Apple expected to unveil video iPod to tricky market

Apple Computer revolutionised music with the iPod. Is video next? The computer-maker this week scheduled an announcement for Wednesday that industry experts widely expect will be the debut of a video iPod.

Although chief executive Steve Jobs revels in leading prognosticators astray, Apple's entry into the fledgling market for portable video could broaden the appeal of watching movies and television shows on the go - and potentially open new revenue streams for studios and networks.

But, analysts cautioned, Apple may find breaking into video significantly tougher than the wildly successful ride it has enjoyed with iPod. Unlike music, which people have carried with them since the transistor radio, video is usually watched at home.

"The question I've always had is, I'm not sure what the level of demand for portable video really is," said Mike McGuire, a personal technology analyst with Gartner. "It's questionable."

But the market is growing. Sony's PlayStation Portable (PSP), for instance, plays movies on its relatively small screen. Sony and other studios were surprised by the demand for titles. There are twice as many movies available for the PSP as games.

Analysts said they expected Apple to offer short clips through its iTunes Music Store.

"From our understanding, the first set of video content available from the iTunes store will be music videos and video podcasts," American technology research analyst Shaw Wu wrote in a research report.

Key to the success of any player would be Apple's ability to secure material people want to watch from content producers and to safeguard it against widespread copying. Jobs is also chief executive of Pixar Animation Studios, and has strong ties in Hollywood.

One maker of portable media devices said that it would welcome Apple's entry into the market.

"Anyone joining the market would encourage the content providers to make more content available - TV and movie studios, music labels," said Lisa O'Malley, a brand manager for Creative Labs, which makes Zen portable media players.

But it could well be a mixed blessing. Many of the small array of portable video players already on the market use technology from Microsoft. Apple, on the other hand, has no built-in way for its Macintosh computers to capture television the way many PCs running Microsoft Windows do.

That could change.

"If Apple is true to form they'll have a tightly integrated hardware, software and services offering that will be a better experience than people have gotten to date on portable media players," said Roger Kay, president of Endpoint Technologies.