OMG: OS X on your iPod?

Step aside, Microsoft: that UMPC form-factor is officially played out. The new hotness is running "Leopard Mobile" on your iPod, which is no small feat considering the devices' sub-100MHz processors and lack of a touchscreen or Internet access. Don't think it's possible? We were a bit skeptical at first too, but just click on the Read link and see for yourself -- as we all know, YouTube won't host a video until it's been verified as completely legitimate.

[Via Engadget Chinese]

[martin @ Jul 5th 2006 10:48AM]

I can't believe it's not a video!


dot dot dot

[Ethan @ Jul 5th 2006 10:48AM]

Yeah, that's retarded. Note that the scrolling doesn't sync with the movement of the stylus - in fact, it scrolls occasionally /preceding/ the stylus.

[hrf3420 @ Jul 5th 2006 10:51AM]

Did you guys ever think about the fact that someone could have done a screen capture video and played it back? Then just use a PDA stylus and memorize the movements?


DOH! 0_o

[Sixth @ Jul 5th 2006 10:52AM]

OMG that's so amazing! They're playing back a screencap video of an OS X desktop on an iPod!

[Michael @ Jul 5th 2006 10:52AM]

When did ipod become touch screen and where do you get the software from? Thats a good hack if they added the touch screen.

[Jimmy @ Jul 5th 2006 10:53AM]

How did this fake a@@ moron get his video on Engadget? What a shame.. I mean he couldn't even remember how he scrolled in the video -- the scroll bar moves up before his stulys does.

Dumb ass.

[Jan-Paul Bultmann @ Jul 5th 2006 10:54AM]

What do you need?
- An iPod
- A touch Pen
- A Video of Mac Os X in aktion
- A Stopwatch
- A Cam
- A lot of time

It is only a Video o mac os x harmoning with the movement of the pen....

FAKE FAKE FAKE

[Uelsimon @ Jul 5th 2006 10:56AM]

Ya definitely not real. They should have practices their timing for thier stylus acting a few more times. and maybe they might have fooled us for more than 3 seconds.

[jrv3034 @ Jul 5th 2006 10:58AM]

I call fake, but it's still impressive. I wouldn't mind having an ipod that does that...

[bob @ Jul 5th 2006 10:58AM]

haha very well rehearsed movement there, but really how cooooll would that be!?!?!

[Jacob Varghese @ Jul 5th 2006 10:58AM]

it's obviously a fake, but you've got to wonder about the guy who took the time to put this together.

[Benson Leung @ Jul 5th 2006 10:58AM]

So easy to fake...

It's a fricking VIDEO iPod... some wiseass took a screencapture app in Mac OS X, and then handbraked it into iPod format.

Play the video while waving a stylus around... fool the masses!

[Burkan @ Jul 5th 2006 10:59AM]

I call BS on this one. The stylus and the screen don't sync at all. And....record and edit a video, remember where to click and you've got yourself an iPod running OS X.

[cliosguy @ Jul 5th 2006 11:03AM]

How do you gona input text????? thats tha big question.... fake, for me(but a real GOOD fake :-D)

[abelIAN @ Jul 5th 2006 11:04AM]

Wow, sarcasm meters just aren't built like they used to be.

[Jake @ Jul 5th 2006 11:06AM]

Looks like the sarcasm detector isn't working for most of the Engadget readership (or at least the commentatorship). They all but say it's a fake in the post, yet the dumba**es here pat themselves on the back and scold Engadget as *they* declare it's a fake.

I think Engadget could have put "Faked video showing OS X on iPod" in the title and many readers still wouldn't understand that Engadget writers like Evan don't actually think it's real.

[Alex @ Jul 5th 2006 11:07AM]

Hahahahaha nice try

Yeah I actually got Windows 2000 running on my Archos Jukebox Recorder 20. Pretty cool huh? The hardest part was getting everything to work on the tiny 64x96 monochrome screen.

[Samuel McConnell @ Jul 5th 2006 11:08AM]

IT'S A TRAP!

[DJ @ Jul 5th 2006 11:08AM]

I totally agree that this is fake, BUT..... it is an almost exact representation of the patents that Apple has filed last year and so far this year. What we may have here is present fiction becoming future, VERY NEAR FUTURE, reality.

[Michael @ Jul 5th 2006 11:10AM]

Even though it's obviously fake it does demonstrate what a version of OSX could look like on an ipod, and it doesn't look so bad to me.

Bring it on Apple.

[Alex @ Jul 5th 2006 11:11AM]

It doesn't matter how good you try to fool people, there's just no way a sub 100mhz processor would load applications *that* fast or render a webpage *that* fast.

Obvious fake. Obvious.

[thegrey @ Jul 5th 2006 11:14AM]

When using sarcasm on the net, people should use italic font....

[Wonderboy @ Jul 5th 2006 11:21AM]

You guys really think that's a good representation of what an OS should look like on an ipod? Are you crazy? Can you imagine how tiny that text is... you'd go blind trying to read a web page.

Sorry, but an OS interface will be completely different on a screen that size. Trying to fit all of OSX on that screen would be just plain stupid... and though Apple designers aren't angels, they're definitely not stupid.

[z @ Jul 5th 2006 11:24AM]

If this is real, this will definitely find a way in my pocket, backpack, or any other container that follows me during my daily activities. This is what a UMPC should be.

[diJenerate @ Jul 5th 2006 11:26AM]

I think it's real...

After all it's not that hard to get an iPod to run Leopard (due out end '06). All he has to do is build a time machine, travel forward 8 or 9 years and pick up an 'old' "iPod PC" cheap on ebay and then bring it back and film it.

See it's not fake you guys, it's time travel...

diJenerate

(I think the biggest challenge is finding the reality to jump forward to in which Apple Computer Corp still exists in the next 8~9 years.
*snicker*)

[Rex @ Jul 5th 2006 11:27AM]

I think apple is going for the e-book market... BUT if this was real, it would be impossible to read anything on it or do anything for that matter on such a small screen. Nice job, "Apple"... make a little change to your design cause it's getting old as well...

[L @ Jul 5th 2006 11:29AM]

@Jake, I agree, I've also seen a bunch of bashing on the engadget writers. They try to release information and apparently in the content there seems to be a typo, oh no! let the comment bashing begin on a typo that 20 other people has already mentioned. I bet we always see this comment at least thrice a week: "Slow news day at engadget?". Seriously, write your own article on your own weblog or just don't read here.

[Pete Avila @ Jul 5th 2006 11:40AM]

People if you have not guess, this is fake. Why you ask? Well let me tell you I have done something similar to this! As everyone has guess its a video! But over all that prank was better than mine! Nice one guys XD

[Michael @ Jul 5th 2006 11:45AM]

@Wonderboy
You're right. Obviously it would need a lot of tweaking, especailly in the text size department, and a bigger screen couldn't hurt. But overall the idea in general is what counts and to see it(or something like it) in action helps cement the idea better.

I wouldn't want to edit video on it, but if it could do more then just calendars and contacts that would be cool.

[CamelOnTheRun @ Jul 5th 2006 11:54AM]

its a video thats playing on the ipod and the guy is just synchronixed to it.

[Hans @ Jul 5th 2006 11:57AM]

I bet everyone at Engadget headquarters are laughing their arses off reading the replies to this post :p.

Indeed, sarcasm on the net needs to be written in italic or bold to make it clear to the general public. Hehehe.

[Weili @ Jul 5th 2006 12:06PM]

Wow, why so much hostility?

Even if this video is "fake", it's still entertaining and impressive.

[dhruv @ Jul 5th 2006 12:09PM]

i know every one is sayin that this is a video. yeah thats pretty obvious. but did u noticehow the hell is that guy SURFIN THE NET ON AN IPOD !!!!!! there is no wi-fi r nothin 2 allow net surfin on an ipod. thats definitely a fake.

ps:- why is it that apple news generates so many comments

[Andrew Walsh @ Jul 5th 2006 12:15PM]

The hostility, as it often is, is caused by stupidity. The article is obviously sarcasm. The give away is "as we all know, YouTube won't host a video until it's been verified as completely legitimate."

[funetik @ Jul 5th 2006 12:18PM]

USB sirens and flashing red lights should be mandatory. To denote sarcasm, the author presses the sarcasm button (yes, keyboards need to be revamped, too). When the user holds the mouse near the sarcasm character, or scrolls near it, the siren and light start going off.

[Tim Brown @ Jul 5th 2006 12:22PM]

You would have thought that they would have knocked the screen resolution down to 640 x 480 to at least get the icons a believable size. I use a PDA on a daily basis and being able to accurately hit navigation buttons that fast, first time around and have the scroll bar anticipate your actions (bul **cough**it). I have done application mock-ups like this for presentations and it only takes 5 minutes for someone to learn the sequence and get it believable.

Plus the boys at engadget point out, no internet connection, no touch screen, sub 100mhz cpu, a non vector graphics chip which only supports 320 x 240, an OS that has not been released yet, RAM, HDD access speed, yada yada yada…

I think we have all accepted the point that these guys have too much time on their hands.

[Todd @ Jul 5th 2006 12:28PM]

Symptom that a company is under serving its customer base?

The customers start making fake videos of products they WISH they had – and the company SHOULD be developing, but is too arrogant to listen to the demand.

[ueseven @ Jul 5th 2006 12:55PM]

The only fool around is the guy/gal who came up with the video. hahahaha...

[Korey @ Jul 5th 2006 12:58PM]

Im definitly not a mac guy but is it possible he somehow switched out the guts of this thing to a pda processor and worked out the OS

[Vinni @ Jul 5th 2006 1:04PM]

this would be a great advancement. however sadly it's a fake.

[Kyle @ Jul 5th 2006 1:13PM]

[QUOTE]I use a PDA on a daily basis and being able to accurately hit navigation buttons that fast, first time around and have the scroll bar anticipate your actions (bul **cough**it).[/QUOTE]

But this is a Mac!

[Trevor @ Jul 5th 2006 1:16PM]

Check out the scroll bar and pen on the right at about 14 to 15 seconds into the video. The scroll bar seems to get away from him. :)

[Shunnabunich @ Jul 5th 2006 1:17PM]

1. Set your screen resolution to a "classic" 4:3 ratio, even though your Mac has a widescreen ratio and it'll look weird while you play around
2. Record your actions with Snapz or an equivalent video screen capture app
3. Resize the video to 320x240
4. Sync to your iPod
5. Play it back while making smooth moves with your PDA stylus
6. ????????
7. PROFIT!

[JC @ Jul 5th 2006 1:17PM]

The only thing more lame than someone doing something idiotic is the people who spend their time standing around watching them and calling them an idiot. Stop giving them attention.

[Emceay @ Jul 5th 2006 1:32PM]

Wow, watching person after person point fingers has been quite entertaining. Isn't that the saving grace of being witness to idiocy? Please, make a Sony or Nintendo post next so we can see the woodwork really begin to crawl.

[NRG-753 @ Jul 5th 2006 1:35PM]

I dont know, it could be real, Apple does some pretty crazy things! :D Who would have thought Apple would ever bring out Intel Macs 2 years ago?

[Tom Reinke @ Jul 5th 2006 1:47PM]

@Korey

Perhaps, but that'd take a lot of work and a LOT of money. Something like that wouldn't just have popped up on youtube.

Wait, do they even make touch LCD's that small?

[Marian @ Jul 5th 2006 1:50PM]

Not real!

[Josh* @ Jul 5th 2006 1:51PM]

I'd have a lot less disdain for whoever thought this up if they weren't actually trying to pass it off as real.

[edward @ Jul 5th 2006 2:10PM]

WTF? touchscreen? it's not possible with 5th ipod because it doesn't have that function at all. fake. it's easy to make this kind of video. first, record the whole video with PC, then copy to paste on ipod video screen, editing. that's it.