Video Podcasts are available via Apple’s iTunes Music Store. Is this the next big thing for iTunes? It is supported in iTunes 4.9.
Video podcasts load in iTunes just like an audio-only podcast and play videos full screen, in the album artwork (main screen) window, or a separate window (see below for how to change your preferences in iTunes 4.9). Video podcasts distribute content via QuickTime streaming video.
Click the link below for the “macTV videocast” to try it out in Apple iTunes 4.9! In iTunes, just choose an episode (#5 is a good one for a test) and click “Get Episode.” Once it downloads, click the play button and it’ll play video and audio in your iTunes “artwork” window. If you wish, you can click on the video itself to bring up a free-floating video window. Also, in iTunes 4.9’s Preferences’ “Advanced” section, you can choose to “Play videos” in various ways: “in the main window,” “in a separate window,” or “full screen.”
Note: make sure you “Show Artwork” in iTunes. In iTunes’ Edit menu: Show Artwork (⌘+G).
macTV videocast: http://phobos.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewPodcast?id=76739584
MacDailyNews Take: It’s hard to image Apple not giving the iPod a way to play back these Video Podcasts, isn’t it? Not so much for watching on the small iPod screen (although that would be useful in some situations), but more for connecting iPods to larger monitors for playback. Apple seems to be laying down pieces of wood here, steel rails there, and driving spikes everywhere in preparation for hurtling a serious locomotive through the media content market of the future.
[Update: 1:32pm EDT, Added “Show Artwork” note.]
Related MacDailyNews articles:
BusinessWeek: Think Apple’s developing ‘Video iPod?’ – Think Different – July 27, 2005
Apple’s ‘pure genius’ will soon make iTunes’ portal the ‘number one destination on the Internet’ – July 26, 2005
Video iPod? Does The Wall Street Journal have a ‘Deep Throat’ inside Apple Computer? – July 25, 2005
Cringely: Apple’s soon-to-come ‘iVideo’ movie download service very important to Intel – July 23, 2005
Selling music videos on Apple’s iTunes makes economic sense – July 19, 2005
Report: Disney considers teaming with Apple to deliver iPod video content – July 19, 2005
Ars Technica peeks at Apple’s portable video plans – July 18, 2005
More info about Apple’s reported iPod+iTunes video talks – July 18, 2005
WSJ: Apple in video iTunes talks, may unveil video iPod by September – July 18, 2005
Cringely: Apple working on HD movie download service and Video iPod – July 15, 2005
Cringley: Apple and Intel to merge; Steve Jobs finally beats Bill Gates – June 09, 2005
Apple’s shift to Intel really all about Hollywood, owning the living room, and Transitive – June 05, 2005
Cringely: This week changed the world of high tech forever – May 13, 2005
Cringely: Apple prepping Video iTunes, Video iPod, and setting stage for iPod clones – May 06, 2005
Cringely: the full story about Apple Mac mini’s purpose has not yet been told – January 21, 2005
I just uploaded my first pornographic videocast. Everything’s changed now. I’m going to be rich. Gosh I hope my mom and dad don’t notice that their camcorder is sticky.
Which is my not-so-subtle way of asking, “What Hell hath Apple wrought?”
http://phobos.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewPodcast?id=73831930
The CrashTestKitchen is another good example.
Watching video on a small screen is fine by me…very useful. Just like the original tiny quicktime videos. Been doing that since the first video Archos product years ago.
Wow. There is actually something useful to do with a theoretical video iPod.
Somehow the movies won’t play within iTunes, only the sound. The movies are downloaded, and can be played with Quicktime.
MW: Look, as in, look I can’t see the movies in iTunes.
I have not yet been able to get a podcast to load on either my shuffle or 4th g iPod. What am I doing wrong. I’ve iTunes set up to pull them down, but how do you get them to update onto the iPod automatically?
aToMac:
Make sure you click “Podcasts” in iTunes’ “Source” menu. You’ll see the video, not just hear the audio that way.
What if:
All you needed to buy was a Video out cable and iTunes 5.0 in order to plug your video content into any TV and watch a vBlog or Music Video or (gasp) full length movie. I mean really, the iPod doesn’t come with speakers, why should it need it’s own monitor.
Is the (hardware) capability in the iPod now?
MW= play as in I wanna play movies on my iPod
That wasn’t the problem, I didn’t have Artwork visible. Now it works. Thanks. This realy rocks!
For dutch readers there are several vodcasts from the dutch broadcast companies:
http://www.rvu.nl/vodcast.xml (copy this link into itunes)
http://www.vodcast.nl/feeds/3voor12.xml (same as above, a MTV like station)
and all for free!!
another interesting vodcast is Digirati University:
http://phobos.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewAlbum?playlistId=73799863&selectedItemId=500838
Sum Jung, Where can I download your video!
Watching video on a small screen is fine by me…very useful
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Nah, I’m not going to be the hypocritical mac user on this one.. give me a bigger screen or I’m not gonna watch anything longer than 3 minutes..
The music videos are logical.. sports highlights, etc.. great… a movie or anything with a plot? No freakin way.
mike,
I’m sure you have a bigger screen somewhere (your TV and computer monitor). The point is that for longer form video content, you plug your “iPod video” into it to watch.
Very nice! I’m impressed! Was slightly jerky..
I think these idea is great. People seem to forget that the Podcasts are not only listened to on the go, but also played back on computers during the day at work. I listen to NBC Nightly News every day at work without ever loading it onto an iPod. If I had a video Podcast, I might watch it during my lunch break or during a break during the day. Don’t discount this because of small screen size, I don’t think that is necessarily the purpose of the video Podcast.
Another example might be to download your favorite tv show or movie and take it over to a friends to watch on their tv while you visit with them. I know several times I have fogotten to tape a show or movie, but one of my friends did on their DVR but they have no way to get it to me. It would be nice to be able to download it through iTunes or straight off the DVR and borrow it from them to watch. That would be perfect I think.
This is moving faster than I thought…
Look for a new platform (combo iPod/Newton/iBook/tablet –
I’m gonna call it the “iPAD”
coming RSN
judge,
I’ve said many many times in the past, the ipod is ideal for storing movies and plugging the iPod directly into your TV/Mon. is perfect.. even the iPod controls (clickwheel) can be used for navigation.
Again. You definitely do NOT need a video ipod for this.. We just need Apple to do an iPod Software Update. I stand by my previous statement. Watching movies on an iPod is stupid.
Drawback? iTunes turning into WMP with all this different media flowing through the iPod.
Solution? Although it’s not perfect, iSync might take on a bigger role.. Syncing Video to a designated iPod Video folder in your Movies folder, and Syncing your Photos etc
All this Finder management stuff is a pain in the neck, I’m sure Apple will come up with something better..
Sadly, they may end up bringing out this iFlix thing, then we’ll have an App for viewing/managing Video.. That software bugs me.
mike,
Is it “stupid” that while on my lunch hour I might want to watch a TV show from last night or lat week or last month? I might be sitting in my car or at my desk and I could do so if the iPod played video on its screen.
Just because you can’t imagine uses for a video iPod, doesn’t mean their aren’t any uses for such a device. You sound like a Window user and/or a Microsoft employee. Think Different.
This is freakin’ cool. As far as all those crazy people who think pornography is gonna come into iTunes, I wouldn’t worry about it. The podcasts that are racy in iTMS are very intelligent and talk about fantasies and such. They are awesome, but some tight-assed people with their own fears of sexuality are threatened by them of course. I am sure Apple would never allow pornography to be d-loaded from iTMS.
Is it “stupid” that while on my lunch hour I might want to watch a TV show from last night or lat week or last month?
—
Oh hell yes. That’s madness. Watching Video on such a small screen is lame. Trust me, you don’t want that.. people are going to be sitting down by you and talking to each other and here’s you, the ultimate anti-social prick with his iPod trying to catch “Joey”.. yeah, real smooth.. and if you’re lucky you might catch half the jokes, because you’ll probably be distracted by people around you. Oh yeah, and the video part.. a painful 3″ screen that was never meant for motion video..
At least the Creative Players are bigger, but even they die from convergence.. if the Video iPod comes out (in its current form..with color motion video) it will be the black sheep. What a lousy experience.
But SJ has already written it off, so it won’t happen..
A tablet on the other hand.. hrmmmmm
I noticed this feature the day 4.9 was released…
To me, it appears to be the first version of the new way we will all watch television. I can’t wait to see bookmarkable video casts.
The term PodCast really is misleading in the terms of videocasts. ITunes could just as easily become our interface for watching TV as well as being the controller for the audio content of our beloved iPods.
I’ve noticed that iTunes will store other filetypes as well, like pdf, for example, does that mean that the iPod will have vector graphic support and document editing capabilities? I doubt it.
iTunes and the iPod are two totally separate entities and will end up having features that might not be identical between the two.
This will help with the download speeds…
http://news.com.com/Super-fast+broadband+coming+via+cable/2100-1035_3-5796054.html
The iPod is the portable version of your iTunes Library (among other things like contacts, games, notes, etc.). Apple will make the video contained in your iTunes library playable on your iPod. This much seems obvious by now. Microsoft, Real, Napter, etc. are fscked.
This is pretty cool
feed://feeds.feedburner.com/diggnationvideo
Try the Will Ferrell macTV videocast. Pretty funny.
Can’t wait ’til the iPod supports videocasting!