“The roll-out of Apple’s forthcoming video iPod has been delayed substantially after the company encountered problems with the display and touch-screen interface, Think Secret has learned. As late as early February plans were in motion for Apple to deliver the most innovative iPod to date in April, possibly a tie-in with its 30th birthday, sources said. Instead, Apple’s birthday came and went without fanfare,” Ryan Katz reports for Think Secret. “Sources speaking on condition of anonymity say issues emerged with the technology that have sent Apple and the display’s manufacturer back to the drawing board to find a solution. As such, a more definitive release date is unknown at this time, but sources say Apple expects the new iPod to be ready by calendar Q4, in enough time for the holiday buying season.”
“Multiple sources have stressed that Apple will not launch the video iPod without a movie agreement in place, and that a movie store will not open without the video iPod. The impasse in negotiations lies in the terms of sale: Apple wants to sell movies affordably a-la-carte as it does with music, but Hollywood wants a subscription deal,” Katz reports.
Full article here.
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You know, there has been so much “its coming”, “its not coming” that I don’t know what to believe. I would think that this current “rumor” is probably closer to the truth though. I imagine that something cropped up during testing that was not accounted for, and deemed by “the Steve” as critical, and therefore it was back to the drawing board.
The only thing I can think of would be that either the screen was too sensitive (as in the interface would be out of control unless you touched it properly), or perhaps it wasn’t durable enough (scratches easily).
Hopefully we will see it soon so we can nail the lid on Creative’s coffin.
Nice to see that Apple doesn’t release anything until they get it right.
The killer App is a movie program that allows for both a purchase download and a subscription model. If you rent a movie then decide to buy it later, some of your subscription will go toward the purchase.
Seems to be the “in” thing now with Apple and Microsoft – delays.
Isn´t Leopard going to be delayed, too?
The cool thing now is to report rumored issues delaying rumored products so you can keep reporting on it’s imminent release for eternity. No more egg on the face! YAY!
What the hell would be the point of a subscription based movie service?
Haven’t these folks seen the failure of the also-rans using the subscription model.
It’s as though the higher one’s expense account, the less common sense they have.
this could be Think Secret just trying to hide the fact that they were wrong…
I hope they’re not wrong but I’m just saying its possible…
Touch-screen iPod = Duke Nukem Forever
“…Apple’s birthday came and went without fanfare…
I think Boot Camp has had enough fanfare…
… would in my mind be preferable. who wants to buy a movie you are only going to see once?
LOL!! The “rumor” site that originated this garbage now claims the device has been delayed?! Well, isn’t that conveeeeeeeeeenient? So that’s why we won’t be seeing it, huh? Not because this device is Katz’ ridiculous fantasy. Not because Apple would never be so retarded as to release a movie viewer that you control by smearing your fingerprints all over the screen. Oh, noooooo, it’s because the device is delayed.
ThinkSecret is a joke.
How is it possible for a product which doesn’t excist and has therefore no release date set by the manufacturer be delayed?
Well, I am glad Apple is taking their time and ensuring quality.
Apparently Apple should of done the same thing with the new Intel Macs.
But progress is progress.
The guy at the sandwich shop told me that Apple was planning to release a flying car (with built-in iPod dock!) for their 30th Anniversary but it was delayed due to problems with the lifters. Sandwich guy assured me it’ll be ready by Q3 though.
Must have realized how quickly the screens would fill with scratches. Guess they better get Scotty to hurry up with that transparent aluminum.
No deals with movie and tv companies for us all to buy them through Apple means no video ipod. That´s the real hang up.
Then Disney (Steve J. board member) announces FREE tv shows…not real good for the v-ipod.
The Frangipan kept getting caught in the rinoclaver.
That, and the dorsetbilge was clogged.
All Apple has to do is wait for Cinemanow and Movielink to price themselves to death. It’s ridiculous to think how obsessed the studios and the music labels are with the subscription idea, when time and time again, it hasn’t been shown to work.
Must have content before you sell the hardware is Apple’s mantra.
You will not touch the screen to control the new iPod and there will not be controls on the side. The Virtual Click Wheel uses technology from Mighty Mouse to show the controls on the screen while the user manipulates them on the smooth surface at the back.
To activate just twirl your finger on the rear of the device and the Virtual Click Wheel will fade into view on screen where you can easily see your Virtual Fingertip Controlling the iPod (almost as though the ipod is transparent)
The only physical control will be the Hold button
Additionally, because Apple have committed to the dock adapter it is unlikely that they will release an ipod that is larger than the current unit, however a special expanded dock adapter may be developed to allow the new ipod to be mounted in a landscape orientation and furthermore this may allow for larger iPods in the future
As already assumed the new iPod will use the entire front for a screen and will be slightly recessed to avoid scratching
Its a total redesign to coincide with releese of Vista
Tests with films of the adult genre revealed the screen scratched from behind. A board member who spokeon the condition of anonymity said he potested that that was taking planned obsolescence a tad too far. Furthermore, the dorsetbilge was prone to clogging when the rinoclaver was repeatedly pressed to zoom in on beaver. “The zoom-in function is critical for certain genres,” he said, adding that “the genre would have a significant impact on the bottom line as Microsoft’s upper management planned acquisitions in numbers to reorganize the corporate adult [sic] collection.”
Apple needs to create a subscription model for movies. It just makes the most sense. Think back 10 years – what were you doing? You were buying CD’s at a music store (hence a la carte music downloading). BUT, you were renting movies from your local movie store. This is why Apple should make their video store a subscription-based store. People won’t want to own these downloads. If they did, they’ll just buy the DVD – it’s more “permanent” (no worries about hard drive failures) and you get all the DVD extras.
My 2 cents.
LordRobin,
ThinkSecret is not a joke. They are the ONLY site that I have seen that posts exact specs and model numbers of soon to be released Apple products.
How is this a “delay” when the product was never announced? Tiger has been announced; any release date later than early 2007 would be fair to call a delay. But the only sources “announcing” the imminent release of the so-called “Video iPod” are Apple rumor sites.