Mr. Smith in Washington

iPod Video

Apple has done it again. Repeatedly, they pull off technological feats that leave the typical consumer in awe. This time it was the release of an iPod that plays video. Lifehacker polled its readers to see if they would actually use this iPod to watch video often. As of 10/13/2005 at 11:07:02 AM, 1,169 readers responded with nearly 42 percent indicating they would not because the screen is too small. Another 20 percent said they would be interested in at least downloading the videos to watch on their computer or TV. Another 14 percent looked forward to what seemed like good entertainment--namely, music videos on this iPod. Another 14 percent seemed to indicate they would settle for watching music videos because they've got nothing else to look at while listening to their iPods. The last 10 percent? Like mindless dogs, they imitate what they see in Apple commercials.

Lifehacker summarized the new iPod's features as follows:

• TV shows and music videos cost $1.99 to purchase from the iTunes Music Store. The files are high enough quality to play full screen, but they are not high-def. Music video quality seems to be a bit lower than TV shows.
• When you purchase a video from Apple, up to 5 computers and an unlimited amount of iPods can play it, just like songs.
• Non-Apple DRM videos (home videos, for example) can be viewed in iTunes if they are Quicktime .mov files. CNET says vanilla .mov’s cannot be transferred to the video iPod.
• You cannot burn DVDs of purchased video that a DVD player can understand. You can, however, burn data DVDs to back up your iTMS video purchases.
• The TV shows in the iTunes Music Store are only available in the U.S.
• The video iPod can be connected directly to the TV. Any computer with video output can also be connected to a TV to watch videos.

Within Apple's three-act play, they also announced a new iMac and iTunes 6. The encore is to follow within the next month as Gizmodo has received word there may likely be an additional product announcement.

TECHNORATI ipod apple

posted by MWC @ 10:19 AM