Tuesday, October 10, 2006
Rumor: Apple to announce wireless video iPod?
Okay, let's speculate for a moment. Apple fans love to talk about, well, Apple products. Especially products which aren't even announced yet.The other day Edward and I had a good discussion over lunch about MWSF '07 product announcements. A new video iPod was, of course, a "no brainer" -- the high-end iPod is in need of significant improvements, and not just adding a larger drive to the unit. Engadget thinks an announcement may be sooner for the revamped video iPod. Maybe to catch the Christmas shopping season? Or to counter Microsoft's Zune?
Whenever the announcement may be, both of us agree that the revision must include a larger screen, probably widescreen format. My take on the user interface is that Apple would never think of having the UI on the screen where finger grease would smudge the beautiful display. I think the new video iPod will have two pieces: the screen and the controller, connected wirelessly or wired (open to debate).
At first I thought of some sort of swivel or slider mechanism to reveal the UI of the unit, but Edward pointed out that Apple designers detest too many moving hardware parts. True, just look at the generations of iMacs and iBook/PowerBooks, and even the current iPods. That's how I arrived at my two-piece prediction.
It's really the simplistic of designs. Apple can even make it work with the Apple Remote that's being shipped with the new Macs. Existing Mac owners can use the remote with the new video iPod, while PC users would have to buy one seperately. Or Apple can make a controller similar to the new clip-on iPod Shuffle. Simple and elegant. And the engineers already know how to do it. Quick time-to-market schedule.
Apple is known to stay one step ahead of the competition. That's how iPod/iTunes has 75% of the portable music player market share. I'm sure a new video iPod prototype is already floating in Cupertino. The fans are anxiously waiting. Let the rumors begin.
Article Link posted by Jambo Consulting at 10:59 PM
