Video iPod in 2005: game off?
By Barb Dybwad 
posted August 5th 2005 7:29AM
posted August 5th 2005 7:29AM
It would be so like a tennis match if only all the analysts would wear those cute little skirts. Now the word is supposely not to expect the video iPod to see the light of day within the next twelve months. Piper Jaffray senior analyst Gene Munster thinks higher capacity iPod shuffles, yes, and color iPod minis, yes — both before the end of the year. But not so fast on that video iPod, there, buckaroo, because Jobs is still saying the portable media center market isn't there yet. Whatevs, Munster, you new or sumthin'? Falling for the old Jobs trick? What say you peeps — video iPod before the end of the year, or no?
Not yet, I just can't see it selling enough units.
I think in about a year, along with the iVideo store.... Or the Mighty Movie Sore
Not just yet...it's just going to show up one day.
Schnizzle yo' nizzle.
It be comin' in September - At the Paris conference.
without CONTENT what use is an vPod? the success of the iPod is linked directly to iTunes and the ITS. people wont buy a vPod to download music videos they can watch for FREE. look for apple to develop the market for content FIRST.
Apple knows a thing or two about releasing their consumer products at the perfect time (http://daringfireball.net/2005/07/podcast_pocket). Regarding video, the time to act is quickly approaching what with the PSP making people think and yesterday's new Zen product.
Apple is either feverishly working on the video iPod for an upcoming launch (before the holiday season) or they've let their success get to their heads and think they'll be able to dominate the market whenever they unveil the product. Personally, I'm expecting them by Thanksgiving.
Colour iPod minis? Finally the tables have turned and they're playing catchup to creative and iriver. As much as they have a strong hold of the DAP markey, I feel Apple are letting things slip past them too easily now and there's too much competition for them to remain in such a strong lead.
Yes, I agree, Apple has a tendancy of releasing products right when the market is ready for them, and not sooner: take the three button mouse, (http://www.apple.com/mightymouse/) or the PowerBook G5 for example
I think they are going to release this with more music video content at the Paris show.
This analyst is just trying to make a name for himself. How boring would it be to make a prediction that makes total sense?
Probably still a little too soon. Apple will probably wait a little while longer to see what else companies like Creative, iRiver, Archos and Sonos can come up with first. Once these pioneers have got the market "ready", Apple will "invent" the portable video player.
WOW!!!!!! These anylists deserve a Nobel price for figuring out that the mini will get a colour screen and the fhuffle will get increased capacity. What a hard job to figure that out.
Well a vidio ipod will be out soon since companies like Creative and iRiver are creatigin ipod video knock offs.
Doesn't apple know that they are market leaders. If they creative a video ipod people will be jumping off their chair to go and buy one but the truth is that video players have existed for about 2 years.
I only want a bigger capacity mini! Wish they'd just get on with it.
I see two problems with a video ipod: surely a video bought over the net will take ages to download, and it takes a lot of effort to rip a dvd due to copy protection (unlike a cd).
"Game Off" is often misconstrued as being attributed to Wayne's World but in fact it is not the correct term. The correct announcement is "Car" which is then followed by "Game On". I realize this would have looked funny in the title but c'mon, accuracy is important!
I doubt Apple will release one until they get the DRM hashed out with the major movie companies. However, the only scenario I can see in the near future is merely a video ipod for music videos. They've already got that all set up. It's unlikely but they may test the waters with a video ipod for music first.. who knows.
They are behind the times a bit on updating the mini and shuffle... but when you're selling the pants off them there really isn't a good reason to update them. Sell them til you can't sell and then upgrade them so the people that just bought them will buy the new one.. Marketing 101.
Apple would be crazy not to. All the major companies have made these and are comming out with better ones that play multiple formats. Also a comment to said above. If you actually think that the ipods success is directly contributed to the itunes store you must work for RIAA. How many people thought man i can buy songs for .99 if i get this 500$ color ipod. Im sold give me 5 of them. No the ipod sold so well cause of the barrage of marketing, how many times have you seen a rio commercial. If apple doesnt come out with a video ipod soon i feel that they will regret it. Before to soon you will be able to get a player the size of an ipod that you can listen to music, watch movies, record tv, look at pictures, and have more storage and it would be cheaper that the color ipod. cmon now jobs.
To Hassan, Regarding "Well a vidio ipod will be out soon since companies like Creative and iRiver are creatigin ipod video knock offs."
They aren't knock offs if they are coming out BEFORE video iPod's are. Apple did not create the technolody to play video on portable media.
IF it is announced - it will be at the Paris Expo. Personally - I don't expect it. The iTunes phone at the Paris Expo, but not the VidPod - or whatever it will be called. The iTunes store is what made the iPod a success. Without content, it will be die-hard Apple fans like me who buy it, not everyday people - and they are the people who will make it a success. But despite lack of content, Apple should get into the market soon. They would lead the market despite other players already being out there. There were other MP3 players before the iPod, none of them very good. Without the iPod, the MP3 player would still be a niche product. The iPod made the market. I think a VidPod would do the same. I would hope it would be out for the holiday season next year, but I would love to eat crow and see it out this season!
Hes right, portable video not really mainstream enough for it to take off as well as the ipos did, although the psp is doing quite well for that purpose at the moment.
An IPod video would be nice; I would like something that can hold around 200+ movies that will connect to my home entertainment center with the ease of an IPod.
The iMac should have had DVR capabilities. It didn't. Apple blew that opp but its not 100% their fault.
Apple gets in the fetal position when Hollyweird Execs roll in. Just like Sony their hardware biz is getting ass kankered by the content providers.
Obviously the content providers still do not have a clue (living off a film model that dates to 1916 and TV that dates to granddaddy days) so Apple is sitting there waiting for progress. There won't be any. Sometimes doing things the right way leads to nothing...
I have an iMate Jam,,The little Pocket PC Phone. With a 1GB SD and a copy of CORE PMP http://tcpmp.corecodec.org/about it does a pretty good impression of a video iPod :-) Hell, apart from music videos I mostly use it to view movie trailers, and I think the apple site has a few of those knocking about ;-)
#10 Ipod video knock-offs? Archos and Creative have had thier pvps out for a while now. Archos' first Jukebox Multimedia came out in 2002. While the Ipod photo didn't even come out until 2004. So if anybody is knocking off anybody else its Apple.
-> jackie summers
> without CONTENT what use is an vPod
I wouldn't say that - Apple released the iPod before the music store. iTunes came out long before the iPod. I wouldn't be surprised if Apple will market it first as the device to carry your home movies in. Oh, and also your (ahem) legal (ahem) copies of movies.
I think first they should get the price of the ipod photo down and then release that video piece.
I'm already making plans to give up on Apple on this front. Pretty much fed up with waiting (for both a video iPod and an Australian iTMS). It's been *years* already, with no announcement at all.
I'll wait until the Zen comes out. If it works on the Mac platform, I'll definitely get it. If it doesn't, I'll get the Epson P2000 instead. That gives Apple just a couple of months to keep my business for a video iPod.
Kap
im gonna be ticked, and will probably look for an alternative that is not apple. sad to say...
Apple has a great reputation with releasing products at the right time. Let's see there was LISA the biz machine that was going to take over the market place. Then there was the Newton. Then there were OS X Servers. Let's be honest they have had success but also failure. I think Jobs will hold off releasing video until its ready to do it in a store capacity. Its one thing to release a player with video, quite another to create a player with video that has a DRM capable store attached to it.
I like the iPod, but around my high school, the kids just discovered that the iPod's battery dies in about 18 months. So, now they all wish they bought other players. Of course, they fail to realize that they ALL use lithium ion batteries that die in a year or so.
But anyway, the iPod brand is now tarnished in their minds. Creative is picking up speed around my school, even though it will die just like the iPod.
I figure that once another company makes a portable video player at a reasonable price with a great marketing campaign, Apple will be finished around my area.
The issue is probably not the player. As has been pointed out, Creative and Archos have been there for a while.
Jobs' bigger concern will be getting the Hollywood Studios to buy in to the iTunes vision. When cinema receipts are in the toilet and DVD sales are all thats propping them up, they may be nervous of something that might cannibalize those. Yes, I know they're still getting paid, but studio execs don't seem to be too smart ... I mean, a remake of Bewitched? Puh-lease.
Oh, and wha's wit all da cracker-lactic street vibe, yo?
I personally think we will see the vidPod earlier than later. We are currently at 4.9 itunes... hmm 5.0 cant be far off. The iPod is made for music. We have music videos on the i-tunes store. Imagine being able to hook up your iPod to a stereo and TV and WAM BAM you have the music videos to your favorite songs in the order you want them. I-photo has video support... Quicktime 7 has that crazy H.247689.54673 or whatever. I do not think its soo much about the content of the videos at the beginning... its about proving the technology is viable to TV and Film. Its coming...I give it 5 months. And I bet its on a random Tuesday.
The ipod created the digital music player marketspace, and the video ipod will do the same. The truly great products make marketspaces, they don't fill them.
The ipod created the digital music player marketspace, and the video ipod will do the same. The truly great products make marketspaces, they don't fill them.
I would agree will we see it fairly soon.
Analysts dont know jack.
Like it or not the ipod is still the slickest DAP around (not sure about the shuffle...)and Itunes the easiest to use store, so apple is sticking around as industry leader.
As for Video, my magic 8 ball says "not this year." Apple is all about ease of use and elegance. If there is no way my grandma can get video on this thing Apple isn't doing it.
Another comment - While Creative and all the other companies TRYING to catch up to ipod and apple Apple understands that if you make something easy to use, make it look good, and get it in the hands of celebrities then you have a hot selling item. So far creative and the others have made UGLY designs that really make no sense... and did you see the new creative video player? Its white with rounded corners. I have a Dell Jukebox and an iPod and an OLD sony mp3 player that only hols like 128 mb and straps to your arm and is yellow.. i think it was the NW40 any... let me tell you the ipod runs CIRCLES around the jukebox and the sony for audio quality... which is another reason why ipods sell... they are just better.
yes, i fully expect it to come out soon apple needs to compete with psp
No content? Isn't DVD the hottest consumer technology product EVER?
Of course, Apple would have to have a way for people to "rip" their DVDs like they do their music CDs, but other products are shipping with clever rippers that frame-grab rather than breaking the DVD's encryption (like the PocketDVD Studio, for instance) and besides, it's not like content isn't readily available. Does no one download video content? Hello?
If Apple doesn't come out with a video iPod (or whatever they're going to call it) soon, with a decent screen (at least as large and as fine-resolution as the PSP) they'll lose the market. People who buy the Creative product this year aren't going to be in the market for a video iPod next year, and Apple knows this. They need to seize the market NOW, before people commit.
In my opinion it's a NO, unless the concept will be different from what we're thinking. We already have portable dvd players and sales are somewhat shy. The 2nd thing is that flat screens, even the smallest ones are going to be expensive, and there is no way for us to watch a movie on a small ipod screen as we used to see some demonstrations of high-tech gadgets in movies (small movies of security camera records playing on a Sony Clie or iPaq, back in 1999 or 2001)
If your palm + palm OS 5 had a 20 GB hard-drive, would you watch small movies on it ?
And think again, battery is still a pain when it comes to develop new features that asks more power.
Price is another issue too.
wouldn't it be nice to see our movie on an ibook 12" rather than an ipod 2" ?
Anyways, I think however that downlodable movies are going to be something big.
Or at least streaming movies, for 3 $ you'd watch an old or new movie, a huge collection of movies anytime, ... think again, porn sites have invented that and the market is doing great :)
Lately the concepts of home cinema and such have put us in the comfort of our rooms instead of theaters and we're still spending money on hdtv's and plasma's.
Now portable home cinema's ? what for ? a home cinema in the back of our minivan while driving in the highways ? dvd-players + console games + small plasma in a minivan already exists as we starved to mime the concept that exists in airplanes.
However, ipod movie ? here it's a new paradigm.
movies on an ipod = new habits for special needs.
design an ipod video and you'll notice that it's not an easy task to design something and be sure it's gonna sell itself.
(as sometimes we are in love with a gadget at the 1st sight)
I don't think it's gonna be exciting, unless it's going to be new and totally different from what we're thinking.
That the battery can last for 2 to 3 hours, and that 2 or 3 people can watch this movie as well, unless we're thinking of individuals here, as most inventions tended to do...
Thanks for reading :)
streaming movie = http://www.movielink.com
I really think a video iPod is not about to happen. Portable video is not, and never has been, as compelling as portable audio. It might gain some traction when it's an incidental feature of smart phones and suitable apps have been developed- which are much more likely to be built around 5-10 minute chunks of content. I don't think we're all about to start watching full-length movies on tiny screens..
In short, I say no. The whole form factor of the iPod will need to change... to something like the Creative Zen or the Archos.
As for color iPod Mini's, that's a no-brainer.
On beefed-up Shuffles, I personally think it's a bad idea to stuff more into a package that has no screen. The 1gb is perfect for just about every casual listener. Save the time and hassle and create a flash-based Mini.
I don't know what the big fuss about the video iPod is, I've owned an Archos Jukebox Multimedia for like 5 years now and it does everything that the Video iPod is supposed to do. It plays divx's and mp3's on it's little lcd screen and has a 20GB drive in it and even outputs to a TV. I think that you can get them on ebay for cheap ($100 or so) - and there's even an add-on so you can record directly to the device from any analog signal! Come-on guys, just because it's an Apple product, it's not THAT cool!!! :)
i think apple would be smarter spending its efforts on making an ipod phone rather then a video ipod.
I agree with MR Steve Webb. I own a PSP with a 512mb stick and a motorola E398 with a 256 transflash. I never lack for portable media, be it videos, text, mp3s, whatever. My Psp was $250, a 512 stick was like $70 or something, and I can hold like 3 hours of good quality video on it. Thats like $320 for more than enough video goodness for standing in the bmv line, lunch breaks, slacking off at work, and traffic jams. I also guarantee that whatever screen a video ipod uses, it wont touch the psps lcd quality, and its sure to cost a ton more. Unless your going to a 3rd world nation with no computers, a 30-40 gig video player doesnt seem super neccasary. But hey maybe you link storage size with cock size.
Why does Jobs keep saying that he won't because there is no market there right now. There was about as much of a market for mp3 players when they released the iPod.
The time for a video iPod is here. If Apple doesn't have working prototypes, success has gone to Jobs' head. I think if anything is holding them back, it's getting content providers signed so they can make movies available on an iTunes-like video service. Movie studios are extremely touchy about DRM, and Apple knows that the less strict they make their DRM, the better their product will do. It's a long dance, but everyone will benefit in the end.
And people saying that Apple releases hardware when it's needed and not before, and pointing out the Mighty Mouse... must be thinking it was released 10 years ago.
I think theres a market for the Video ipod. We have allready started to see Dot TV come out of the waters shows like the Broken from the shadows Systm diggnation and even more not even on the techworld. If Apple could dev. up a Podcast type system for video ipod they could very well bring some great content and make some money selling the vipod.
#20
Just look at the new Creative video player. It looks like it comes from apple and it far away from an Muvo. Creative made a small move. Instead of copying apple after they release their video player, creative made their version of the ipod video before apple gets a chance to release theirs.
To be honest, the new creative video player looks exactly like what I have imagined that a ipod video player would look like.
#36 how do you get 3 hours of "good quality" video with 512mb? 15 fps isn't "good".
I agree that a larger screen than iPods have now would be nice I think the biggest market is in a form factor that isn't any larger than the current iPod. They could probably put a larger landscape screen on the same iPod form factor and get something that's watchable, and the click wheel could become touchscreen.
No Content? What about all of the over the air content from CBS, NBC, ABC, FOX, HBO, etc... that everybody is Tivo'ing right now? There is plenty of content without having to worry about DRM issues from new release and DVD movies. If Archos and Creative Vision can do it then Apple can do it.
Battery life is pretty important when you are talking about a device that can store 100's of hours of video and play them back on a larger color display. It would be nice to have something that could handle a couple of flights and layovers for me without recharging. 6-8 hours would be a nice place to start without having to worry about replacement battery packs or recharging.
Don't you think the PSP and Archos may be a little too big to carry around all the time? Wouldn't an iPod form factor/cell phone form factor make more sense?
Why not just integrate this content onto cell phone PDA's? Don't you hate it when the flight attendant tells you to turn off your PDA/cell phone because it has an antenna and has the capability of making phone calls?
I think this will happen sooner than later and will lead to the Mac Mini being a set top Tivo box that uses the TV as the computer monitor. And doesn't the iMac make just the perfect computer/TV for the kitchen or the kids room?
#39: Its not mindblowingly good, but it is more than good enough for anime,and tv drama/comedy. I do use the 15fps but it doesnt bother me personally. If somethings action based i will use higher quality bitrate but keep it 15fps. The screen is small so video doesnt have to be tv or hd quality to have the same effect.
And it's definitly good enough to make my friends gasp at the coolness of watching portable Arrested Development episodes when were waiting for a concert to start or something.
Personally I dont think the psp is too big. You can slip it in an inside pocket if your wearing a suit jacket quite easily. Half the time I have mine spinning around on my wrist from the strap when I walk around with it.
Plus if apple goes with a video ipod they'll def have to make their actual player bigger to accomodate a click wheel and larger screen, or theyll have to nix the click wheel and expand the screen, make it touch sensitive and design a virtual gui. That puts them in a tough place If they made a video ipod using the same screen as the photo, people will pssshaw it. But if they lose the click wheel, it will lose some of its perfectly marketed "ipod chic". Chew on that.