Report: some recent iPods won't work with iTunes video rentals

Wired News reports that some relatively late-model iPod owners are discovering that their devices don't work with Apple's newly-launched iTunes video rentals -- even though those iPod models have a video playback feature.

As of Tuesday, the issue had been raised multiple times in Apple's support forums. So far the company's only response has been to confirm that movie rentals work only with the iPhone, iPod touch, iPod classic and the third-generation iPod nano. Earlier iPods, including fifth-generation iPods sold before the September 2007 release of the sixth-generation iPod classic, are incompatible with rented videos.

Eliot Van Buskirk at Wired's "Listening Post" blog has more here.

CC-licensed image ganked from the photostream of Dan Taylor.

[#1 posted by Skwid , January 30, 2008 8:33 AM]

Er...so far as I know, Nanos prior to third-gen had no video playback capabilities. I know for certain that's the case for first-gen, at any rate.

[#2 posted by ClaMs , January 30, 2008 5:29 PM]

The only iPods which played video before the current line up are the 5th Gen iPods. From the 4 shown in the image only the last one has the potential to play movies.

So "including fifth-generation iPods sold before the September 2007" is actually all they're talking about.

[#3 posted by tomioka , January 30, 2008 11:57 PM]

@clams

Note that the Ipod Nano 1st generation hardware is capable of playing video - it can do this if you put an alternative firmware called Rockbox on it. This firmware is not available for newer Ipods, because Apple introduced security measures that make changing the firmware more difficult.

So it's highly probable that any color screen Ipod has the potential of playing back video as long as Itunes produces a format suited to the hardware limitations of that model.