More changes in store for Apple's popular iPod

New technological advances are on the way.
Scripps Howard
Apple's iPod is the most popular digital media player in America, accounting for some 75 percent of all of the gizmos sold. Other companies, including Samsung and Sony, sell them (and do well, especially in Asia), but iPod has become a cultural phenomenon here.
Like other portable players, it lets users take music, photos and videos (including television shows) on the road. Here is what they can do now and some of what they may do in the future.
iPod NOW
Music: The latest 60 gigabyte iPod ($399) weighs 5.5 ounces and measures 4.1 by 2.4 by 0.55 inches. It is primarily a music player, holding up to 15,000 songs, which can be loaded from CDs or online.
Videos: The iPod holds photos and will play up to 3 1/2 hours of video on one battery charge. The unit has a 2 1/2-inch diagonal screen for watching videos but can also be plugged into bigger computer or TV screens.
TV shows: As of now, the easiest way to get video onto the iPod is to rent television episodes, including ABC's "Lost" and "Desperate Housewives," from Apple's iTunes site. TiVo plans to launch a service next year allowing users of its digital television recorder to move TV shows onto iPods. And NBC announced its own deal with iTunes.
Home movies: Loading your own movies or shows takes several hours with special hardware, and it may be illegal.
Radio: The units do not have radios, but users can plug in external transmitters.
Computer: The iPod is basically a portable hard drive that plugs into your computer. To run it -- and to load it with songs or videos -- you must own a computer with a USB data port, which runs either Mac OS X or Windows 2000 or XP.
iPod's FUTURE
Videos: ... should get better in many ways. Future iPods should store more video and have a longer battery life, with screen resolution improving. Entertainment companies are racing to provide more programming online, which may become as easy to download as music files are.
DVDs: There are thorny intellectual property issues with DVDs, but expect ripping them onto iPods to also become easier, especially as the units become more powerful. Later units could also record and play back instant videos, just as many cell phones already do.
Wireless: iPods could also go wireless, allowing users to load data from computers or play music on their stereos without plugging them in with cables.