iPod nano, iTunes 5, iTunes Phone 815
adpowers writes "Lots of updates today on the Apple front. First we have the iPod nano, which is an iPod photo-esque replacement for the iPod mini. It comes in 2 and 4 gig varieties and is half the thickness of the mini it replaces. A new iTunes is release as well, which looks similar to Mail.app. I'm not sure I like the cosmetic changes. It also touts an improved search bar, but I can't find an explanation of what that means. Finally, Apple, Motorola, and Cingular announced the ROKR E1, which has the iTunes on a cellular phone. (Theorized last week.) It syncs with iTunes just like an iPod." Coverage of the Apple news extravaganza available at The NYT, Forbes, Gizmodo, Mobiledia, and Macworld.
but does it run... (Score:3, Funny)
Imagine if you will (Score:3, Interesting)
BMW has (at least) one model car that interfaces with your ipod, so the thought isn't that far fetched.
Re:Imagine if you will (Score:4, Informative)
Re:but does it run... (Score:5, Funny)
It doesn't run x86 OS X.
On first look, quite nice (Score:5, Interesting)
That iPod nano looks ridiculously slick. Heh, and although I imagine I'm going to have my geek card forcibly removed after saying this, my first thought upon seeing it was, "What happened to all the colors?" Granted, it's form over function, but judging by the amount of iPod minis that I've seen, people like the colors.
Well, fear not: iPod nano tubes: [apple.com] Colorful iPod nano Tubes fit like a glove and offer full Click Wheel control from the outside. (Actually, as someone whose iPod sports an impressive amount of scrapes, I think this is a good idea.)
That Apple, they think of everything. Now I'm going to go back to waiting for my Dalmation iPod nano tube.
Re:On first look, quite nice (Score:5, Funny)
Apple marketing department wants you to say. "That iPod nano looks impossibly slick."
Re:On first look, quite nice (Score:3, Funny)
DalmatiAn? (Score:3, Funny)
That Apple, they think of everything. Now I'm going to go back to waiting for my Dalmation iPod nano tube.
It's called a Dogcow [storybytes.com]. Moof [jargon.net].
Re:??? (Score:3, Funny)
Not that I'd be one to accuse the indefectible Apple of astroturfing, no, nothing like that.
Re:On first look, quite nice (Score:4, Insightful)
Apple makes a very handsome profit on iPods. You don't have to fill them with iTMS songs (MP3s work just as well) but the pairing of iPod with iTunes now accounts for over a billion dollars annually in sales for Apple.
$50 more, 2GB less (Score:3)
Re:$50 more, 2GB less (Score:5, Interesting)
I agree with you, but we are possibly in the (or a) minority.
I said the same thing when the iPod mini came out: you could get another model of iPod at the time which was 10GB, and $50 more than the 4GB. I pointed this out to people. The response? Either 'but it comes in colours' or 'but its so small'. Lesson learned, people put a huge premium on the size/shape/appearance of the thing. The Shuffle underscores this.
Kinda too bad, I always liked the Mini body the best, with the metal... maybe it was deemed too heavy. So yes from a stats point of view it seems a bit daft but the market reaction sure seems to bear out Apple's thinking. I was also surprised that the battery life on the Nano is a touch less than a regular iPod... I guess a smaller battery overall.. but usually flash memory gives you a big power savings (eaten up in the Nano by that colour screen no doubt).
Re:$50 more, 2GB less (Score:3, Interesting)
I'm one of those people. I knew very well what the costs were. I'm well aware of how much space 4GB is compared to 15 or 20GB.
Secondly, I am by no means an apple whore. The iPod mini is the only apple product I have ever bought in my entire life.
I don't give a shit, I like the mini better. It's smaller, it's cuter. I don't care if it was the same price as big ipod, I would have bought the mini. Hell, I'd probably have paid up to $50 more for the mini than for the larger ipod.
Aesthetics matter. The ma
Re:$50 more, 2GB less (Score:3, Interesting)
Sure, I get it. It was a no-brainer for my girlfriend also. But for me, personally, I still like the original idea of the iPod: all your music with yo
Re:$50 more, 2GB less (Score:5, Insightful)
This is just how smart companies price products. It's like a big fat arrow pointing up the ladder. They don't really care if you think it's a good deal: they want you to spend as much as you can convince yourself to.
Re:It's about the flash, baby. (Score:5, Informative)
People get confused about this because the microdrive in the mini speaks the CompactFlash protocol, but it is a spinning platter disk all the same.
Re:On first look, quite nice (Score:3, Interesting)
Which is why they should be less money
Except Sales != Profits. Most iTMS money goes to others, like the record company. But at the end of the day, iTMS profits go to improving iTMS, not to giving away iPods like AOL CD's. The iPod is perfectly usable without iTMS (I only buy songs when Pepsi or 7-11 give me credits), so it would be really stupid of Apple to give them away. Besides, if Apple was viciously undercutting competitor
Re:On first look, quite nice (Score:5, Insightful)
I'm sure we would all want porsche to sell their cars for $50, and 60" plasma displays for $75, but those companies need to make money too. In a free market economy if a product is overpriced, then people won't buy it. Since it has a 70%+ market share, then I would guess they are doing the right thing...
Re:On first look, quite nice (Score:5, Insightful)
- Would I "maximize" profits by providing good products at a fair price, enabling a steady and dependable stream of customers?
- Would I "maximize" profits by creating great products at a premium price, ensuring fanatical customer loyalty?
- Would I "maximize" profits by investing heavily in R&D so that future growth and revenue is possible?
- Would I "maximize" profits by investing in my employees, minimizing turnover and producing a highly productive, highly motivated, highly competitive workforce?
And as stated, a company, like, say, Ben & Jerry's can have other values, like having minimal impact and being environmentally friendly. Investors "know" they have those values and that money will go to support them. That's one of the reasons they made the investment.In short, as the various approaches to "maximize" show, profit is not always the only, or even the highest, consideration.
Re:On first look, quite nice (Score:4, Interesting)
Re:On first look, quite nice (Score:3, Interesting)
People keep saying, but I don't believe it's true, in the US or any other country.
Has any public company anywhere ever been sued for "not maximizing the profit of its shareholders"?
Now, I do know of cases where stockholder groups have sued a company's officers for taking actions that seriously damaged a company. But that wasn't the claim. The claim was that a public company "must maximize the profit of its shareholders". Tha
Re:On first look, quite nice (Score:5, Insightful)
You ask Has any public company anywhere ever been sued for "not maximizing the profit of its shareholders"?
You should ask: "Has the management of any public company anywhere ever been removed for "not maximizing the profit of its shareholders"?
Frequently.
Re:On first look, quite nice (Score:4, Interesting)
Re:On first look, quite nice (Score:3, Insightful)
You have a fundamental misunderstanding of why things cost what they do. Things aren't priced based on "fairness," they are priced naturally on market demand.
So far, the market thinks they are priced nicely.
Re:On first look, quite nice (Score:3, Interesting)
Re:On first look, quite nice (Score:3, Informative)
If you wanted the best price per unit of storage, you would buy the full sized iPod. The mini was always a bad deal when you factor in the amount of storage and compare it to the larger iPods.
Re:On first look, quite nice (Score:3, Funny)
how much less could you care about it?
Re:On first look, quite nice (Score:5, Insightful)
and didn't see anything offered less than $200 - and that's just one component of the iPod Nano.
2) Apple makes more money by selling the iPods than it does with the iTMS.
3) Most songs on people's iPods don't come from the iTMS - so why should Apple provide bargain-priced iPods when they won't necessarily make any profit from them?
Re:On first look, quite nice (Score:3, Insightful)
Believe that's backwards. iTMS is used to drive sales of iPod, their profit on iTMS is pretty slim.
Yes, it's sexy, small, and cute but 4GB doesn't do me all that much and I would constantly worry about losing it, damanging it, or out and out destroying it.
I mean if you want an enormous "portable" music player have at it. Get a good ste
Re:No more apples for me (Score:3, Informative)
Linux isn't supported so what do you expect?
Re:No more apples for me (Score:5, Insightful)
I got a freeipod.com ipod, noticed how it just worked when I wanted it to, no stupidity involved. This inspired me to get a PowerBook, and guess what? It works. All the time.
Apple makes awesome hardware. Microsoft makes bad OS's. I dunno about your gtkipod problem though. Good luck with it.
iHuh? (Score:5, Funny)
Re:iHuh? (Score:4, Insightful)
It's not particularly nice looking, either, so Apple probably wouldn't want their style of name on it regardless.
Re:iDuh (Score:3, Insightful)
It's a Motorola/Cingular product that has an exclusive license.
(and regardless, according to the USPTO, the IPHONE trademark is live for at least two registered companies—both marks involve phones, natch— so Apple's claim to such a mark is tenuous)
Re:iHuh? (Score:3, Interesting)
This is just, well
Re:iHuh? (Score:5, Funny)
Seriously though, I'd expect a ROKR E2 soon, in a RAZR design. That'd be sweet.
Re:iHuh? (Score:5, Funny)
That's 5. You can't have five and work for the allmighty MOTO.
You're fired.
Re:iHuh? (Score:4, Funny)
I'll be cleaning my desk out now
Re:iHuh? (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:iHuh? (Score:5, Funny)
Re:iHuh? (Score:3, Funny)
And I suppose we can expect the phones we buy today to be half the thickness and half the weight in a few years?
Re:iHuh? (Score:3, Interesting)
Since the capability existed prior to the iTunes features, I doubt they'd strip it out, but hey, stranger things have been known to happen.
(I only went through this exercise because it pissed me off that wireless companies would
Re:iHuh? (Score:3)
If by 100 you mean 1,000 [apple.com], then yes.
No firewire, USB 2.0 (Score:3, Interesting)
Re:No firewire, USB 2.0 (Score:3, Informative)
Re:No firewire, USB 2.0 (Score:5, Informative)
So, who knows.
Re:No firewire, USB 2.0 (Score:3, Informative)
just ordered on in black (Score:5, Funny)
Free engraving on back...
RIAA v OctberSky
Exhibit: A
Obligatory Strongbad Plug (Score:3, Funny)
I can see strongbad promoting these now. "It's not just photo-esque. It's danger-esque."
iPod nano (Score:5, Funny)
Thick as a pencil and much more fun.1
1 Do not nervously bite iPod nano.
Quicktime 7 for Win (Score:5, Informative)
Quicktime 7 for Windows (standalone installer) (Score:5, Informative)
iTunes now supports VBR AAC too! (Score:5, Informative)
iPod nano (Score:4, Funny)
Re:iPod nano (Score:4, Funny)
New Search (Score:5, Informative)
More like a Shuffle (Score:5, Informative)
Size comparison:
Shuffle: 3.3 x 0.98 x 0.33
Nano: 3.5 x 1.6 x 0.27
iPod: 4.1 x 2.4 x 0.63
Weight comparison:
Shuffle:
Nano: 1.5 ounces
iPod: 5.9 ounces
Theorized? (Score:3, Funny)
It's been theorized? Awesome! I've been waiting for one of these that could play Ogg...
Comment removed (Score:4, Insightful)
Re:Always a deal-killer. (Score:5, Insightful)
2) Go into iTunes, then iPod options. Click "Enable Drive Usage" wow... my iPod is now a drive under Windows AND Mac, and I've seen it done with Linux. Unless you're touching the files needed for the music player, the iPod is simply a USB hard drive. Shut up troll.
3) And why should they bend over backwards for your measly $300 for their iPod when you're too stubborn and arrogant to support a popular standard. I don't bitch at Sony about where my copy of Sin City on BetaMax is.
Wait and see all you want. You won't buy one. People just like to bitch about something they can't have or can't afford.
nano comes in black (Score:3)
Apple & Motorola Press Releases (Score:3, Informative)
Apple iPod nano [apple.com]
Apple iTunes phone [apple.com]
Motorola ROKR [motorola.com]
Thank goodness! (Score:3, Funny)
ROKR questions (Score:5, Interesting)
- Why can't you sync iTunes via BlueTooth, since the phone actually has BT? First the mini mouse, now this.
- Will this phone be a full iSync citizen, or at least as much as other Moto phones? via BT?
- Can you use this phone as a Cell modem? Via BT? And why is it not EDGE capable?
- Can you sync photos via iPhoto?
- Can you purchase ringtones via iTunes?
I wish this was more of an iPhone, with the above features, than just some phone with iTunes slapped on it. As it is, it looks pretty half-baked, and I'm sorry to see Apple endorse it. I think I'm holding out until v 2.0 at least.Re:ROKR questions (Score:4, Informative)
The odds are very, very good that an enterprising hacker would be able to unlock full BT functionality on this phone.
Re:ROKR questions (Score:5, Informative)
Because it would take a month. BT is handy, but it's sure not fast.
Re:ROKR questions (Score:4, Insightful)
Re:ROKR questions (Score:3, Funny)
Disappointing phone (Score:3, Informative)
On the other hand iPod nano looks pretty cool (good in black as well), be interesting to see inside one of them (hopefully pictures should appear any moment
audio quality? (Score:5, Interesting)
I didn't believe it until I got one (as a gift) but the shuffle has the best audio quality I've heard short of an external DAC into an spdif stream. its noisy (biased transistors in output stage?) but it has actual bass and enough drive to power headphones without distorting.
if this nano has the same audio or better, it will blow the market away for those that CARE about sound as well as the features of the player.
iTunes Linux Support (Score:5, Funny)
Re:iTunes Linux Support (Score:5, Funny)
Re:iTunes Linux Support (Score:4, Interesting)
If Apple were to do this, the best thing to do would be to re-write ITunes as a Cocoa app (a good thing) and resurrect ``Yellow Box'' for Windows (something which Apple shied away from) and up-date enough of GNUstep to make iTunes work there by just recompiling (something which Apple is probably worried about 'cause then people could run more software on Linux instead of Mac OS X)
William
Re:iTunes Linux Support (Score:3, Insightful)
1) Apple has no connection to GNUstep.
2) The number of people running GNUstep is miniscule.
3) Very little Mac OS X software could be "just recompiled" to run on Linux/GNUStep. Apple has nothing to fear.
Yellow Box (Score:3, Interesting)
I assumed all the other versions were kind of doing that.
Rhythmbox working on it... (Score:5, Informative)
In development, but coming soon...
W
Re:iTunes Linux Support (Score:4, Informative)
Sigh...
I wonder if the ROKR can use the same cable.. (Score:3, Interesting)
'Cause if it can then I can use my computer to charge my phone and my current iPod car charger to charge the phone
Then I wouldn't have to buy any accessories!
ROKR Availability in Canada through Rogers (Score:5, Informative)
Sports? Features? Has? (Score:5, Funny)
Open a console and type
Not Impressed (Score:5, Interesting)
- It is substantially ugly. The basic shape is OK, but then it has the vented sides and all sorts of useless depressions, lines and curves. I would have expected Apple to demand some quality ID out of Moto (and we know Moto can do it, the RAZR and upcoming SLVR are very hot).
- The dynamics of the phone market suck for releasing new technology. Phone handsets are way overpriced for the consumer and rely on those pesky contracts. Sure the ROKR looks OK now, but how is it going to look a year from now when better stuff is available and your locked into that contract? To me, this is a major problem with the cell phone market- there are numerous technology improvements going on IRT data rates, camera quality, wireless features, design, etc... but the carrier contract lockin puts a significant strain in consumer's ability to acquire such technology at a reasonable price.
- The capacity on the ROKR sucks. 100 songs? That's less then 512mb. If your going to lock people into an MP3 playing cellphone for 2 years, give them some real capacity and/or an SD expansion slot. Hell, the slot doesn't even need to be readily accessible, throw it behind the battery (because I don't know if iTunes can manage an iPod device with removable storage) so people can upgrade as they see fit.
- It looks huge. I don't get it how they can make a tiny cellphone (again, the RAZR and it's upcoming SLVR brother) and a tiny MP3 player (the Nano and the Shuffle), but when you throw these devices together, you end up with a product that is bigger the the stand alone components tapped together even though the most space hogging portions are combined (buttons, enclosure).
Apple gets how to design a product and Motorola, while they have had some success, really needs to let Apple take the lead on ID/Product design. Moto should focus on the wireless tech, dealing with the FCC and cell carriers and manufacturing.
It's a Motorola Phone, not an iPod. (Score:5, Interesting)
Which means:
- Transflash card. It's really tiny, the size and thickness of my pinky nail
- Tri-band
- USB 2.0, and you get to choose between it exposing the flash card as a USB disk device, or a modem. Cable included
- Stereo speakers. It's really cool to hold it just about 20-30cm from your face and hear pretty good stereo sound
- Earphones
- Bluetooth, and yes, you can copy MP3's that way too
- Groovy multi-coloured lights on both sides of the phone
- Speakerphone
- Camera with a powerful led instead of a flash. Doubles as a flashlight
And the downsides- Sluggish user interface
- Blurry 640x480 camera. Taking into account the previous point, when you press "capture," you get to wait 2 seconds for the snapshot to be taken
- Buggy. Crashes on you, especially when the battery is low
- Really bad mpeg-4 playback. The user interface stops responding when it's playing. Sound may crap out. It will only do a bitrate so low that the picture has severe compression artifacts
- Limited functionality in BlueTooth. The only decent BlueTooth phone I've ever seen is a SonyEricsson
- No voice recording (duh), but I'm under the impression that that's a hidden feature that you can enable with a hack
Of course, the specs of the ROKR may vary, and the MP3 navigation is beyond a doubt better than on the E398, but it won't be far off.ROKR vs. Treo (Score:3, Informative)
I don't see why the iPod phone is that big a deal. The Treos have been able to play mp3s for a while now. Too bad palm didn't name them r0x0rz or whatever. Apple is so about image.
Give me a Treo any day of the week.
Re:ROKR vs. Treo (Score:3, Insightful)
Even though Apple is about image, this particular case is about Motorola trying to associate itself with Apple via iTunes. The Motorola phone is not good looking at all, and the only advantage to it is that it is iTunes enabled. I, for one, won't be getting it anytime soon. Hopefully, the less discerning iPod/iTunes junkies will realize this as well (but don't bet on it).
Make your own ROKR (Score:5, Insightful)
Buy 5 cents of sticky velcro.
Attach to existing phone.
Pros:
Listening to tunes won't drain your phone battery.
Doesn't cost 250 USD (only 200).
Doesn't tie you to Cingular for 2 years.
About as thick as older phone models.
Holds 5 times the songs.
Can be undone at any time.
Cons:
Applying sticky substance to shiny new iPod.
Everyone will point and laugh.
Re:Make your own ROKR (Score:3, Interesting)
Applying sticky substance to shiny new iPod.
Everyone will point and laugh.
You forgot:
Phone will not automatically pause music when call comes in.
Not that the pros don't still far outweigh the cons.
Obligatory (Score:4, Insightful)
And, one other precious gem from the original [slashdot.org]...
what I want in my next cell phone.. (Score:3, Interesting)
what I want is one device, the size of my cell phone that combines all the
features of these devices.
what I want in this device:
size of my current cellphone (Audiovox cdm-9900)
cell phone features at least as good as current + mp3 ringtones
2MP 3x optical zoom camera w/ VGA/30fps movie mode
industry standard flash memory card/data in industry standard storage format
read and write files on flash card using standard tools in windows,
linux and macos
play MP3 and mpeg/mp4/divx (at VGA/30fps when driving remote display)
(limitation to proprietary formats unacceptable, but support for proprietary
formats in addition to standard formats desirable)
PDA capabilities equal to palm pilot/zaurus/WINCE (assume primary data
input by keyboard in desktop mode)
wireless keyboard/mouse/display/headphone/microphone/netwo
minimum 48 hours standby battery life/4 hours active use time (remote
desktop/mobile mode)
USB master/slave capability using standard cables
I want to be able to access _all_ data on this device from a usb/wireless
connected system as if I were looking at a hard drive/network drive
beyond solitaire/free cell/tetris/minesweeper level gaming, I dont care
about gaming performance.
graphics performance equivalent to first gen radeon is sufficient.
I expect that there are 3 primary usage modes: mobile, remote and primary
desktop
mobile usage model:
in this mode, this should operate like a cell phone, MP3 player or camera
like a full function single purpose device for each of these uses. As a PDA
it would primarily be used for data retrieval as opposed to input, for anything
beyond trivial data input (on the level of what you would input into a cell
phone) it is ok to assume a wireless or USB keyboard will be used (i.e.
handwriting recognition not required/useful) the form factor of the divice
should not be comprimized in the false belief that a big display is needed.
the display on my cdm-9900 is more than sufficient.
with a secondary battery pack and set of display glasses, it should be possible
to watch two complete feature length VGA/30fps movies in this mode (think
flying Boston to LA)
remote desktop usage model:
in this mode, the user is primarily expecting functionality equivalent to
a high end PDA/ultra portable laptop. the keyboard would probably be a
wireless thumbboard or a rollup usb keyboard, the display would preferrably be
a wireless head mounted display (HUD-glasses). external networking
capabilities might be non-existant, or limited to analog cell phone bandwidth,
so internal processing capabilities must be able to fulfill the minimums for
this kind of use.
primary desktop usage model:
I want to just carry the device in my pocket, when I get to work, drop it
on my desk, have it recognize my keyboard, display and mouse and start driving
them. I want to be able to do everything I do on my desktop computer in this
mode. I expect that this will require remote processing to provide the
CPU horsepower necessary, but the UI will be displayed and driven here
(X11 terminal style, but once I've done initial setup, I don't want to have to
think about it. this should work from the other side of the world).
I expect it needs to be on the charger for best performance in this
mode
what's missing to accomplish this:
the biggest piece of missing technology for this application is wireless
capable monitors and really useable display glasses. by useable, I mean glasses
that work like the glasses I wear today, but also can be used as a computer
display. other than the weight issue and some manufacturing issues, the tech
is here today with an LCD film overlay laminated onto the glasses lens or a
projector/refractor model.
Weak. (Score:4, Funny)
iPod Femto [apple.com]: the first MP3 player to be injected directly into your bloodstream!
Mac Nano Next? (Score:3, Funny)
And last year, Apple introduced the Mac Mini.
<joke>Does this mean we should expect the Mac Nano sometime next year?</joke>
Re:Mac Nano Next? (Score:4, Funny)
but .... (Score:4, Funny)
Re:Flash or HDD based? (Score:5, Informative)
Re:Headphone jack (Score:3, Informative)
Re:Re-releasing the same products... (Score:5, Insightful)
If competitors are releasing music AND video players 'for cheaper', and not making money, maybe it means two things:
1) Bad product
2) No market
If the competitors make a bad product, then of course the only remainging good product (iPod) will win. Apple just has to wait, review the market, and keep designing until it has a good product, even if it's a couple years late. Would you rather have a bad product now, or a good one next year?
If there is no market, then what's the point?
Re:Re-releasing the same products... (Score:5, Insightful)
They only released two that I know of, but I could just be out of the loop.
The GBA SP added functionality, like a built in rechargeable battery and backlit display, all at the same price as the previous model.
The iPod nano offers flash memory, increased battery life, a color display, ability to play photos, in a much smaller package. There's tons of added functionality.
while many, many competitors have been releasing music *and* video players for almost 4 years now *for cheaper than apple's music only players*..
I can release a cell phone the size of a VCR, have it play DVDs, DivXs, run various emulators, and do my taxes, that doesn't change the fact that it's poorly designed and not very attractive. Apple is about simplicity. If you want a swiss army knife MP3 player then there's manufactures catering to you, but you're a minority in that desire.
Re:Re-releasing the same products... (Score:3, Funny)
Are you suggesting there is such thing as a mini-meter or a mini-gram?
Anm
Re:Does iTunes 5 fix volume adjustment? (Score:5, Informative)
Works great for me.
RE: Duplicate song detection. (Score:3, Insightful)
Of course, calcing an MD5 would not find duplicates that are actually two differents rips of the same song, say at different rates or two downloads from eDonkey of the same song, etc. But it would find cases where the file got accidentally duplicated. Like if you have to move your music collection onto another disk
Re:Digital Photographers rejoice (Score:3, Insightful)
One word - Never.
Why? Because any self respecting photographer will not murk around with hacks (remember, you still have to provide the interface - be it compact flash, etc. soldering required) when near 100% reliability is needed - i.e. in their work.
Most photographers I know, myself included, will spend extra cash on memory based on its perfomance and reliability.