Not quite the
video iPod we were hoping for, not by a long shot, but Apple is refreshing their flagship
iPod (with video) models today with a whole lotta' software love, and a couple hardware tweaks for good measure. The screen is now 60% brighter, the battery can last up to 3.5 hours during video playback, and the iPod includes new headphones, but otherwise the specs remain the same. As for software, the iPod is finally getting gapless playback, text-based search and brightness controls, along with a whole slew of games. The 'Pod has Bejeweled, Cubis 2, Mahjong, Mini Golf, Pac Man, Tetris, Texas Hold 'Em, Vortex, and Zuma bundled, and you can nab new games for $5 each off of iTunes. Maybe the best news is that Apple is dropping the prices and bumping the storage: you can get a spankin' new 30GB iPod for $250, and the new 80 gigger for $350. No word yet on availability.
posted September 12th 2006 12:56PM
I for one am a bit excited as I have received a 30GB iPOD for my birthday 45 days ago! But..I am a longtime Apple user and I know how they do around this time of the year (helps to read engadget too :). I never opened the box anticipating some sort of update. My GF thought I was crazy but who's the wiser? Now I am going to the Fifth avenue NY store this weekend and I will see if they wil exchange for the newest 30GB. I don't think they will refuse but ya never know. It was bought at the old price point and I am not looking for a refund of the difference. Do ya think I have a chance?
Quit whining.
$50 cheaper and gapless playback (finally)? Glad I waited all this time to pick one up.
I've already ordered my 30GB.
Oh great! Now they say it $250 for a 30gb......i was all happy thinkin the 60gb was $250.....THANKS ALOT!
What I don't understand is why Apple refuses to support rentals. It's one thing for Apple to say "people don't want to rent music" (though personally, I LOVE renting music on services like Napster and Yahoo Music). Now Jobs believes that people don't want to rent movies? Hello, does the word Netflix ring a bell? Does he think people are really so eager to BUY $10 movies to watch on their computers and iPods when they could just rent them? Heck, even Amazon Unbox supports THAT. I won't get an iPod until it supports rentals. Fortunately, there are many alternatives...
I'm glad iTunes supports higher resolution video now though. That's how I keep up with Battlestar Galactica.
I just plugged my 60GB 5G into iTunes 7 and it said my software was up-to-date. SO if we can update our current iPods to take advantage of gapless play back it hasn't been released yet.
What is the point of HDMI when the output is only 640x480. Do you know what that's going to look like on my 103in Panasonic LCD TV? http://www.engadget.com/2006/01/09/panasonics-103-incher-up-close-and-personal/
BUNK that! Where's the REAL video iPod that everybody and their brother has been mocking-up for the past 6 months? That's the one we're waiting for! Where the hell is that ONE?
*yawn* it all a remake of the same old same old. Nanos with colours? Been there. Bigger storage space: expected. Games? Trivial. and the ipod shuffle is just the same thing that looks different and different is better. Until Steve ALLOWS us to have the video ipod obviously everyone wants, he's just playing with our wallets. I still haven't bought an iPod because I don't buy what isn't 1) what I want and 2) isn't what it could be. Touchscreens and bluetooth and four inch screens and lets-get-rid-of-all-the-gizmos-and-put-it-all-into-one-device-kind-of-thinking is thinking different and is techonologically possible. Sadly Steve is only catering to one consumer type, those under 25. Sure I want all the media stuff he is currently giving, but as a 30 year old, I also want and need some other stuff too, and small screens and no quickly Apple-smart integration with other aspects of my life just makes the iPod another thing to make me carry around. Sorry Steve, you're just reinventing what you've already done. That sounds to me like: Thinking Same.
Well, I guess I can order that Archos 604 I've been looking at. Widescreen iPod coming to you in 2018.
Updated to itunes 7, and it said my 5G was up to date, but in the process of buying a game/updating/synching, something figured out that there was a new version of the ipod software. It really was clean to update the ipd through itunes.
And playing pac-man on the scroll wheel is a painin the botox, but it beats solitaire
One thing to note, Jobs said that games would work with all 5G iPods... does that mean that the current firmware can handle the games, anyone tried buying one to see? If they don't work, there is a firmware upgrade in the future.
marshall, the firmware is already out (1.2).
It brings:games, bug fixes, brightness control and gapless playback.
Note that the "search" feature is not present.
the latest software update for the iPod is 1.2
My 5G has what it was shipped with. I'd put off updating until now.
Search function doesn't show up at all.
DUDE 80GB for only $$$350 thats the craziest thing i have ever heard.. a brighter, better player premiering for less than the 60GB premired at.. Awesome.. i would buy one but just because the screen is "brighter"; it still cant compare to the Creative Zen vision M's screen which has about a screen with three times more color than a 5gen ipod. and you cant compare the ipod against the amazing video support of the Creative zen vision m;s.. i think i'll hold off on this and see how much a 60GB zen is.. it should be a little less than expected. now that this IPOD is out. but if its more, than i am def. getting this.
Daveoc64, yeah I just got done updating... actually, I'm able to do the hovering letter search, its when you scrolling really fast, it pops up and starts scrolling by letter, the real search function i haven't found yet
I eventually got my 60gb 5g iPod updated to 1.2, but like the others, I find myself missing the search, the only function I was actually interested in the first place
So does anyone know where/when I can hook up with one of these in New Zealand? The time has come for me to get an iPod, but I want one of these new ones.
I also wonder what is the deal with 640x480 resolution and dolby _surround_ sound?!
Also, if apple will be releasing true widescreen video iPod next year, what will happen with all this 4:3 material they make us buy now? Even if 640x480 can be used for anamorphic WS, I think it's really time to support true HD in 2006.
It's a shame that if one wants to download hi-quality TV-shows or movies today, one has to go for the torrents... I'm for one, aren't buying any movies/tv-shows before I can get them at least in 720P with 5.1 sounds.
It's 6.5 hours for video playback, not 3.5 hours; see here http://www.blogsmithmedia.com/www.engadget.com/media/2006/09/dsc_0860.jpg
A few comments:
1. I just installed iTunes 7 and it crunched on my music for a while setting up my "gapless play back".
2. Here are the specs for the 5G and 5.5G iPod compared:
5G iPod specs:
H.264 video: up to 768 Kbps, 320 x 240, 30 frames per sec., Baseline Profile up to Level 1.3 with AAC-LC up to 160 Kbps, 48 Khz, stereo audio in .m4v, .mp4 and .mov file formats
MPEG-4 video: up to 2.5 mbps, 480 x 480, 30 frames per sec., Simple Profile with AAC-LC up to 160 Kbps, 48 Khz, stereo audio in .m4v, .mp4 and .mov file formats
5.5G iPod Specs:
H.264 video, up to 768 Kbps, 320 by 240 pixels, 30 frames per sec., Baseline Profile up to Level 1.3 with AAC-LC audio up to 160 Kbps, 48 kHz, stereo audio in .m4v, .mp4, and .mov file formats;
H.264 video, up to 1.5 Mbps, 640 by 480 pixels, 30 frames per sec., Baseline Low-Complexity Profile with AAC-LC audio up to 160 Kbps, 48 kHz, stereo audio in .m4v, .mp4, and .mov file formats;
MPEG-4 video, up to 2.5 Mbps, 640 by 480 pixels, 30 frames per sec., Simple Profile with AAC-LC audio up to 160 Kbps, 48 kHz, stereo audio in .m4v, .mp4, and .mov file formats
Notice: the MP4 bitrate for both is the same and they advertise the higher 1.5Mbps H.264 bitrate for the new iPod
So here is the question: do the new iPods have an enhanced decoder which can play higher resolution video? If so, do the old iPods dynamically downgrade the resolution to 340x240 from a downloaded 640-x480 video when playing back on a TV?
Just bought a 30Gb iPod and I too could kick myself. Of greater interest to me is the iTunes 7 update. New interface, but more importantly new functions that have been eagerly awaited by many. iTunes will now grab any missing artwork needed for your mp3's. Looks like the have also added a 'backup all music function', located in the file menu. New view options also show up now.
What ever happened to Apple announcements blowing us out of the water with stuff better than we expected?
I'm Sad I wanted and excuse to upgrade my iPod Photo, but I'm not seeing one here.
DID I READ THAT RIGHT?? GAPLESS PLAYBACK?!
Oh my god, I never thought I'd ever see the day!!!
Are there gapless playback on the old 5G with firmware 1.2? Itune 7 was saying it preping for it but I still have gapless in my 5G! Is this feature 5.5G exclusive? Then why the heck is my itunes telling me that? Or can someone tell me how to turn it on?
You can also just get a refurbished ipod at the Apple online store. 30 GB ipods are only $199.
Does this mean that the iPod will possibly play other Java Apps? All of these games seem to be the same that I can download on my Motorola v3i....
No wonder Apple was cracking down on the rumor mill - the rumors were much superior to the reality.
No upgrade for me...I'm still waiting for the wide screen model.
i think the 6gen ipod will not be released until macworld o in the first quarter 2007. why? its simple, apple don't want pepole speculating about it right now, so they launch an updated version of it, they sell the last 5gen ipod units this selling season and they are ready to launch a new one after it.
maybe this sound a bit wakko but think about it, why would they give a preview of a new product.. to keep us distracted
why would they resize the video format on itunes store?... i think they are just preparing to get a new ipod with a bigger screen and maybe a cellphone made by apple...
i belive that all of this could be launched at macworld with the "iTV"...
Hmm. Just more temptation
I don't think that apple is going to release any new software to allow the older 5g ipods to have the search tool etc. they would rather we bought the new ipod, plus I read that apple formerly decided to not allow this software update on the older 5g's. Maybe someone who will read this can write ipod software like some of the websites out there like ipodsoft or something can recreate these features for us. I don't know what to think but I'm still going to stick with apple.
Wow.. what is with you people? The iPod is just a toy, not a nesscissity, so I don't understand why people are so eager to buy one when it comes out. My 2nd G Mini still, owrks for playing music, so I still use it and not complain about it.
I have one of the first 5G 60GB iPods, and I just recieved a software update. It included the brightness control.
5G is the 30/60
5.5G being the fun-yun 80's
But they did say something about 32Gb (PCM). It's 500 times faster, and consumes 1/2 the energy required to power them. That and they are very small compared to other memory stick/chip/HDD's "that" size.
"Hello instant on Laptop/computers, good-bye slow problematic HDD's." But maybe they will keep them, they have cheap 720Gb+~ HDD's. And run 4 of those and you'll get PLENTY of room for movie's/Music/Music video's/Ect