Looks like the new iPod plays videos. Not many details yet. I would hope it has a bigger screen than standard iPod, but maybe it's designed just to output to a TV.
Remember: when Jobs says Apple isn't interested in going in some direction, it means that their R&D team has already begun working on it.
Update: Looks like they've brought back the 30GB - yaay! This was the ideal size for me. Except of course now that it stores video, I'd need the full 60GB :-). The device is a little smaller than before, screen is bigger, longer battery life, comes in "super-scratch" black. And basically it lets you play video on the screen or connected to a TV. You can also download select TV shows with no commercials for $2 - so it looks like video on demand might actually happen in our lifetime (finally). Two bucks seems really high to me (couldn't you, like finance the show for that?) but we'll leave that for the comments below...
Would one of you video nerds figure out if it plays divx or other rips? Then I could convert my Galactica DVDs to iPod...
Well it says it does mpeg4 video which is basically Divx or Xvid so I'm sure there will be an easy path to either convert or create new content for it. Bummer that it only plays 480x480 mpeg4 though. That means if you have any existing stuff you'll have to re-encode it anyway. -- Or just use a pocketPC to watch it.
Pocket PC certainly has the horse power and screen size to do it, but not the 60 GB disk (or sweet sleek black shell).
I wonder how enforced the 480x480 is. It does 2.5mb/sec streams, so if you the vid were like 640x272 it shouldn't be that much more, especially if you used a low bitrate for encoding. This is one of those things we'll have to wait for a review on.
480x480 is like one of those crazy resolutions that the creative labs capture cards used to max out at. BTW, the new iPod screen is 320x240 - the same as analog TV!
Nice pic! Apple claimed to have greatly improved the battery life on these new iPods, so could Wi-Fi syncing (or even broadcasting!) be far away?
Wi-Fi on the device itself would be cool, but in the short term, I don't see why they couldn't tie into Airport Express. This thing looks a lot like the iPod power brick. Also no reason the new "universal dock" with remote control couldn't interface via this module. Just doc your iPod to the doc on your TV and you can play local and remote content.
ThinkSecret has some interesting comments on the new stuff. The totally missed the boat on this announcement but are still convinced that this isn't THE video iPod, which will eventually come out with a much larger screen.
One thing I didn't realize was that the U2 iPod is no more. Paul, you should get one just as a collector's item. It will probably cost a bundle on eBay in not too long.
I think the new "Front Row" 30' UI w/ remote on the iMac and the ability to purchase TV episodes were the most ineteresting announcements today. Granted the TV selection is limited, but it'll be interesting to see how much demand there is for commercial free TV shows. Maybe we'll see a "media edition" mini in the future...
Okay, here are the Windows Portable Media Center devices (all have 320x240 resolution, like the video iPod):
Creative Zen
Samsung Yepp
iRiver
Yuk, I'll take the iPod anyday. Why are manufacturers having such a hard time coming up with a reasonable competitor to the iPod? Apple is shooting fish in a barrel.
You mean a "limited edition" turned out to be just that? Sweet. It looks to me like the video iPod has the same sort of acrylic clear top that the nano has. My U2 iPod is pretty darn scratched but it still looks bad ass.
When I was in Japan in 1997 Sony's Glasstron TV Glasses were all the rage. I tried them on at the Sony HQ (yes, they are super dorky) and they were pretty sweet. It would be cool to have all your shows on your video iPod and play them on a headset like that.
I thought it was called "limited edition" because it only had 20 Gigs! Hahahaha. I kid, I kid.
This news was lost in all the noise last week. EchoStar's line of pocketDish players look pretty interesting for those that want to take their TV on the go. It basically allows you to pull any show you recorded with your dish DVR onto the device via USB 2.0.
Even though the real market for portable video is small, I expect a lot of maneuvering in this space over the next 12 months. A limited number of shows at 1.99 isn't going to generate a huge amount of interest. But it's a start. I think that in order to bring portable video to the masses Tivo will have to be involved in some way. The first guys to get their device pulling shows directly from your Tivo box will take the lead. Hmm, maybe Tivo will even sell their own?
I went to the Apple Store today to check out the video iPods... they are significantly different thatn the previous generation: much thinner in depth, and the screen was much larger than I expected. I noticed that several people around me mentioned the same thing: "I didn't expect the screen to be that big".
The black iPod isn't as cool as I'd thought, though I'm probably brainwashed by now (I'd still get the black one if I was buying).
John, you should go and see them in person... they are amazingly cool.