'True' Video iPod Coming Soon

Moby Cock writes "Think Secret is reporting that the true video iPod is slated for announcement soon. It will have a 3.5 inch display and will eschew the mechanical click wheel in favour of a touch screen version. The 5th generation iPod released prior to the holiday season last year is described as a souped up 4G iPod with video capabilities. This new iPod will be the 'true' video iPod. It looks like there is not going to be wireless support. The article hints that the release date could be April 1 which is the 30th anniversary of Apple."

What Else?

[nathanmace]

I have a 3G iPod myself. A video iPod with a bigger screen and a touch screen would be very nice indeed. But it has been 30 years! There has to be more than just this. C'mon. Thoughts? Ideas?

Personally, I'm hoping for an Intel based Cube. Yea, I know it would compete with the mini. Just spin it as a super-mini or something. How much would you pay for a cube looking Intel based mac that is around the same size as a mini, but runs like an iMac without the screen?

Re:April 1st?

[Overly Critical Guy]

Not to say it isn't true, but beware of Thinksecret's predictions. They've had a long string of incorrect predictions lately. Either they have bad sources, or their sources are too good--purposely placed by Apple to misdirect the rumor sites.

In all honesty, it's kind of a bummer that these sites are so obsessed with breaking Apple secrets all the time. Imagine how cool it would have been if nobody knew this was coming out, and bam, suddenly it's announced...or if nobody knew Intel machines were going to be at MacWorld (we knew months ahead of time thanks to "sources"). It really ruins the amazing announcement to have all these months of speculative hype leading up to it.

ThinkSecret

[cejones]

And given ThinkSecret's track record over the past 6 months, you should take all this "News" with a truckload of salt.

Re:i'll stick with my pda

[akac]

I've got 5 PDAs here (I develop for them). But the iPod SOUNDS better, doesn't require an app taking up a bunch of RAM to constantly run, syncs with iTunes seamlessly and quickly, is far easier to use for playing music, doesn't require super expensive memory cards to hold any good amount of music, is far more durable for its purpose, and comes with thousands of accessories I can use it with including playing and controlling directly from my car.

It had better be 16:9 aspect ratio

[Animats]

It's a little late to be introducing a 4:3 TV in 3.5 inches.

Now, something where the whole face of an iPod sized box was a 16:9 HDTV display would be neat.

Interestingly, flash memory SanDisk [miami.com] is now #2 in MP3 players. There's an advantage in being the biggest maker of flash memory in this business.

I hope it is scratchproof...

[SchnauzerGuy]

Since the entire screen is the control(s), I don't see how you could possibly use this iPod inside of a protective case. I hope Apple is going to use something like this [tdk-europe.com]. Otherwise, the screen would be quickly ruined.

Apple Is Starting a Disturbing Trend

[Wallstreetfighter.co]

First and foremost I am a huge Apple fan but there is a trend starting to develop that is one of the reasons the stock is dropping like a rock. They are bringing out item after item and quickly replacing it with something better. Why don't they just wait a few months and make it perfect. The video ipod was not released that long ago. For the first time I am starting to hear of people saying they are going to wait to see if something better is coming out because they heard a rumor of a better one coming out soon. This video rumor is a perfect example. I was thinking of buying a video ipod but I will certainly wait. Apple's Intel computers have had rumors of problems but hasn't even come out. Many people are waiting to let others test drive it. I love new products but lets keep some space between improvement releases. I am tired of buying something only to learn at the end of the week there is a better one coming out Monday.

yes, April 1st! why a "true" video iPod

[johnpaul191]

1) Apple really was incorporated on April 1st (people don't seem to know that) and it will be the actual 30th birthday to the day.... though Steve Jobs was not at Apple for the 20th anniversary, there was a special Mac released [everymac.com].

2) the current iPod is referred to as "iPod with video" and not "video iPod" on Apple.com. that specific wording is why people think Apple is reserving "video iPod" for something new. i guess technically the iPod with Video is considered a modified version of the latest iPod, and not a flat out video playback device. it also may explain those patents that surfaced recently about a touchscreen-like thing that made the rumor site go bananas thinking an Apple tablet was coming. (here is one example [macrumors.com]). add the reoccurring "Apple to buy Palm" rumor and you could write a book full of speculation wrapping up all these rumors into one crazy device if you want.

anyway, that's the background on those two bits.....

on-demand

[mbaudis]

well, europe is a bit ahead with DVB-H ... but this still follows the paradigm of network (in the sense of tv-station) provided programs. this will work out, and very successfully for DVB-H.

but the point is, that apple is not interested in this market. they enable a "new" concept large-scale: user-selected, on-demand media. and i like it, and won't wait for a show/song/news again. and i don't consume too much of it, but i get what i want, when i want, and pay then. well, i personally couldn't care less about real-time news (e.g. sports) ...

as happened with the ipod radio remote, apple even may offer old-time interfaces - but mostly will let 3rd parties do that. but they definitely won't build a DVB-H receiver in an ipod.

Re:i have a feature i prefer

[Anonymous Coward]

can't you just join up the tracks and have it as one big MP3? I do that for some albums and it works ok.

Re:i have a feature i prefer

[thelamecamel]

While this isn't as good as not skipping between tracks, if there are a pair of tracks that you'll only want to listen to together (e.g. Parabol/Parabola off Lateralus), you should import them into iTunes/whatever as one track (use Join CD Tracks in the advanced menu). Then you're not going to get a gap between them, and you're not going to get Parabol by itself on random play, building up to nothing.

Re:April 1st?

[ShyGuy91284]

II prefer to know a companies plans when I am buying from them. Prevents me from getting i* v1.0 when i* v.2.0 will be released a month later (happened to me w/ the iPod Photo/iPod Video).

Re:April 1st?

[dr.badass]

Either they have bad sources, or their sources are too good--purposely placed by Apple to misdirect the rumor sites.

You'll note that they have been consistently wrong about everything that wasn't glaringly obvious since they were sued by Apple in effort to ferret out the internal leaker. In short, they lost the one actual source they ever had.

They (rumor sites in general) make shit up, plain and simple.

Usually, when rumors don't pan out they say things like "it was delayed at the last minute", or "it was suddenly cancelled". No matter how many times they get it wrong, they claim "reliable sources". No matter how many things actually happen that they didn't know about, they always report them as if they were predictions come true. That they've managed to get people to believe that Apple deliberately sends them misinformation is all part of the calculated chicanery that keeps such sites popular and profitable.

Re:i have a feature i prefer

[Gord]

Some podcasts (notably the Ricky Gervais one) come with chapter markers in the RSS feed, thus it is possible to skip through the single MP3 to predefined points, on both iTunes and an iPod.

I wonder if this could be integrated into the normal MP3 playback of iTunes? I.e. can these chapter markers be stored in the iTunes database without requiring a full podcast encapsulation? This could then be used to join mp3 tracks that require playing together into a single MP3.

Of course it would be easier if there was just an option to not have a gap.