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[Afro Thunder]

Apple, please don´t sue me but...

From here: http://www.thinksecret.com/news/0501expo4.html

Apple's long-rumored flash-based iPod will be introduced at Macworld Expo in 1GB and likely 2GB versions, Apple enthusiast website Think Secret has confirmed. Various details regarding the device have emerged days before Apple CEO Steve Jobs is set to unveil the tiny music player during his keynote address.

Rapidly falling flash prices have enabled Apple to buy 1GB modules from Samsung at a relatively low cost, sources report, which in turn will allow Apple to sell the device for $149. Sources have also suggested that a 2GB version, packing two tiny 1GB flash modules, may sell for $199.

The device is currently being manufactured by Taiwain-based Asustek, which Apple brought on towards the end of the summer as a second ODM for manufacturing iPods. Sources say the flash-based iPod will be powered by a chipset from SigmaTel and that it will feature a screen that is the same width as the iPod mini's but two lines shorter.

Not certain at this point is what sort of touch-based interface the device will use. Some sources have suggested that device will forgo Apple's ClickWheel, featured on the iPod mini and 4G iPod, and will instead have more buttons, like the first generation iPod.

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Time to keep some money under my pillow. :lol

 

[Drozmight]

I'd bite for $145.

 

[DarienA]

Apple can kiss my ass. There I said it.

 

[Koshiro]

Apple can kiss my ass. There I said it.

SUED!

 

[Drozmight]

Haha, tommarrows headline.

 

[Timbuktu]

Thinksecret's on the verge of being sued and it posts this?!

There are too many rumors for Macworld now, they can't all be true. One thing's certain though, Steve Jobs will deliver a much better keynote than Gates did at CES, though perhaps not as funny.

 

[The Faceless Master]

at a price like that, i can only hope it makes iRiver decide to drop the prices on their devices... an iFP-799 would be sweet for $150

 

[TMan]

Waiting eagerly for that.

 

[tedtropy]

I just don't see why it's necessary. It doesn't hold alot of music, and the existing iPods were already small to begin with and apparently excersise-friendly.

 

[kikonawa]

"It doesn't hold alot of music, and the existing iPods were already small to begin with and apparently excersise-friendly."

what are you smoking?
1gbyte is enough for a lot of people
i don't understand the point of carying 20gig of mp3's around

 

[human5892]

I just don't see why it's necessary. It doesn't hold alot of music, and the existing iPods were already small to begin with and apparently excersise-friendly.

I don't have all that much music, so the 2GB model would be great for me.

Unfortunately, I don't think $200 is a reasonable price for such a product, so I'm still not biting.

 

[tedtropy]

"It doesn't hold alot of music, and the existing iPods were already small to begin with and apparently excersise-friendly."

what are you smoking?
1gbyte is enough for a lot of people
i don't understand the point of carying 20gig of mp3's around

Junior members, that's what I'm smoking. Consistently and thoroughly.

The point of 'carrying 20GBs of music' around is the advantage of constantly having your music collection with you. I think you assume people just use their HD-based MP3 players for 10-minute commutes or something. I use my MP3 player at work, during trips, when I'm trying to go to sleep. Constantly. 1GB of moderately compressed music is not alot of variety over any decent span of time. So if you don't see the point of carrying that much music around with you, fine, but it's apparent that alot of people do, and they're speaking with their wallets. Plus, an HD-based player adds the advantage of being able to carry gobs of other data around. My 30GB Nomad has come in very handy when I needed to transfer alot of files from work to home.

 

[Vark]

I could see myself getting a 2gb model to compliment my 40 gig. The 40's great at work, in the car, when i'm traveling and what not, but carrying it around 24/7 isn't usually an option (my ipod is usually near me or in a bag or something, but not on my person). If I had a tiny 2gig player i'd probably always have it on my person.

Plus when i'm listening to my ipod I don't need all 40 gigs at once, so its just as easy to drop in a new playlist to the 2gig before I leave the house.

 

[Timbuktu]

I just don't see why it's necessary. It doesn't hold alot of music, and the existing iPods were already small to begin with and apparently excersise-friendly.

For a lot of the people in the Far East, the iPod's not small enough, which is why the Mini's more popular over there and flashed-based players are everywhere. If they succeed in getting the interface right on something with an even smaller form factor, this will take offf big time.

I have to say, the iPod family is getting big.

 

[tedtropy]

For a lot of the people in the Far East, the iPod's not small enough, which is why the Mini's more popular over there and flashed-based players are everywhere. If they succeed in getting the interface right on something with an even smaller form factor, this will take offf big time.

I have to say, the iPod family is getting big.

Yeah, it is. I'm hoping as the iPod line continues to grow that Apple will start venturing into the PDA territory again. But then again, after the Newton debacle and with the PocketPC dominance, that's probably unlikely. But can you imagine a small device with a mini version of OS X with MP3/video/PDA functionality? Rock.

 

[WasabiKing]

SUED!

If disparagement was ever taken seriously here, GAF would have went down EONS ago

 

[COCKLES]

Apple can kiss my ass. There I said it.

I like that cut of this mans threads.

 

[pops619]

I can understand wanting a 1GB or 2GB model if you aren't interested in carrying your entire music collection with you, but the pricing definitely sucks. I couldn't justify spending $150-200 on such a small MP3 player when you get get one with a ton more storage for only $50-100 extra. Get these down to a hundred or less and then you're talking.

 

[Ignatz Mouse]

PocketPC dominance? Last I looked, Palm still ruled and PocketPC was receeding again (after taking a nice bite out of Palm first, of course).

 

[tedtropy]

PocketPC dominance? Last I looked, Palm still ruled and PocketPC was receeding again (after taking a nice bite out of Palm first, of course).

Last I heard Palm was thinking of taking PalmOS down the Linux route, which would probably be a good idea. PalmOS has grown stagnant over the years. I'm not entirely sure where they numbers stand with PocketPC vs Palm users, I just know the former has grown quite abit lately.

 

[Drexon]

My next mp3 player is definately the 1GB one if it's <$199.

 

[Phoenix]

Last I heard Palm was thinking of taking PalmOS down the Linux route, which would probably be a good idea. PalmOS has grown stagnant over the years. I'm not entirely sure where they numbers stand with PocketPC vs Palm users, I just know the former has grown quite abit lately.

Next release of PalmOS will definitely be on Linux. Palm has already announced this officially. PocketPC (or Windows Mobile as it is now known) is getting a LOT of OEM wins of late and while the volume of smart phones and the like is still much moreso on the PalmOS side, that is going to change soon unless Palm can bring the OS up to par. Its funny that *nix is saving so many projects/products these days - PalmOS, OSX, Netware, etc.

 

[Fresh Prince]

If I worked out maybe I'd get a flash player :lol

 

[tedtropy]

Next release of PalmOS will definitely be on Linux. Palm has already announced this officially. PocketPC (or Windows Mobile as it is now known) is getting a LOT of OEM wins of late and while the volume of smart phones and the like is still much moreso on the PalmOS side, that is going to change soon unless Palm can bring the OS up to par. Its funny that *nix is saving so many projects/products these days - PalmOS, OSX, Netware, etc.

Once one has seen the light, salvation is but a mere step of faith away. Or something, I don't know, I use XP Pro...

 

[mrklaw]

For a lot of the people in the Far East, the iPod's not small enough, which is why the Mini's more popular over there and flashed-based players are everywhere

Give this man a coconut. Spot on. Consumers in APAC not only think ipod is too big, but also don't see the point in carrying all your songs around with you. I agree with them (+ my collection would mostl likely fit ina 2GB flash player anyway)

And whats wrong with having a diverse product portfolio?

 

[Shinobi]

Junior members, that's what I'm smoking. Consistently and thoroughly.

The point of 'carrying 20GBs of music' around is the advantage of constantly having your music collection with you. I think you assume people just use their HD-based MP3 players for 10-minute commutes or something. I use my MP3 player at work, during trips, when I'm trying to go to sleep. Constantly. 1GB of moderately compressed music is not alot of variety over any decent span of time. So if you don't see the point of carrying that much music around with you, fine, but it's apparent that alot of people do, and they're speaking with their wallets. Plus, an HD-based player adds the advantage of being able to carry gobs of other data around. My 30GB Nomad has come in very handy when I needed to transfer alot of files from work to home.

I take the bus to and from work (40 minutes each way), and listen to music at work during my four to five hour shifts. 1 to 2 gigs is plenty for me...that's 16 to 24 hours of music in 128k format, which is only small if you don't like listening to the same tune more then once a week or if you're taking six month excursions to the amazon with nothing but a hamper. As long as I can delete and swap music in and out quickly and efficiently, it isn't gonna be an issue. They just need to be more effectively priced, but that goes for all the small MP3 players (the 64 to 256 meg players are a complete ripoff).

BTW, this junior member bashing is old, boring and stupid as fuck. Don't mean to single you out for this...I've hated this idiot discrimination for years, and I've hated the latest flood of junior member bashing. Why forums allow such labeling to begin with is beyond me.

Anyway, what the hell would they call this new product? The iPod Minier?

 

[Willco]

iPod Flash!

... With the flash logo and everything. They could do commercials with Flash showing up to the Justice Hall, showing off his new super small iPod and make the rest of the Superfriends jealous!

 

[Ferrio]

I could see myself getting a 2gb model to compliment my 40 gig. The 40's great at work, in the car, when i'm traveling and what not, but carrying it around 24/7 isn't usually an option (my ipod is usually near me or in a bag or something, but not on my person). If I had a tiny 2gig player i'd probably always have it on my person.

Plus when i'm listening to my ipod I don't need all 40 gigs at once, so its just as easy to drop in a new playlist to the 2gig before I leave the house.

Props to the avatar.

THE MIRACLE OF 3D!

 

[cybamerc]

I recently got a 1 GB Creative Muvo V200. HDD based MP3 players offer good value for money but they are bulky and heavy. I think a flash based iPod will be a big hit for Apple.

 

[Kola]

what are you smoking?
1gbyte is enough for a lot of people
i don't understand the point of carying 20gig of mp3's around

My thoughts exactly. At least the first two months after I bought my 15gig 3rd Gen iPod. Now I'm sitting here, realizing that 15gigs are not enough. Everytime I add a new album I have to delete a former one, and that sucks big time. Should have bought at least a 20gig one...

1GB isn't even enough for my "Morrissey" collection. To tell the truth, I couldn't even put half of my "The Clash" songs on it. I don't want to select some good songs and leave it at that. My whole MP3 collection is needed, wherever I may be. period

 

[GXAlan]

Next release of PalmOS will definitely be on Linux. Palm has already announced this officially.

Yeah, it's too bad they didn't stick with their BeOS plan. Undeniably the single best operating system ever developed. There is a story of someone running BeOS on a BeBox where the system seemed to be running slower than usual. No one could figure out why, but then they realized that the OS was no longer sending jobs to the second CPU. Turns out that one of the CPU fans on the PowerPC failed. The PowerPC CPU got so hot that it desoldered itself from the socket.

That's good engineering.

 

[Ignatz Mouse]

I totally understand that some people are happy with a few G of music. Personally, I am willing to ay a premium (and carry something larger) to have most of my collection with me, and to almost never need to swap stuff around on my computer. Shuffle-all alone is a great way to revist sometimes-forgotten parts of my collection.

 

[aoi tsuki]

It's an individual thing really. i can see the definte appeal having 40GB of music storage with you at all times, though that wouldn't be enough for me, even compressed. But the only time i listen to portable music is when i'm a)at Walmart and i need to forget where i am, or b)in the car, which is usually for 30 minutes or less. A 1GB Memory Stick (only about 700MB is used for music) in my PDA is fine for me.

Next release of PalmOS will definitely be on Linux. Palm has already announced this officially. PocketPC (or Windows Mobile as it is now known) is getting a LOT of OEM wins of late and while the volume of smart phones and the like is still much moreso on the PalmOS side, that is going to change soon unless Palm can bring the OS up to par. Its funny that *nix is saving so many projects/products these days - PalmOS, OSX, Netware, etc.

i'm happy with my current Palm OS PDA, a Clie UX-50, but i'm waiting to see what Linux brings Palm before i jump ship to Windows Mobile. It's funny how the Treo owns the smartphone market, but the PDA market is mostly Windows Mobile. The Treo seemed to get everything right with a smartphone, much like the iPod. And again, like the iPod, it's not necessarily the most functional. i just wish Sony would release PDAs here again -- the UX-50 is so ideal for me. It's got all the specs and technology (save the processor) that demand attention -- a 480x320 screen, WiFi, Bluetooth, a camera, keyboard, and ~29MB of onboard memory. The keyboard is the best i've ever used on a PDA, and if they released another in the series, Palm OS or Windows Mobile, i'd almost gauranteed buy it in a heartbeat.

 

[scorcho]

this blurb was on MacOSRumors, which i trust above all other rumor sites -

http://www.macosrumors.com/20050107A.php

We are following a rapidly developing story that was already making the rounds on the grapevine but didn't cross our radar as credible until this evening....

Between 15-minute email checking intervals, almost 100 of you wrote in to tell us about a television interview this evening in which the famous actress and pop musician Lindsay Lohan talked about having recently cut an advertisement for Apple's new "iPod Radio."

We won't even get into the angle about how Apple can't possibly hope to keep things under excruciatingly tight security when so many different people are involved in things like producing celebrity advertising.

In the current environment of Apple lawsuits against rumor sites, that should go without saying.

It's possible that this was an intentional leak, or that Ms. Lohan mis-spoke.

But since the leak broke this evening, several sources have come forward to say there's no point in sitting on a story that is now in the wild....

Expect considerably more information about this rumor over the coming weekend; right now, based on the recon that's crossing our inboxes we would have to say that a seemingly very credible picture is emerging.

To date, the mainstream emphasis on this third iPod variant was about its Flash memory storage and very small enclosure. But some combination of Airport Express wireless connectivity and/or an AM-FM radio tuner with from-air recording capability to the Flash drive seems to be the real kick for this impressive new iPod if the rumors prove true.

if it is sized at a gig and under $150 i think i might bite, hard, but it's nothing we haven't seen in other players at all.

 

[Shinobi]

Sure hope it includes AM, which every other goddamn MP3 player to date has refused to include for some stupid reason.

 

[Pellham]

$149 for a 1 gig flash mp3 player? Screw that.
It may load mp3s faster and it may be really small, but the price is totally unjustified, especially since you can get 1 gig flash keychains for $40-$50.

 

[Timbuktu]

huh? It's a mp3 player not a keychain, right now iRiver iFP 799T 1 GB is retailing for $250, Sandisk is going for $200. So $149 would be a very reasonable price IMO.

 

[nitewulf]

watch this while listening to "sliding feat. general santana" by Dzihan and Kamien. mesmerizing.

 

[ChumsGum]

Apple's Ipods are getting out of control. Everyone and their grandmother has got one at the gym. It's getting to the point where if you don't have an Ipod you might as well not take your mp3 player out of your pocket because it's almost an embarrassment that it's not an Ipod.

 

[The Faceless Master]

$149 for a 1 gig flash mp3 player? Screw that.
It may load mp3s faster and it may be really small, but the price is totally unjustified, especially since you can get 1 gig flash keychains for $40-$50.

i was thinking $150 would be a godsend, considering the current price of the iriver ifp-799... i want it, but not foir $220, and can only pray apple makes their move and forces iriver's hand...

i'm not even considering the apple even if it can match the iriver featurewise, but i want it for the sake of competition...

 

[Shinobi]

I could pick up a Lyra 1.5 gig player (including FM radio and file storage) for $149 Canadian tomorrow. Of course it's a refurbished model, but still...

 

[GG-Duo]

Knowing Apple, it's not going to be $150.

 

[tedtropy]

watch this while listening to "sliding feat. general santana" by Dzihan and Kamien. mesmerizing.

I designed it to synchronize with music. Tell me I didn't!

 

[Dilbert]

Are there any current rumors about 5G iPod announcements for next week's show?

 

[GG-Duo]

Are there any current rumors about 5G iPod announcements for next week's show?

Nope. I hope there is, since I just sold my iRiver.
However, if you take a look at how long it is between each iPod generation, I wouldn't expect an announcement until Summer or Fall of 05.

But then again, they could do something with that Photo line. Maybe make that the standard for 4G? That would be cool.

 

[GG-Duo]

"Life is Random."

iPod Flash has no screen? :lol
source: macrumors.

 

[Manics]

"Life is Random."

iPod Flash has no screen? :lol

source: macrumors.

That's an old rumour. They mentioned that way before Christmas when the first rumours of a flash-based iPod came out.

 

[GG-Duo]

That's an old rumour. They mentioned that way before Christmas when the first rumours of a flash-based iPod came out.

Right, but I never thought the crazy bastards would actually do it.

 

[Manics]

Right, but I never thought the crazy bastards would actually do it.

I think rumours hit a boiling point right before the annoucement is made...have to wait one more day to officially find out what it's all about. I still can't believe it won't have a screen -- who the hell would want that?

 

[xsarien]

I think rumours hit a boiling point right before the annoucement is made...have to wait one more day to officially find out what it's all about. I still can't believe it won't have a screen -- who the hell would want that?

Knowing Apple, they'll have a slick enough ad campaign where people will be convinced that a small, Flash-based iPod that only plays on "shuffle" will be the next big thing. I at least hope there's an inline remote with a screen, if, for no other reason, you can at least glance down and see what's playing.

I think I'll wait for the next "real" iPod to come out. 5G, or maybe even 5.5G. My 3G is still going strong, but Li-Ion batteries don't last forever.