Apple iPod makes leap to video

ATLANTA — The world's most celebrated portable jukebox is aiming to become a pocket-sized cinema. Now the big question: Who wants to watch movies on a screen the size of a few Milk Duds?

Apple Computer founder Steve Jobs announced on Wednesday the first generation iPod with video-playback abilities, further evolving the definition of mobile entertainment and potentially marking a milestone in they way consumers view and purchase video.

The company is offering downloads of commercial-free TV shows — "Desperate Housewives," for example, for $2 — to play anytime, and with a video iPod, anywhere. If the gamble succeeds, it could transform watching and buying video, just as the iPod has revolutionized portable music and radio programming.

Experts have been speculating about such a product for months. Now? Color them impressed.

"It's pretty breakthrough," said Michael Gartenberg, vice president of New York-based consumer and technology research advisory firm Jupiter Research. "First and foremost, this is an iPod. And that's a very important distinction. There's enough video content out there to make it interesting to consumers."

The device — about 30 percent thinner than current iPods — features a 2.5-inch display and will be offered in 20-gigabyte and 60-gigabyte models for $299 and $399, respectively. It holds up to 15,000 songs and 150 hours of video.

So what can users watch? Well, music videos. And "Desperate Housewives."

The iTunes music store will make 2,000 music videos available for $2 apiece. Also for sale: several ABC television programs — including "Desperate Housewives" and "Lost"— also priced at $2 an episode. New installments will be available the day of airing on network TV. Animated short features from Pixar — the computer animation house behind "Toy Story" and "The Incredibles" — are also available.

Episodic TV, Gartenberg said, is the "perfect content" for the device. It's short, broken into segments and is psychologically simple for users to pause at intervals. And if 2.5 inches isn't grand enough scale, the device also can be hooked up to a traditional television set via an S-video cable, which means you can play everything from video to home movies straight from the iPod.

Many expected such a product to be unveiled at a similar Apple event last month. Instead, the minuscule iPod nano and the Motorola Rokr phone with iTunes debuted.

While a significant step toward downloading full-length movies, this iPod is also a harbinger that video may soon chart a sales course similar to music: hard-drive-based downloads instead of software. Who needs shelves of DVDs when a movie can be zapped into your possession? Trips to the video store? Why bother?

Digital video recorders such as TiVo have altered the concept of watching television for millions of consumers. Apple endorsed podcasting, which allows users to download radio and other online audio content of their choice. Countless iPod owners embraced the capability. With iTunes now hawking video, receiving entertainment is moving even more into their control.

"The future of video is 'on demand,' " said Michael Goodman, senior analyst for media and entertainment at the Boston-based Yankee Group. "It's more of a precursor of what you'll see. Having a controlled marketplace is a great place to experiment."

Several portable devices — including cellphones — are now incorporating video abilities. Releasing an iPod that can play video was a "pre-emptive move," Goodman said, to keep Apple at the forefront of the market for mobile entertainment.

And the cachet of the iPod brand name may be enough to power the concept of mobile video with mainstream consumers. More than 28 million iPods have been sold since being introduced in 2001. The nano alone shipped 1 million units in 17 days.

Entering the video sales business with television shows is an intriguing approach, according to analysts. Many wondered what content users could play on a video iPod. Unlike the first iPod — which didn't have Apple's iTunes store to support it — programming will be available when the devices arrive on shelves next week.

Content, though, will likely expand beyond Hollywood entertainment.

Churches have already begun preparing everything from sermons to full-fledged services for members and others to watch on their iPods.

"We've been hearing rumors, so we're adapting stuff we already had," said Randy Melchert, media director for Brookside Baptist Church near Milwaukee. "We're pulling up highlights. Educational things. Devotionals."

Melchert already has made full-length services available for play on Sony's PlayStation Portable.

Keeping with the multimedia theme, Apple unveiled a new iMac computer with a program called Front Row, which allows users to access photos, music and video while lounging on the couch. A wireless remote control is provided along with a video camera for live conferencing.

Apple also has updated its popular iTunes software to version 6.0, which will accommodate the new video programming. Apple executives offered no clue as to the next step in their mobile entertainment crusade.

Still, traditional film seems the next logical area. And it may happen sooner than consumers realize.

"I wouldn't be surprised," Goodman said, "if it's less than a year."

Don Fernandez writes for The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.