Apple’s new iPod Photo features either a 40GB or 60GB storage capacity and promises up to 15 hours of music playback (up to 5 hours of slideshows with music). The iPod Photo weighs in at 6.4 ounces and measures 4.1 x 2.4 x 0.75 inches, regardless of hard drive size. In contrast, the iPod “Classic” 20GB and 40 GB models each feature different weights (5.6 ounces and 6.2 ounces respectively) and dimensions (4.1 x 2.4 x 0.57 inches and 4.1 x 2.4 x 0.69 inches respectively).
The iPod Photo supports the following audio formats: AAC (16 to 320 Kbps), MP3 (32 to 320 Kbps), MP3 VBR, Apple Lossless, WAV, AIFF, Audible. And, because, it’s a Photo iPod, it also supports iPod-viewable photos in JPEG, BMP, GIF, TIFF and PNG formats. The iPod Photo’s display is a 2-inch (diagonal) transflective, 65,536-color liquid crystal display with white LED backlight with a 0.18-mm dot pitch 220 x 176 pixel resolution.
Of note for Windows users, Adobe Photoshop Album 1.0 and 2.0 SE are supported by Apple’s iPod Photo, but they import only photos to iPod Photo and do not support collections for slideshow viewing. Mac users, as usual, have it better: iPod Photo works in conjunction with iPhoto on a Mac and iTunes 4.7 lets you transfer images from your photo library to iPod Photo supporting collections for slideshow viewing. Connect iPod Photo to a projector or TV and you can give slideshows complete with your music.
iPod Photo lets you turn your television into a digital picture frame by connecting it to iPod Photo with the included composite AV cable that sends out Composite video and audio through your headphone jack or line out on the iPod Photo Dock.
Unlike all other iPods, iPod Special Edition: U2, and iPod mini which feature up to 25 minutes of skip protection, the iPod Photo specs state up to 17 minutes of skip protection.
Apple today also debuted the companion iPod Photo Dock which is the iPod Photo’s home base for charging and synching with your computer or for connecting to your home audio system. For US$39.00, it is scheduled to ship in Mid November, and features the usual Dock connector along with audio and composite video output and S-video output.
Apple’s iTunes 4.7 also released today autosyncs Album Art. The Album Art downloaded when you purchase music from the iTunes Music Store is transferred to iPod Photo along with the music. So while iPod Photo plays your tunes, you can view the Album Art on the Now Playing screen of your iPod Photo.
Not to be overlooked is that fact that everything on your iPod will now be in color: your calendars, your notes, Solitaire, etc.
More info about Apple’s new iPod Photo here.
You can buy radios these days for around 5 dollars and they are way smaller than an ipod
“If you want to watch it on an external TV, you need at least 320 x 200 resolution (interlaced) to get VHS quality. So I downloaded a 320 x 240 movie which was 3 minutes long. It was 10 MB. Even with better compression and the fact that I was dealing with an extra 320 x 40 pixels, you’re still not going to get better than 30 minutes of video into 60GB. And that assumes you don’t want any music”
Genius, a full length DVD averages about 2-4GBs. That means you can fit 15 or so easily.
It would be a killer device if it could directly download files from your digital camera and not just your hard disk.
Why didn’t they include this capacity?
Geeze. So near yet so far….
I’m sure Apple will release a dock with a flash card reader or some such device. Or someone will. But hey it’s all about the music, photo veiwing is a luxury.
smp.. eh.. so you could discover all the cool stuff you can do in iphoto.. like.. gee.. FIXING UP YOUR PHOTOS!
so who will write the first vidplayer app for the iPod?
With iBooks so cheap these days, why would anyone want to use an iPod to watch videos? The only thing that I would have like to see on the iPod Photo would be visualizations such as the iTunes default and Goom for when you don’t want to play a slideshow or view album art with your music when viewed on the tv.
eon,
Yes you can use an iBook for TV viewing, but the ipod is so much smaller and easier to lug around. If you could use the ipod the same way, which apparently you can’t with this new one (until someone cracks it) it would be so much easier to carry a few movies in your pocket than with an ibook under your arm. I agree the notion of veiwing movies on a small screen is silly.
“Watching video on a small screen is silly”.
Meanwhile people are watching movies on small screens in Japan (cell phones). Remember Apple’s exuberant display of MPEG4 video for such a purpose? Then they say well, people don’t really want to watch video on a small screen.
Apple could just put video capability into the iPod and let the users decide if watching video from an iPod (small or large screen) is “silly” or not. It probably would be more expensive for everyone else who doesn’t care but they could make just one high end model a video iPod (makes as much market sense as a U2 iPod).
The reality is that
http://www.portalplayer.com/
hasn’t made the chip for video capabilites for the iPod yet.
Their music/photo chip was announced in March this year.
http://www.elecdesign.com/Articles/Index.cfm?ArticleID=7373
No video content for the iPod huh Steve? What happened to iMovies? Not very popular then, I see. I know I would like to show my iMovies easily. Well at least I have my Archos still and I have to convert iMovies to divx to use that. Maybe one day I’ll get an iPod but not until it has video capability.
me so want one!
wow, everyone feels so angry in this thread.
C’mon, can’t we all get along and say ‘Yay!’ for a new iPod and the 60GB HD we’ve been waiting a while for. I have a iPod G3, but this is the perfect reason to jump up to a 40 or 60GB G4 iPod Photo!
I like how the color screen looks. Plus is a little less thick (0.03in) than my iPod G2 and only 0.02oz heavier than a regular 40GB iPod G4!
I want one! Now….where to get $469 or $569? yay for Student Discount!
sorry…3 things I forgot to mention:
Yay for carrying my photos!
Now I can put all my Apple Lossless encoded songs and put bootable OSX on there!
15 hour battery!!!!!!!!
I wonder if it would be possible to run keynote or PowerPoint slideshow presentations (lectures) from an iPod Photo. Not just music or photos in your pocket but also lectures …..
guyk,
exactly my first idea. I’m afraid the resolution won’t suffice. But wouldn’t it be great?
The p.o.s. iPod Photo still ain’t got parametric equaliser, can’t play mp3 gaplessly, and doesn’t have USB OTG port to get the pictures directly from cameras (like iRivers and Cowons have).
I just can�t see the big market for the ipod photo.
It will be bought by people that want an ipod and see this one has a colored screen and opt for it…”look, dad, the games are in color!”
But the photo storage use will be little used.
Who would use it and why?
How many “average-use” people go around with a bunch of photos to show people?
They usually have their digital camera and just look at what is on the camera.
And the connecting and use problems others mention with the ipod are negatives.
Heck, I even have just taken the 50-cent size CF memory card from my Canon camera over to people and plugged it into their computer to look at the hundreds of photos. No need for a “big” ipod.
Disappointing–
I know what you really want — you want one of those huge a$$ boom boxes they carried around on their shoulders back in the 70s. All those features you want would make an iPod about that big.
C’mon, get real — #1, Apple never gives up every feature on first release; all the better to drive further sales when they up the ante with more features later.
#2, why must we always expect Apple to be all things to all people? I hear this same dribble everytime Apple releases a new product. Complain, complain, complain.
Its a ground-breaking product, folks, give Apple time to allow it to mature. The market will push it (and its feature set) where it should go.
When photos are 2-5 Mb each, you can’t exactly put your entier photo collection on a memory card. I think this is a perfect way of rewarding Mac users that have been using iPhoto.
While the price is high, I think it is realistic. I didn’t balk at spending $500 on my 20 Gig iPod nearly two years ago, and there will continue to be a market for this price range. Remember, just like the iPod mini didn’t replace the regular iPod, the iPod Photo is not going to replace the other iPod lines, just give people more choices.
guyk & hagar57,
If this ipod can display photos in a variety of formats, I would asume it can display graphics as well. As in, design your Power Point slide show as normal, export/save the frames as individual .jpegs or whatever, number them in order and the pod should think they are regular photos and just display them as normal. I don’t understand how the resolution would be a problem. Normal digital cameras take photos which are usualy high res (and usualy physicaly huge as in the pixel/mm dimensions)and are quite veiwable on there tiny lcd back screens. If you can plug this pod into a telly, you must be able to do the same with a data projector.
Why in the heck doesnt the iPod photo play QuickTime VR panoramas or objects.
These are essentially still photos.
Just imagine realtors showing home tours on the iPod. Or imagine looking at thousands of products in 3d object movies.
Perfect with the iPod wheel interface.
To all the people out there that think the latest offering is a “blah”, I’m not far behind you.
At nearly $1,000.00 for the iPod Photo here in Australia, it really is a bit much for a colour screen iPod.
Secondly, I agree with all the people suggesting that Apple should add in an FM Radio. I for one listen to my iPod on the train on my way to work. Sometimes, it’s handy to be able to flick over to the radio and listen to the news. I don’t want to have to carry around another device just to check the news, and maybe listen to a talk show for a little. A radio in the iPod is a must … I thought it would be more prudent to introduce a radio before any portable Photo Album.
Needless to say, the artwork is nice for the music side of things … if you have the iTunes Music Store!! No such luck here in Australia.
So, in the OZ market, I don’t think the iPod Photo will be a big winner due to price, restricted / minimal features that can be used (aka iTMS), and that it really doesn’t offer anything more than the standar iPod and nearly half the price.
2 cents …
I too don’t think there will be huge demand for these photo iPods given their premium price. If these were the only iPods, that would be bad. But heck, now Apple has almost the entire price spectrum of the market covered and they get to test a new color screen/software in the process. Not to mention great margins on these two items. I’ll wager that at some point during the next year all the “new” features (color screen and software and video out) will filter down to the “regular” iPods and everyone will be happy.
Any resemblance? http://www.sonystyle.com/is-bin/INTERSHOP.enfinity/eCS/Store/en/-/USD/SY_DisplayProductInformation-Start?ProductSKU=VGFAP1L
Typical…
I’m with those who were hoping for a direct port for memory cards on the PhotoPod. I take a lot of pictures on vacation and regularly exceed the 1 gig that I have in memory cards. The Belkin solution is much too slow for 6 megapixel files or for RAW files and I’m not going to bring my PowerBook on vacation. If it’s not built-in, why not at least come up with a direct add-on device (similar to the Griffin iTrip, but on the bottom) that plugs flush into the firewire port and uses the battery of the iPod? The Belkin unit is bulky, has wires and needs additional batteries. I’ll buy when something like that is available – I otherwise love the concept of being able to carry around 25,000 pictures of my kids, instead of the 2 I carry in my wallet.
$599US works out to around $800AU. Why are we aussies getting charged an arm an a leg when we don’t even have ‘the store’. We’re closer to China than the Yanks so it can’t be a freight charge. I might order mine direct from the US. Or wait for the obvious next logical model. The 80gig video iPod. Which will probably cost a mere $1200AU.