DigiTimes vouches for multi-touch iPod with WiFi
Apple's announcements on Wednesday will indeed include a next-generation iPod video with a touch-control interface, according to DigiTimes.
Citing sources at Taiwan-based contract manufacturers, the Far Eastern rumor publication reports that the "new iPod video will also come with a wide-screen panel, high storage capacity and Wi-Fi connectivity."
Instead of using traditional hard disk drives (HDD), DigiTimes reports inline with earlier AppleInsider reports that the new iPod will instead employ NAND flash-based storage.
Apple is reportedly outsourcing the production of the new iPod video to Taiwan-based Inventec Appliances, which is expected to start volume shipments by the end of this month or in early October.
Apple's new products will also include a new iPod Nano and iPod Shuffle, according to DigiTimes, which also noted that sales of the new iPod series is expected to total 22-23 million units in the fourth quarter of this year.
Separately, a second report from vnunet.com claims that Apple's announcements this week will also include plans to bring digital radio to the iPod along with an option to buy music using the device.
Citing a source, the online publication said the "new iPods will be able to receive digital radio, and will include a 'buy-now' function to allow the user to download and buy tracks as they are being played."
AppleInsider has received similar reports that Apple may be gearing up to include "HD Radio" functionality on its next-generation media players, but has been unable to confirm those reports with any degree of certainty.
Citing sources at Taiwan-based contract manufacturers, the Far Eastern rumor publication reports that the "new iPod video will also come with a wide-screen panel, high storage capacity and Wi-Fi connectivity."
Instead of using traditional hard disk drives (HDD), DigiTimes reports inline with earlier AppleInsider reports that the new iPod will instead employ NAND flash-based storage.
Apple is reportedly outsourcing the production of the new iPod video to Taiwan-based Inventec Appliances, which is expected to start volume shipments by the end of this month or in early October.
Apple's new products will also include a new iPod Nano and iPod Shuffle, according to DigiTimes, which also noted that sales of the new iPod series is expected to total 22-23 million units in the fourth quarter of this year.
Separately, a second report from vnunet.com claims that Apple's announcements this week will also include plans to bring digital radio to the iPod along with an option to buy music using the device.
Citing a source, the online publication said the "new iPods will be able to receive digital radio, and will include a 'buy-now' function to allow the user to download and buy tracks as they are being played."
AppleInsider has received similar reports that Apple may be gearing up to include "HD Radio" functionality on its next-generation media players, but has been unable to confirm those reports with any degree of certainty.
Comments
Based on what they say, I make the following predications
1. The new iPod will be HDD based
2. There will not be a new shuffle
3. There will not be a new nano
UcanMac
Apple's announcements on Wednesday will indeed include a next-generation iPod video with a touch-control interface, according to DigiTimes.
So no worries about iPhone cannabilization?
Citing sources at Taiwan-based contract manufacturers, the Far Eastern rumor publication reports that the "new iPod video will also come with a wide-screen panel, high storage capacity and Wi-Fi connectivity."
Instead of using traditional hard disk drives (HDD), DigiTimes reports inline with earlier AppleInsider reports that the new iPod will instead employ NAND flash-based storage.
I wonder how much NAND Flash-based high storage capacity it will have and is it the same as in the iPhone and if so, how soon will we see it in the iPhone 2.0?
Apple is reportedly outsourcing the production of the new iPod video to Taiwan-based Inventec Appliances, which is expected to start volume shipments by the end of this month or in early October.
Apple's new products will also include a new iPod Nano and iPod Shuffle, according to DigiTimes, which also noted that sales of the new iPod series is expected to total 22-23 million units in the fourth quarter of this year.
22-23 million, wow, wonder what the Zune estimates for the same time period would be? For comparison...
Separately, a second report from vnunet.com claims that Apple's announcements this week will also include plans to bring digital radio to the iPod along with an option to buy music using the device.
Citing a source, the online publication said the "new iPods will be able to receive digital radio, and will include a 'buy-now' function to allow the user to download and buy tracks as they are being played."
AppleInsider has received similar reports that Apple may be gearing up to include "HD Radio" functionality on its next-generation media players, but has been unable to confirm those reports with any degree of certainty.
[ View this article at AppleInsider.com ]
A radio??? Didn't I use to read postings of people ridiculing those MP3 players that had a radio built in!! If true, why the change (apple) and to all those that belittled other players that had a radio built in, now that Apple might be including it in their player, does it now make it right?
A radio??? Didn't I use to hear postings of people ridiculing those MP3 players that had a radio built in!! If true, why the change (apple) and to all those that belittled other players that had a radio built in, now that Apple might be including it in their player, does it now make it right?
I think ridiculing was done of flash players too, but now that's a significant majority of what Apple sells, possibly 85% or more. The difference was the capacity, there were flash players with 64MB or less, and that was no fun. 1GB ends up being very comfortable, at least in my opinion.
Analog radio isn't any fun. Whether digital radio changes the game, I don't know. As it is, I really don't care for it, regardless of the content, because the ads are so insultingly lame. I don't think that would change with digital radio.
Not to mention that it would compete much more closely with the iPhone than would make sense to either Apple or AT&T. (Surely, AT&T negotiated some provision that prevents Apple releasing a competing product so soon).
As much as I'd like to see Apple create a whole new iPod/iPhone application platform based on OS X, it's just too soon for that to happen. And it's not in Apple's nature to turn iPod into a platform; Jobs has repeatedly said that AppleTV, iPod, and iPhone should remain closed to 3rd party development.
The touch-screen iPod is an easy prediction to make, given that the iPhone is out of the bag, but it just doesn't make sense.
A radio??? Didn't I use to read postings of people ridiculing those MP3 players that had a radio built in!!
Digital wi-fi radio is a hell of a lot more compelling than an FM tuner, which, by the way, has been available on the iPod for years, as an option.
A radio??? Didn't I use to read postings of people ridiculing those MP3 players that had a radio built in!! If true, why the change (apple) and to all those that belittled other players that had a radio built in, now that Apple might be including it in their player, does it now make it right?
Apple fanboy excuses/"justifications" in 5...4...3...
Digital wi-fi radio is a hell of a lot more compelling than an FM tuner, which, by the way, has been available on the iPod for years, as an option.
Digital radio
Digital radio
In the UK digital radio (DAB - Digital Audio Broadcasting) is big now with good coverage across the country. It is hugely better quality than FM. So now is indeed a great time to include DAB (if that's what is planned). The difficulty to date though with DAB is that it is very consuming of batteries but maybe there is some new low consumption chipset now available for Apple to use.
FM is better maintained as an option, as it's low quality (if built-in to an iPod) would drag down the reputation of the iPod and Apple and that is my understanding of why Apple have not added FM to iPods.
In the UK digital radio (DAB - Digital Audio Broadcasting) is big now with good coverage across the country. It is hugely better quality than FM. So now is indeed a great time to include DAB (if that's what is planned). The difficulty to date though with DAB is that it is very consuming of batteries but maybe there is some new low consumption chipset now available for Apple to use.
FM is better maintained as an option, as it's low quality (if built-in to an iPod) would drag down the reputation of the iPod and Apple and that is my understanding of why Apple have not added FM to iPods.
Well, it's the opposite here in the US where HD Radio (IBOC) has far worse quality than analog FM. It's not at all like DAB in the UK where they use decent bitrates. It tops out at 96 Kbps and just half that for stations that are multicasting with two channels. It gets even worse when they are muticasting more than that.
Of course digital radio could also mean satellite services like Sirius/XM or it could be digital radio stations being streamed via iTunes to the iPod with built-in wi-fi. We shall see.
Well, it's the opposite here in the US where HD Radio (IBOC) has far worse quality than analog FM. It's not at all like DAB in the UK where they use decent bitrates. It tops out at 96 Kbps and just half that for stations that are multicasting with two channels. It gets even worse when they are muticasting more than that.
Of course digital radio could also mean satellite services like Sirius/XM or it could be digital radio stations being streamed via iTunes to the iPod with built-in wi-fi. We shall see.
That's an interesting contrast. As you suggest, DAB has decent bit rates; mostly 128 Kbps but some channels are higher still (e.g 'Classic' is 160 Kbps and 'BBC Radio 3' (also classical music) is 192 Kbps).
We can wait and see; I for one will say that I believe the click wheel is still a viable way to interact with your media.
UcanMac
Sure, it's viable. Problem is it takes up valuable space that could otherwise be used to make the screen bigger or the device smaller.
The big question right now is, IF it has wifi, what is it for? I doubt it will allow internet access like the iPhone because that would severely cannibalize it. I guess it would just allow this "radio" and wireless syncing, but that seems like it would add lots of cost and drain battery life with little real benefit.
Not to mention that it gets all the apple fanboys hopes up that it will have wifi internet access, leading to a huge backlash when it's revealed it doesn't. I hope people don't get too worked into a frenzy before wednesday.
Sure, it's viable. Problem is it takes up valuable space that could otherwise be used to make the screen bigger or the device smaller.
The big question right now is, IF it has wifi, what is it for? I doubt it will allow internet access like the iPhone because that would severely cannibalize it. I guess it would just allow this "radio" and wireless syncing, but that seems like it would add lots of cost and drain battery life with little real benefit.
Not to mention that it gets all the apple fanboys hopes up that it will have wifi internet access, leading to a huge backlash when it's revealed it doesn't. I hope people don't get too worked into a frenzy before wednesday.
i hope they do get whipped into a frenzy and the stock goes to 180 lol .
ssc_applefan: Apple fanboy excuses/"justifications" in 5...4...3...
Quit it with this stupid, lazy, overused epithet...... surely there are more intelligent ways to insult, if that is your intention.
Digital radio
I think many radio stations are sending digital as well as analog... just that it hasn't really gotten any big among consumers for some reason.
I suppose, since it's digital, that the radio stations may send track information to be displayed on the radio display while songs are being played if they choose to, and this is probably the key to Apple's involvement. They just snatch the song title and artist, search in the iTunes store and offer the listener to buy it straight away. Probably teaming up with some US radio stations.