[michaelb]

Just been watching the videos over on www.apple.com/iphone/ipod/ and the Multi-touch screen and corresponding user interface is clearly awesome.

It's a fair assumption that the 6G iPod will get it, so the question is when.

My predicted specs for the 6G iPod:

• 100GB drive
• Multi-touch 3.5" screen
• 480x360 resolution (160 ppi)
• Wi-Fi (802.11b/g)
• Announced at Apple "special event" in late Feb or March.

I'm also going to guess that at the special event the following will be announced:

• iTunes Store addition: buy songs over Wi-Fi for your 6G iPod
• iPod Hi-Fi 2.0
• The Mac products we didn't get today (but that's for another forum)
• One more thing...

Or I could be totally off base and they could keep the 6G iPod until the iPhone is shipping so as not to take potential sales from it. I don't think so though, as they are distinct products (and have their own tabs on the Apple site).

I'm hoping it isn't far away. I'd really like the hand in this picture to be my hand scrolling through the album art to choose a song to play on my new iPod.

[oic]

I hope this comes to pass as well. My reaction to today's iPhone keynote was generally "Where's the one that is just an ipod with wifi for net stuff with a fat hard drive? THAT's the one I want. Cingular can choke on a pretzel"

PleaseOpleaseOpleaseOplease

[Visnaut]

I think it'll be a while before we see a 6G iPod inherit the wide/touch-screen technology. Let's examine what features this iPod would require:

• Full multi-touch capability - same screen as iPhone
• Touch interaction controls
• Animated transitions
• Cover Flow
• Photo Browsing

All of these features require the same hardware (touch-screen, processor[s]) and software (OS X mini, Core Animation) as an iPhone, sans the wireless connectivity, or possibly just wifi. Add all of that up, and you pretty much have the iPhone hardware specs. And we all know how expensive that is right now, even with subsidized 2-year plans.

Therefore, I think the tech required for this dream iPod is still too expensive, and thus, still far from being implemented into a 6G iPod.

I'm sure that once component costs come down and it becomes economically viable for Apple to produce one, they will. Probably right before a 2G iPhone comes out. I'm sure they would like nothing more than to definitively beat competitors with such a superior product... until they find a way to copy it without infringing the patents...

[erniesthings]

I expect to see the 6G iPod with the touch screen, but with the menus and graphics being much the way they are now.

Apple wants us to carry anything we can get from the iTunes store around with us. The iPhone is basically a fancier 6G iPod.

Apple won't be adding any new functions to the iPod. Mucic, photos and movies. I'm not expecting any fancy animated menus or running any "Mini OS X" or anything like that. To keep the price at about what they are now, Apple can't go crazy with features.

I think most everyone would be more than satisfied with the 6G having a full size, wide format screen with touch controls.

[GORDYmac]

The issue with that is that iPhone runs OSX, and what they refer to as 'iPod' on the iPhone is more likely a mobile version of iTunes. So, as I said somewhere else, while the iPod has different architecture, the bar has definitely been raised for the new one.

Maybe 6G run OSX too. Hell, maybe it'll be iPhone minus the phone/communicator features. That would be SWEET!

[Bunit]

I think what we saw yesterday is what the next iPod will be or at least the next bit iPod jump will be. If this phone is a hit it'll make the next iPod come quicker I think since that means they'll sell more making the technology cheeper. The next iPod could be pretty sweet and blow the Zune away very quickly.

[GoDucks]

I agree with you 100%. I want a 6G iPod that's identical to the iPhone in every way except no phone functionality. I think it would be huge becasue it would appeal to, among others, the following users:

(1) People who for one reason or another don't want to switch to Cingular. Perhaps they are locked into a plan with another carrier or simply don't get reliable service in their area.

(2) People who have a corporate issued BlackBerry device who don't need a second phone number and who must retain their BlackBerry for work related reasons.

(3) People who want to purchase NOW. No mobile should mean no FCC approval (or a much faster approval process.)

(4) An immediate international audience. No separate carrier agreements means that Apple could sell these internationally as quickly as they could make them.

I posted a similar article on my blog earlier today.

http://torants.blogspot.com/2007/01/...nus-phone.html

[michaelb]

Originally Posted by erniesthings 

I expect to see the 6G iPod with the touch screen, but with the menus and graphics being much the way they are now. [...] I'm not expecting any fancy animated menus or running any "Mini OS X" or anything like that. To keep the price at about what they are now, Apple can't go crazy with features.

The thing is though, to support the Multi-Touch display, it has to.

If you watch some of the videos showing Jobs at the keynote, Phil Schiller demoing the unit to CBS and Apple's Greg Joswiak doing another demo, when they are scrolling with their finger, there's some fast processing going on in there. The screen has to update very quickly to respond and the OS has to interpret finger positions correctly and redraw the screen in real time.

That's simply not going to be possible without a similar processor and kernel to run on it, so if the 6G iPod gets Multi-Touch at all, it follows that it has to get this interface.

As for price vs features, that's a good argument, but there are a couple of points for it being possible:

- The screen is essentially a slightly more pixel dense PSP screen (PSP = 4" @ 480x272 vs iPhone/6G iPod 3.5" @ 480x360).

- The PSP also has graphics hardware that can render killer animated graphics with ease. The PSP is selling real cheap now, so if Sony can do it, Apple can.

- The Multi-Touch membrane is probably some sort of conductive material like the solid state clickwheel. The R&D would certainly have cost a lot to develop, but the actual manufacture of it is probably relatively cheap.

- Zune has Wi-Fi. Apple really should have Wi-Fi on the 6G iPod otherwise the Microsoft fanboys really do have something to crow about. I know that on the Zune it's practically useless, but there will be a lot more 6G iPods users to "squirt" to. (On second thoughts, maybe it shouldn't have Wi-Fi!)

- Zune already has a flashier interface than the 5G iPod. The 6G iPod has to have something that blows it away. iPhone's does. Why would Apple work on yet another interface when all they have to do is put this one in the 6G iPod.


Maybe you're right though, and the clickwheel will be around for some time to come. It certainly will be for the nano.

[erniesthings]

Originally Posted by michaelb 

The thing is though, to support the Multi-Touch display, it has to.

- The PSP also has graphics hardware that can render killer animated graphics with ease. The PSP is selling real cheap now, so if Sony can do it, Apple can.

- The Multi-Touch membrane is probably some sort of conductive material like the solid state clickwheel. The R&D would certainly have cost a lot to develop, but the actual manufacture of it is probably relatively cheap.

- Zune has Wi-Fi. Apple really should have Wi-Fi on the 6G iPod otherwise the Microsoft fanboys really do have something to crow about. I know that on the Zune it's practically useless...

- Zune already has a flashier interface than the 5G iPod. The 6G iPod has to have something that blows it away. iPhone's does. Why would Apple work on yet another interface when all they have to do is put this one in the 6G iPod.

Does the PSP have separate graphics hardware? I'm not looking for Apple to add too much mroe processing power to the iPod. I think all the graphics power is there already, being able to play large video file smoothly.

I'm betting on Wi-Fi, but done right. Easy syncing and recognition by iTunes, ala Apple TV.

You're right on the flashier graphics. W/O the cell and HTML software needed the interface will get a nice over haul.