless they have someone they believe to be a credible inside source. Still, you're right, they're not 100%.
Re:Credible (Score:3, Informative)
Save your money and get a gmini400 [archos.com] that does more for cheaper.
Re:Credible (Score:3, Funny)
Re:Credible (Score:3, Interesting)
Sounds like someone's on the wish-fulfilment crack pipe there.
Re:Credible (Score:5, Insightful)
As others have pointed out, most digital cameras have a larger screen, so the only advantage here is additional storage... Nice as it is to have all your photos with you, and of course it'll have TV-out, I can't see it being used to really show them off with the same size screen as the current iPod.
Who knows, maybe there'll be the long-fabled firmware release that makes the current 4G iPods colour-screened
Mark
Yeah...but... (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:Yeah...but... (Score:2, Insightful)
Re:Yeah...but... (Score:5, Interesting)
I think there is a market for this, that's maybe a little bit of a shift from the iPods present target market.
it's the iPod for grown ups. These are the people who wouldn't buy one just for the music, but the prospect of taking their kids/grandkids photos with them everywhere, being able to whip out a cool little device with every digital photo they've ever taken, would definitely hold some appeal with some of the older folk.
the music may just be a bonus!
-- james
Re:Yeah...but... (Score:4, Insightful)
Re:Yeah...but... (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Yeah...but... (Score:5, Funny)
Just like Apple computers only work with Apple's interweb thingy.
Re:Yeah...but... (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Yeah...but... (Score:5, Interesting)
Re:Yeah...but... (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:Yeah...but... (Score:5, Insightful)
If Apple can make a portable image/video player that has the functionality and respnosiveness as the iPod, then I'm in.
After the deal [slashdot.org] with Steve Balmer and his comments that Microsoft will dominate the convergence market for computer based entertainment, I'd love to see Apple come in and lay down another big seller.
Re:Yeah...but... (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:Yeah...but... (Score:3, Insightful)
Specs, features, and capabilities, without considering design or usability?
Yes it did, but also... (Score:5, Informative)
And if the new iPods can be connected directly to a digital camera to store, sort, review, and manage photos in the field, I'd be able to leave my laptop behind on shoots.
The only time a new feature is a bad thing is if it impairs the access or usage of an existing feature. If Apple can implement picture viewing without changing the UI dramatically, or the input method (click wheel), and doesn't make the form factor too large or the battery life too short, I'm all for it.
Re:Yes it did, but also... (Score:5, Informative)
Re:Yes it did, but also... (Score:3, Interesting)
I know Steve Jobs said in the past he's against the idea of mixing different stuff into just one gadget, but I'd really like an iPod with an integrated camcorder. Especially with a 60gb HD.
Re:Yes it did, but also... (Score:3, Informative)
Give this a try iPodbackup [mac.com]
It's the best thing, ever.
I was using my iPod as a manual backup, now it's a mirror of my home folder, synced every time I plug in.
Re:Yes it did, but also... (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:Yeah...but... (Score:3, Interesting)
I have a 2 meg digital camera and have taken about 7k pictures of the past couple of years.. Thats still less than 10 gigs of space. With this device I could carr
Re:Yeah...but... (Score:3, Informative)
Those little white earbuds are the worst piece of crap I've ever owned. They sound terrible! Absolutely no depth, extremely tinny, and awful low-end. Not to mention the right earbud blew in the first week I got my iPod.
Well.... (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:Well.... (Score:3, Interesting)
I don't think Apple will do it, because it's just not convenient to use a 2 inch lcd screen to see photos that have been most probably taken on a dig camera with a dedicated similarly large screen...
Anyway, if Apple does such a device, I guess it'll more and more look like the PDA Newton lovers have been expecting for years...
I sugges
Re:Well.... (Score:2, Informative)
Re:Well.... (Score:2, Informative)
Re:Well.... (Score:3, Informative)
Re:Well.... (Score:4, Interesting)
While no rumor site is 100% on-the-money, I've found TS to be the best of the bunch. They're not given to empty speculation.
iPod slightly less Mini (Score:3, Informative)
Viewing photos? Hmm (Score:3, Informative)
Next 30-60 days? (Score:5, Interesting)
Re:Next 30-60 days? (Score:4, Interesting)
I think this is more likely to be marketed as an iPod plus rather than an iPod.
Its existence would also help explain the relatively restricted supply 4 months out, plus it would also help explain that slip of the tongue [infoworld.com] by Toshiba about Apple wanting 60GB drives.
-- james
FM Tuner? (Score:5, Interesting)
Re:FM Tuner? (Score:2)
Is it that much to ask?
Re:FM Tuner? (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:FM Tuner? (Score:2)
Re:FM Tuner? (Score:3, Interesting)
But not sports. The only thing I would want an AM/FM tuner for would be so I can still record/listen to sports stations. It would also be useful for timeshifting certain talk shows as well.
more screen? (Score:2, Insightful)
The Killer App Would be... (Score:5, Interesting)
When I bought my treo, I was so happy to ditch having to walk around with two geeky devices. So of course I ended up buying a 20 gig iPod and still walk around with two geeky devices. Jobs has said the smartphone is the future of the PDA - does that mean an eventual merging of these technologies?
Re:The Killer App Would be... (Score:2)
A 12 inch Powerbook will do what you want and have a better display then any portable video only device.
Re:The Killer App Would be... (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:The Killer App Would be... (Score:4, Funny)
Quick ! patent it !
HDDs can't take cell phone abuse... (Score:3, Interesting)
One major issue remains. Battery life. How to overcome the battery life issue when you combine all those features? One company recently dropped their "do all phone" because of battery life. Now to toss a HDD in there?
I would lean towards streaming music to a cell phone before throwing a HDD into one.
Maybe (Score:4, Informative)
I'm not that excited about a photo iPod. I worry about battery life, because my 3rd gen gets only about 6 hours. The 4th gen is better, supposedly double, but it seems to me a color screen will severely drain battery life.
Now that my powerbook has a DVD burner, I find it pretty easy to burn a picture DVD in DVD Studio Pro (not free), but it plays pretty much everywhere and the media is now dirt cheap in bulk. And it has music, menus, etc. The iPod just seems like a gimmick in this arena. But maybe Stebe will surprise me!
PS Hey Stebe give me the wifi iPod rather than the photo iPod!
Hold up for a moment... (Score:2)
Re:Hold up for a moment... (Score:2)
Only 6:55 AM in california, (Score:4, Informative)
EXCLUSIVE: 60GB iPod to pack photo-viewing features
By Ryan Katz, Senior Editor
October 8, 2004 - After three years of being synonymous with "digital music player," Apple's iPod will widen its horizons and gain photo-viewing capabilities within the next 30 to 60 days, highly reliable sources tell Think Secret.
The new iPod, which will sit at the top of Apple's fourth-generation line-up, will pack Toshiba's new 60GB 1.8-inch hard drive, a 2-inch color liquid crystal display, iPhoto synchronization, audio/video-out capabilities, and will sell for $499.
The new iPod is currently in production in Asia after delays from Toshiba in delivering its new 60GB drive hampered a planned early-September ramp up. Sources confirm Toshiba started shipping the drive to Apple in mid-September and iPod manufacturer Inventec began building the new device in the last two weeks.
The new iPod's form factor will be identical to the existing 4G iPods, sources report, but will be two millimeters thicker than the current 40GB iPod and marginally heavier.
The 2-inch color screen is identical in size to other iPods, but will sport a higher resolution for photo viewing. However, the new device's real shining feature will be its video-out port, which will enable users to tote their photo galleries with them, ready to be plugged into any television for big-screen viewing.
The 60GB iPod will feature only rudimentary built-in software for viewing photos, with no editing tools, sources say. Photo albums will be navigated in a similar fashion to music playlists, and a slideshow feature will provide transitions with user-specified background music, similar to iPhoto. Synchronizing features similar to iTunes will also be added to iPhoto.
The new iPod won't feature built-in flash memory stick slots for downloading photos from digital cameras, although such a feature will presumably be able to be employed through Belkin's $99 Media Reader.
Sources indicate that Apple will market the new photo iPod as being capable of storing 20,000 music tracks and 25,000 photos. As an added bonus for music fans, album artwork will be displayed on screen when it's available for a selected track.
Rumors of a 60GB iPod first surfaced in June, when Toshiba said that it was in the process of developing a 60GB drive and, much to the ire of Apple, confirmed that the iPod maker had already committed to buying it in quantity.
Ho Hum. . . (Score:2)
Re:Ho Hum. . . (Score:2)
I'm guessin' you don't have children (or, especially, grandchildren).
Re:Ho Hum. . . (Score:2)
That's true. But I never said no one would want the feature. I just don't think it's going to be the must-have feature that pushes people that are on the fence into picking up an iPod, especially when you need to pay $200 more to get it (20GB vs this one).
Great for digital cameras (Score:5, Insightful)
If this new i-pod has a CF reader built in, I wouldn't need to carry half a dozen 512MB flash cards, I could just fill one card, dump it into the i-pod and keep on shooting.
Devices like this do exist already, but none of them are really easy to use and carry.
Not a chance (Score:3, Interesting)
Simple as that.
Re:Not a chance (Score:5, Informative)
"The new iPod, which will sit at the top of Apple's fourth-generation line-up, will pack Toshiba's new 60GB 1.8-inch hard drive, a 2-inch color liquid crystal display, iPhoto synchronization, audio/video-out capabilities, and will sell for $499."
going....going....gone (Score:2, Insightful)
Visualation (Score:3, Interesting)
I know, you dont NEED it, but it would be better than picture support.
Re:Visualation (Score:2)
Add-ons could be great (Score:5, Interesting)
A digital camera adapter
I could see a 4 MP camera that would attach right to the bottom of the iPod. Now that would be cool, an iPod with photo-taking capabilities. There might just be a good market for that. Plus, 60 GB of photos in your camera would be sweet ...
Video Out (Score:2)
Now that would make me buy it if I could not only have my music and images, but also a few movies that I can play via my hotel rooms TV when I'm on the road!
Cost? (Score:5, Funny)
The best part is it'll be just 2mm thicker than regular iPods.
Yeah, but how much thinner will your wallet be?
Perfect companion for digital camera/recorder (Score:2)
Album art (Score:5, Interesting)
Imagine what this capability would do for the interface in general...
Yum. I'd buy.
Gee...innovative (Score:3, Interesting)
The iPod succeeded because of its tight integration and sync via iTunes and its superior UI. Syncing my Archos is a pain, but it is well ahead in the feature set.
What about recording? (Score:5, Insightful)
And I'm not talking about voice notes, either, but CD-quality, stereo, uncompressed audio, from a mic or line input. The iPod chipset is supposed to support this already, so all it would need is a software update. Apparently...
I do concert recordings (with permission), and that would make things so much easier. [fx: sigh]
Re:What about recording? (Score:3, Interesting)
Just a suggestion. I own both a 3G iPod (10gig) and an iRiver (40gig) and think they are both great. I would have stuck with the iPod if Apple ever added significant new features to it. I'm a little tired of Apple releasing minor revisions with nothin
Archos? (Score:5, Interesting)
Archos AV400 supports audio, video (divx/xvid), photos and act as a USB external drive too. 80GB models are available today and work with most any OS.
It seems to me that iPods tend to be more of a status symbol than a breakthrough in technology.
[This is not meant as a flame. I own a 17" Powerbook myself.]
Check out Olympus m:robe (Score:3, Interesting)
dpreview.com (scroll down) [dpreview.com]
dpnow.com [dpnow.com]
Looks very interesting...
Battery life? (Score:3, Interesting)
The beginning of Apple's "media center" strategy (Score:5, Interesting)
And it's completely different from the way Microsoft and others are approaching it.
Everyone else has been going about it from the respect of making a whole freaking separate *computer* a part of your entertainment/AV center. A computer with its own maintenance and patching needs, another computer that needs to be upgraded, another computer to break, etc.
Apple started it with AirPort Express...a wireless device, that integrates with your existing wireless or wired network, integrates with your entertainment center, has analog and digital optical audio outputs, and seamlessly meshes with the applications and techniques you ostensibly already use (or will switch to) for managing your music collection.
Now, an iPod, with a massive amount of storage, and clearly with a dock or some other capability to attach to an external video device, such as a TV, even if only for viewing photos. This means that some type of interface - whether it's on the TV or the iPod's own screen - has been built to navigate through items that reside on the iPod. Meaning that video playback (as long as the iPod and/or dock can handle the playback/decoding) would be trivial.
Imagine this: download a movie or other video content on your Mac. Perhaps via the iTunes Store. Sync with your iPod. Drop your iPod into its dock at your entertainment center. Select content (a movie?) and play. Simple. Clean. Doesn't require you to have 45 computers.
So, yes, this new iPod is "just as expensive" as a PC someone might build or buy to integrate into your entertainment center as a media PC. But think about NORMAL PEOPLE for a second. Think about how unbelievably cool this is.
iPod + iSight = camcorder (Score:5, Interesting)
ew (Score:3, Interesting)
i assume it'd be the same on the ipod... since a lot of people (city workers, college kids, people who walk to work in general) are gonna be using these outdoors, i think a color screen would just piss a lot of people off.
Hmmmm...iPorn... (Score:5, Funny)
This had better come soon (Score:3, Interesting)
One step closer to Portable Profiles (Score:3, Interesting)
(PLUS, they would show non-Apple users how much farther ahead Apple is in the user experience game.)
How to use your iPod for video/photo playback! (Score:3, Interesting)
I propose that this can already be done. Just look at what these guys have accomplished [engadget.com]. Think deeply about this. If we can encode IR signals into audio files, why not encode images into audio files, dump that audio out the headphone jack of the iPod into a device with a decoder and an RCA jack, and plug that sucker into your TV?!
In fact they already have something commercially available that can do part of this, converting digital bits into audio-- its called a MODEM (remember those?). The band Information Society was putting samples of MODEM audio onto records and tapes for you to somehow decode back in the 80s! So this idea is really overdue and I believe we are only a few figurative moments away from this becoming a reality, mod this post up to help make it happen or reply with why it won't work
Re:How to use your iPod for video/photo playback! (Score:4, Interesting)
Step 1) Find or write software to convert JPEG into audio files
Step 2) Find or create hardware to decode the sounds you get from playing back those files into signals that your TV understands over an RCA cable or what have you
Step 3) Insert iPod in between the product of step 1 and the product of step 2
This time it really applies:
Step 4) ????
Step 5) Profit!
sport photos? (Score:3, Funny)
Re:I dont get it. (Score:5, Interesting)
I totally get this. I carry photos around on my Palm all the time. When I come back from vacation or whatever, I can dump the images to the Palm and then I can show them to folks. As long as it's a very good screen (like the one on my Tungsten|T3) the pictures will show up very well.
I also keep my T3 docked on my desk at work, and use the slide show feature to cycle through photos there while it's not in use. It makes a very appealing digital picture frame. An iPod in its dock, with a good color screen, would serve well in this capacity too.
FWIW, IMHO, IANAL, prices and participation may vary.
Re:I dont get it. (Score:2, Funny)
Re:I dont get it. (Score:2)
Re:60 GB.. (Score:2)
Re:60 GB.. (Score:2)
Ideal for people who want to carry data too (Score:2)
Re:60 GB.. (Score:2, Insightful)
Re:60 GB.. (Score:3, Insightful)
Here's a guess: people who have large amounts of music.
Different people have different needs. Personally, I can't see why anyone would buy a 4GB iPod. I finally installed iTunes on my computer and transferred a small fraction of my MP3s to it. I've already have 4.4 GB. On my main computer, I have well over 50GB, with hundreds of CDs that I haven't even encoded yet.
Your
Re:iPods lick balls (Score:3, Funny)
So...you can't afford one either, eh?
Re:iPods lick balls (Score:3, Funny)
Now I see why they are so expensive.
Re:Digital Rights Management? (Score:5, Insightful)
Oh, wait, that is not Apple, that is Sony.
Well, I still hate how their media player software really only wants to rip in a DRM/proprietary format.
Oh, wait, that is not Apple, that is Microsoft.
What is Apple doing again?
Your argument is analogous to not buying a certain car because it comes with a tow-hook standard, and saying "I don't buy into this towing nonsense. I am not buying anything with a tow-hook." The damn car still works fine if you completely ignore the presence of the tow-hook!
News flash: You do not have to use DRM at all on the iPod.
Re:Bloat (Score:2)
Re:Ogg... (Score:3, Interesting)
BTW, the iRiver H320/H340 (review [tomshardware.com]) does all that the new iPod is supposed to, and it even includes a USB host function - you connect a USB storage device (like most cameras, or even a USB hard drive), and simply transfer files between the two devices.
Re:Doesn't the iRiver already do this? (Score:3, Interesting)
Re:Home Folder on the Fly?! (Score:3, Informative)
The iPod's non-native, or non-authenticated, computers shouldn't be able to write... However, my iPod should be able to login to my powerbook, and my mom's ibook, for example, and have Admin rights. My ipod, however, should not have admin rights on any ot