BBC accidentally reveals video iPod?
posted Oct 5th 2005 5:00PM
Want some more evidence that Apple is getting ready to drop a video iPod on us next week? (Yeah, we know this contradicts what ThinkSecret reported earlier today about Jobs unveiling new Power Macs and PowerBooks.) Well, according to our good friends over at iLounge, earlier today BBC 6 accidentally let slip that, "Apple is set to unveil a new video iPod at the BBC Television Centre in London on October the 12th," and that the company is "expected to reveal details of the new MP3 and video player as well as video bundles to be available from the company's iTunes stores." Stands to reason that the BBC would be one of Apple's content partners — they've been notoriously forward-thinking in their plans to put their TV and radio show archives online — and somewhat suspiciously the broadcast mentioning the new iPod has since been pulled from the BBC's website. The plot thickens.
[Thanks, Liam]
duh dun DUN!
Grasping at some pretty big straws.
Hows about we all calm down, put our lifesize posters of Steve Jobs back under our beds and just.....breathe....thats good, in....now out....feel better?
Eh, sounds valid, but that photo is still completely fake.
I'm expecting a new "leak" soon...
Normally these rumours are just that, rumours.
But if the Beeb says it will be done, i'm getting my checkbook.
Next wednesday will be an expensive one :D
I really hope an iPod video comes out on Tuesday. Lets hope Think Secret is wrong this time!!
w007! Not only do I get a sleek, sexy, portable video player, I /also/ get the luxury of having all those awesome BBC documentaries which only hit Canada a few months later! Simon Reeve's next adventure on "Holidays in the Danger Zone" will be mine to see ANY-f*****g-WHERE!
wow apple has indeed taken over the world
There was a comparison of this photo to some product called the viiv or something like that (on digg) and also, the picture on screen is supposedly from a toshiba Pocket PC reboot screen....
sB
Dude this photo on the IPOD video was on MSNBC this afternoon!! They had the camera right on engadget.com! U guys are famous!
I'm a pessimist, I think it's all gonna be Dual core G5 stuff. Plus that video ipod picture doesn't look like it fixes anything steve said about why he didn't like it (small screen, etc). I'd like to be surprised.
I would love to have one, but will it support multiple formats??? I guess we will have to wait and hold our breath.
Synthaxx R-or I agree with you if this is true... next wednesday will be real expensive for me... because I have wanted the dam thing for so long that I just really don't care what it cost anymore... just give me the dam thing already....lol
If this is all true apple is a marketing genius, because all of a sudden right before the show stuff leaks so you have to watch the show... I wouldn't be surprised if steve job's called BBC and told them leak it and then pull it quick... that's all we will need to get huge demand for the show - while also creating a super buzz for the product... every news show will be on pins and needles waiting to release what was it that apple revealed at the show... lol
I mean just look at all the press from engadget... and it's not even out yet... Apple - (marketing genius)
Does anyone really think there is a large market for the ipod video? I could never stand watching movies on the small screens, and nor did I ever have much of a desire to.
And to the comment about Apple taking over the world. Pretty scary, dare I say Apple is becoming the new Microsoft. Key word: becoming (for all you apple fans out there). ;-)
I propose an alternative theory - the BBC saw all these rumors and someone accidentally took one for fact and slipped that in there and when they realized that it may not be true, they pulled it.
But then again, wouldn't they have issued a correction if this was the case?
BBC 6, wtf is BBC 6 - there's a digital radio channel (listened to by no-one) called 6 Music. But c'mon - these guys are nobodies.
Although the BBC Motion Gallery (which i love to pieces) is fully Quicktime-ed... there streaming media is on the RealPlayer side of life,
And due to the BBC being publicly-owned and all that (there are no ads or prodcut placements on any of there shows) such a high-profile integration of BBC Content with a Brand name Product, hmm.
More interesting : why don' we speculate on what would be the cool stuff so that we'll be super ashamed of being in this list of comments on the 13th !!!
i'd love to be able to connect that stuff to a monitor/projector/something to get rid of this fake problem of a tiny screen, actually we start to feel like it's really possible to enjoy a flick on the psp, but it ain't easy to drop the image to the tv man!!!
So please Apple : provide us wth the smartest link system to our cool videoHDscreens or let Bose/Griffin like brands announce some crazy add-ons the same day as the launch of one of our best whish for the new year : the vPod
I to am hoping for a iPod video next Tuesday but this thing definitely isn't it. The corners are too rounded compared to the other iPods. I'll take new iPods or PowerMacs next Tuesday.
That is definitely the reboot screen from a Toshiba Pocket PC...I'm looking at mine right now.
Screw iLounge, this site had the story long before they did.
No. 14, I think there really is a huge demand for the iPod video. If the screen quality is good enough (i.e. PSP) people will not care as much bout the screen size.
I'm just hoping that it will not have the same scratching problems some Nanos had.
I am in Paris and there have been posters (with a music better photo) of this device everywhere next to the nano, being touted as the Video iPod. So either this is no secret for non-Americans or it is a well publicized fake.
Yep - 6 Music is a minority (though very good!) digital radio music station, with short news bulletins.
The BBC have, this month, just started trials of their Internet Media Player, that allows 5,000 trial users to download shows from the last 7 days of output at broadcast (or near broadcast quality). However this is all based around Windows Media. The BBC News website video is based around RealMedia.
It could be the Beeb are going to provide video output in Quicktime, who knows... The BBC podcasts are VERY popular in iTunes after all.
I to am hoping for a iPod video next Tuesday but this thing definitely isn't it. The corners are too rounded compared to the other iPods. I'll take new iPods or PowerMacs next Tuesday.
A pocket projector is the answer to the small screen problem! That just leaves audio... I guess if you wanted to project the video onto a wall, you could just sit there with your iPod and listen to it through the headphones.
I was at an Apple Store today and was asking one of the associates for some information regarding the iPods and I was asking about if he knew of any newer iPods coming cause I saw that the iPods seem to be getting smaller and I wanted something with more storage that was smaller than the current iPod but larger than the Mini. He said that they may be getting some new iPods next week. He said that they are having the press conference next week but hinted to me that I didn't hear anything from him. Let's hope.
Hey No. 20, are there any pictures of the posters?
I would love to see them.
Well, I'm not 100% sure about the whole video iPod thing, but I'm deffinatly going to wait for a little while before getting a nano.
The BBC thing doesn't really carry much weight in my book, I mean why would apple tell the media about something days before it happened? That just seems really stupid on apples part.
Why would they remove it? Uh, if you posted some innacurate information on your website, you'd remove it too ;) But of course, there is always the possibility.
Josh
I'd say the BBC is a little better than "unnamed sources."
It seems to reason that the BBC aren't gonna' muck something like this up, seeings as they are supposedly HOSTING something to do with it...
P.S. I got my tip recognised...woo!! I am now in the hallowed(ish) halls of engadgetness. well, my name is anyway... so not THAT impressive...hmm..
Josh: Read the story. BBC is probably providing content for the video itunes thing, plus Apple is going to announce it at an event run by the BBC. Sounds like a good reason to know for me.
MSNBC is full of engadget references. Just search their page for engadget, there is a ton of hits.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio/aod/6music_aod.shtml?6music/6m_news
u can listen to it, but it says apple is expected, not apple will they could just be reporting on the hype about this also....
Let's be hones both the BBC and ThinkSecret are pretty reliable (the BBC more so) - so what shall we expect maybe three more things? Or Apple will announce the computer in a separate press release - Apple will not be making a MAJOR new PowerBook or PowerMac only a year (or even two) away from the Intel move so there's no reason for the event unless it's for the iPod. BBC content will be cool!
The audio has not been pulled from the BBC 6 Music site. If you have realplayer follow this link to the 6 Music News on the BBC Radio Player, the story is about two minutes in: http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio/aod/6music_aod.shtml?6music/6m_news
What about an iTunes Movie Store, or Video Store, an Airport Express that can stream video . . . And no video iPod? Upgrade current iPods to greater storage capacities, perhaps some design and software changes, but no video iPod.
That covers everything: iPod announcements, movie/video announcements, no video iPod because Jobs still doesn't like tiny video players -- for good reason.
well if all of this is true, I hope we're not stuck watching ugly british people with their weird british comedy and their britishy accents as the only thing on the really fugly ipod Video.
and really guys. You think anybody watches MSNBC any more? This site probably get 10 times as many viewers as MSNBC does. In fact MSNBC is probably loving how their name is being mentioned so many times in the comments here.
Hm...BBC says "Apple is to unveil" before the "expected to" part.
What's that I hear...?? The sound of a millions of G4 iPods being posted on eBay.. saaaaaaaaay whaaaaaaaa?!
The picture is fake but the unit is not. It is not going to be release by apple (unless they license it) but in korea it is being calling the video ipod as well this nick name has been picked up by most US news site. do a google search for "viliv p1"
http://www.pmpevent.com/p1_photo/p1.html
This was also on News 24 a couple of hours ago.
"Hows about we all calm down, put our lifesize posters of Steve Jobs back under our beds "
GAH!!! I thought the reverse when I read that. I wonder if there is anyone with life sized posters above their bed. [hits the mental erase button...TOO LATE...OH GOD BSOD TO THE BRAIN!!]
That video iPod picture has to be a photoshop: the main reason? the screen isn't perfectly center.. if apple to release a video ipod, i'd imagine they'd put the screen directly in the middle of the damn thing.. if invert the colors you can see that it isn't center.
(inverted "video ipod")
http://www.hutd.net/images/ipod.jpg
PS- Wasn't the above picture proven to be a Toshiba Pocket PC? Why are you still using it?
just to tell you Mr Sage (nr.20) that i'm living in Paris two and i've not seen any poster of any video ipod (i would definitely call it vPod) nowhere around. I still hope to see it next week everywhere in NY Soho.
Then I know you can find good mushrooms in Paris ;-)
I prefer this design:
http://www.mobilemagazine.com/archives/2005/09/rd_apple_ipod
This is just weird. I blogged about this earlier today, and even submitted a photoshop image to Engadget about what I thought the thing would look like:
http://www.jasonjackson.com/blog/images/new_vid_ipod_w_bm.jpg
My version is dead on. Cool. If it has a 100GB drive and at least 4 hours of video, I am so in.
Sorry for the wrong link:
http://www.mobilemagazine.com/archives/2005/09/rd_apple_ipod_m.html
or
http://xataka.com/archivos/2005/09/16-ipod-video-o-movie.php
Here is a verbatim transcription that I personally did of the BBC 6 radio clip:
"Apple is to unveil a new video iPod at the BBC Television Center in London on October the 12th, the company is expected to reveal details of the new MP3 and video player as well as video bundles to be available from the companies iTunes stores."
Can't you people just wait a few days. So it's a video ipod. Cool. It'll be big, expensive, and people will want it. So what?
Yes,no,maybe so, the 12th will tell. But I think the main question, when and if it does release, is what format(s) will it support. I currently watch video everday during my commute on my palm T3 using the free TCPMP player, 29 FPS perfectly synced audio for mpg and avi files. I certainly wouldn't interested in using only "supplied" content from Apple. JMTC
OMG this might just force me to get a job...
GAH!!! I thought the reverse when I read that. I wonder if there is anyone with life sized posters above their bed. [hits the mental erase button...TOO LATE...OH GOD BSOD TO THE BRAIN!!]
When I was a teen, like 15 years ago, I had an almost life size poster of Samantha Fox half-naked on my ceiling.
Yeah, my parents were open-minded, even if they were not exactly in agreement with the "commercial exploitation of over-sized sexual attributes".
By the way, I'm sure some of you (not me) are jealous of Jobs attributes, at least subconsciously :)
On the 12th Apple is going to announce the new Power Macs, PowerBooks, not a(nother) new iPod.
http://www.thinksecret.com/news/0510oct12.html
Let's assume that there IS an iPod Video coming, and that the BBC WILL provide content.
Unfortunately, that content will likely only be available through the UK iTunes store. As forward looking as the Beeb is, it's only that way in the UK, where license-payers "own" the content. In the US, BBC programming is treated like any other video content, and thus is subject to the same kind of knee-jerk piracy and licensing restrictions.
I hear it's going to cost $9,000 ... have 8 megs of storage, include auto-deletion of anything you watch once ... and only play "Real Video" movie files.
No no, Adam #13, didn't you know? The new Microsoft isn't Apple, it's Google.
Apple is making a PDA with HP technology!! You guys are forgetting that Apple is actually a PC company.
IPOD PDA!! Can't wait!
That partiular picture, if I remember correctly, was passed around as a high-resolution render a few months ago and was a complete hoax. Either that or a mockup from the same design company for a fictional article. Either way, I've seen that same form before and call BS.
Thats toshiba's pocket pc boot up screen!!!!! wtf!? i have had 2 toshiba pocket pc's.. the e740 and e755 .... thats obviously fake!
Here's a good looking rendition:
http://img342.imageshack.us/img342/232/ipodvideo4bn.jpg
I want to believe! I don't know if I can swallow that photo, but I bet the new iPod is coming along with iTunes 5.0.2 and some other kit too.
Apple is too late!!!
Creative, Sony, Palm, etc have already released video devices. Sad. Plus, it looks ugly.
JAmerican
#60 Apple is too late?
They were one of the last to come out with a MP3 player and they still kicked everyones butt. Portable video players havent' really caught on amongst non-techies, but with Apple's marketing and attractive gui's, it will probably become mainstream.
Of course they'll probably add some damn DRM.
[disclaimer: I own no Apple products, just wish I did when I use my crappy RCA mp3 player]
This is becoming freaky. I'm not sure why a video player would make people so obsessed to spend money.
I'm perfectly content with my powerbook. It plays video, music, and more.
In the unlikely event this comes to fruition, then I will say goodbye to my PSP, as I only use my PSP for playing videos cause I hate loading times for games on a handheld.
I have a UX50. It is smaller than a laptop. The same length as an iPod and it plays music, videos (MP4s and MOVs), internet, has a 2GB MS in it, 30MB int. Media, DSP s for saving power, BT, WiFi, camera (video and stills), usable QWERTY thumbboard, rotating screen at 480x320 res. I'm happy with my handheld. What I dislike about Apple is that they slowly update. People aren't buying iPods as much as they used at least from what I see because Apple updates little things here and there. There should have never been a photo iPod, there should have already been a video iPod.
One more thing, why wasn't the crappy or faulty nanos landscape just like this device, the screen would have been larger and less screen real estate would have been lost. Poor design in my opinion.
JAmerican
This is a funny one
Try: http://www.apple.com/movies
next try:
http://www.apple.com/Somethingrotten
or
http://www.apple.com/somethingelse
Think different;-)
Sorry Folks, but the BBC just revealed there VOD platforme and it's under MICROSOFT DRM :((
So no iPod Video this time but surely new PowerBook and/or PowerMac.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/imp/
I think the beeb were speculating just like everyone else. there was alot of it about yesterday, trying to work out what's going on. The BBC will probably just be providing a place for a large press audience to watch the announcements from California.
The beeb do very little video in Quicktime at all, apart from those huge video screens in train stations (via Shockwave). But they do use webobjects for the news website content management system.
lets just wait and see ;)
I don't want a video iPod. I want new firmware that'll make the old iPods play video.
"It could be the Beeb are going to provide video output in Quicktime, who knows... The BBC podcasts are VERY popular in iTunes after all."
Not unless QuickTime grows a DRM system that matches that in Windows Media within the next few days. The Interactive Media PLayer (iMP) is Windows Media-only because it's the only platform at present that can make a file that "times out" on a specific date. All iMP content is available for viewing only for seven days after broadcast.
Me, I'm hoping they'll update the Powerbook/Mac instead. I'm in the market for a PB and there have been rumors about screen resolution bumps on the next (last pre-Intel) model. Hey, if they want to drop the video iPod at the same time, that's great too. But pleeeze Steve, gimme my Powerbook.
They're going to announce video sales over itunes, hence the curtain image teaser on their "just one more thing" invitation.
The BBC iMP (I'm taking part in the trial for it) isn't Mac compatible yet so it's possible that they'd use quicktime on the mac version and with the motion gallery moving to QT7 then it's possible at least.
Plus, I like the picture of the worlds biggest broadcaster teaming up with the biggest music download service.
I can't wait for the Video IPOD ... small screen, but who knows what he has in plans to make it that much better that the PSP videos!
If/when it arrives, will it play UMDs? I think so and I've got a bunch of ideas why posted at
www.omniquiti.com
I'd love to hear what you think about my theories on this stuff.
Happy speculating!!
I dunno. Something doesn't seem right about this. Somehow the information was just leaked too - EASILY - not to mention it seems that Apple hasn't made any fuss about the leaked info. Remember the invitation - "...And one more thing..." I think Apple is going to launch something a hell of a lot bigger alongside this viPod -- early Intel Macs, anybody? THAT would be a hell of a surprise!
One more thing... yeah!
Ever since the BBC leak that points to an iPod Video release with BBC content downloadable to it I"ve been thinking about how the rest of the iTunes / iPod ecosystem is going to fit into this.
I do believe October 12 will release "hero" video iPod device with a large screen.
But perhaps more radically I predict that EVERY iPod with a colour screen will become a video iPod. October 12 will see the release of a new version of iTunes and an iPod updater which will unlock that functionality in all colour screen iPods.
Thnik about it - why bother releasing the Nano with that pin sharp screen just for the PhotoIPod functionality that no one really uses. Why did the photo Ipod seem like such a half-baked product that could almost have served as a video device?
If Apple updates the music store on October 12 to allow download of free BBC content and purchased content like music videos and TV programmes it makes sense for the public to already have devices through which the content can be played back. Why limit your market to only the early adopters who can fork out £400 for a new product with a 2 week waiting list? If you've made this much investment then why not get the money coming in immediately!
By enabling video in devices Apple will already have a critical mass of devices which can make use of the content. This mirrors the original Music Store - it only made sense to sell music once a certain number of people had iPods. So why wait for a critical mass of people to buy video iPods. Why not make them all video iPods overnight?
The only reason the functionality has not been unlocked so far is that the rights agreements haven't been in place with the content providers.
The video iPod will be the hero hardware device with a large screen for ease of watching but every colour iPod will have the functionality.
This follows the pattern of podcast software availability across the whole screen based iPod family.
So to summarise:
October 12:
Hero Video Ipod with large screen
Apple Music Store offers free and paid video downloads including material from the BBC archive and IMP project
iPod updater software enables EVERY colour screen iPod video playback
We"ll see....
It's true. My friend works in Milpitas, CA. complaining how "they" have to work on Saturdays to get the iVideo out by Christmas. It's no secret.
I have a black 60gb video ipod on order!!!
very excited
downlaoded itunes 6 too
wonderful
now ive just gotta sell a 20gb ipod with my name engraved in the back! lol