Date Archive > September 2006
September 15, 2006
New iPod nano: one day we’ll look back and laugh at all of those scratches our old iPods had.
Q: What do you get when an iPod nano gets it on with an iPod mini?
A: The new 2G iPod nano.
The new iPod nano sports:
- Improved battery life - up to 24 hours
- Increased storage capacity - as much as 8GB of flash-based memory.
- Thinner design (only by 1mm though) and cool curved edges.
- A 40% brighter display. (I thought there was nothing wrong with the old one.)
- Your choice of 5 colors and a new aluminum enclosure
Apple's introduction of the new, redesigned iPod nano solves many of the problems that plagued the first generation digital music player. Anyone who came within arm's reach of a nano that was more than 5 minutes old was familiar with how easily scratched it was. After the iPod mini's multi-color availability, the choice between black and white of the new nano seemed limited. And you can never have too much battery life, my 1G seemed to run out of juice too frequently.
Prices start at $149 for the 2GB model. The 4GB model runs $199, and the 8GB bad boy lists at $249. Available at the Apple Store right now.
You can watch the new iPod nano ad from Apple here. Colors. Brighter display. We get it.
Category: News, iPod nano | Comments (2)
iTunes 7 - It Lives!
In my mind, the best part of this week's announcements from Apple has been a chunky upgrade to the iTunes application. New features include:
- Cover Flow album art viewing
- Automatic album art retrieval
- Full length films are available for purchase from the iTunes Store. Priced at $13 to $15 for new releases and $10 for older titles.
- 2-way sync with iPod
- Gapless playback (yeah, baby!)
I've been using the new iTunes version 7 for a couple of days now and I couldn't be happier. It feels like a well-rounded and capable piece of software. As I use it, no longer do I lament what is missing. In fact, some of the (long overdue) improvements - gapless playback and automated cover art fetching/display - make you wonder how you ever lived without them. iTunes has finally hit its stride with the version 7 release and I'm curious, and excited, to see how Apple will improve on this.
Related
- Use iTunes Better: iPoditude.com’s guide for getting the most out of iTunes
- Use multiple windows in iTunes
- New iTunes 6 is announced, details
Category: News, Software, iTunes | Comments (0)
New iPod: games and… well, games.
The regular iPod must feel like the neglected middle brother of the iPod family this week. Apple updated the display to have be 60% brighter, they've improved the interface with some welcome changes to help navigate large music libraries, and the biggest change is that it now supports downloadable games. For $5 you can purchase and download games from the iTunes Store. I never play the games that come free on iPods so I'm not too impressed. Oh, and the 60GB model is replaced by an 80GB model.
The 30GB model now runs $249 and the new 80GB model will drain $349 out of your bank account. Both are available now from the Apple Store.
Perhaps the lack of updated features will only fuel the rumors of an impending "true" widescreen video iPod that everyone wants to see Apple make. Me, I'm still waiting for the iPod with wearable video display.
Now that games are being sold on the iTunes store, I'd like to point out that I prognosticated this in a post from November, 2004. I was quite close to getting it right, too.
Category: News, iPod 5G (video) | Comments (1)
