Friday 11 November 2011

Capabilities of the new iPod video

By Zack Sides


The capabilities of the new iPod video continue the developing process of the old capabilities - software, hardware and compatibility with other devices.

Concerning the software, it is well-known that the iPod in general and the iPod video in particular play MP3, audible audio book, WAV, M4A/AAC, protected AAC, AIFF and Apple Lossless audio file formats. Since the 5th generation iPods there is another possibility of playing m4v and mp4 MPEG-4 video file formats. Only non copy-protected WMA files may be copied to an iPod. Other formats are not possible to be played by the iPod and this is the case of FLAC and Ogg Vorbis formats.

The long life of the battery of the new iPod video is impressive so that the 30 GB has 14-15 hours of music listening. The 60 GB has almost 20 hours of music audition. Unfortunately, this great news has another aspect that concerns the life of the battery in case of video playing. The battery life while video playing is only 2 hours so that long movies or other longer shows are not possible to be watched because of this impediment. Some customers suggest that the life battery would be longer taking into account its huge memory and probably these complaints will be taken into account while creating new generations of iPods.

The dimensions of the new iPod video are great, but there is no way you may watch it with more than several persons. Anyway, it was designed for personal not collective needs and you may still share your photo album and music or video music preferences with one person. The flat screen is large enough to enjoy your favorite videos.

Concerning the hardware of the iPods one may say that the first generation iPods were recharged only through FireWire with the help of a small power adapter. The 4th generation iPods may have been charged over USB. The 5th generation iPod may be charged with the help of a dock connector allowing the FireWire cable to be plugged in for the recharge. Compatibility of the iPods with Windows is the idea of Apple, realized in 2002, fact that contributed to the creation of a Windows version of iTunes in 2003. The iPods could be made to be compatible with a Macintosh and there is also an iPodLinux project.

Some additional features may be mentioned while speaking about the iPods in general and iPod video in particular. The iPods can display text files, fact which is very useful. There are also PDA calendars, some games that were interesting several years ago but they seem outdated nowadays. The games available on almost every iPod except the iPod shuffle are brick, parachute, solitaire, music quiz. The most interesting game is the music quiz, playing some fragments of some songs and waiting the user to identify the song from a list. The disadvantage of this game is that it uses a lot of battery power.

All these capabilities seem to be improved in the case of the new iPod video except the creation of other games or the introduction of new ones. This may be seen as a disadvantage, but if taking into account the fact that it is a case of a portable music player this aspect does not have such a great importance.

Some critics point out the fact that the design and the features of the new iPod video may be seen from different perspectives. Therefore, the complaints and the satisfaction may be contradictory. These aspects may be seen from a movie lover perspective, an audiophile or photographer or even from a simple consumer with no great expectations. That is why you may find musician's reviews or video addicted reviews that are in contradiction. You may decide in which category you may be situated for deciding if the new iPod video is worth the money or not.

Although it is not the first attempt of bringing video on a portable handheld device, this achievement seems to be the most successful. This success is due to a lot of required work and complicated changes in the software and hardware as well. In a way or another, Apple seems to be the champion in creating special portable devices and maybe some other steps will be taken in the development of the small video portable devices. In this way, maybe a special compatibility with more devices may be developed, ensuring other periods of great success. Other online stores may appear and develop in the tradition of the iTunes music store. Due to iPod video from the Apple Company legal content of the downloaded and paid music or TV shows, episodes or other materials is ensured.




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