Robert Cringley's column this week decodes the the Apple-Intel deal a bit more and suggests how it might lead to the "iTunes Movie Store"

http://www.pbs.org/cringely/pulpit/pulpit20050714.html

Why is this stuff worth paying attention to?

Think about what Apple has done with iTunes. The latest version of the program provides support for podcasting and Apple has allowed anyone with a podcast feed to submit a link to the Music Store. The Music Store presents these links on a more or less equal footing with all the commercial podcast content Apple provides. This is a trivial thing for Apple to do because all Apple is doing is providing a search mechanism and link to material hosted on other peoples' servers.

Now imagine an iTunes Movie Store. What if Apple does the same thing with links to video content that it has done with podcast content?

Apple would make it a snap for anyone with the disk and server space to provide links to film/video content (for burning to DVD for an audience that now prefers to stay home to watch movies) on an equal footing, more or less, with major studios. This would obliterate one of the greatest hurdles that independent producers face: distribution. Apple will of course take a cut for content sold through the movie store for a fee, but that cost is an issue that pales in comparsion with distribution as it stands now.

Such a move by Apple would revolutionize the business and create great opportunities for independent video and film producers.

Will Apple do what I am suggesting? The fact is iTunes already supports video podcast content (for an example search for "Rocketboom" from the main podcast page).

That's why this story is worth following closely.

From today's news:

http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/050718/apple_ipod.html?.v=2

Negotiations are an indication that Apple is moving to release a device that plays video files, possibly by September, The (Wall Street) Journal said. Analysts see the development as likely because of Apple's strength in video software

Sounds good...but I don't think we have fast enough connections and bandwith to download a 4-8 gigs worth of data that a full length movie is made up of.
[I know my DSL isn't fast enough]

I rather see Apple come out with a $199.00 Apple branded DVD player that plays h.264 files in full HD[recorded on regular old DVD-Rs]

That is the missing piece right now...why wait till HD-DVD/Blu-Ray, when you can have HD now?

Now Forbes is also speculating about a video iPod. This story got "legs" in a Wall Street Journal article the other day, and the WSJ was right about the Intel switch...

http://www.forbes.com/technology/2005/07/19/apple-music-videos-cx_daa_0719andelman.html

Some of the top music labels say they've been contacted by Apple about the prospects of selling music videos on iTunes—probably ahead of a fall debut of a color-screen Apple full-motion video iPod.

Yes this is very interesting and getting more so.

BTW, Boyd, I took a look at the operaphilly and greenmist web sites. You all do nice work. Long time ago I was very involved in technical theatre.

Thanks Peter! We are now facing some tough budget challenges unfortunately. But I'm putting together a new production of A Masked Ball that depends heavily on video projection. I'm learning to use the Catalyst media server (Mac/Quicktime based - just to stay on topic :-) which lets you automate projections by networking with the stage lighting console. Cool stuff...

http://www.highend.com/products/digital_lighting/catalyst.asp

Here's a PC Magazine article about this issue put on the web about 5 hours ago:

http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,1895,1838668,00.asp

Why should podcasting be audio-related only? If Apple is successful in rolling out a video-enabled iPod (or rather vPod), then podcasting will truly mean broadcasting through an iPod or vPod.

I agree with Peter. This could very well open up new distribution possibilities for independent producers.

From business2.blogs.com

A report that Apple is in negotiations with Disney to use Disney content on a iPod or vPod or whatever.

http://business2.blogs.com/business2blog/2005/07/scoop_disney_co.html

I wonder if a new Disney-Pixar deal might be part of this. Jobs also still CEO of Pixar.

This is an interesting story. Steve Jobs and Disney back together. Perhaps Jobs sees new opportunities with the newly appointed CEO-to-be Bob Iger.

Here is a "picture" of the video iPod (http://gigaom.com/2005/07/18/apple-will-do-a-video-ipod/)

I assume the photo is a fake, but it has some interesting design features. Note the 16:9 screen and what looks like a lens for a camera on the back side.

If Apple adds cellphone capabilities, then it could become an all-in-one device.

The screen size, while not large enough to make feature films watchable (not too mention download times for that option), is large enough to enjoy movie shorts.

Who knows, maybe DVC #4 will be available on vPods?

All Apple has to do is check out Sony's PSP and make something similar with 100% Quicktime Compatibility and they'd have a winner.
vPod, VideoPod, MediaPod?

Here's more on the video capabilities of a possible new iPod from an Apple source:

http://www.appleinsider.com/article.php?id=454

The jist is that it may plug into a TV via a new dock to show video on TV.

And here's a contrarian view from BusinessWeek which suggests Apple won't be rolling out a video iPod...

http://yahoo.businessweek.com/technology/content/jul2005/tc20050727_0483_tc120.htm
While some expect the company to unveil a revolutionary new kind of iPod, designed specifically for playing video, chances are the company will simply fold some video capabilities into all future iPods. That means no separate product name -- and no big advertising blitz

Arstechnica (http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20050727-5141.html) posts an unverified rumor about the possible brains behind an upcoming Video iPod.

According to the site, "Sharp sales reps are bragging to potential customers that Apple will be using the Sharp LH7A400 SOC (system on a chip) in the initial version of the video iPod."

The chip specs ("http://www.macrumors.com/c.php?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.sharpsma.com%2Fproductgroup.php%3FProductGroupID%3D53) are posted and provide enough processing power to decode MPEG4 as shown in demonstration hardware.

Arstechnica(link) (http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20050727-5141.html) posts an unverified rumor about the possible brains behind an upcoming Video iPod.

According to the site, "Sharp sales reps are bragging to potential customers that Apple will be using the Sharp LH7A400 SOC (system on a chip) in the initial version of the video iPod."

The chip specs (link) ("http://www.macrumors.com/c.php?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.sharpsma.com%2Fproductgroup.php%3FProductGroupID%3D53) are posted and provide enough processing power to decode MPEG4 as shown in demonstration hardware.

http://www.forbes.com/markets/2005/08/04/apple-ipod-mini-0804markets01.html
The research firm noted that a few products will not be seen this year, including a video iPod and a new Mac. "We do expect Apple to periodically bump up the speed of the existing Mac product line, but we would be very surprised to see any brand new Macs released into the market prior to the start of the Intel integration in mid-calendar 2006."

Here's a different perspective on the video iPod....

http://yahoo.businessweek.com/technology/content/sep2005/tc20050915_4709_tc056.htm

A video-ready iPod won't be about watching movies on the go. Laptop computers and portable DVD players already have that niche wrapped up pretty well. But the iPod could easily morph into a video-storage platform that connects to a TV set.

That link is broken, unfortunately.

That's odd, it still works for me. Is this any better?

http://www.businessweek.com/technology/content/sep2005/tc20050915_4709_tc056.htm

Here's another article that puts an interesting perspective on the whole topic of portable video players:

http://biz.yahoo.com/bizwk/050923/b3953041.html?.v=1

Trouble is, Apple's rivals in the digital music market were singing the same rosy tune before the iPod demolished them. In 2002, Creative's Nomad products and Diamond Multimedia Inc.'s Rio-branded digital music players were the industry leaders, battling over which company had the better technology. Apple jumped onto the scene, boosting the sleepy market from 1.8 million units sold in 2001 to nearly 30 million this year. It quickly won 85% of the still-growing market by combining great hardware and software that made music downloads a snap with a multimillion-dollar marketing campaign that convinced consumers that the iPod was the coolest thing since the Sony Walkman.

The Apple Blog and other sources are reporting on the possible introduction of a video iPod on the 12th

http://www.theappleblog.com/

There are also more rumors of an airport express-like device that would allow the streaming of video

http://www.macrumors.com/