Is this the video iPod?

Okay, okay, this seriously pushes the envelope on crappy leaked (and/or potentially 'shopped) photos for sure but, you know, why the heck not? This is supposedly a camphone shot of the mysterious, the elusive, the much-rumoured video iPod that may be announced as early as next week (grain of salt, disclaimer, yadda yadda). Make of this what you will, folks. What do you think — plausible?

[Thanks, Eli]

[ac @ Dec 19th 2005 1:26AM]

It matches the description on appleinsider.com...if it's as thick as the current ipods, that would not be comfortable to carry in a pocket though.

[Cambob @ Dec 19th 2005 1:26AM]

If it is real, I'm sold. On the other hand perhaps I'll wait a few months until someone improves on it for cheaper... yeah that sounds more likely.

[Jordan @ Dec 19th 2005 1:26AM]

Believable, I suppose. I can just imagine the scratches on that thing.

[plutox @ Dec 19th 2005 1:26AM]

.....woah!...if thats really it...i'm impressed....its finally competition to the psp from apple (not directly of course)

[floppyJock @ Dec 19th 2005 1:26AM]

Hmmm...hard to tell how big it is, or how big the screen is from that picture but it looks pretty cool. Hopefully it has good specs(record directly from TV, built in speaker, at least 30 gig). Can't wait to hear more about this thing.

[Stephen @ Dec 19th 2005 1:26AM]

That ring on the base is obviously a scroll wheel. Apple has patents for that, right?

2+2=4.

[jsis @ Dec 19th 2005 1:26AM]

..... eww.

Of course, you Apple loyalists will eat Steve Jobs' feces one more time.

[Trevor @ Dec 19th 2005 1:26AM]

It looks like the Mac Addict Artist renderazation of the, unheard of at the time, Video iPod released about 5 weeks after the 2nd generations.

[Zach Inglis @ Dec 19th 2005 1:26AM]

The ol' UFO theme (really awfull photos)

Plus if you edit pictures badly, stick a lot of grain on top and no one can tell.

If it is real, I'm sold. On the other hand perhaps I'll wait a few months until someone improves on it for cheaper... yeah that sounds more likely.
I haven't found a better alternative to the iPod

[Stephen @ Dec 19th 2005 1:26AM]

jsis tells it like it is.

[moeed m @ Dec 19th 2005 1:26AM]

ok, im not gonna hate, i actually think this is pretty cool but it does push the envelope just a bit.

let me see if i can replicate this using photoshop.

[Teo @ Dec 19th 2005 1:26AM]

Man, its about time for one, what the hell was the holdup with Stevie. This thing is what ive been waiting for. Just hope this aint a fake or something :-(

[Fuzmann @ Dec 19th 2005 1:26AM]

That looks like a nano...

[Bigfat @ Dec 19th 2005 1:26AM]

Sold.

[Justin @ Dec 19th 2005 1:26AM]

That would be really easy to photoshop, I am pretty sure I could do it.

[Andrew Fernandez @ Dec 19th 2005 1:26AM]

Yup
your lookin at the new video iPod. Probably 60gig

[xTanium @ Dec 19th 2005 1:26AM]

Hmm... I can't tell if it's real or not. The corners look WAY too rounded though, so i'm going to have to go with a no on this one. (i think it's fake)

[Brian @ Dec 19th 2005 1:26AM]

Think it's a fake, seems a bit un even, and how would you operate it without touchung the screen, *scratchy scratchy* but who knows, Apple is crazy like that, so meh. maybe.

[padmedala9 @ Dec 19th 2005 1:26AM]

While the basic design looks Apple-esque, I'm thinking fake because the screen just looks too big to be pocketable (ie PSP) and the wheel doesn't resemble what we can expect given the design of the wheel on the nano. Here's hoping for the real thing on tuesday!

[cacho @ Dec 19th 2005 1:26AM]

Superfake. The sreen edges are not straight, the form factor is horrendous, the click weel is not usable with one hand and too small.

[Cinco @ Dec 19th 2005 1:26AM]

The image on the screen in that photo is the boot-up screen for Microsoft Windows Mobile 2000, I believe. Would a video iPod be running Windows Mobile? I think not.

[Hig @ Dec 19th 2005 1:26AM]

Not a scroll wheel. Look closely.

[Ward @ Dec 19th 2005 1:26AM]

The screen and scroll wheel don't look vertically centered; they sedem to be more towards the bottom than the top. But it could be an issue of perspective. Still seems plausible.

[untltmrw @ Dec 19th 2005 1:26AM]

It better be thin if it's that long.

[egdie @ Dec 19th 2005 1:26AM]

Apple would be wise to stick with music.

[Dean @ Dec 19th 2005 1:26AM]

jsis and Stephen:
The hundreds of thousands of people who don't know Steve Jobs from Steve Ballmer and still think the iPod is a thing of beauty are accounted for in your slander....how?

[ooda @ Dec 19th 2005 1:26AM]

Simple, that that's what's so good about the iPod. This is what I've been saving my money for. Sure, the Nano is good, but 4gb is a bit too small, and a 60GB 4th Gen iPod is just a bit too lackluster for my liking.

For just straight video watching, the PSP is overkill, and a 60GB drive would be heaven compared to MemorySticks.

Hopefully battery life is half decent.

[matt @ Dec 19th 2005 1:26AM]

I'm betting fake. wtf kind of pic/text is that on the screen? it might have been more believeable if it had a traditional(-esque) iPod menu...

[xTanium @ Dec 19th 2005 1:26AM]

PHOTOSHOPED! i just zoomed in. It seems like this person took a picture of a nano and extended the screen and edited the body, or just did a terrible job at whatever they did. The center scroll wheel button is not complete, and the scroll wheel doesnt even have text (menu, etc.) Also, if you look at the botton of the "ipod", you can see that part of the bottom is slanted (possibly 2 images put together)

[Tucker @ Dec 19th 2005 1:26AM]

And, if this is for real, I feel sorry for left-handed people!

[moeed m @ Dec 19th 2005 1:26AM]

i can bet any ammount of money, if this is real that when the vPod is released, video and movie piracy will skyrocket. M A R K M Y W O R D S.

[Ryan Christopher @ Dec 19th 2005 1:26AM]

Looks fake, the grain has a pattern to it, at the bottom between the click-wheel and the screen there�s a bit of a bulge that looks like a smug mark, and there is one on the top about mid-screen. Also what�s on the screen looks very un-apple. I�d expect, there would have to be more than just a click-wheel- even though of Apple�s love for minimalist design.

[defenestrator @ Dec 19th 2005 1:26AM]

It has to be fake, unless apple would not line up the screen with the corners.

[silentfool @ Dec 19th 2005 1:26AM]

I'm not sure if this is it or not...probably not.

here's the problem i see with the video iPod...unlike the audio world, there's no standard. with audio you have mp3s, wavs, flac, ogg, and then aac...but mp3's were and still are the primary format. with video...it's a little more complicated...mpg, mov, divx, xvid, wmv, etc etc. with no real leader (although i would prefer divx, personally) What formats will the video iPod support, other than mov (quicktime)? That is the question.

[appleobsession @ Dec 19th 2005 1:26AM]

the edges of it make it look like someone photoshopped a nano and made the screen bigger and pulled the scroll wheel down--remember that the nano is the only modern ipod with non-bezelled edges, and I assume that the top-of-the-line video ipod would have the traditional ipod edges. Although I would like to believe its real, my guess is that its fake.

[Mike @ Dec 19th 2005 1:26AM]

Looks real to me!

[jimmie geddes @ Dec 19th 2005 1:26AM]

I'm gonna say fake, although it looks real. Apple is VERY GOOD about not letting things "leak" out. We all know it's coming, it'll be here soon enough:)

[James @ Dec 19th 2005 1:26AM]

i don't trust that picture. the noise isn't very convincing... it looks way too uniform for me. then again i have a shitty VGA cameraphone...maybe this is from something better. but i still think it looks like a decent picture (render, maybe) worked over with some filters in photoshop.

[edmund @ Dec 19th 2005 1:26AM]

No way is this real. the windows mobile screen and outdates scroll wheel give it away. plus, photoshop is a very powerful program.
also, who wants a video ipod? a big, bulky, scratchable monstrosity just so you can see TINY little Neo fight some Agents on the subway, so when you get home you can watch it for real? seems too silly for me. i'd rather the "special event" be a new, smaller, better music ipod. can i get a hell yeah on that?

[Brian @ Dec 19th 2005 1:26AM]

Just think, a week from when this comes out *introducing, iPOD camera! Take pics, play movies, music!... Enough with the releases already... Get a hobby Apple ;^b

[untltmrw @ Dec 19th 2005 1:26AM]

It better be thin if it's that long.

[nick @ Dec 19th 2005 1:26AM]

Jesus...and I just bought a nano.

[Rohan P. @ Dec 19th 2005 1:26AM]

its OK. can you seriously imagine yourself holding one of those? how uncomfortable would that be?try holding your iPod by the very end and imagine the scroll wheel shifted down a bit. Or holding it by the side. That would be weird. Looks kinda thin too. Hopefully its a prototype or something. I would only get it if it has a HD (it most likely will) cuz a PSP is good enough for a flash-based PMP.

[Tim O. @ Dec 19th 2005 1:26AM]

I vote for photoshoped... That would be a walk in the park to do. They didn't even give gradient to the background to match the tilt of the picture... It looks like a 'Paint' job.

[Tim S @ Dec 19th 2005 1:26AM]

Why are people calling it ugly everywhere? Ugly compared to what!? An iPod? IT IS AN IPOD.

[Kevin @ Dec 19th 2005 1:26AM]

HELL YEAH! Actually I bought a 60GB Photo and returned it because i heard apple was possbily going to be making some ipod announcements in the next week. If it sucks, I will run to the store and buy it again. Before they all dissappear!

[TheCheeks @ Dec 19th 2005 1:26AM]

who cares? i wont give a crap til its offical.

[owen @ Dec 19th 2005 1:26AM]

Oh wow, I hope its reversible for lefties, if not that would be another injustice to us left handers.

[revosnare @ Dec 19th 2005 1:26AM]

Ipod is soon to die. Even if it does release a video ipod. Next year Sony is release a HDPSP (hard drive playstation portable) and its going to end apple as "you" know it. although the ipod is more portable then the psp, you can most def. do more with the psp rather than the ipod itself. ipods had to go through 5gens just to get it rite. psp one. psp gen2 is gonna own ipod. u'll see. HDPSP i say we'll cost 300 for a 40GB then prices will go up from there.

[Scoobydoo @ Dec 19th 2005 1:26AM]

Bogus. That is the reboot screen of a Toshiba e740 PocketPC.