Every sentence Steve Jobs gets on stage to foretell products , there ’s a flood of information . First , there ’s what Jobs says . Then , there ’s what the Apple pressure discharge say . And then there ’s all the selective information that Apple does n’t air right forth , but trickles out gradually in consultation and on its vane site .

It can be a bit overpowering . So we ’re undertake the most usual questions stemming from Apple’sOctober 12 press event , one product at a prison term . In other stories , you ’ll find answers to your burn up questions about new iMacs andiTunes 6 . Below , we respond frequently asked questions about thevideo - playing iPod .

Is this new iPod blind really big enough — and near enough — to watch telecasting ?

It probably depends a circle on how full ( or bad ) your vision is and what you ’re expecting when you watch TV . People with poor vision are n’t going to savour staring at a tiny video screen , and if you apprize all the grand optical feasts that innovative - day motion-picture photography has to offer , you will likely be disappoint .

That suppose , I ’ve spent many hours watching video recording at the same answer ( 320 - by-240 pixels ) on a similarly - sized showing on my Palm Treo 650 smartphone , and found it to be a passably enjoyable way to while away my commute . Granted , I was watchingSurvivorrather than the great works of modern cinema , but it worked for me and it might forge for you .

I was suitably impressed by the iPod ’s cover — it really is bright , and the TV face quite smooth . You ’ll never misidentify it for a plasma screenland , but then , you ca n’t put a blood plasma silver screen in your pouch .

Also , the iPod support television out , so for a really bigger show you may also connect your iPod to a television set and act back video that way . The iPod currently only supports H.264 video at 320 - by-240 pixels , and MPEG-4 picture up to 480 - by-480 pixels , so your telecasting bent will still be displaying a lower - resolution image than you ’re accustomed to .

Can I only look out content I ’ve downloaded from Apple on my iPod ?

Not at all . In addition to the videos from Apple , the iPod can play back videos saved in one of two formats : H.264 ( the formatting used in Apple ’s iTunes downloads ) and MPEG-4 . The same 24-hour interval it herald the new iPod , Apple unfreeze QuickTime 7.0.3 , which adds a “ Movie to iPod ( 320×240 ) ” option in the Export dialog box . This means users of QuickTime pro can export movies ( and all users of iMovie can export projects ) to the iPod jolly well .

There are lots of other programs out there that convert video to and from various formats , including MPEG-4 . In the next few weeks many of them will in all probability be updated to explicitly point out which of their exportation formatting are iPod compatible .

In improver , Apple has posted a brief tutorial aboutcreating video for the iPod .

Will the iPod support other TV formats in the future ?

Apple say the new iPod ’s firmware is upgradable , mean it can be modify to add “ support for future video formats . ” What those might be is unknown , but Apple ’s certainly leave the door open to defend other formats in the future tense .

Can I produce video playlist , like I can audio play list ?

Yes , the iPod supports video play list make in iTunes 6 . You apparently ca n’t immix and touch audio and video recording tracks for iPod playback , though , which is too bad .

Will my current iPodaccessorieswork with the telecasting iPod ?

It depends . The video iPod uses the same wharfage connector as all late iPods , so any dock - based accessories will probably wreak fine . This iPod ’s more or less thinner than previous models , so a novel iPod may seem a number small when attached to some accoutrement .

However , if you ’ve got an accessory that have advantage of the outback - control port next to the iPod ’s headphone jack , you ’re out of fortune — Apple has drop that jack whole ( along with its companion , the pumped iPod remote ) , making remote - control - port - based iPod accessories obsolete .

stay put tuned toPlaylistfor a thoroughgoing rundown on what current iPod accessary work with the unexampled iPods , as well as information on the new undulation of fifth - coevals iPod accessories that are on their way .

Does this new iPod support FireWire or USB ?

With the sacking of this raw iPod , Apple ’s iPod personal credit line is altogether USB - based . you could use a FireWire cable to point the iPod , but data transference can only be done via USB . This is specially bad news for drug user of Macs without USB 2.0 port , because USB 1.1 transferee speeds are phenomenally dull than FireWire . ( If you’rereallylucky mayhap someone will occur up with a cunning USB 2 - to - FireWire bridge gadget , but I would n’t guard my breath . ) And if you ’re using a USB 2.0 Mac but an sr. USB 1.1 hub , you may be in the market place for a new USB 2.0 hub to ensure fast iPod transfer speeds .

Why did Apple dump FireWire on the iPod ?

Apple sells iPods to Mac and Windows user likewise , and Windows personal computer often lack FireWire ports — but they always have USB ports . So iPodsmustsupport USB in order of magnitude to be broadly compatible with PCs . Our guess is that Apple dropped FireWire in Holy Order to simplify the product , shrink some components , and reduce its costs . Do n’t expect it to come back .

What ’s the battery life like ?

We have n’t been able-bodied to test one ourselves yet , so we have to go by Apple ’s specs for now . In term of euphony playback , the 60 GB model is rat for 20 hours and the 30 GB modeling for 14 hour .

But when the iPod trifle back euphony , it only uses its arduous drive periodically , turning it on just long enough to fulfil its retention buffer full of music . That save a lot of energy . In contrast , video playback need that the knockout drive employment almost constantly — and as a result , electric battery living drops dramatically . Apple says the 60 GB iPod is good for three hour of playback , and the 30 GB role model only two hour . So if you ’re contrive on load an iPod up with television for a long plane stumble , you ’ll probably require to buy an external battery such as theBTI iPod Battery .

Can I apply this new iPod for slideshows ?

Yes , and Apple ’s declared battery life there is fairly unspoiled — up to 3 hr for the 30 GB framework and up to 4 hours for the 60 GB example . And Apple has add together support for a whole host of young slideshow transitions on this iPod , so your iPod - based slideshows will count a mountain more like iPhoto slideshows or Keynote presentation than they did before .

Does the iPod in the end substantiate CD - quality audio transcription ?

Indeed it does . In the past , the iPod ’s operating system limited audio transcription to 8KHz , 16 - chip mono via an external gadget such as Griffin’siTalk . harmonize to Apple ’s published specifications , the Modern iPod supports two audio recording modes : a “ scummy - timbre ” mono mode at 22.05KHz , and a cadmium - quality 44.1 KHz stereophony mode .

What ’s as yet unclear is if you may plainly attach a microphone to the iPod and start vocalisation transcription or if you ’ll need a yet - to - be - released third - political party audio frequency - input accessory .