“I thought that Apple would forgo an iPod portable video player (PVP), but the company is reportedly working on one. When CNET Executive Editor David Carnoy and I discussed this possibility a few months ago, he thought it was likely, but I disagreed. Engineering a portable device is much more difficult for video than for audio. A movie file’s resolution, frame rate, codec, dimensions, and so on complicate compatibility, and enjoying video on the go is harder. Loading a PVP requires onerous file conversion, and you have to view the content on a fairly small screen,” Eliot
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When is the next Expo and Stevenote?
It is fun though. People are eager to here what Apple is doing.
People realy want’s to know.
I still don’t see this happening any time soon. I just don’t believe that there’s a market for this product.
“Who knows what we�ve got in our labs?”
I still love that quote from Jobs. Maybe that “little Japanese guy” is still hiding in the closet.
“Andy? Can I come out now?”
This is old news. Apple is ALWAYS working on various devices in their labs. That’s what R&G is. The article quoted was published at least 2 weeks ago.
I mean a SUBSTANTIAL market. A few gadget freaks will want one, but almost nobody else will give a money’s chuff.
Peter:
I catch what you are saying. That article about the Mac’s HD being from Sony was hilarious.
Now that would be an interesting alliance: SONY and APPLE.
Too bad I read an article sometime ago where SONY’s CEO said that Steve Jobs was very “arrogant” or something like that.
Video iPod? All I want is an update to the G5’s so I can order mine.
Dudes…….not a PVP but a PVR. snap Isite on top and now got a recorder. No one wants to view video on their ipod…….recording video….different can O Beans.
I would be surpised if it was a pure video iPod..
BUT,
I could see a iPod PDA which does video as well.
Apple just needs to add a touch screen and a bit of code and you have a PDA.
it would kill all other PDA’s.
this is NOT a rumor… this is SPECULATION.
fef …that is correct. But he has a right to be. He is one of the best…just like Trump is arrogant as well….he makes buttloads of cash and Steve Jobs is very passionate about what he knows and I guess the guy just didn’t get it. I heard the Sony shareholders were upset with the Sony CEO for not working with Steve Jobs.
We’re accustomed to thinking big when speculating about future Apple products. But some come in smaller increments (iPod Mini?).
Jobs has said that no one wants to sit and watch a movie every day on a small screen. Nor do they want to wait to load 2GB of data. Movies just aren’t siuted for an iPod delivery.
But thinking smaller, many may be enticed to buy an iPod that includes the ability to show off your iMovie projects and iPhoto library. With a few more chips and circuts and a color screen, this is feasable. Not revolutionary, but evolutionary.
Think Different. The masses take the easy (and wrong) approach and just say “hey, let’s put movies on these things”. But they’re wrong for the reasons Steve outlined. Just like they’re wrong about tablet PCs. Apple will do this right.
Dude
The moment I heard Steve announced Pixlet I had the strongest gut feeling that the “Apple Video Store” and some sort of video iPod were in the works… While I don’t quite see an existing market for the video iPod , the Apple Video Store seems like a very natural and logical extension of the current music store. With Broadband spreading quicker and getting more affordable I see it a reality within the next 18 months.. Time will tell.
I’d certainly like to get some sort of portable video viewing device. I barely watch regular TV–I watch DVDs, VCDs and captures from usenet on my iBook and Cube. I can’t remember the last DVD I watched on a TV.
However, the iBook is a little to large to always be convenient. My train trip for work is the exact length of an anime episode, or both ways is equal to a drama TV episode minus commercials. Unfortunately, in the morning there are no seats by the time the train reaches my stop, and the iBook is too big to hold while standing in the aisle.
The technology is certainly there–the problem is figuring out the right size for the machine, an acceptable weight, and getting the price at a saleable level.
Run input and output options along one of the spines and you have a way to bring movies or other programs over to a friend’s house to watch.
I can see this as the kind of product where you would go through a hundred protypes trying out different combinations of screen size, display type, weight and cost.
The problem, of course, is the screen–a jaw-droppingly small player would have too small a screen for most people, while a machine with an impressively large screen would be too large and heavy for most people.
When Apple comes up with something that lets me watch last night’s episode of 24 on something I can carry in my pocket, I will be first in line to buy it.
Old news. He was being sarcastic, as despite his repeated comments regarding the subject and how he said it was a non-starter the rumor mill still kept turning. Slow news day? Roll out the video iPod rumour….
The market for one of these is way too small for Apple be to be seriously working on this (maybe playing around with it though). They first think of the iPod as a portable music device. If it can do other things with out interfering with that, they may add it. (hard-drive, calendar, contacts, etc.) But making it into a video player would interfere with the iPod, by such things as adding to the cost, taking away battery life, and I could probably think of more detrimental things if I thought more. If they’re working on portable video, it’s has to be a phone. This is perfect for quicktime.
“Since Apple typically doesn’t make something unless it can ensure a nearly perfect user experience, I thought that introducing a PVP was the last thing Steve Jobs would do,”
You could have said the same thing about iMovie, iDVD, the iPod, Garageband, and many other of Apple’s innovations. One thing I’ve learned from Apple’s history, no matter the obstacle(s), Apple will somehow make it work and make it work the way it should.
So,… you never know.
How about a tablet mac/iPod/VideoPlayer/PDA?
I have to agree with Steve here: I go to my computer to turn my brain on; I go to my TV to turn my brain off. You can keep your PVP to yourself.
I think it’s more likely that Apple will release a color screen iPod and make it easier for people to use thier iPods to store photos on-the-go and view them. Video may be a few more years away, when the iMovie Store opens.
Apple already makes a portable video player… two of them, in fact.
They’re called the iBook and the PowerBook.
The funny thing, is creative could bring one out and it wouldn’t really sell more than 500,000 units..
Then apple would come out with their Video player and it would ‘magically’ be a hit… They just do better market research than anyone else i guess
APPLE IS WORKING ON THIS…
It’s simple, really. Apple’s working on a couple of complementary household devices…
1) a small receiver base station that receives streamed audio music, video, photos from a Mac…via 802.11g. It’ll display the video, photos, or DVD on a TV screen (HD and 16/9 format), play music over a stereo system (or the TV), and “communicate” with other Mac and Windows users via iChat AV.
2) that device will complement another Apple product– a relatively small tablet Mac (not called a Mac, bigger than an iPod, smaller than Windows tablet PCs), that runs a version of OSX, and can receive broadcasts from either another Mac (which stores iTunes music, iPhoto photos, personal movies, DVDs, AND television programs stored on the Mac), or from the “base station” device.
Both devices will use 802.11g. Both will receive/broadcast. The tablet device will also do iChat AV, iLife apps, and much more.
Is that cool, or what?
Now, when? This year, before the fall buying season. It’ll be a big announcement. Get your checkbooks ready. Apple has learned how to make cool stuff again (after the debacle of Sculley, Spindler, Amelio and company) and we’ll happlily turn over our money for the following…
– desktop Mac (PowerMac, iMac, or eMac)
– laptop Mac (iBook or PowerBook)
– Mac OSX annual upgrades
– iPod and/or iPod Mini (I’ll have both, of course)
– iLife annual upgrades (new apps added, new features, works on latest OS)
– iReceiver/Broadcaster to plug into TV and entertainment center
– iTablet to watch, communicate, work (office, school, home)
Wait!! There’s more… but later.
Aloha.
Remember the high quality codec that Steve Jobs demonstrated about a year ago. It allowed high resolution video to be played with much lower rates. Too fast for the web, but would it be ideal for a slower hard drive in a portable device.
Also the screen wouldn’t have to be large otherwise it would just compete with portable dvd players. But how nice would it be to simply plug this small ipod size unit into any tv/video monitor to play.
With even a 40 gig hard drive you could have close to 10 dvd movies at a time loaded into it.
“Apple has learned how to make cool stuff again (after the debacle of Sculley, Spindler, Amelio and company)”
da Ronz, I’ll agree with everyone except Sculley.
Sculley’s watch broght us:
Slots.
Color.
SCSI.
PowerBooks.
System 7
Newton
Speech Recognition
I’ll agree about the other guys, but Sculley’s CEOmanship definitely brought about cool stuff.