Video iPod May Arrive in September 441
Fuzzball963 writes "MSNBC is reporting that Apple is in talks with major record labels to license and sell video content on the iTunes music store. The videos would sell for $1.99 and be playable on a video iPod, which Apple has reported may come out sometime in September." Update: 07/18 18:54 GMT by T : Carl Bialik from the WSJ writes "Just to add to the previous Apple post, here's a free link to today's Wall Street Journal article upon which the MSNBC article was based."
XviD & Divx support (Score:1, Insightful)
Before everyone starts bitching about the screen (Score:5, Insightful)
That way you can carry half a dozen, dozen movies with you on trips, to your friends houses, wherever, and view them on TV.
Think of it as your portable movie library.
(considering that that's what iPods already are for music purposes.)
Video just isn't the same as music tho... (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:One Problem (Score:3, Insightful)
Would I even need a new iPod? (Score:2, Insightful)
I don't like it (Score:2, Insightful)
Cost of video vs. cost of audio (Score:4, Insightful)
Somehow, I don't see that it's only twice the cost to make a video unless the price of the song is hyper-inflated (which, of course, could never be the case
Just like how the DVD is ~$17 on release day at Wal-Mart but the soundtrack is $16.
Re:firmware update or new device? (Score:2, Insightful)
Why stop with music videos? (Score:3, Insightful)
Apple could easily pitch the success of their iTunes music store the the major motion picture companies and probably work out a reasonable DRM that's flexible enough for consumers to handle.
Personally, I don't care if some other company is first out the door and gets it right like Apple did with the iPod and iTunes, but I just hope that other company isn't Microsoft given a lot of the recent /. articles about Longhorn having DRM for monitors and EF by Intel.
Protable video devices (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:Before everyone starts bitching about the scree (Score:5, Insightful)
the files are DRMd, not the output. suppose they pump it throug the analog RCA (red, white, yellow).
sure you could rip the movie, but you'd have to wait 1.5 hours for each movie, and it wouldn't make much sense. just as you can rip the audio off the iPod, i don't think there would be much worry over it.
Joy! (Score:1, Insightful)
Re:Before everyone starts bitching about the scree (Score:5, Insightful)
That way you can carry half a dozen, dozen movies with you on trips, to your friends houses, wherever, and view them on TV.
I can already do that, though, provided a computer with DVI-output (eg: any new Mac), and a TV with HDMI-input (eg: pretty much any new TV worth owning) is available for use at the house I'm going to.
Just rip the DVD's to the iPod with Mac the Ripper, as I would with any other hard drive, and open them using the DVD Player on the Mac at the house I go to.
Think of it as your portable movie library.
(considering that that's what iPods already are for music purposes.)
No, iPods are for listening to music on the go. Are you actually suggesting that their main function is to allow you to take your music to a friends house and play on their stereo?
New Form Factor (Score:2, Insightful)
Also, video output to TV would certainly be included. Imagine being able to cart around movies with you and plug them into anyone's TV. This would be a big seller.
My only fear would be that Apple would only allow certain formats (ie. DRM'ed
Re:Before everyone starts bitching about the scree (Score:4, Insightful)
Most people I meet laugh at the idea of watching video from something as small as a mobile phone, but it is already quite enjoyable, and after being shown a video they are always eager to accept being wrong. (As an anecdote I've had some of my friends sit around my phone looking at the video of Satisfaction, and noone complained about the screen size being small)
I can only imagine that if Apple puts some effort into their video iPod, they'll be able to have the same resolution as a regular TV.
The idea that we need to watch video on large screens (tv/cinema) is what I think is mostly convention, a small screen (at a closer distance to your eyes) occupies the same percentage of your retina as a big one at a distance.
To me, such criticism is just like people said "who would ever want to walk and listen to music at the same time?".
Small screens are usable already. And of course, should you prefer the relaxation of looking at something in the distance, you can always hook the iPod to the TV, just as the parent poster suggested.
Re:Video just isn't the same as music tho... (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:Before everyone starts bitching about the scree (Score:1, Insightful)
Just rip the DVD's to the iPod with Mac the Ripper, as I would with any other hard drive, and open them using the DVD Player on the Mac at the house I go to.
Well we're all proud of you, now tell that to the average consumer and watch him scratch his head. Also, feel free to buy me a new computer and TV "worth owning" so that I may bask in your technical grandure!
Are you actually suggesting that their main function is to allow you to take your music to a friends house and play on their stereo?
Yes, the iPod's main function is to be a portable music library. Twist the words all you want, it won't make them true.
Subscribe to TV Shows (Score:2, Insightful)
Re:Battery life? (Score:2, Insightful)
I mean, can you even buy a B&W PDA or cellphone anymore?
Re:Before everyone starts bitching about the scree (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:One Problem (Score:5, Insightful)
Yeah! Just like I can't listen to DRM-less MP3s on my iPod now! Oh, wait...
And customers are so "pissed off" that Apple just passed the 500 million song mark at the iTMS.
Give me a break.
And how does QuickTime or DRM take up "way more space than it needs too[sic]"?
I would expect Apple to use H.264, which stands up to any other codec in the quality per bitrate fight. Assuming they are actually doing a vPod, and that they can get a cheap custom processor for H.264 decoding, etc.
It'd be nice if they supported XViD, but if they don't support Ogg Snigfa or whatever the video codec is called, I don't think anyone will care. "Anyone" meaning "anyone who would be a paying customer" for a vPod. :-)
Re:Would I even need a new iPod? (Score:3, Insightful)
$3 a music video? That sounds more reasonable.
Re:Before everyone starts bitching about the scree (Score:5, Insightful)
Your method requires not only a Mac, but a relatively new Mac, a high definition TV, and a short enough distance between the two to hook up a rather expensive cable.
Any bets on how many target users actually have a setup like that? It's not practical...
Are you actually suggesting that their main function is to allow you to take your music to a friends house and play on their stereo?
Although I'm not the parent poster, I can attest that many users purchase iPods to plug into their stereos at work. It happens here constantly, and I highly doubt we're the only ones. The point of an iPod is to have ridiculous amounts of music with you in your pocket that you can access anywhere. How would this not translate well with movies? What is the fundamental difference between hooking it up to earphones or to speakers?
iTunes != iPod (Score:2, Insightful)
Re:Before everyone starts bitching about the scree (Score:2, Insightful)
Re:Yep (Score:3, Insightful)