iPod Flash Player to be hit this Christmas?

Login account needed for your link.

NEW YORK - SigmaTel stock rose Friday after a Wall Street firm said the semiconductor company will supply chips for a music player from Apple Computer Inc.

Shares of Austin-based SigmaTel traded at $23.50, up $2.29, or 11 percent, midday on the Nasdaq Stock Market. The 52-week high of $32.34 was set Jan. 22. The year-low of $13.79 was set July 23.

Citing "numerous sources in Asia," Thomas Weisel analyst Jason Pflaum said Apple will use SigmaTel's controller chips for a player it's planning to launch this Christmas.

SigmaTel and Apple officials weren't immediately available to confirm Apple's plans.

In a research note Friday, the analyst estimates revenue of $2 million to $4 million from the deal in the first full quarter.

Unlike Apple's hugely popular iPod and iPod Mini players, the new player would use solid-state flash memory, which has less capacity but can make for a lighter, cheaper player.

In addition to a possible deal with Apple Computer, the largest maker of hard drive MP3 players, Thomas Weisel's channel checks also revealed a strong third quarter for SigmaTel, Pflaum said.

Thomas Weisel has an investment banking relationship with SigmaTel.
 
Probably because you still had the login cookie on your computer from a previous login! :D

Hmmm... this leads to speculation of a cheaper, lighter iPod or iPod-like device. That's as far as I choose to speculate, though!
 
ElDiabloConCaca said:
Probably because you still had the login cookie on your computer from a previous login! :D
Click to expand...

Nope - never had an account (so never logged in), or even been that site before today. Most news links that are 'subscription only content' work for me on the first visit, that is I can read the story just fine. If I try a second time (to view 'subscription only' content - on the same site) I will get the 'please register' page.


Anyway, I think a Flash-based iPod player would be a great move for the Christmas season for Apple. It would open up a new, and larger, market demographic that was previously untapped by Apple. The rumor, yet unconfirmed by Apple, makes business sense.
 
I would be kind of interested in a Flash-based iPod thingy. My iPod is very finicky when I use it for running. Almost half the time, it will choke completely (though I've since found a belt pouch that makes it somewhat less likely). At least three quarters of the time the iPod will run its hard drive maintenance routine (or whatever that is when the hard drive icon shows up). All my data is still there, but it takes a good half hour to recover.

I would need a half hour minimum, preferably one hour.

Remember when Steve first announced the iPod and that snowboarder's winter coat specially designed for it with pockets and a path for the headphone cable? What were they thinking? iPods are simply not rugged enough for such things. It's a hard drive for crying out loud.
 
Well, I feel your pain, but at the same time, jogging is quite different from snowboarding. Snowboarding, among other sports like mountain biking and skateboarding, tends to be a more fluid activity and the iPod doesn't experience prolonged periods of constant jarring -- something that jogging or walking produces. The iPod is meant to take some jarring and not skip, but I'll bet that your jogging is perhaps a little TOO jarring and prevents the hard drive from accessing new data.

If your iPod truly has to repair the hard drive after most jogging sessions and takes a half hour or more to complete, I would suggest maybe switching back to a good ol' fashioned cassette player. The iPod is rugged and reliable, but it sounds as if you may be damaging the iPod by jogging with it -- and a damaged iPod is no good!
 
http://www.smarter.com

Sony Network Walkman 256mb $199
Sony Memory Stick Walkman 64mb $129
Creative Nomad MuVo 512mb $179
Rio Fuse 256mb $65
Audiovox 128mb $130

I seem to remember Steve Jobs promoting the iPod Mini in the keynote as a better choice than a flash mp3 player where you get limited songs and have to upgrade the memory. If they did release one, $99 seems a little far fetched for the quality of Apple products.
Now I have heard of the 2GB memory sticks Sony has but do not know if any music players use them.
 
mindbend, which iPod do u have ?

and of course, placing the ipod in a pocket in a thick jacket and snowboarding is definately much more different than jogging with the iPod in your pocket; that is common sense, doesnt take much thinking !!!



as for the iPod flash player, i cant say id see myself buying one, but it would ensure that apple would completely dominate the music player market :)
 
In case you were wondering, the flash players listed are for reference of what is currently out there. I excluded the HD players on purpose. Anywho, the $129-179 price range sounds reasonable for an Apple flash player. Maybe they can call it "iFlash"
 
If the release of the ipod and ipod mini could be compared to a bomb, these smaller flash players would hit like a a nuclear bomb. This is exactly what Apple needs to do!
 
Obviously I'm not talking about simply sliding down a ski slope with an iPod. I didn't think I had to spell it out. I'm talking about inevitable wipeouts. My point is simple—iPods are not up to snuff for stressful workout or physical activity stuff. To some degree they were touted as such in the beginning. A Flash memory iPod thing would presumably be much better for that.

I have last year's 30 GB model.
 
Let's see. How much space would a flash-player by Apple have? Would it be extendable? Would it look just like the iPod mini or be even smaller? Those things are still open, aren't they... I think _if_ Apple would do a flash-based player, they'd do a 1 GB, non-extendable version. They wouldn't want to compete with the _really_ cheap players (in both possible senses), and I'm quite certain people would still rather have a 1 GB iPod than some 256 MB what-was-that-name-again player. But 199 seems too much. The mini is 249. What about 149 USD? Great price for a 1 GB player, I think, if it's an iPod. But can they do that with current flash-memory prices? I certainly hope so...
 
While I don't doubt that Apple are looking at a Flash based player as a possibility, I doubt we'll see them in time for Christmas. At the moment, Apple execs are already on record as saying that they will have to work hard to provide enough of the existing iPod models to meet the expected demand over Christmas. (An Apple Australia exec has said it is more than likely that us Aussies will see a shortage of iPods in the weeks before Christmas).
My expectation is that any flash-based device won't be announced until at least January (probably at MacWorld Jan05), and won't be available until March, with stock levels being quite restrictive until early April.
Also, we have no confirmation that the chips to be produced are for Flash-based iPods. They may well be for a completely different device. Maybe Apple want to add Flash-memory keys as an Apple branded accessory, or launch some completely different device altogether.
 
smallville- flash and superman
heat- flash and superman
apple- flash and superman?

everything comes in 3's but is it flash like the sun or flash like the pan?


For those that force people to nod and forget it. Smallville--- big teen show Flash character is coming soon, from what I heard.

Miami Heat/Miami Hearld where article originated--- Shaq said that he has nicknamed D. Wade the flash

The ipod is know as the superman of the mp3 players... flash as sun is long lasting effect generating tremendous heat and buzz... flash in the pan is quick burning heat/llght with little lasting effect.
 
mi5moav said:
The ipod is know as the superman of the mp3 players...
Click to expand...

By whom? I've never heard that before, and I like to think I'm on top of the "buzz" and news surrounding the Macintosh platform and Apple. Never have I heard of the iPod being referred to as the "Superman" of MP3 players, although I can see how people would think that -- still, you're the first I've heard call it "Superman."

I think you're reaching a little far for your "threes" analogy, so I'm just gonna shut up and nod silently... ;)
 
I believe it was in a Fortune magazine in 2003... Peter Lewis wrote the article comparing the Dell DJ to the Ipod.

It looks like little girls have been turning into little tom boys as of late...and men have forgotten how to read newspapers and magazines by candle light.


Anonymous
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top