iPod with iSight?

Posted:
in Future Apple Hardware edited January 2014
I was sitting here thinking about my iPod and reading some stuff about the iSight and it came to me.



Why not stick WiFi in the iPod and make a mount for the iSight?



For video to work they would obviously need to update the screen a bit, but audio should work by just adding the WiFi and some kind of recording ability (or I should say turning the recording on since it is in there already as we can see in the diagnostic mode).



I'm thinking something along the lines of the old add-ons for the Gameboy printers and cameras that would snap onto the top of it.



It's a small compact solution.

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 19
    Ehrm... What for? Im possitively sure that your imaginary friend inside the iPod can see you without a camera...
  • Reply 2 of 19
    macsrgood4umacsrgood4u Posts: 3,007member
    Quote:

    I'm thinking something along the lines of the old add-ons for the Gameboy printers and cameras that would snap onto the top of it.





    Neither the iPod or iSight are toys..... Apple is not going to use the iPod as a video device. They will come up with something better for that use (if they decide to do it).
  • Reply 3 of 19
    Wait!!!! That's it!!! The iSight will evetually be able to connect (via FireWire) to a recording unit that can be held in the hand or clipped to ones belt! It's so obvious now. It will be more than just a web-cam. Imagine some hard disk based unit that will become a hub for the iSight and many other multimedia uses.



    Stay tuned!!!!
  • Reply 4 of 19
    g-dogg-dog Posts: 171member
    I did not mean to imply that it would be a "toy."

    It would be something much more powerful and sophisticated.



    Clonenode,

    You got it!



    Here is a solution to how Apple could make their own Digital Video Camera.

    All the pieces are basically there:



    iPod - HD storage up to 30 gigs, enough for hours of full quality Digital Video

    iSight - Camera

    Firewire - Transfer between the iPod in your pocket to the iSight you have in your hand. Also for transfer to your computer when you connect your iPod to your computer for import of the video.

    Computer - Edit the footage and export it to other media



    All I can really see as the hold-up is software to enable it all.

    Obiously the more music and files you have on your iPod the less video one could take. But, for those people with tons of extra space, this could solve the problem (bad word for the meaning) of unused space.



    Actually, I would consider any space that is unused a problem. Why ave it unless it is used?



    I'm almost peeing my pants because how close Apple really is to having a digital video vamera solution.
  • Reply 5 of 19
    matsumatsu Posts: 6,558member
    Snap on cameras?



    That would be one of the most cumbersome, expensive, limited and low quality solutions Apple could conceive: a real winner...
  • Reply 6 of 19
    g-dogg-dog Posts: 171member
    Why would it be so horrible to hold an iPod up to film something?

    Is it not cumbersome to hold a camera to film something now?



    You could, as I kind of state bnut not so clear obviuosly, have a firewire cable from the ipod to te iSight and just hold the iSight itself in your hand or actually have some kind of headphone-like plastic thing that can fit to the shape of your head and have the camera attached to it so that you just look where you want to film. Kind of like some of those futuristic movies like Lost in Space when they are interviewing Dr. Robinson about the ships launch in the beginning just before Leblanc comes in.
  • Reply 7 of 19
    wrong robotwrong robot Posts: 3,907member
    heh...iSight/iPod would be a great way to bootleg..er..document performances...audio and visual
  • Reply 8 of 19
    Quote:

    Originally posted by G-Dog

    I did not mean to imply that it would be a "toy."

    It would be something much more powerful and sophisticated.



    Clonenode,

    You got it!



    Here is a solution to how Apple could make their own Digital Video Camera.

    All the pieces are basically there:



    iPod - HD storage up to 30 gigs, enough for hours of full quality Digital Video

    iSight - Camera

    Firewire - Transfer between the iPod in your pocket to the iSight you have in your hand. Also for transfer to your computer when you connect your iPod to your computer for import of the video.

    Computer - Edit the footage and export it to other media



    All I can really see as the hold-up is software to enable it all.

    Obiously the more music and files you have on your iPod the less video one could take. But, for those people with tons of extra space, this could solve the problem (bad word for the meaning) of unused space.



    Actually, I would consider any space that is unused a problem. Why ave it unless it is used?



    I'm almost peeing my pants because how close Apple really is to having a digital video vamera solution.




    The idea of a link between the iPod and iSight to record video is old and obvious. There are just a few problems around here:



    1. iSight is a 640x480 VGA camera only, so it might at best be used as a NTSC camera, but would not offer enough resolution to be used as a PAL camera in Europe.



    2. There are other MP3 players on the market, that already have color displays and offer camera extensions -- so this step is not really a new one. Since the iPod only comes with a grayscale display; it will look pretty crappy against its competitors.



    3. The iPod lacks a way of giving out video signals that enable you to connect the iPod to a TV or to a VCR -- so you would probably need an extra FireWire based extension solution for that. Other players have a video port onboard...



    Don't get me wrong, I like this idea, too. But Apple will not come up with some crappy GameBoy-Cam stuff. They might wait for OLED displays coming to us next year and step the iPod up to the new levels of sharpness (and responsiveness!) using an OLED display. The iSight might also be upgraded to allow for higher resolutions to make PAL or even HDTV recordings possible. Imagine Apple coming out next year with a cool new iPod-based HDTV recording system (sporting a state-of-the-art OLED screen) that is available at a really low price...
  • Reply 9 of 19
    dfilerdfiler Posts: 3,420member
    The iSight's resolution isn't an issue, it is the same as progressive scan from a DVD player over component cables. Sure, PAL may have a few more lines... but check out how much is lost to overscan. Resolution isn't an issue! If someone really needs hdtv quality recording, a camera costing more than $150 seems quite resonable.



    More importantly, the iSight must be powered as well as the attached hard drive based recording device.



    A camcorder or similar dedicated portable-video-recording-device makes much more sense except for gadget geeks. (like me)
  • Reply 10 of 19
    amorphamorph Posts: 7,112member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by G-Dog

    I did not mean to imply that it would be a "toy."

    It would be something much more powerful and sophisticated.



    Clonenode,

    You got it!



    Here is a solution to how Apple could make their own Digital Video Camera.

    All the pieces are basically there:



    iPod - HD storage up to 30 gigs, enough for hours of full quality Digital Video




    The iPod is not designed to run its hard drive constantly. It only has sufficient cooling for the short bursts necessary to fill its RAM cache.



    Running the iPod's HD constantly, as you would be to capture video, is a good way to burn it out. So you're looking at a nontrivial iPod redesign before this can happen.
  • Reply 11 of 19
    jabbajabba Posts: 82member
    Samsung just announced something like this.



    Go to News.com and click on the 'New camcorder records without tape' video clip.







    MPEG-4 and it also looks like a combo of iPod and iSight, doubles as still cam and MP3 player.

    Coming out late 2003 for around $ 700.



    I wish something like this was the new iPod or a new line of iPodPro or ProPods.

    iPod updates from Apple have been very modest so far...



    Edit: It's a video interview (right side), not a story.
  • Reply 12 of 19
    Quote:

    Originally posted by Amorph

    The iPod is not designed to run its hard drive constantly. It only has sufficient cooling for the short bursts necessary to fill its RAM cache.



    Running the iPod's HD constantly, as you would be to capture video, is a good way to burn it out. So you're looking at a nontrivial iPod redesign before this can happen.




    I don't think the iPod's cooling is that bad. You can use it as an external harddisk for your Mac (where the hard drive will be spinning all the time, too); and cooling has proven to be a non-issue so far... (Okay, the iPod gets a bit warm on its outside, but heck, that should not kill it!)
  • Reply 13 of 19
    dfilerdfiler Posts: 3,420member
    Micro drives really are that fragile. They won't stand up to the abuse of constant writing as required by video capture.
  • Reply 14 of 19
    amorphamorph Posts: 7,112member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by Yankeedoodle

    I don't think the iPod's cooling is that bad. You can use it as an external harddisk for your Mac (where the hard drive will be spinning all the time, too); and cooling has proven to be a non-issue so far... (Okay, the iPod gets a bit warm on its outside, but heck, that should not kill it!)



    Obviously it has some capability that way, since it syncs with iTunes.



    What I'm talking about is how much of that it can do. Apple has specifically recommended against booting off an iPod, for example, because that hits the hard drive particularly hard for a particularly long time.



    Video capture would be even worse.
  • Reply 15 of 19
    please, please, please... i can't wait much longer for the 15"pb!









  • Reply 16 of 19
    Quote:

    Originally posted by jabba

    Samsung just announced something like this.



    Go to News.com and click on the 'New camcorder records without tape' video clip.







    MPEG-4 and it also looks like a combo of iPod and iSight, doubles as still cam and MP3 player.

    Coming out late 2003 for around $ 700.



    I wish something like this was the new iPod or a new line of iPodPro or ProPods.

    iPod updates from Apple have been very modest so far...



    Edit: It's a video interview (right side), not a story.




    Do you have a link for it? I couldnt find it on Samsungs homepage, and i'd like to read the specs..
  • Reply 17 of 19
    jabbajabba Posts: 82member
    Go to



    http://news.com.com/



    and click on the link (Video & Audio) on the right side.

    It's the story on top for the time being.



    It's some Javascript pop-up window, don't have time to dig for the link.
  • Reply 18 of 19
    matsumatsu Posts: 6,558member
    Waitferjustasecderbob,



    I though the original gist of this thread was to have an iPod that could attach to the iSight to make a video device, not to make a video device roughly the size of the two stuck together.



    There are HUGE deficiencies in using the iSight as a video camera. 1.) I gurantee you that the focusing and light sensitivies and dynamic range of the iSight are not even the equal of a cheap miniDV camera. It was designed for a very limited range of conditions, is. sitting still, indoors, focused at a close distance with narrow aperature for a relativly deep depth of field (makes the task of focusing easier) 2.)fixed focal length, thus no zooming. Now while a camera doesn't need a wide ranging zoom, a slight zoom range is pretty much neccessary if you mean to shoot any sort of useable video. 3.) NO IS (image stabilization) even cheapy miniDV's have this, and you pretty much HAVE TO HAVE IT to shoot any sort of semi stable video with such a small device. 4.) All the problems that come from using the iPod as a recorder!



    So, for a totally useless video device that costs as much as far superior miniDV device, by all means, join an iPod with an iSight and see what happens.



    If, instead you want to argue that a SINGLE device could be made in the spirit and relative size of an iPod+iSight, then you have a better case, but the two will never make a good combination as some sort of cobled together video system.
  • Reply 19 of 19
    jabbajabba Posts: 82member
    Quote:

    If, instead you want to argue that a SINGLE device could be made in the spirit and relative size of an iPod+iSight, then you have a better case, but the two will never make a good combination as some sort of cobled together video system.



    I agree. This would be to Gameboy-like...and all add-on HW is too clumsy for customers, eg. MP3 players or cameras attached to mobile phones never caught on.



    But Apple should release for Christmas what Samsung (see my post above) - and I think Sharp also announced an MPEG-4 camcorder with HD - just released.



    Call it ProPod and sell it for $ 800 - 999. This would sell a ton for Christmas...you get all in one:



    - Video

    - Taking still pictures

    - Audio recording (conferences, journalists)

    - Audio playback



    This would be great although I see Apple being squeezed out of the market in 2-3 years when every camcorder maker is going after HD-only cameras.



    PS: And finally add FM radio to the original iPod
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