If you have just bought an iPod, then you are in for a bit of bad news as Apple have announced updates to their ubiquitous iPod line of MP3 players, mainly regarding the iPod Nano and iPod Touch. As we warned before, it was highly expected that Apple would use the event today to announce new products, and it seems many of the rumours around the new iPod Nano turned out to be true.
I managed to keep up with the event via Gizmodo’s liveblog, which provided photos and text updates through the hour. So what did Apple show us today?
iTunes 8
iTunes has been hanging on to version 7 for a while now, and one of the biggest rumours leading up to today was a new version of iTunes being released, version 8. What’s new? Apart from a new visualizer (can I have it as a screen saver, Apple?), a new feature called Genius is meant to help you find music that “go great together”. For people with huge libraries, this could be a lot of help of getting some stuff organized for once. As for me, I am someone who doesn’t use playlists that much, or in fact at all, so I can’t really see this making much of a difference to me in any way. Also updated is a new view which presents your album covers like iPhoto or iMovie skimming, where you swipe the mouse over the Artist or Genre to see album covers inside. There is something about this view which for now makes it feel as though it doesn’t really fit in iTunes, but it may just need some getting used to.
iPod Nano
As Kevin Rose had predicted (or received in a leak) the iPod Nano has reverted from its old, fatter design back to the taller one we knew before, coming in a variety of colours, and with a new, curved design (much like what is going on with the back of the iPhone, or the tapering of the MacBook Air). Also, we have seen new features such as an accelerometer so that when you turn the Nano, it will also turn what is on screen, useful for Cover Flow mode and more importantly watching videos and movies, as the screen is now taller. Also included is an update to the iPod OS with Genius, the feature seen in iTunes which recommends music to you, rather like a Pandora or Last.fm of your iTunes Library. Another feature, although maybe viewed as more of a gimmick by many, is the ability to shake the device, which uses the accelerometer to turn shuffle mode on. In my eyes, that isn’t really a selling point, but I am sure in some way to some people that will be handy.
Another change comes in the capacity of the Nano: You can now get 8GB and 16GB versions of the device, coming in at £109 and £149 respectively. This is a welcome addition to the line of iPods.
iPod Touch
The smaller brother of the iPhone, the iPod Touch has also received some updates, although not as massive as seen on the Nano. The second generation of the device is now even smaller and lighter than it’s predecessor, and includes a speaker, hardware volume control buttons (much wanted by existing Touch owners) and intergration of Genius from iTunes into software 2.1. Also included into the new Touch is Nike + iPod support, a technology which helps you with your workouts, which helps you track your progress during exercise. Oh, and the prices have been dropped slightly on the Touch, now coming in 8, 16 and 32 GB sizes at £169, £219, and £289.
What else?
Well, Apple decided that the iPod classic needed some love and upgraded the 80GB model to 120GB, but in doing so also dropped the 160GB model. Not too sure what to make of that move. And to (presumably) avoid a mass server flood, the iPhone 2.1 software, which has been described as having a multitude of fixes for bugs in iPhone OS X, and helping battery life, poor call quality, crashes and other random annoyances that have plauged the iPhone 2.0 OS since it’s release.
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