iPod KILLER... feature

matsumatsu
Posted:
in iPod + iTunes + AppleTV edited January 2014
haha,



iPod should get the following:



color screen, USB2.0 mass storage drivers.



Forget movies and other such nonsense, just look at this and imagine it built into your average 40Gb iPod instead.



http://www.dpreview.com/news/0405/04...iriverh300.asp



That device can't display RAW files. If Apple could work out some software magic that allowed the device to display RAW files, possibly not even conversions per se, just some sort of RAW preview mode, that'd be a really cool trick for an iPod to do.

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 11
    kim kap solkim kap sol Posts: 2,987member
    No! That idea sucks.
  • Reply 2 of 11
    jante99jante99 Posts: 539member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by Matsu

    haha,



    iPod should get the following:



    color screen, USB2.0 mass storage drivers.



    Forget movies and other such nonsense, just look at this and imagine it built into your average 40Gb iPod instead.



    http://www.dpreview.com/news/0405/04...iriverh300.asp



    That device can't display RAW files. If Apple could work out some software magic that allowed the device to display RAW files, possibly not even conversions per se, just some sort of RAW preview mode, that'd be a really cool trick for an iPod to do.





    Introducing the first 80 Gig iPod complete with RAW photo import/export/editing features and as an added bonus the ability to edit video and watch DVDs! Now with 12" color screen and aluminum finish.
  • Reply 3 of 11
    hmurchisonhmurchison Posts: 12,425member
    Aha I see that you've seen



    http://www.dpreview.com/news/0405/04...iriverh300.asp



    Sounds like a worthy idea.
  • Reply 4 of 11
    matsumatsu Posts: 6,558member
    Hmurchinson gets it, you other two have obvioously never spent a day taking pics.



    The iPod already had 95% of what's needed to make this work. Big HDD, proper I/O, good interface, and convenient size. It just needs a color screen and software. With the drive, Apple can even supply new drivers for cameras as they update iPhoto.



    This is a very slick idea that -- unlike the video iPod mental diarrhea -- actually makes sense.
  • Reply 5 of 11
    hmurchisonhmurchison Posts: 12,425member
    Yes flash memory is expensive being able to save in RAW to the ipod and preview on a color screen would be pretty damn cool. People wouldn't understand how cool until they tried it.



    I'd like the screen to be OLED too for the better visibility and power savings.
  • Reply 6 of 11
    matsumatsu Posts: 6,558member
    What I don't understand is why there isn't a PDA model that jumps all over this market.



    The Xscale and arm based cpu's in use now have more than enough power. The Zire and Tungsten models have great screens, they just need a HDD.



    In fact, a tungsten with a 1-1.8" HDD would be just about the perfect PDA/MP3/digital wallet device.
  • Reply 7 of 11
    eugeneeugene Posts: 8,254member
    Many cameras can preview photos taken in RAW format so fast is because they embed JPEG previews into the file. An iPod would need a dedicated DSP to display RAW files with any semblence of snappiness. A non-specialized CPU would be required to process the various RAW formats...NEF, CRW, DCR, etc. It would be excruciatingly slow, I think.



    I never really find myself pining for a digital wallet when I can shoot about a thousand RAW photos with a D70/10D and 4 GB Microdrive.



    2" screen? Yawn. Many prosumer cams have huge preview windows. Even consumer digitals like the Sony DSC-T1 have that. The D2H has a 2" LCD.
  • Reply 8 of 11
    matsumatsu Posts: 6,558member
    Not essential, but it would be very easy to add to a new iPod, since most of the neccessary hardware is already present. Rumor has it that the company that originally developed the iPod has a new version of the platform with more powerful features. A dedicated DSP could figure in ...
  • Reply 9 of 11
    eugeneeugene Posts: 8,254member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by Matsu

    Not essential, but it would be very easy to add to a new iPod, since most of the neccessary hardware is already present. Rumor has it that the company that originally developed the iPod has a new version of the platform with more powerful features. A dedicated DSP could figure in ...



    Like I said, they'd need to develop along with Canon, Kodak, Nikon and others because each RAW format is different. Each requires its own DSP. Understand? Either way, developing from scratch one mega-processor that does them blazingly all fast or using a generic fast processor that does them all rather slowly is expensive. A 1 GHz G4 takes along the lines of 15 seconds to render an image from a 6 mp Nikon RAW file with Nikon View.
  • Reply 10 of 11
    matsumatsu Posts: 6,558member
    I get it.



    I would imagine that a programmable DSP/CPu could do the trick, a hardware-software solution. The rest is really just pie in the sky on my part, if a RAW viewer "light" could be developed, something that provides a rough low res preview without doing a full conversion, just to see what you got.



    But that may not be possible, sorry for blurring the lines between speculation and fantasy...



    I think I'd like to make use of that type of facility in a device like an iPod.
  • Reply 11 of 11
    aquaticaquatic Posts: 5,602member
    Yeah I don't get why people call RAW a "format." Viewing the pics would be nice, but just storing them would be enough for me. Great idea matsu!
    Quote:

    It just needs a color screen and software. With the drive, Apple can even supply new drivers for cameras as they update iPhoto.



    Exactly! Isn't this what FireWire was invented for? To plug peripherals in to each other without a host computer? And yet USB has beat us to the punch! Honestly the iPod has so much potential to be plugging in to other things because of its huge storage. It's called the Digital hub for a reason; we're supposed to be plugging things in. I really haven't seen a lot of FireWire devices that plug in to each other, in fact basically none; all just computer peripherals. Wasn't FireWire supposed to take over the TV industry, audio industry, etc? What happened....Maybe they just need an ol' fashioned Apple-style kick in the pants and this could be a step in that direction! Again great idea matsu, it'd be great to just plug in a DV cam or digital camera and offload pics. With or without previewing on the screen. I wish digital cameras would use FireWire instead of USB. That might be a sticking point.
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