Well, I was wrong – Apple announced the long-awaited video iPod. I ordered a black 30gb today, and it should be here soon. I’m glad I waited instead of buying the iPod Nano. I will report back when I have it in hand.
Questions which remain unanswered:
- Will it play DivX/XviD files as-is, or will they have to be converted? Specs say it plays MPEG-4 (DivX and XviD are MPEG-4 encoders), so I think it will. And it seems silly; the original iPod played existing MP3 files, so I don’t see why this should be any different.
- Will it play video larger than 320×240? Probably. I’d hate to have to reencode everything to 320×240. And it’s a pretty bad resolution for viewing with TV out.
- Will it play video smaller than 320×240? I.e. widescreen video at 320×173.
- Will it have issues with QPEL and/or GMC-encoded files? Hate to see that happen. I hope it just works.
⚛
Discussion