The iPod (with video)

Here it is, official pics and specs of the new video-enabled iPod: it's the same width and height as the current mode, but thinner. It has a 320 x 240 pixel, 2.5-inch, 260,000 color display, 20 hours of battery life, and supports playback of H.264 and MPEG4 at 30 fps. Has TV out and will come in both 30GB and 60GB versions, with the 30GB version being 31% thinner than the current 20GB iPod and the 60GB version being 12% thinner than the current 20GB iPod. The 30GB will hold up to 75 hours of video and retail for $299. The 60GB version will hold 150 hours of video and sell for $399. Both will ship in one week.

[NekoTsukimi @ Dec 19th 2005 12:20AM]

That's hot. Maybe now I can finally get my nano now that the attention is somewhere else...

[Hapstr @ Dec 19th 2005 12:20AM]

itms now open

[CeAsE @ Dec 19th 2005 12:20AM]

Good thing I waited, but hopefully it won't succumb to the first generation kinks (but it probably will.)

[thepingofdeath @ Dec 19th 2005 12:20AM]

we wants it... the precious...

[Geordan @ Dec 19th 2005 12:20AM]

That looks awesome, I need one!

Eff! My nano's looking somewhat less desireable now.

I want word on the usual pet peevs though, gapless or anything exciting like that?

[anonymous @ Dec 19th 2005 12:20AM]

This was so close to making me regret buying the nano, except for a few issues:

1) No Widescreen
2) Low Resolution (QVGA) on the downloadable music videos/tv shows
3) A limit on the resolution of the videos you're importing - what kind of limit is 480x480??

[Greg @ Dec 19th 2005 12:20AM]

how about the headphone jack? was the audio quality improved?

[James @ Dec 19th 2005 12:20AM]

It just looks all fat now.. I guess the nano spoiled us.

[Dan @ Dec 19th 2005 12:20AM]

Will there be a remote?

Will this be better than the Gigabeat X30?

[boynamedsue @ Dec 19th 2005 12:20AM]

the only way the market could compete with this marvelous product is maybe by having a similar product that has a bigger screen, supports more video formats and can also, like the ipod, play MP3's

alas, no such products exist.

[Jeffler @ Dec 19th 2005 12:20AM]

And I decide to wait a week for the new one.

[uclatommy @ Dec 19th 2005 12:20AM]

>>Ben
You can put h264 encoded videos in an avi wrapper. Its the same thing as divx as I understand it.

[Chase @ Dec 19th 2005 12:20AM]

I just ordered one...i returned my nano once i heard the rumors...and it was worth it...here's something for everyone that doesn't care that much about the video functionality...bigger screen for photos...and a much smaller size and an added 10 gigs at the current 20 gig price...I say no matter how you slice it, its a great buy...

[Tweaq @ Dec 19th 2005 12:20AM]

does anyone know of any time of "scam" where you can take back the regular 4g, and get a new one. because they are selling this as their regular ipod, $299, so i would like to upgrade.

[Jimmy @ Dec 19th 2005 12:20AM]

Ordered. :)

[J Aaron Farr @ Dec 19th 2005 12:20AM]

Re: #10

You mean like the PSP?

The sad part about the PSP is the lack of a hard drive (or flash drive). Otherwise, it would compete and excel on all levels. And it's cheaper.

[Stanfrog @ Dec 19th 2005 12:20AM]

Itunes 6 now running... wheels turning...
Now, how about ipod video playback through my Alpine IVA-d310 in-dash monitor. The frontrow dock is universal across the ipod line... even with video... but will the Alpine KCA-420i adapter allow the audio and ID3 tags as well as the video now to my monitor... or is it going to require a d310 firmware update? :( sigh... probably. This must be solved... with auto-syncing video podcasts and tv show downloads, this will solve the problem of never having enough regular content for your rear seat passengers... Kids get bored of the same old 6 dvd's that you've been carrying around in your car. How easy this integration would make things.

Who do you think will partner up to fight Apple on this one... Sony and MTV... ooh, how about Luxpro and TiVo. Where you at LifeDrive? You should be all over this too. What? Palm won't let you out to play until Cobalt is unleashed in fall of two thousand and never...

[Geordan @ Dec 19th 2005 12:20AM]

Okay what's up with the Macworld article. They're saying that Apple also announced 40 and 80 GB variations of their audio iPod for the same price as the 30 and 60 video respectively?

I haven't found anything else like that. Whack if you ask me. Typo maybe?

http://playlistmag.com/news/2005/10/12/ipods/index.php

It's near the bottom of the article

[Shig @ Dec 19th 2005 12:20AM]

It's missing the little dingus next to the headphone port. You know, the bit where the iTalk and other accessories plug into. They implied some time ago that they were going to start supporting mic/line in directly on the iPod, but I can't find any mention of that anywhere on the site. Anyone know anything about that?

[Dan @ Dec 19th 2005 12:20AM]

Where did you order it? Apple.com?

[fly2k @ Dec 19th 2005 12:20AM]

Dangitt i just bought the Nano, and now they come out with this.... What is the return policy for a scratched up nano?

[cmonkey @ Dec 19th 2005 12:20AM]

#5. In case you didn't notice, the idea behind a video iPod is not to watch movies, hence the lack of widescreen and the 320x240 screen. The aspect ratio is exactly what it should be for watching TV shows and music videos. I doubt many people want to stare at a screen that small for two hours anyway. I agree though that the 480x480 limit sort of limits the use of its TV-out for watching movies.

[andrew @ Dec 19th 2005 12:20AM]

Did anyone else notice that the new iPod doesn't use firewire?

[duestown @ Dec 19th 2005 12:20AM]

no divx/xvid, no sale.

[Ryan Gardner @ Dec 19th 2005 12:20AM]

I've been waiting on getting an iPod for one that could store and play videos. Now maybe I'll actually get one. A black one :P

[Geordan @ Dec 19th 2005 12:20AM]

http://www.dapreview.net/comment.php?comment.news.2349

there's some discussion about it on dapreview, but there's no conclusion as far as the recording goes. Hopefully it's there. Hopefully they suprise us with gapless or something exciting like that too!

[Kevin Robinson @ Dec 19th 2005 12:20AM]

Only two hours of video playback per charge? Come on, Apple! My 2 year-old RCA PMP gets better battery life than that.

[ChillyWilly @ Dec 19th 2005 12:20AM]

Firewire syncing support? I hope so, but so far none of the specs say anything about it.

[Hiro11 @ Dec 19th 2005 12:20AM]

Boynamedsue:
Not sure if you're being sarcastic, but there are many, many other options out there that are arguably superior (at least hardware-wise) to the new iPods. For example:
http://www.jr.com/JRProductPage.process?Product_Id=4054350&JRSource=google.datafeed.CLN+ZENV30GBBK

Apple seems to be (very slowly) becoming a cautious company with the iPod. The Nano was a great idea (maybe not revolutionary, but definitely the best flash player on the market) but the Shuffle, Photo and now the Video don't exactly seem to explode the market like the original iPod did. They're more like incremental improvements. This would be fine except lots of other larger companies with serious R+D budgets (notably Sony and Samsung) are burning the midnight oil to catch up. Also, Apple's proprietary software and codec standards are eventually going to be a real problem (just like they were for the Mac).

Apple still makes superior products, but IMO there's no way their market share is going to hold up. Releasing excellent but rout products like this one isn't going to help matters.

[Jason @ Dec 19th 2005 12:20AM]

no widescreen on videos? no thanks, apple makes another piece of crap device just to make money. GARBAGE!!! and how does it expect to play h.264 when regular pc's have a hard time???

[boynamedsue @ Dec 19th 2005 12:20AM]

indeed, that was sarcasm. being an engadget reader it seems like theres a new pvp out on the market every day.

[Killian @ Dec 19th 2005 12:20AM]

But #24, the Creative Zen Vision is the same 30 GB for $100 more... They're really going to have to rethink that price to compete with the iPod.

And does anyone have any idea if we'll be able to put our own video on this? Even with some kind of 3rd party workaround. If that's the case, then I'm sold. :)

[Zex_Suik @ Dec 19th 2005 12:20AM]

#11 yes that product exists, it's called a Pocket PC. Sure the hard drive isn't as big and currently the cf cards are weighing in at 8gigs but there is soooo much more you can do with a pocket pc (esp with the new jasjar and wizard's)

Hoorah! I for one welcome our new device convergence overlords

[dan @ Dec 19th 2005 12:20AM]

20 hours?

[Ben @ Dec 19th 2005 12:20AM]

My question is: How much will we have to spend to buy the video's for this IPod? I mean, it will most likely have to be a seperate video and will have to be able to uploaded to IVideo or something similar. You know as well as I do that this is just an opening for Apple to broaden it's market for specific programs (IVideo?), videos (.ivid[format for IVideo files]?), etc. Good idea, super costly in the long run.

[Oliver @ Dec 19th 2005 12:20AM]

That's the sexy.

[retro @ Dec 19th 2005 12:20AM]

My 30gb iPod photo broke, would it be possible to get it replaced with a 30gb 5g, since it has a warranty until March 2006?

[andrew @ Dec 19th 2005 12:20AM]

Why would you add video (larger files) and take away firewire connectivity? It must be an accessory thing, the serial port looks the same... maybe you can use 3g and 4g firewire cables?

[Steffest @ Dec 19th 2005 12:20AM]

Yep, His Steveness farted, and we all inhaled ...
wachting video on a 2,5 inch screen? even 6 year old pocketPC's have a 3,5 inch screen and can play video too. Only thing in favor of Ipod is the TV-out.
Selling tv shows is a good move, though ... that is going to be huge! (but a bit overpriced if you can download them legally for 10 cent each at http://www.rentmydvr.com ...

[Pong Generation @ Dec 19th 2005 12:20AM]

Does this one have audio out & (user) replaceable batteries?Wonder if this one's screen will get scratched as easy as the Nano's?

[ljun @ Dec 19th 2005 12:20AM]

#29: seriously, how can YOU talk all of that garbage? geez.

[thepingofdeath @ Dec 19th 2005 12:20AM]

WHAT!!!?!
There's no power port for headphone jack accessories. That means no current generation iTrips will work and I'll be SOL for a month or so if I want to use my iPod in my car. That also means spending even MORE money on a new iTrip.

The new headphone jack location is stupid. If Apple had any sense they'd put a 4th gen style jack/power plug in the bottom and standard usb2.0/firewire ports in the top.

Looks like a 4G 20GB iPod Color will be the last iPod product I buy. This is hardly an improvement.

[Doug @ Dec 19th 2005 12:20AM]

Two hours of battery life while watching videos is weak sauce.

http://www.apple.com/ipod/specs.html

[Grant @ Dec 19th 2005 12:20AM]

Is it just me, or is it made of THE SAME SUPER-SCRATCHABLE PLASTIC as the iPod nano?

[Dan @ Dec 19th 2005 12:20AM]

Where did you order it? Apple.com?

[Dan @ Dec 19th 2005 12:20AM]

Where did you order it? Apple.com?

[Brad @ Dec 19th 2005 12:20AM]

You guys in the US are so 'return-happy' with products. Where I am, there are stores that will take goods back once used/open when not faulty (and I buy from them reguarly for this reason JUST IN CASE) - but you guys seem to return things to shops for any reason what so ever.

Do they take things back no questions asked? What about if there are marks on the products? If headphones have been used? What happens to them afterwards? Have you ever bought a new product that someone else has returned the day before becuase it doesnt match their toilet seat cover?

Interesting...

[Chance @ Dec 19th 2005 12:20AM]

LOL....overpriced...overhyped...over everything...how can you be expected to watch those overpriced episodes you bought if the thing only lasts 2 hrs on that tiny screen.

ZEN Vision anyone?

[Marian @ Dec 19th 2005 12:20AM]

@30 (Jason): video playback is not designed for regular 2h movies. Would you watch a movie on a 2.5" display? Me, no.
Clips, short movies and episodes - I might.

[scapermoya @ Dec 19th 2005 12:20AM]

so how long before someone figures out how to force xvid on this bad boy