Apple Job Description - Video iPod Coming?

Posted:
in Future Apple Hardware edited January 2014
Quote:

Title: Playback Firmware Engineer

Req. ID: 2075781

Location: Santa Clara Valley, California

Country: United States



Seeking a highly motivated engineer to develop next generation iPod product. Must have experience in overall system design of audio and video products.



- Requires a thorough knowledge of multimedia file formats (MPEG-4, QuickTime).

- Minimum 5 years of development in embedded system environments.

-Strong C, C++ and RISC assembler is required, experience with DSP

programming is highly desired.

- Knowledge intricate interfaces details associated with audio and video codecs.

- Familiarity with audio and video compression standards (MP3, MPEG-2, H.263)

- Work seamlessly with third party vendors.

- Familiarity with overall architecture of consumer electronics products.



Comments

  • Reply 1 of 19
    yevgenyyevgeny Posts: 1,148member
    It does look like such a position would fit the bill for a video iPod.



    But I don't want a video iPod. Oh well, I am sure that if Apple makes something like that, that it will be sufficiently cool.



    Now a video iPod that also had a built in camera for high resolution photos/simple home video style recording capabilities (all in the iPod form factor) would probably interest some people (but probably not me because I am a stick in the mud).
  • Reply 2 of 19
    cubistcubist Posts: 954member
    Couple of odd points about this... First, I thought the vendor (Powerplay?) who actually makes the firmware for the iPod already had photo and video playback capabilities. Second, if they're just looking to hire him now, a product is a good year or two away, right?
  • Reply 3 of 19
    Already being covered here.



    What is it with AI and thread bloat?
  • Reply 4 of 19
    Quote:

    Originally posted by cubist

    Couple of odd points about this... First, I thought the vendor (Powerplay?) who actually makes the firmware for the iPod already had photo and video playback capabilities.



    Actually, I've heard that Apple dropped Pixo (original name of iPod OS) in favor of their own home grown version in iPod 3G.





    Quote:

    Second, if they're just looking to hire him now, a product is a good year or two away, right?



    Maybe. But maybe they are just augmenting their staff on this. Who knows.
  • Reply 5 of 19
    rokrok Posts: 3,519member
    why is it no one seems to see the obvious here...



    make a next-gen ipod that has a nice, convenient slot to alow the attachment of AN ISIGHT. the jog wheel allows to to shuttle through frames on a color screen, then post your compressed iMovie via. your .mac account. not a high-end solution. not meant to be, either. but it all works together, or separately. your choice. also allows you to record your iChat conversations on the fly if you like (someone, maybe even apple, providing a tripod).
  • Reply 6 of 19
    Quote:

    Originally posted by rok

    why is it no one seems to see the obvious here...



    make a next-gen ipod that has a nice, convenient slot to alow the attachment of AN ISIGHT. the jog wheel allows to to shuttle through frames on a color screen, then post your compressed iMovie via. your .mac account. not a high-end solution. not meant to be, either. but it all works together, or separately. your choice. also allows you to record your iChat conversations on the fly if you like (someone, maybe even apple, providing a tripod).




    I would hope that they provide a simple microphone port before they go all the way and make a way to hook up a freaking iSight to it.
  • Reply 7 of 19
    rokrok Posts: 3,519member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by CharlesS

    I would hope that they provide a simple microphone port before they go all the way and make a way to hook up a freaking iSight to it.



    um, i was under the impression that the isight HAD a microphone as well. sure, not telescoping, so it wouldn't work for an interview next to a busy street or something, but remember, this would be essentially a low-end assembly, useful for videos of xmas morning and the like. not "news at 6" broadcasts. apple is very comfortable with saying "this is a consumer device/application. trying to make it do more than it was designed for is done at your own risk. won't you instead try our 'pro/power' model instead?"



    i mean, technically speaking, they already have the I/O ready... firewire out of isight, into ipod and back. bundle an adapter, make the screen swing out to view, and you're on your way with a battery built into the device. not high-end, but not meant to be, either.



    but they have to have the hardware be able to process it. how hard could it be to capture 640x480 at 30 fps direct to an ipod?
  • Reply 8 of 19
    Quote:

    Originally posted by segovius

    Maybe it is a more tangenital product than a video iPod.



  • Reply 9 of 19
    video iPod would be a big mistake.



    Steve said it aint gonna happen.



    It aint gonna happen.
  • Reply 10 of 19
    why santa clara and not cupertino?
  • Reply 11 of 19
    applenutapplenut Posts: 5,768member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by Eupfhoria

    why santa clara and not cupertino?



    all their listings say santa clara county now (cupertino is in santa clara county, right?)
  • Reply 12 of 19
    I wouldn't be surprised if it is a decoy to throw off the competition - particularly Sony who feel that adding more features is the way to go. Whilst all the time Apple continue to refine and improve the iPod.



    An iSight attached to an iPod would be a very silly idea, particularly with the low cost of entry level DV cams nowadays - which are poised to get even cheaper and more powerful over the coming months with due to the ever increasing capacity of flash media. No. To produce an iSight attachment to the iPod would run in the face of Apple's entire digital strategy - which is the digital hub. Notice how they have let Belkin and others produce accessories for the iPod to date - it is simply not an area they are interested in.



    I see more evolutionary rather than revolutionary changes for the 4G iPod, much as we had iin the move from 2G to 3G.
  • Reply 13 of 19
    Quote:

    Originally posted by musicaltone

    An iSight attached to an iPod would be a very silly idea, particularly with the low cost of entry level DV cams nowadays - which are poised to get even cheaper and more powerful over the coming months with due to the ever increasing capacity of flash media. No. To produce an iSight attachment to the iPod would run in the face of Apple's entire digital strategy - which is the digital hub. Notice how they have let Belkin and others produce accessories for the iPod to date - it is simply not an area they are interested in.



    I agree.



    From a technical standpoint, would an iSight cam attaached to an iPod drain the battery much more quickly?
  • Reply 14 of 19
    rokrok Posts: 3,519member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by musicaltone

    An iSight attached to an iPod would be a very silly idea, particularly with the low cost of entry level DV cams nowadays - which are poised to get even cheaper and more powerful over the coming months with due to the ever increasing capacity of flash media. No. To produce an iSight attachment to the iPod would run in the face of Apple's entire digital strategy - which is the digital hub. Notice how they have let Belkin and others produce accessories for the iPod to date - it is simply not an area they are interested in.



    first, you assume that the ipod and isight won't go through another revision. i'm not talking about slapping the two current products together.



    BUT, regardless of how "low" the cost is of entry level DV cams lately (pardon me and my checkbook as we laugh hysterically for a minute contemplating their low costs), there are a lot of people like me who a.) want an ipod and b.) want to play around with that copy of imovie that came on their new mac. well, if i shell out for an ipod (the capacity of which will only get bigger -- and there's a point where a capacity of X number of songs is just ridiculous as a selling point), wouldn't apple want to offer me an option that for about $100, i can take some small videos for chat and imovie work, rather than saying i need to go to sony et al. to pay several hundred more dollars (which will be the price range for at least the next year or two) to get my video fix?



    apple may have let people make devices like microphones for the ipod, but i will bet good money that as long as the isight exists, apple will not give their blessing to a video or even camera attachment. sure, someone might reverse-engineer how to do it...



    speaking of which... anyone remember how griffin made a universal remote attachment for the ipod, and even demoed prototypes for it at a macworld? (i have the macaddict that has pictures of it) apple supposedly told them to focus their attention elsewhere, and the attachment basically died on the vine. why would apple stop that accessory, i wonder? that's not a leading question... i honestly don't see why apple would have a problem with that.



    plus, i don't care how large flash media gets, it's F'N SLOW... i double dog dare you to get a flash card to process streaming video. any engineering staff capable of doing that deserves a medal.



    like charles barkley's book title says, "I may be wrong -- but i doubt it."
  • Reply 15 of 19
    Quote:

    Originally posted by musicaltone





    An iSight attached to an iPod would be a very silly idea, particularly with the low cost of entry level DV cams nowadays -





    Not if you already have both....





    Quote:

    Originally posted by musicaltone



    I see more evolutionary rather than revolutionary changes for the 4G iPod, much as we had iin the move from 2G to 3G.




    I agree. Personally, I would like to see Apple enter the cell phone market. But with a proprietary handheld videophone from day one. That would be the true killer / must have product that would slay the compettition. While sales of the iPod may make some switch to the mac platform. A handheld videophone may make the desire to switch overwhelming.
  • Reply 16 of 19
    Imagine a video capable cell phone that not only let you call your friends but let you call webcams too. Want to see what the traffic looks like a the tolls? Call the tollbooth webcam, check it out, reroute as neccesary. Want to see what snow conditions at Whistler look like, call and look. Want to see if your mate is at the pub? Call the pub's webcam, scan the crowd. Cute girls.... go to the pub immediately...!



    But imagine if it was capable of picking up TV news broadcasts, anywhere and everywhere..? Streaming radio stations...? Web pages...?



    I think there could be a huge future for a Video capable / iPod / communications device.
  • Reply 17 of 19
    paulpaul Posts: 5,278member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by segovius

    Maybe it is a more tangenital product than a video iPod. Camera, camera/phone ?



    Re the ad - maybe they've been working on it a while and someone got canned ?




    hmmm close... note this:



    Quote:

    - Work seamlessly with third party vendors.

    - Familiarity with overall architecture of consumer electronics products.



    now... think TV



    think iPod companion



    think center of your digital media...



    think TiVo, eyeTV



    an Apple DVR with Airport Extreme and a 60 gig drive... the size of a couple of VHS tapes... IR or Bluetooth remote...



    With 2 firewire ports (hook it up to your iPod, iSight, Mac, Video Camera, external HD), digital/analog audio in/out, component/RCA/S-video out, Coaxial in-out... maybe even HDTV!!!!



    starting at $999



    stream your music, pictures, and video to your TV and home stereo system...



    watch TV on your Mac



    who wants one?



    PEOPLE WONT BE BUYING THEM INSTEAD OF IPODS... THEY WILL BUY THEM IN ADDITION TO THEM



    I was going to rule out DVD drives... but apple is rapidly becoming a Sony... look for computers to become less central to their business...



    if this had a DVD-R and was priced close to a grand they would fly off the shelves...
  • Reply 18 of 19
    dfilerdfiler Posts: 3,420member
    Quote:

    Title: Playback Firmware Engineer

    Req. ID: 2075781

    Location: Santa Clara Valley, California

    Country: United States



    Seeking a highly motivated engineer to develop next generation iPod product. Must have experience in overall system design of audio and video products.
    • Requires a thorough knowledge of multimedia file formats (MPEG-4, QuickTime).

    • Minimum 5 years of development in embedded system environments.

    • Strong C, C++ and RISC assembler is required, experience with DSP programming is highly desired.

    • Knowledge intricate interfaces details associated with audio and video codecs.

    • Familiarity with audio and video compression standards (MP3, MPEG-2, H.263)

    • Work seamlessly with third party vendors.

    • Familiarity with overall architecture of consumer electronics products.




    This sounds like it could be iChat/iSight related. Although, I agree that a new product is more fun to discuss.



    Keep in mind that the iSight has noise cancelling circuits as well as auto-focus and color calibration. Given the recent collaborative efforts between AOL and Apple, I wouldn't be suprised by the AIM client eventually gaining iSight (H.263) support. iSight's level of plug-n-play would likely require a firmware engineer to accomodate the windows/x86 platform.
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