DailyTech - Wireless iPods Could Be On The Way

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Gadgets Wireless iPods Could Be On The Way
Brandon Hill (Blog) - February 12, 2006 10:10 AM

9 comment(s) - last by littlebitstrou.. on Feb 13 at 9:16 AM

ProPortal announces single-chip Bluetooth/WiFi solution for portable media players

A recent announcement by chip maker PortalPlayer has speculation running rampant that Apple could soon announce iPods with integrated Bluetooth and WiFi support. PortalPlayer currently makes multimedia processors for the iPod and has signed on with CSR to use their UniFi-1 chip in portable media players. CSR's UniFi-1 is a low-power, single-chip solution providing 802.11a/b/g support and Bluetooth v2.0 compatibility. The iPod wasn't specifically mentioned in the announcement, but since Apple gets roughly 95% of PortalPlayer's business, you do the math.

Native Bluetooth support would give iPods the ability to use Bluetooth headphones without the use of an add-on dongle as seen with the Logitech Bluetooth Headphones. WiFi support would allow users to wirelessly sync with iTunes, stream music and video content from PCs or the Internet and open up new opportunities for customers to purchase music and video content on the go from virtually any hotspot.

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Hmmm...

By Enoch2001 on 2/12/2006 11:25:07 AM , Rating: 2

Food for thought. I love my Slim Devices Squeezebox for my network music player but not being able to play iTunes-purchased (read: DRM) tracks without ripping them to a CD and encoding them in FLAC or other format is a pain in the arse.

This could be intereting... or not.

SQUEEZEBOX => http://www.slimdevices.com/index.html

RE: Hmmm...

By tuteja1986 on 2/12/2006 12:13:52 PM , Rating: 2

I would like the next ipod to have :
5" widescreen touch screen
Wifi support
better battery life
30GB + storage
price of $299

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RE: Hmmm...

By BillyBatson on 2/12/2006 9:30:06 PM , Rating: 2

might be asking a little too much for that price. yes the price for screens have come down but 5" wide while being touch will add to cost. Wifi+BT added cost, umm battery life now i think is very good but ok better battery added cost. I would say an ipod like that would debut at $499 or up

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don't care

By Eomer of Aldburg on 2/12/2006 2:14:24 PM , Rating: 2

I really don't care about the new ipod wireless features. I'm vey happy with my 60Gb black video one. I want the whole ipod to be touch screen and 80GB with wirless internet that supports MP3,WMA, Xvid,divx, compress dvd's of 4.5GB and a resolution of 720x480.

RE: don't care

By ksherman on 2/12/2006 5:54:24 PM , Rating: 2

um, read what you just wrote... with in your post you said you dont care for wireless, but then said you wanted it to have wireless internet...

anywho, the possible up and comming ipods are sure to be amazing, just like their previous ones

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RE: don't care

By android1st on 2/13/2006 1:01:40 AM , Rating: 2

Yes, I'm sure the next generation iPods will break new ground in the exciting fields of user interface and industrial design.

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battery life...

By chizzle on 2/13/2006 1:03:02 AM , Rating: 2

With Bluetooth and wireless capabilities, how much more would it tax the battery life of iPods?

RE: battery life...

By littlebitstrouds on 2/13/2006 9:16:14 AM , Rating: 2

I imagine it will be just like with my palm... You can turn it off for everyday use to save on battery time, but when you sync it you turn just turn it on in some menu.

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