Yeah, but what about the 5G iPods?

[texanpenguin]

Okay, okay, so MacOSX.com was wrong again - there's no colour screen, it doesn't sync with iPhoto, and there's not even the remotest chance you could make it play QuickTime movies. But looking ahead, what features would you LIKE on a NEW new iPod? A fifth-generation iPod, that is?

Was the colour screen thing something people wanted? Or just what they expected? What do YOU want your iPod to do?


Personally, I'm thinking I'd like, when it's economical cost-wise, to see a Video-out port that can play images, videos and music visualisations on a TV. I'm not particularly fussed if there's a new screen that can show the same things on the actual display, that's not particularly important to me, I couldn't happily look at photos at 160*128px anyway - but if you could view them through a TV, that's something people might use. Heck, if they were short on features, they could allow us to use the buttons on the remote to control the games, and have them on the TV too :P. But that might be stretching it a bit far.

A great number of in-dash car stereos have simple visualisation effects in monochrome, which MIGHT work OK on an iPod, but could lead people to thinking their iPod was a great deal inferior technically to their computer (even their Windows computer) which can easily play iTunes Visualisations properly.


In the end, a lot of what people like with the iPod is that it doesn't try and cram every stupid feature into it, like Sony did with the Clié, making it enormous and utterly unusable. Any additions to the iPod would have to respect its purpose in life, and that's to play music - the iPod is supposed to be sitting in your pocket and playing music, occasionally filling your downtime with Solitairey goodness (which is sadly lacking on the actual Apple OS but that's another story). I think it's a reasonable thing to ask that it be a repository for your iPhoto collection too, for viewing on a TV, in an interface like the one on Mac.com - people with iMacs for computing could keep their photos on the iPod and take them to a friend's house for showing them holiday snaps, ON A SCREEN. 160x128 is just too small a res to sit around and look at photos or movies.


I'm still up for a power-user line in the handhelds by Apple. NOT a PDA, but just a nice brushed metal PowerPod which could have a bigger res, perhaps a colour screen inbuilt, some sort of bluetooth or WiFi connectivity, so it could control your PowerBook during a keynote or something, with a trackpad perhaps, instead of a scrollwheel. I don't know :P.


What would you like? Not expect, not think they'll make but wouldn't use, what do you WANT them to give you?



Note this is even more out-there than speculation - it's just brainstorming for ideas. I'm curious.

If this is in the wrong forum, please move it appropriately.

[lnoelstorr]

Originally Posted by texanpenguin

Personally, I'm thinking I'd like, when it's economical cost-wise, to see a Video-out port that can play images, videos and music visualisations on a TV. I'm not particularly fussed if there's a new screen that can show the same things on the actual display, that's not particularly important to me, I couldn't happily look at photos at 160*128px anyway - but if you could view them through a TV, that's something people might use.

I've thought that would be a good feature too.

My digital camera has a standard 3.5mm jack that I can plug a video cable into. It would be good if the same thing could be done with an iPod. (I've actually considered trying to record the output from my digital camera through this jack as a sound file and then copying it to my iPod and playing it back through the cable connected to my TV - I really doubt it would be that simple though).


I'd also like to see smart playlists on the iPod!

[dracolich]

Only reasons I would buy a PowerPod:

Screen: TFT LCD 16:9 widescreen, 480 x 272 pixel.

Connectors: FireWire, 802.11 b wireless LAN (Wi-Fi).

UMD (Universal Media Disc) compatibility, PSP compatibility.

[hmurchison]

When considering video features we have to realize that Audio processing is a piece of cake compared to even the simplest of video takes much more horsepower. We're going to need another generation of iPod processing power increase before video can be tackled.

[lnoelstorr]

Surely the processors in cheap digital cameras can't be that much more advanced than that of an iPod - yet these are able to output images and video.

[ElDiabloConCaca]

Originally Posted by dracolich

PSP compatibility.

I hightly doubt that any device, other than the PSP, will be compatible with the PSP.

That's like hoping for a GameBoy-compatible device or an XBox-compatible device -- they don't exist.

[Quicksilver]

I want it to be a device that is linked to the whole digital Hub/Life thing eg:

computer = User = iPod

Computer | The computer is a central standpoint device for manipulation such as editing a photo, cuting a video clip or listening to music, etc.

User | The user is YOU the person activating/controling the devices.

The iPod is at the oposite end of the computer it is used in conjunction with your lifestyle. at the gym, family/friend events, creativity, and experimental.

So to have a seemless link between all parties i would like to see the following:

Camera for stills/video
picture previewing
audio/sound recording (already done)
SMS/MMS Communication (mabey not phone but could be cool)
wireless syncing (using home anywhere for net cafes, but syncs with my own mac for music/iTunes, etc)
.mac syncing(works with .mac for calendar, email, iTunes music authorisation, and iDisk. will help .mac sales!)
More games(Mabey a Limited SDK for certian module development such as games)

Mate, I have a huge list of things like that

About the colour screen thing mabey it was posponed after all, but it will most probably happen one day. Personally in my opinion this new ipod is the ugliest, i dont like the grey wheel thingy damn i was so close to buying the last one and now you can't get them, looks like ill be waiting longer

[callieX]

I think having wifi built in would be a good feature. I think some of the problem with some of the advanced features is it would add cost and battery drain. A color screen doing video would eat a battery besides adding to the cost. I am not even sure if wifi is cost effective.

I think they would have to come up with a top of the line version with those features so the people who want to pay for it could get it. I think the reason they only have two models and dropped the 60G version and lowered the price is to try to maintain market share. Especially since Sony, Dell , etc. are trying to compete with them.