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New iPod Shuffle virtually confirmed


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New iPod Shuffle virtually confirmed
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Brave Ulysses
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2005-12-17, 17:41

It seems Apple is no longer selling the 1GB model. A note on the store page says they are out of stock for the holidays and will return in mid January.

Seems a little strange, but I guess similar things have happened before with Apple.

It'll be interesting to see what path they take with the next iPod Shuffle. Will they kill it like they did with the mini and replace it with something different? Or will it just be the usual evolution of smaller, nicer, cheaper, and more capacity.

As it is now, I can't really see how they could make it more enticing without adding a screen. It does what it does well and is small.
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Windowsrookie
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2005-12-17, 18:03

or, their just having a shortage and are consentrating on producing the more expensive ipods.
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Brave Ulysses
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2005-12-17, 18:07

i would hope Apple's production and supply lines are "sophisticated" enough that producing a product using completely different chips does not effect the production of another.

Seems to me they went through their order of 1GB flash ram and will not be using it in a month so have not reordered.
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rasmits
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2005-12-17, 18:12

I figured it was so they could say, "We're out of the 1 gig Shuffle, but for just a little more, you have this Nano!"
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Roland
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2005-12-17, 22:01

the shuffle is obviously going to be upgrated. just doesn't fit with the other two anymore. I'll guess we're going to see an ultra small glossy one..... in black and white auf course
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drewprops
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2005-12-17, 23:42

I'm guessing they'll pony up with a 2-line display this time... take the shuffle out of the shuffle.
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atomicbartbeans
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2005-12-17, 23:59

I hope it'll be one of these, but called "shuffle".
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drewprops
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2005-12-18, 09:09

Not a bad mockup... but the tilt wheel on the end should do more. I have a Sony minidisc player in my old car that had a control stalk you could install that had a twist-control at the end. The twist-control has a button in the center and it can be pushed (or is that pulled?) as well, giving you additional controls with the same button. I daresay all of the controls of a small MP3 player could be incorporated into that one button.

Steve Jobs ate my cat's watermelon.
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Koodari
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2005-12-18, 12:08

Cool mockup. I'd definitely appreciate hardiness in a portable music player instead of ever-thinner, fragile stick / card shaped cases that seem designed to break. Oval cross-section is best, since it is almost as durable as a perfectly round one, but sits a little better both in the hand and in pocket, and accommodates the display better.

The people at Sony seem to agree:


My #1 feature request is ability to record. iRiver would have that now in a quality product, but $200 for 1GB is a bit dear for my taste. A special model shuffle with record would be awesome.
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MacGregor
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2005-12-18, 14:20

I don't like the cylinder much and of course Apple eliminated the "remote control" slot...a big mistake in my opinion. Why cripple accessory makers just for aesthetics or slimmness?

I would like to see the oval design and metallic colors with one line of text. I like the red scandisks of last year.

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Baylor8306
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2005-12-18, 17:00

Quote:
Why cripple accessory makers just for aesthetics or slimmness?
I do not believe that the number one goal of Apple is to create a huge third-party iPod accessory market (even though that is what has happened. Their goal is to make the best product possible while at the same time increasing shareholder wealth (the goal of any company). Remember when Apple stopped including the remote in their packaging and only sold it in the store? That was to save on costs so that they could continue to innovate. If the remote had actually sold in the store, I'm sure they would have continued to include the remote slot. However, I know that with my iPod I said, "wow neat, an inline remote" plugged it in to test it and then tossed it aside never to be used again. The new iTrip by Griffin uses the dock connector which I think gives better quality sound. They are still alive and kicking right? Innovation forces innovation.

I say, continue to innovate and reduce the price and let accessory makers adapt. If Apple stagnates everyone else will too. We don't want to be like Microsoft do we?
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MacGregor
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2005-12-18, 23:21

Quote:
Originally Posted by Baylor8306
I do not believe that the number one goal of Apple is to create a huge third-party iPod accessory market (even though that is what has happened. Their goal is to make the best product possible while at the same time increasing shareholder wealth (the goal of any company). Remember when Apple stopped including the remote in their packaging and only sold it in the store? That was to save on costs so that they could continue to innovate. If the remote had actually sold in the store, I'm sure they would have continued to include the remote slot. However, I know that with my iPod I said, "wow neat, an inline remote" plugged it in to test it and then tossed it aside never to be used again. The new iTrip by Griffin uses the dock connector which I think gives better quality sound. They are still alive and kicking right? Innovation forces innovation.

I say, continue to innovate and reduce the price and let accessory makers adapt. If Apple stagnates everyone else will too. We don't want to be like Microsoft do we?
Well, ensuring a healthy 3-party market IS good for the Apple bottom line and the blessed shareholders ... obviously I have no stock And I'm sure the 20 cents they save on every iPod will really allow them to innovate more. I assume your correct about the sound quality, but how do you hook up a microphone? I guess it keeps the iPod Mini resale value high.

Regarding stagnation ... ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, I think losing FW support and the OPTION of the controller port is not innovation.

Can't wait to see the next iPod though.

The "Mother of All" Flip-flops.
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Brad
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2005-12-18, 23:28

Quote:
Originally Posted by MacGregor
Well, ensuring a healthy 3-party market IS good for the Apple bottom line
x2

Quote:
Originally Posted by MacGregor
I think losing FW support and the OPTION of the controller port is not innovation.
x10

Agreed and quoted for emphasis.
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Robo
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2005-12-19, 00:02

Does this news of a new iPod shuffle really surprise anyone?

I think the iPod shuffle will be about the same size, but a bit thinner (the iPod nano is thinner, for crying out loud). Shall we say about...3" x 1" x .25"? That would make it .75 cubic inches, which would be small enough to let it claim the title of "smallest digital audio player" (currently desputed between the MobiBLU cubes and that dang Joybee pendant).

It will probably be available in black, too.

Since it is thinner, it will lose the laser engraving option, which will cause many to wonder why Apple added it to the iPod shuffle so late in the game in the first place. The laser engraving probably wouldn't have been available on the black model, anyway.

As far as any major physical changes...the iPod nano proved we could see the metallic back on such a thin device (so maybe Apple could allow about five letters of engraving on the back after all!) but I'm not sure the iPod shuffle will get it. It'll still need the mode switch, after all. Well, unless it gets a screen.

Gaining capacity? It really can't without entering iPod nano territory - not that Apple wouldn't let that happen (or they could just update the iPod nano in February). But this brings us back to the quagmire of the iPod shuffle concept - it works best with a limited capacity player. Can you see an 8GB iPod shuffle?

I wouldn't be surprised at all to see the iPod shuffle get a massive overhaul into a new form factor, possibly with a new name. A gig of songs built into headphones? There's your iPod invisa.

and i guess i've known it all along / the truth is, you have to be soft to be strong
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Baylor8306
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2005-12-19, 10:39

Quote:
I think losing FW support and the OPTION of the controller port is not innovation.
Yes, it is some what awkward to leave a standard that Apple created; however, if there is another standard (USB 2.0) that has been diffused into society more rapidly then go for it. This doesn't start the death of Firewire because it is very much being implemented into other products. HANA just announed that it will be included as standard in DTV.

http://www.macsimumnews.com/index.php/archive/apples_firewire_gets_the_nod_from_new_high_definit ion_audio_video_network_a/

With taking out different portions of the iPod from one generation to the next it does save money for Apple. There are a lot of other things that go into the iPod besides just raw product costs. There has to be someone to write the program portion to run that hardware. There has to be a different PCB to accept that hardware. There has to be more support to fix that part if it goes bad. And there also has to be time to put that part into the iPod. If Apple reduces production time by just 1 second by eliminating an unneeded part that doesn't sound like much but let's do the math. 1 second x 5,000,000 iPods (per quarter) = 5,000,000 seconds divided by 60 seconds (per minute) divided by 60 minutes (per hour) divided by 24 hours (per day) = 57 days 20 hours 53 seconds. If I were a prodution company and I could shave two months off the time it takes to produce three months worth of sales I would definitely do it.
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Reid
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2005-12-19, 19:24

Why would making it thinner have any effect on their ability to offer laser engraving? That's just silly.

Adding a little OLED display like those Sony players would be nice, but I wouldn't count on it. I don't even really see a reason to make it smaller, except because they can. Just means another round of third-party accessories, and more confusion for people buying them. But, they'll probably do it anyway.

I think the biggest thing they could do to improve it is make it even cheaper. At $49 for 512MB, who wouldn't buy one?
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runner91786
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Join Date: Oct 2004
 
2005-12-19, 21:15

Yeah, why doesn't Apple want to lose margin on their product I mean gah. Why cant they just drop $50 on the price so that they lose hunreds of thousands of dollars??? $50? I mean c'mon, companies that use WAY more flash memory than Apple *cough*SANDISK*cough* sell flash drives for $59. You gotta be realistic
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Doxxic
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2005-12-20, 04:31



This thing looks so fucking georgeous, if it worked nicely with iTunes on a Mac, I'd buy three of them, eat one and use another on myself daily for erotic stimulation.

The least Apple could do is make the Shuffle a bit more glossy, as has been suggested in this thread before...

Last edited by Doxxic : 2005-12-20 at 04:37.
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Robo
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2005-12-20, 16:57

Quote:
Originally Posted by Reid
Why would making it thinner have any effect on their ability to offer laser engraving? That's just silly.
Er, you know the iPod shuffle's laser engraving is along the side, right? I'm sure they'd still be able to laser engrave a thinner iPod, but the text might be so small they might not want to bother. I mean, if the entire unit is, say, a quarter of an inch thick, the text would have to be pretty small.

And again, if they offer the iPod shuffle in black, how would you read the "engraved" text (it's not really engraved on the iPod shuffle, is it?) on the black plastic?

and i guess i've known it all along / the truth is, you have to be soft to be strong
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Robo
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2005-12-20, 16:58

Quote:
Originally Posted by Doxxic


This thing looks so fucking georgeous, if it worked nicely with iTunes on a Mac, I'd buy three of them, eat one and use another on myself daily for erotic stimulation.

The least Apple could do is make the Shuffle a bit more glossy, as has been suggested in this thread before...
No kidding. Sony's new MP3 players are nice. The Walkman Bean looks awesome...if only SonicStage didn't suck so much.
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chucker
 
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2005-12-20, 17:04

Quote:
Originally Posted by Roboman
And again, if they offer the iPod shuffle in black, how would you read the "engraved" text (it's not really engraved on the iPod shuffle, is it?) on the black plastic?
You fill the engraving with a different color?
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pkatzman
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2005-12-20, 17:35

Quote:
Originally Posted by chucker
You fill the engraving with a different color?
White?
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chucker
 
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2005-12-20, 17:40

Quote:
Originally Posted by djfusion
White?
...yes?
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evil_robot_ted
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2005-12-20, 20:38

I think the new shuffle will come before the end of January. The Sharper Image stopped selling them a month or two ago . . .
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italian soda
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2005-12-21, 03:01

'self hypnosis in process' No it wasn't a bad idea to get a iPod video, not at all! Cause the new shuffle WILL NOT be better in any way than the video.... no no no there's no way they will!!! 'self hypnosis continue...'

I really wish there's going to be something more impressive than a new shuffle though...iBook will do...or any kind of notebook
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copland
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2005-12-21, 07:55

Quote:
Originally Posted by chucker
You fill the engraving with a different color?
There exists black color that transforms to white when treated with a laser.
I don't know if it can fullfill the aesthetics, but it is common practice for marking black parts.

copland
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fteoath64
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2005-12-23, 23:29

That Sony BS looks like a dildo!. I am sure it would be popular with the ladies but the Nano is years ahead. OLED display ?. Gimme a break color LCD rules.
For recording. get the iRiver!.
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Windowsrookie
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2005-12-23, 23:39

Quote:
Originally Posted by fteoath64
OLED display ?. Gimme a break color LCD rules.
oled uses extremely less power. i would like to see a laptop with an oled display 10+ hours of battery life
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Robo
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2005-12-25, 20:08

Quote:
Originally Posted by fteoath64
That Sony BS looks like a dildo!. I am sure it would be popular with the ladies but the Nano is years ahead. OLED display ?. Gimme a break color LCD rules.
For recording. get the iRiver!.
I would hope the iPod nano would be years ahead. The "Sony BS" that you speak of (the Bean and the "Dildo") is competing with the iPod shuffle, which doesn't have a display at all.

I hate to say it, but in it's current state, it's hard to recommend the iPod shuffle...to anyone. It at least had above average capacity when it launched, but now you can get quite well-made players with equal capacities - and screens.

and i guess i've known it all along / the truth is, you have to be soft to be strong
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