iPod 4th gen rumours...

[sparks9]

check out macrumors.com

http://macrumors.com/

"Appleinsider cites "reliable" sources and reports that Apple is readying the 4th Generation iPods.

The upcoming iPods reportedly sport a max capacity of 50GB of storage, 2 inch color LCDs, video out, photo display capabilities, and revised (Mini-like) navigation wheel.

No release date is provided. "



Cool!

[Enigma]

I'm glad I'm goin with a 3rd gen, colour lcd will drain the battery so quickly.

[Calculus]

I will wait with baited breath.

[gowcra]

yes, same here

[tonicboy]

Originally posted by Enigma
I'm glad I'm goin with a 3rd gen, colour lcd will drain the battery so quickly. Unless they have somehow managed to make this an OLED screen, although that seems unlikely. Anyway, it's not the color in the screen that drains power so much as the backlight that is necessary to make the colors look good. If they were intelligent, they would design the screen such that it works in greyscale for day-to-day navigation and use, and you would only need the color to see pictures and album artwork, etc.

[sparks9]

We'll have to wait to the end of the year tho, according to the rumors.

[Soldats]

Originally posted by sparks9
We'll have to wait to the end of the year tho, according to the rumors.

That'd be good for me, since i don't like the sound of this new 4th gen one, and it gives me more time to save some more money to buy the 20 gig that I want x_x

[enjoilax]

*rolls eyes* No thanks.. I will keep my "wack 3rd gen"

Seriousley who cares if it can play movies... how often do you walk around watching a movie???? Or in the car...?

I think its cool, but then you might as well get a portable DVD player...

[tonicboy]

I agree, the ability to watch a movie on my iPod is useless to me, and Steve Jobs would agree too. However, I don't think that's the point of the color screen. I think the point is a) to be able to view images from digital cameras and the like, and b) to make the user interface cooler - after all, cool is what Apple does best! There has been a great deal of interest from digital photographers in using the iPod as a portable media storage device. In fact, the market for standalone devices that do only that is pretty big and growing with every new generation of digital cameras.

[nddl05]

50GB? :(

I've got just under 46GB in itunes as it is. I'm still hoping for a 60. Oh well, I'll just wait and see.

[GaMerZ]

url: http://www.appleinsider.com/article.php?id=393

[dj_daniel88]

I don't believe it will have a colour screen which can display pictures, etc... an iPod like that wouldnt sell very well with the general public. Plus, it wouldn't be an iPod. iPod is a stylish, easy to use music player, thats all, and Apple knows it. They wouldnt stuff it up with a colour screen etc. The only improvements would be fairly minor.

All these rumours about a colour screen iPod have been going around for ages... its all false. Get a PDA or something if you want colour screen video and photo.

[nddl05]

Originally posted by dj_daniel88
I don't believe it will have a colour screen which can display pictures, etc... an iPod like that wouldnt sell very well with the general public. Plus, it wouldn't be an iPod. iPod is a stylish, easy to use music player, thats all, and Apple knows it. They wouldnt stuff it up with a colour screen etc. The only improvements would be fairly minor.

All these rumours about a colour screen iPod have been going around for ages... its all false. Get a PDA or something if you want colour screen video and photo.

I agree. I'm looking for just an mp3 player, and don't want any bells and whistles. I hope they just concentrate on what needs improving on the current ipod in terms of playing music, and leave anything else to a different product

[maximum01]

I dunno, a colour screen would be cool for displaying your CD boxart while you listened.

[jahwork328]

Movies? or Pictures? A movie player is pretty worthless... (what would you watch, where would you get the movies.. etc) But the digital picture thing mioght be a nice touch, assuming it doesn't get in the way of anything..

EDIT: Oh yeah, video out...
MAybe it won't be designed to watch movies on the screen, but designed to use a a portable VCR... Catch my drift? Who the hell wants to watch a movie on a two inch screen, anyway?

Eric
Eric

[NateDogg]

Any idea if there will be price rollbacks on the 15, 20, and 40GB models? I read that the 50 GB will be $499--the current price of the 40GB one.

[stephpod]

all the extra gadgets and features are a great way for them to make money.
i personally bought the ipod to play mp3s and 15GB is ####loads anyway.
any extra features like watching movies (!) don't appeal and are not worth the extra cash, thats my point of view.
if i want to watch a movie, i watch it on tv lol

[velodev]

Originally posted by tonicboy
Unless they have somehow managed to make this an OLED screen, although that seems unlikely. Anyway, it's not the color in the screen that drains power so much as the backlight that is necessary to make the colors look good. If they were intelligent, they would design the screen such that it works in greyscale for day-to-day navigation and use, and you would only need the color to see pictures and album artwork, etc.

A report in the middle of last year mentioned the agreement Apple has to use OLED screens. This is more of fact than I could ever say for these rumor sites.

[Orbulon]

Nahhh... I don't think the screen willl drain the battery... my GBA SP goes 10 hours with the screen lighted and it has too run the procesor all the time cause its a gaming machine!

[mongoos150]

So far OLED screens haven't exactly been designed for full blown video...look at the exterior display on the LG VX6000 mobile phone; that's where OLED technology currently is.

[tariqali666]

Hi! Just my 2 cents.

I think that it will happen, and soon, but not quite in the manner that is described in the rumour.
Let me elaborate:

If you visit the portalplayer website, this being the company that sorts out most of the inside techie bits of the ipod, as well as most other hdd portable devices, and read between the lines of their press releases, you will come to some interesting conclusions.

They mention they are developing the next generation chip, which supports MJPEG, photo's , as well as music playback. This gives great support to the idea of a photo enabled ipod.
They also mention imminently arriving devices being capable of having video out, which gives credence to the rumour.
As for battery life, well agin in the press release, the y mention that the new chip-set can be driven by a single aa battery for 15 hours, due to better power consumption, negating the issue.

My own personal view, this will happen. Technology has moved up. We willhave photo enabled ipods, but not video pods yet. Sorry. Case of the chicken and egg. Technology not yet cheap enough, batter drain too large, DRM issues, not a large potental user base (as of yet -who can really claim they keep all their movies on HD)

Will not be prohibitively expensive to develop. Sales have increased 5 fold in last 3 years, so cost of development -per- unit is now very low

Still think top end will be 60, not 50. While this will nicely tie with the launch of itunes 5.0 ( which i think will happen on anniversary of itunes, or their about) no real practical reason to restrict it such a way. Can't see it being more expensive for a 60 then a 50.

I think the video line-out will be an optional add-on adopter, which will fit in where the remote control goes, or the docking station. Would be coll if this function was built in to dock.

[thabenksta]

Video out would be cool, but the should just stick to audio.

Make the headphone amp not suck soo much.

[tariqali666]

After all, if you just want a music player, get a minipod.

To me, the ipod was always a multifunctional device, which used the music thing as a trojan horse.

After all, why else would it allow you to back up your HD? Have -albeit basic- pda functions?

This is the Newton in disguise

[tariqali666]

They also need to differentiate their product from the new Hpods that will be released in early summer, with size increases not being good enough. After all we all bought one for the design as well. So a lot of people will be seduced by essentially a 3g design ipod at-probably- slightly cheaper price. The Apple name is not enough, as k pc owners.
So a late spring launch will increase awarenes, and keep the spotlight on apple.

[leertracy]

I chuckle at comments like Tariqali666's, saying that an iPod mini is all one needs for music. Personally, I can't fit all my music on my iPod 40 gig. That's one of the wonderful things about a hard drive product. Some people use their iPod just for audio books, some use it primarily as a hard drive, and some like me use every byte for music. For me, the only thing I'll need when I buy another hard drive player in a few years is a much larger drive, like 80 gigs.

There is an inevitability about added functionality, though, and a way for us to find uses for technology we initially scoff at. A year ago I thought a dinky poor-quality camera in a cellphone was a joke, but I have quickly learned its usefulness since i got a phone with a camera.

Hard drive players have liberated people from the constraints of radio and CD collections. We can hear what we want, when we want. Hard drive products like Tivo likewise give people freedom from the time-constraints of TV. Imagine the next step -- being able to take recorded programming and watch it away from your TV. You could watch your shows at lunch, on the bus or plane, etc. You could rip a few kid-favorite DVDs to your iPod and have them ready in case of a long trip or doctor office wait.

[smjr15]

colour lcd will drain the battery so quickly

[Xcalibur1986]

The color screen is most likely not even an issue. If it drained the battery life from the already slacking battery life (and we all know Apple realizes this, don't we?) then they wouldn't put on a color screen if it drained it.

[TrunksGoku]

apparently no one's ever heard of OLED's :rolleyes:
no backlight needed and better batterylife and image quality and cheaper to make...kodak already has one in its kodak easyshare LS633 cameras

[nddl05]

Originally posted by TrunksGoku
apparently no one's ever heard of OLED's :rolleyes:
no backlight needed and better batterylife and image quality and cheaper to make...kodak already has one in its kodak easyshare LS633 cameras

actually I hadn't heard of them, though I just did a tiny bit of reading to try to catch myself up. Is there anything that would prevent the ipod from taking adavntage of this technology? Seems like it could aid in battery issues, as well as possibly freeing up space inside the case for other components?

[TrunksGoku]

Well apple has been looking into OLED technology for their laptops and lcd displays, but that type of mainstream usage is at least 10 yrs from now. However smaller 2 inch OLED's are being considered for usage in some smaller products now
I dont see why apple cant use OLED's in the next gen ipods. It's just a matter of getting the technology out there and how easy and cheap it is to implement the technology.
Rumors have it that after the 3rd gen ipod introductions, apple was already starting work on the 4th gen ipods. It's been a year since the 3rd gen ipod was introduced so it could be possible (I hope) that the new ipods can and have a monochrome oled display (see samsung Samsung SGH-i500 mobile phone)

[huggies]

don't you guys remember this from thinksecret last May?
http://www.thinksecret.com/news/oled.html

of course, everything is a rumor...but this adds at least slight crediblility to the possibility of OLED's.

[mongoos150]

Originally posted by TrunksGoku
Well apple has been looking into OLED technology for their laptops and lcd displays, but that type of mainstream usage is at least 10 yrs from now. However smaller 2 inch OLED's are being considered for usage in some smaller products now
I dont see why apple cant use OLED's in the next gen ipods. It's just a matter of getting the technology out there and how easy and cheap it is to implement the technology.
Rumors have it that after the 3rd gen ipod introductions, apple was already starting work on the 4th gen ipods. It's been a year since the 3rd gen ipod was introduced so it could be possible (I hope) that the new ipods can and have a monochrome oled display (see samsung Samsung SGH-i500 mobile phone)

Dude! Did you even see my earlier post? OLED displays are NOT ready for full motion video!!!

[huggies]

Originally posted by mongoos150
Dude! Did you even see my earlier post? OLED displays are NOT ready for full motion video!!!

Dude! Did you even read the post that you quoted? Where does he mention he thinks the new IPOD will have full motion video? The *rumor* article says "video out" and many posts have speculated here that they will be to either hook up to a tv to display photos or display movies on a tv (but not on the ipod)...

[breakaway1029]

Originally posted by tariqali666
[B]
As for battery life, well agin in the press release, the y mention that the new chip-set can be driven by a single aa battery for 15 hours, due to better power consumption, negating the issue.
/B]

PortalPlayer is saying that their chip can be run on a single AA for 15 hours, but with a harddrive attached it would be more like 2 hours. IF Apple were to use color displays it would be much safer to use an LCD, rather than OLED. OLED displays are for the most part untried in the general market, besides a few phones and a digital camera. OLED displays are unreliable in the long run, because colors begin to muddle. Even now OLED manufacturers are having trouble getting their displays to show some colors correctly.

I think that if Apple does use and OLED display, they will just be inviting more rumors about the life of the display, similar to rumors that the current battery only works for 2 years. If Apple wants to solidify its marketshare they need to use tried-and-tested components so they don't need to redesign the iPod again in 1 year. Video-out and displaying Photo's are good features, but they should only be included if they work well in the long run, and have a battery that will support the use of those features.

[mongoos150]

Originally posted by huggies
Dude! Did you even read the post that you quoted? Where does he mention he thinks the new IPOD will have full motion video? The *rumor* article says "video out" and many posts have speculated here that they will be to either hook up to a tv to display photos or display movies on a tv (but not on the ipod)...

He is implying that it will have full motion video, which it definately will not.

[TrunksGoku]

Originally posted by mongoos150
He is implying that it will have full motion video, which it definately will not.

i Didn't imply ####!
i said that type of mainstream usage on laptops is 10 years away which i meant sizewise
technologically speakin aside from some color issues (blue) and fading images oleds can be used now
kodak has a camera that uses a full color OLED for its display (Kodak EasyShare LS633)
http://www.dcresource.com/reviews/kodak/ls633-review/

if anything if the ipod had an oled display i wouldnt want to see a 2 inch display for movies.
i'd much be happier with a brighter display that is power efficient

[jackash]

these posts are all very interseting - i bet some apple desingers are reading all this and leeching free market research! but that is good for us

[nddl05]

Originally posted by mongoos150
He is implying that it will have full motion video, which it definately will not.

you are very wrong. that is all

[t0ken]

Originally posted by maximum01
I dunno, a colour screen would be cool for displaying your CD boxart while you listened.

That's about the only reason I would want somethin fancy like a color screen...

[sparks9]

Originally posted by huggies
don't you guys remember this from thinksecret last May?
http://www.thinksecret.com/news/oled.html

of course, everything is a rumor...but this adds at least slight crediblility to the possibility of OLED's.

I think Thinksecret is the most trustworhty of the rumor sites. They are very often right.

[mongoos150]

Originally posted by nddl05
you are very wrong. that is all

How am I very wrong?! The original poster just verified that he is not talking about full motion video! Get your story strait 'nddl05'!!!

[nddl05]

Originally posted by mongoos150
How am I very wrong?! The original poster just verified that he is not talking about full motion video! Get your story strait 'nddl05'!!!

you said he implied full motion video, which he didn't - and so I said your assumption was wrong. I think you are mixing up posts and content associations

[Janos]

I'll keep my 3rd gen. I love the wheel as is, with the buttons lining above.

[GloomyYardGnome]

I don't like the idea of having a Mini-esque scroll wheel. I like to have my buttons separate from the scroll wheel.

[hamnush]

well, i think the idea of having a colour lcd or oled is cool, but i prefer a plain old mp3 player with few accessories like ipod 3g. I think what improvement they should made in 4g is a better battery, say 16 to 14 hours and bigger storage. i think 3g ipod design is good as it is. It is just suggestion.

cheerios

[kbotc]

"It won't sell!"
~General consensus about iPod mini here

Now iPod with Video, "It won't sell" It's the best market research I can find ;-)

My thoughts...

somewhere in the 50-70 Gig range HDs
New OS (the current owner of it has made it's dedications elsewhere)
OLED screens (Untried, but that's what Apple does best [Making new tech seem viable, see 802.11b, g, USB, FireWire, ect...])
Click Wheel (Jobs likes it, so it "shall be so")
That's the only speculation I'll go into now...

[MetalMike]

an iPod that plays movies or had a color lcd, whatever, would make it bigger because of the battery required to probably play for 6 hours. They might use the mini's wheel, but they might at most put an optic out on the thing. looking at HDD rises in the existing gens, theyll probably have 20/30/40/60 sizes,and range from 350 to 550. but im just guessing. And if they do add a color whatever, theyll probably sell like lead balloons with weights attached and covered in fat people. crapPod mini!

[Icy223]

hmmm are ya kiddin me...please note the OLED in kbotc's post. OLED will barely even kill battery more than it gets killed now. movies wont kill the battery, it might hurt the hard drive in the long run though. the hard drive will have to spin constantly to read the movie, the codec shouldn't be too hard on the processors, and the battery can be updated to the same one in the Treo 600 (Hardware Rev. C) To give a size to it, the Treo is the exact same size as the iPod minus the antenna (the Treo also has a QWERTY keyboard, so minus that and it gives a rough estimate of battery size) The battery lasts 9 hours after 3 hours of PCS data, 2 hours of talktime, 2 hours of MP3 playing and 1 hour of random apps. Stick one of those in an iPod, mix it with an OLED screen, take out the SD Card (Treo - consumes battery) and you're talking around 10 hours of solid usage and up to 3-5 days standby (without deep sleep)

[rjtedge]

So whens this coming out? Oh its not.

[Icy223]

lol exactly

[joahob]

a movie player may be worthless but being able to store movies might be of some use

[Mr. E. Mann]

You could say that I am an avid digital photographer. A color screen on my iPod would be a welcome addition. I could put all of my music and nearly all of my pictures on the 50 gigger (if the "rumor" is true). A great way to share the audios and visuals with friends and family.

[perplex]

I'd really like this colour OLED technology in the next iPod. Would be really nice to have an option to make the iPod flash the album cover for about 2 secs before the first song of the album starts playing then fades away. Also I'm 80% sure Apple will have the battery problems fixed for the next iPod - new technologies popping up every second.

[Icy223]

Originally posted by joahob
a movie player may be worthless but being able to store movies might be of some use

you can already do that? just drag the movies to you sda2 partition (in windows the removable drive) and you can store them there, I have a few movies stored away.

[Payton]

I think a video output thing could easily be added with a firmware upgrade. Drop your .mpg's .avi's, etc in the Movies folder on your iPod's hard drive and plug an add-on cord into the dock connector in your iPod into a monitor/tv and viola.

[perplex]

yeh i'd really like "video out", definately not video playing on the ipod screen though, but like a portable movie player would be nice.

[tdub]

Don't get me wrong, a color screen would be pretty awesome, but impractical in the sense that it would zap the battery. And oh yeah its an mp3 player, why do you need color images to listen to music? I do like the idea about transporting movie and picture files, though.

[Icy223]

hmmm didn't we already go over this, if the screen is an OLED screen then it wont "zap" the battery...

[Danielttfn1973]

Its really Jurrasic Park all over again! Just cause you can do something...should you? You know what we could really use in the IPOD?

1. A digital Radio
2. A line in with the ability to record from any source like the Archos
3. A larger Hard Drive
4. A decent pre amp
5. A better battery
6. Support for aac and wmf
7. The ability to (natively) play your music whilst charging
8. Potentially bluetooth but only so you can send or recieve little bits of data like text messages. Actually scrub that they will just find out who you are then ask for royalties.

Thats about it. What happened to think smarter? Wandering around with your entire DVD collection on your hip trying to find a tele to plug it into (btw porn on a 2 inch screen is not cool just frustrating) ....think ######ed more like!

[OtterX]

how about a long life battery or a swapable battery??

:confused:

[tonicboy]

I find it funny how everyone is dissing on a color screen. This is exactly what people said when they started putting color screens on cellphones a couple years ago "Bah, what do we need color screens for? How about better battery life instead?!". Now, using a phone with a monochrome screen is positively backwards. Kudos to Steve Jobs for having vision. The vision to create the iPod in the first place, and the vision to move it in the right direction.