iPod 5G (with video): The iPod Economy Reacts

Q: What’s your general reaction to the new iPod video?

Answers:

John Grzeskowiak of RadTech
I like it. I’m glad the 4.1 x 2.4in. form-factor was kept for the 5G – it’s such a great size.

Joe Milano of JBL/Harman Kardon
Very cool.

Ron DeCamp, Belkin
We’re very excited about the new iPod video.  Apple continues to push the limits of innovation and has successfully moved into an untapped market by incorporating video in their product line.  Being able to view music videos and television programming is ingenious.

Laurent Bui, Pacific Rim Technologies
We’re very excited about the arrival of the 5th Generation iPod. We love the new design and video functionalities! Over the next few days, we’ll launch versions of some of our most popular accessories.

John Slattery, ProClip
Great…Love it!

Laszlo Barabas, Dension
Finally it’s here. What took so long ? 🙂

Alfred Barabas, Dension
It’s another must have from Apple. Beautiful product design with the right features.
Apple have perfected another idea of Microsoft.

Rishi Persaud, iSkin
Knew it was coming due to contacts.

Kristin Pribble, Otterbox
The new iPod video is an exciting technology advancement from apple that combines all the features people love such as music, photos and now video capabilities. It is a device that literally contains it all!

Kevin Muoio, iPodmybaby.com
While everyone expected the announcement, having TV content immediately available for download – wow!  This is a major move – television programs now and I’m guessing full length movie content is on its way shortly. Apple has created a completely new media format and owns the distribution channel – powerful combo. I’m don’t see the draw in music videos, I’m guessing they get included as a freebie with song/album purchases at some point in the near future. What I’m most concerned about is whether or not my iAttire Pirate costume will fit my new iPod video properly for Halloween, are their tailors for iPod clothing? 

Pinakin Dinesh, Moftware
It is a smart device, if you have content then it will sell.

André Klein, SendStation Systems
While we expected the video capability, we are surprised that Apple was still able to further reduce the depth of the iPod.

Marshall Strouse, Engineered Audio
Natural progression of product line … looks good.

Edgar Matias, Matias
Very nice. I figured that selling TV shows was going to happen eventually, but (oddly) selling music videos hadn’t occurred to me.  I think this has huge untapped revenue potential.  Music videos can actually make money now!  Amazing.  Musicians will love this.

Tim Hickman, Speck Products
Cool.

Mike Vlader, Marware
We think this has been a long anticipated product and it has now opened up an entirely new market-video on the go!

Gabrielle Elmer of Oregon Scientific
First reaction was… finally.  I have one on order already.

That being said:

– Limited battery life in video mode is restricting to users.

– Form Factor may not be ideal (need to see in person first) for a “handheld” device.

– Lack of accessories at release will be tough.

David Sarazen of Battery Technology, Inc.
With the ability to download TV shows that aired the night before – this will be a great marketing tool and I think it will become a very popular product for the ‘Desperate Housewives crowd’ (along with Survivor and the other popular shows.  Music videos will also be hot.

Corey Cathcart of Core Cases
It is great to see the changes in the way we interact with media via the iPod.

Tom Dudderidge of PodGear
The new iPod is the beginning of something very special for our industry, and also for the content industry. Only Apple could pull it off and I think they have. The new iPod line-up keeps Apple at the top of the game and keeps me excited about the future of this market and our business. PS> anyone want some cheap 4G iPod cases?

April Lockhart of Case Closed Bags
As always—beautiful! Love the new screen.

Aneta Genova of ANETAGENOVA
It is great to be able to see videos on an iPod. It is the natural progression of technology. But I do think the screen is still too small to watch comfortably any kind of video.

Jeasung Jay Yoo of KOYONO
Personally, I am not crazy about it like I am the nano.  I’m a minimalist by nature and want to put more into a large capacity laptop.  Objectively, it’s an awesome machine with great potential for for entertainment and learning. 

Guy Monson of Proporta
It looks sure to be another success. Apple are clearly on a roll with personal audio and video is a natural step. Their commitment to thin devices always seems to play well with the consumer too..  I’m sure this will fly.

Q: Will the larger screen change your approach to accessory design?

Answers:

John Grzeskowiak, RadTech
It will require new tooling for our Sleevz, but that’s very minor and expected.

Joe Milano of JBL/Harman Kardon
No.

Ron DeCamp, Belkin
We’re carefully considering the additional protection required from cases and skins.

Laurent Bui, Pacific Rim Technologies
Absolutely. The screen has a bigger importance for us now. It needs to be clear since people will be looking at it for a long time- longer than what it takes to select a song.

John Slattery, ProClip
No.

Tim Hickman, Speck Products
More protection.

Laszlo Barabas, Dension
No.

Alfred Barabas, Dension
The ice>Link car integration kit sends ID3 text information back to the iPod screen. We may adjust our text size to match the new displays resolution better.

Rishi Persaud, iSkin
We will innovate past the competition.

Kristin Pribble, Otterbox
In designing the OtterBox for iPod video, our overall case design will change a bit to accommodate the larger screen, yet will still offer a clear, hard screen display cover for adequate screen protection as well as visibility through the case. As with all of our other iPod cases, the OtterBox for iPod video will provide rugged waterproof, interactive protection.

Pinakin Dinesh, Moftware
Yes, we have a very exciting idea for it.

André Klein, SendStation Systems
No.

Marshall Strouse, Engineered Audio
Not really.

Edgar Matias, Matias
Not likely.  We have always offered the most rugged protection for iPods. I think our iPod Armor is even more necessary now that the screen is such a vital component.

Mike Vlader, Marware
Definitely, the larger screen is a major factor in the overall appeal of the iPod, we would not want to take away from that. We’ll try to enhance the improvements Apple made.

Gabrielle Elmer of Oregon Scientific
I think this has to and especially the addition of video.  With Video and Cover Art so prominently displayed, I think we need to showcase this a bit better.

David Sarazen of Battery Technology, Inc.
To early to tell exactly how we will change.

Corey Cathcart of Core Cases
No,  As a hard case company our focus has always been a balance between form, protection and function.

Tom Dudderidge of PodGear
No, we will continue to make simple, practical designs that mirror the design language of the iPod. Screen protection just got a whole lot more important though…

April Lockhart of Case Closed Bags
Yes—we will have to go back and change our cases for this new model to accommodate the wider screen.

Aneta Genova of ANETAGENOVA
Not really. The larger screen will not change the design ideas much, because the overall shape is the same. Actually the one thing that might affect the designs and construction of the iPod cases is that the iPods are getting thinner and smaller. The nano is more difficult to design for, than a 30 Gb or a 60 Gb iPod. And the other fact that might affect the designs is the headphones connector on the bottom and not on the top of the nano.

Jeasung Jay Yoo of KOYONO
No.  We have been waiting for smaller and thinner designs.  Our BlackCoat-T only gets better with products like the Video iPod. 

Guy Monson of Proporta
We’ll certainly ensure that we take good care of the screen.  The screen is one of the most expensive parts of any device and clearly it’s the most important from the user’s point of view with the iPod video.  In our Aluminum-Lined Leather cases, our trademark aluminum sheet ‘Screen Saver System’ will be put to good use here and we’ll offer our Advanced Wash-and-Replace Screen Protectors to prevent scratching.  An aluminum case will also be a good option here because of its rigidity.  We’ll be working hard to bring all these cases and other products to market ahead of expectations.

Q: What do you think about the lack of the top connector for iPod accessories?

Answers:

John Grzeskowiak of RadTech
I will miss that personally, and I feel for those companies who’ve designed and built accessories using it. We’re not using it for any of our gear, and hadn’t planned to, but I like my iTrip on top!!

Apple does listen to their customers though – if enough people let them know they want it back, we’ll see it again.

Joe Milano of JBL/Harman Kardon
Not an issue for us.

Ron DeCamp, Belkin
Moving to the bottom connector requires new ID and brings into the concerns of power and how you manage the pass-thru capabilities in your ID.

Laurent Bui, Pacific Rim Technologies
Some of our accessories will need to be retooled but it’s not a major problem for us. Our Bluetooth stereo headset will be slightly delayed but should be launching in the next couple of weeks.

Tim Hickman, Speck Products
Apple’s using the opportunity to force upon the industry the logo program.

John Slattery, ProClip
Not a problem for us.

Laszlo Barabas, Dension
Does not impact our kits – we use the bottom connection only.

Alfred Barabas, Dension
It will affect some accessory manufacturers. Our ice>Link integration kit however was designed to connect to the bottom ‘DOCK’ connector of the iPod.

Rishi Persaud, iSkin
Reduces the amount of connectors you have to purchase and improves logistics.

Kristin Pribble, Otterbox
As technology changes, so do the designs. This keeps us on our toes and helps us to re-evaluate how to provide customers with the protection they need for their valuable iPods.

Kevin Muoio, iPodmybaby.com
This is probably too cynical, but my guess is that by forcing all accessories to work with the dock connector port, Apple is pushing accessory manufacturers towards a “Made For iPod” arrangement so Apple can take a piece of each accessory sale.  Far too cynical.  In regards to consumer impact, this will drive iPod video owners to buy bottom mounted car adapters – I know there are dozens of top mounted accessories impacted, but the car adapter / fm transmitter, in my opinion, will be the one consumers “need” for their iPods and will spend incremental dollars to replace. 

Pinakin Dinesh, Moftware
Nothing major.

André Klein, SendStation Systems
We never had any top-mounted accessories and never had any planned.

Marshall Strouse, Engineered Audio
Don’t really care … had already moved on to bottom connector 🙂

Edgar Matias, Matias
No impact on us.

Mike Vlader, Marware
While this does not necessarily affect us as far as the electronics go, I think it will definitely be a challenge for the accessories developers to overcome in order to keep offering the great, cool items that everyone needs for a complete iPod experience.  I also think it will allow for greater cross-marketing of accessories because they will all be using the same port.

Gabrielle Elmer of Oregon Scientific
We always depended more on the 30-pin connector, but the loss of the top connector does limit expandability.

David Sarazen of Battery Technology, Inc.
Not a big deal for BTI.  We will work with the available connector (as a ‘partner’ with Apple – it would be great if they could give us some advanced notice on these things).

Corey Cathcart of Core Cases
The removal of the top connector allows the dock to be a central accessory point and further minimizes the iPod design.

Tom Dudderidge of PodGear
I’m still trying to figure it out – what about wired remotes?

Aneta Genova of ANETAGENOVA
Apple is intentionally limiting the market for accessories of other companies.

Jeasung Jay Yoo of KOYONO
Ambivalent.  Not sure how this will effect what we do.  I hope Apple comes out with a remote control for both the nano and iPod Video.

Guy Monson of Proporta
I don’t have any strong feelings about that. Our job is to come up with strong products and we’ll do that – strong opinions are the consumer’s prerogative and we’re sure they’ll have plenty of strong opinions.

Q: How does this affect your existing full-sized iPod products?

Answers:

John Grzeskowiak of RadTech
No change. We’ll intro new Sleevz cases for the 5G in 4-8 weeks, and all of our planned iPod products will work fine with the 5G’s.

Joe Milano of JBL/Harman Kardon
No effect, all current products will accommodate iPod video.

Ron DeCamp, Belkin
Significantly, as most of the current solutions on the market utilize the remote connector.  This will require entirely new products to support the market.

Laurent Bui, Pacific Rim Technologies
We will continue to support the 3rd and 4th Generation iPods already out on the market.

John Slattery, ProClip
More than likely we will have to redesign new iPod holders.

Laszlo Barabas, Dension
Just adds to the customer base.

Alfred Barabas, Dension
Our kits are designed to be modular, we can easily convert our products to fit the different – newer generation iPod models.

Rishi Persaud, iSkin
As of today we have to do something new.

Kristin Pribble, Otterbox
OtterBox designs cases to compliment evolving technology. We will take the same concepts from our other cases and apply a new configuration of these popular features to best fit this new device.

Kevin Muoio, iPodmybaby.com
Our products are baby-sized, so no impact.

Pinakin Dinesh, Moftware
We have not launched a new 4G ipod product since last 4 months. We saw it coming, unlike some other companies who were launching 4G ipod products till yesterday.

André Klein, SendStation Systems
We never had any top-mounted accessories and never had any planned.

Marshall Strouse, Engineered Audio
It doesn’t … we’ve been developing for the bottom connector since April.

Edgar Matias, Matias
No impact on us.

Tim Hickman, Speck Products
More cases!

Mike Vlader, Marware
Simply, we are going to do what we did with our products for the nano.  We are going to come up with some new, innovative, cool and functional cases with features that will heighten iPod user experience.

Gabrielle Elmer of Oregon Scientific
Our current models cannot be adapted due to the new width, so we will need to look at new designs.

David Sarazen of Battery Technology, Inc.
We see our current products having a shelf life (although for the mini and others – it will still be a good market for quite some time).

Corey Cathcart of Core Cases
The focus will change but because of the volume of iPods on the street we will continue to support the mini and 4G iPods.

Tom Dudderidge of PodGear
JUst remember that around 90% of ipods out there in the market being used are minis, 3Gs and 4Gs. We’ll sell the inventory that we’ve got, and we’re already hard at work on product for the new models.

April Lockhart of Case Closed Bags
Yes (sigh).

Aneta Genova of ANETAGENOVA
It doesn’t affect the fact that millions of people already have the old generation iPods and most probably are not throwing them out yet. But it affects the future sales of our accessories and we all need to adjust. The truth is though that we are all creating accessories for an existing product and waiting for its evolution so we can cater to that particular product. It would be ironic to complain when that product (the iPod) changes and evolves. The iPod isn’t made for the accessories. The accessories are made for it.

Jeasung Jay Yoo of KOYONO
Not at all.

Guy Monson of Proporta
Our cases are purpose made and we’ll be redesigning them specifically for the iPod video. This ensures our cases are as small, light and convenient to use as possible.  In the meantime, we will be giving away free neoprene generic cases to our Aluminum and Aluminum-Lined Leather Case customers. This is part of our popular neoprene-while-you-wait deal – it means that the customer can order the case they really want right now and we’ll send them a neoprene case to protect their device immediately (while we work on the Alu-Leather and Aluminum cases). As soon as we have the Alu-Leather/Aluminum Case in stock, we’ll send it to them and they get to keep both cases.

Q: When can customers expect updated cases/products?

Answers:

John Grzeskowiak of RadTech
5-8 weeks for Sleevz cases.

Joe Milano of JBL/Harman Kardon
No need, all products are compatible.

John Slattery, ProClip
Approx. 4-6 weeks.

Ron DeCamp, Belkin
We expect to have products shipping as early as November.

Laurent Bui, Pacific Rim Technologies
We’ll have cases very quickly. Keep an eye on our website and ilounge as we will make announcement very soon.

Laszlo Barabas, Dension
3 months.

Alfred Barabas, Dension
Our kits are designed to be modular, we can easily convert our products to fit the different – newer generation iPod models.

Rishi Persaud, iSkin
Definitely.

Kristin Pribble, Otterbox
Our OtterBox for iPod video is expected in February 2006.

Kevin Muoio, iPodmybaby.com
We’re going to update our product titled “Nano Black” to “Black”. Effective immediately. 

Pinakin Dinesh, Moftware
Commercially it ships on Oct 21st, we will have first range of case by Oct 25th.

André Klein, SendStation Systems
As we did expect the new iPod for some time, we started to work on specific products several weeks ago. We will announce several new products products over the next weeks and will ship video specific add-ons in late November.

Marshall Strouse, Engineered Audio
November/December

Edgar Matias, Matias
Our current iPod Armor appears to fit it.  I’ve ordered a few to check for sure, but I think we’re good as-is.

Tim Hickman, Speck Products
Mid – November.

Mike Vlader, Marware
We are working as hard as ever.  With this release right on the heels of the iPod nano, we are already in full development mode, so ideas that may not have worked so well with an item as small as the nano WILL work great with a full sized iPod!.  We should have some offerings very soon, and hope to be in full swing by early mid-November.  We want things to be right BEFORE they reach the customer.

Gabrielle Elmer of Oregon Scientific
TBD after we have a chance to look at the product.  Product development life cycle puts it at least 3-6 months out.

David Sarazen of Battery Technology, Inc.
BTI will have Nano covers this month.

Corey Cathcart of Core Cases
Beginning of December.

Tom Dudderidge of PodGear
Expect delivery of the PocketParty for the Video iPod within 6 weeks.

April Lockhart of Case Closed Bags
Sent specs off the the factory last night.

Aneta Genova of ANETAGENOVA
For the Christmas Holidays.

Jeasung Jay Yoo of KOYONO
Q1 2006.

Guy Monson of Proporta
We have a lot of generic products that will suit the devices now but we’re best known for our cases and we’ll have iPod video cases hitting the website within a week or two.