Apple are planning a press conference for September 7

symphonix

symphonix

Scratch & Sniff Committee
See:

http://www.theinquirer.net/?article=25787

http://news.com.com/Apple+hints+at+big+music+announcement/2100-1041_3-5844112.html

http://www.chicagotribune.com/busin...tory?coll=chi-business-hed&ctrack=1&cset=true

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/08/30/technology/30apple.html

Of course, much of what I've read is pure speculation, and its still quite possible that all of these "informed sources" turn out to be bunk. But Apple is promising something really new and ground-breaking. The circumstances surrounding the press conference are very reminiscent of the launch of the iPod on Oct 23rd 2001.

The press conference invite refers to: "1000 songs, here we go again" and, according to The Inquirer:

It just says the usual PR/marketing nonsense about how the iPod changed life on earth as we know it and this annoucement will be something like that.
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Of course, it may be something as minor as a colour screen or flash-based iPod mini.

So you know what that means ... let the rampant and crazy speculation run wild!!!
 
I think it's going to be a video iPod that stores videos in MP4 format on it's Terabyte solid-state chip and has a battery that you can charge with your imagination.

lol. Realistically, a solid-state iPod mini. MAYBE a video iPod. Whatever. Not a big deal.
 
I think a video iPod WOULD be a big deal. But I also don't think it's in the cards, at least not this year. "A dozen DVDs in your pocket" just doesn't sound too impressive, now does it? ;) (I realize that if they were distributed as mp4s it'd probably be more like 50-100 movies, but still...)

A solid-state mini would be interesting, I guess, although the only practical advantage would be battery life. Nothing to get worked up over as far as I'm concerned. How much do 6GB flash sticks go for, though? Come to think of it...do they even make them that big? If not, I doubt they'll change the mini. I don't think it would make sense for Apple to reduce the capacity of the Mini line.

I hope the Big Announcement is a unified worldwide iTMS. THAT would be nice, and it'd also be pretty big news. But I really, reeeaaaaally doubt it's gonna happen (really!). It seems hard enough to get the labels to agree to sell their stuff in a single country, let alone the whole world....*sigh*
 
when apple marketing writes "1000 songs in your pocket changed everything. Here we go again," - it had better be a BIG deal!

if steve jobs is hosting the show - and he has to live up to "1000 songs in your pocket changed everything. Here we go again," - it had better be a BIG deal - i doubt he is the type of person to say - "1000 songs, here we go again...ipod minis now have flash drives..." - he'd be a laughing stock...

whatever it is - and i have no idea - and i'm kinda tired of endless conjecture...it will be a big(ish) deal...if its the ipodo-moto-fono... then ay least they've finally got around to releasing the freaking thing! though even that certainly does not live up to "1000 songs in your pocket changed everything. Here we go again,"...
 
Apple knows that "a 1000 songs in your pocket" _really_ changed the world. Would they hint to that event (the iPod's introduction) if this was only about Motorola releasing one or two mobile phones that run a mobile version of iTunes? Even if it was a sophisticated version, even if it was _perfect_ - which would mean nothing more than it'd synch 'alright' with iTunes on your Mac or PC - this would be rather a _small_ step for mankind in my opinion. People already have mobile phones that can have some songs on them. Gosh: I've got two. I've got a couple of MP3s and AACs on my 512MB MMC that I can use both in my Nokia 6600 and my Nokia Communicator 9500. They work fine, but I still use my iPod - and having some music on my mobile phones certainly doesn't change the world...

Now: The real next step, in my opinion, _would_ be video on the iPod. I know, we've discussed this before. But yes it _would_ be 50 to 100 movies (1.5 to 2 hour movies, mind you!), because it's quite clear they'd use either MP4 or (more likely) H.264.

The real problem isn't creating the hardware. A movie playing iPod with a 60 GB drive? Almost done already. The real problem is content licensing. With the original iPod, Apple just didn't talk about illegal content - or not much, anyway. They said you shouldn't steal. They were talking about ripping CDs into iTunes and synching the iPod to iTunes. And later, they talked about buying tracks from iTMS. But ripping DVDs to your Mac isn't exactly allowed in some countries. So that'd be different.

In my opinion, Apple would have to let people who have access to iTMS buy/download music videos, trailers, TV shows (licensed of course), shorts and maybe even some complete movies.

I _suspect_ however, that Apple is using the line to create some buzz. I mean: _THEY'RE_ probably excited about the Moto phones. And Steve Jobs is known to create a reality distortion field when he's speaking. So maybe we'll suddenly say that iTunes enabled phones _might_ change the world the same way iPod did? ;)
 
Just to add a little bit, I do think Apple is positioning themselves to be able to play video. If you haven't noticed, the iTunes player for Mac/PC can play videos.

Joshua
 
Well, yeah: Podcasts can already carry video, theoretically. Haven't encountered one myself yet.
 
would you really watch a movie on your small iPod screen? seems implausible. Even the iPod Photo seemed to be a bit of a stretch, IMO. For someone who enjoys photography immensely, it is "gimmicky" at best.

My friend joined the club of "people ripping DVD's to their PDA's" but found the screen unforgiving to stare at for 2+ hrs at a time. Sure it has a "cool factor", but is it useable? (the video-iPod that is)

Is it enough to warrant such lofty headlines and "press releases"? IMO -- No.
 
Sounds enticing. Better be big. I love Apple hype. It's so much fun.

I remember the pre-iPod hype and then the announcement. I actually said in these forums that the iPod was a snoozer, a let down. Shows you what I know.

I'm going to go with video iPod (much larger screen, of course, and it better be bigger then the useless 4" video devices that currently fill that market). But more important than a video ipod will be the itunes-like service for movies that Steve has locked up (in my fantasy brain). Just like itunes. Download movies in h.264. Watch on your vPod or burn to DVD for watching on your big screen tv.

Either that or the fabled Tivo-like device (with said itunes-for-video service), which I personally would prefer since I really have no opportunity or reason to watch video on the go.
 
would you really watch a movie on your small iPod screen? seems implausible.
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Which would suggest that if there is a video iPod in the works, it would almost certainly need to have a completely different form factor.
 
20 minutes Simpsons. People always talk two hours plus movies. Think 20 minutes Simpsons or similar shows for the moment... And also think "hook up to the TV" sometimes.
 
Mikuro said:
...A solid-state mini would be interesting, I guess, although the only practical advantage would be battery life. Nothing to get worked up over as far as I'm concerned...
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No no! Are you kidding?

A solid state mini would be AMAZING!

The biggest complaint I currently have about my tech setup is friggin' noise... Both my G4 and TiVo are "reletively" quite... But at night there might as well be a car idling in the driveway.

A solid state mini would not only be SILENT, it'd presumably also be instant on!



But the next mini needs to be a G5 capable of pushing out HD TV. Otherwise it won't be the center of our digital hub.
 
fryke said:
20 minutes Simpsons. People always talk two hours plus movies. Think 20 minutes Simpsons or similar shows for the moment... And also think "hook up to the TV" sometimes.
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I'm not sure how many people are following Al Gore's new venture Curent TV.

They're betting that short format is the wave of the future for telvision. They are embracing viewer created content in lenghts from 5 minutes up.

I'm not saying I agree with that, but if that's the case then it totally melds with what will be the 1st generation players.

So think short format TV (video blog) like stuff vs. full length feature films.
 
Al Gore's also on Apple's board, right? Conspiracy theories aside: iTunes _has_ theoretical support for video podcasts.
 
'm not sure how many people are following Al Gore's new venture Curent TV.
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Al Gore's also on Apple's board, right?
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Wow. I'd forgotten all about that. Yes indeed, Al Gore was appointed to Apple's board in March 2003. CurrentTV was founded in May 2004 and launched on August 1st this year. Short-format and viewer-created video would certainly be something that he'd be encouraging Apple to put more effort into.
 
Hi all,

just read the news on maccentral. That's all? i expected more from Apple. Don't get me wrong: i like the way they are going... but this news is not the revolution they promised with their: here we go again.

and even if it was an ipod video... still wouldn't justify that phrase...

For me: and no one in this thread seems to mention it. it would be an Apple phone!

Simple as that...why work with motorola? I would like to see an Apple phone running mac osx WITH ITMS and 60 GB. no need for a seperate iPod.

Now that would be a real breakthrough. Nokia (market-leader in europe) would be knocked off it's no 1 position in a few months.

Does anyone agree with me?

Felipe
 
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