So the rumor mill has been on high recently regarding Apple’s possible entry into the downloadable video/video iPod market. There’s plenty of articles all over the net about this – from WSJ to the LA Times to the CNET. Check out eHomeUpgrade’s commentary on the whole ruckuss here.

My take? I think there’s a good chance that Apple will enter the fray assuming it can broker deals with movie companies that are similar to how it has managed to make deals with record labels. The key to all of this will be low enough prices such that content is affordable to the end user and at the same time profitable to the movie studios. Content will most likely be in some Apple Quicktime format and will probably come in different flavors depending on need. Apple is pushing HD support in Quicktime and so it won’t be surprising to me that you’ll see downloadable HD content for your home in the near future.

Will a Video iPod be possible in the near future? I think the deal struck with Intel paves the way for this possibility since Apple can easily use Intel XScale processors to power these devices. They’re powerful and energy efficient and will easily handle the many different video formats out there. The key will be the software side. Will iTunes make it easy for users to upload videos to the Video iPod? Will there need to be transcoding? Many questions abound but the possibilities are all there.

I think I’m getting ahead of myself right now since all of this is still just rumors… but I would love the idea of Apple getting into the video market. Whether this is a profitable venture for Apple remains to be seen. Portable audio makes sense. Portable video? I’m not so sure. However, downloadable videos for the home market is a definite possibility!

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