Apple likes to hold their little events every now and then. Although they do not mention what they will be announcing, people have by now become adept at guessing, depending upon which month the event is being held in. Usually September is the month of new iPod launches and has been so for the past few years. So when Apple recently announced they will be holding an event on September 1, it wasn't hard to guess what they will be launching.
And as you'd imagine Apple launched a slew of new iPods, which they claim is their biggest change in their iPod line up, ever. Apart from the iPod classic, every other model in the iPod family got a major upgrade. So what are these upgrades? Well, we are here to answer that question today.
iPod shuffle
The iPod shuffle has always been very small, but with the third generation model, Apple just broke all notions of what a small player should be with what looked like an eraser. It was the smallest music player ever, but unfortunately, this size zero came at a cost, which was the loss of buttons on the player itself. The shuffle was then dependent on its earphones to control the music for it and without them it was as good as a paper clip.
This also meant that users could not use their own headphones with the shuffle as then they would have no way to control it. An alternative would be to buy expensive adaptors that would let you plug in your own headphones and control the player.
Apple realized the problem with this design and so for the fourth generation model they have gone back to their older device. The new shuffle looks a lot like the second generation model, but is now smaller. It uses an anodized aluminum body and comes in five different colors. As with the previous two generations, it comes with a clip on the back, so you can wear the player without the need for any other accessories. The controls are now on the player itself, so you can use any headphones with the device. The new shuffle still retains the VoiceOver feature, which debuted with the previous generation model.
The new shuffle has a battery life of 15 hours, which is pretty impressive for such a small player. Only a 2GB model will be sold, which will be priced at US $49. In India you can expect it for around Rs. 3,500.
The Good:
- Brings back the familiar buttons that we all know and love
- Really, really small
- No display, but that's okay, really
The iPod nano's design has more or less been the same ever since it was launched. They may not look identical but it has always looked like a slimmed down iPod classic. This year, however, Apple gave the nano its biggest design change ever.
Enter the touch screen. Yes, the multi-touch, capacitive touch screen has finally made its way into the cheaper iPods and the nano is the first and perhaps the only iPod to get it. Since the click wheel is gone, the nano is much smaller than before, 46 percent smaller and 42 percent lighter to be precise. All you see in the front now is the 1.54-inch display with a resolution of 240 x 240 pixels. The new nano is now closer than ever to matching the definition of its name.
On the top of the nano you will find the sleep/wake and volume buttons, and on the bottom is the dock connector and the earphone jack. On the back is a clip, so you can attach it to your shirt or bag. Visually, the new nano looks almost exactly like the shuffle, except it has a touchscreen instead of buttons and a dock connector.
The interface of the new nano is based on the iOS devices. You will see four icons at a time on the screen and to see more you need to swipe left. To get back you swipe right and to jump to the first screen you press and hold anywhere on the screen. You can rearrange the icons on the screen any time. Just press and hold on the icons until it jiggles and then move it to wherever you want. You can also rotate the orientation of the display by just using your two fingers on the screen and doing a twisting gesture. I wonder why one has to do this manually though; why can't the accelerometer do it on its own?
When you go into the music playback screen, you will see that the album art takes the entire screen in the background. On the front you will see the track info on the top, the playback buttons in the middle. To get more options such as repeat, shuffle or Genius, just swipe left on the screen to get them.
The new iPod nano comes with a built-in FM radio (with Live Pause) and can also display photos. However, due to the smaller display size video playback is no longer an option. This is a major omission compared to the previous generation model, which cannot playback video but also record it using its built-in camera.
Other features include shake to shuffle and a pedometer for fitness freaks as well as support for the Nike + iPod Sport Kit. The new nano will be available in six colors, plus a (PRODUCT) RED version, available exclusively through the iTunes Store. The battery life is rated at 24 hours for audio playback, which is the same as the previous generation models. The new nano will be sold in two capacities, 8GB and 16GB for US $149 and $179 respectively. Expect them to be priced around Rs. 8,500 and Rs. 10,500 respectively in India.
The Good:
The Bad:
New iPod touch
The iPod touch has been the most popular iPod for Apple. In fact, it has been the most popular product for Apple, a title that was previously held by the nano. People seem to have taken very well to the touch, a device that offered them all the iOS goodness of the iPhone without the phone (and contract). It has been a huge success as a gaming platform too, selling more than the number of handheld consoles that Nintendo and Sony sell combined, with 50 percent of worldwide market share. So how can you make something so great even better?
Well, the first thing that Apple probably has in mind when making newer versions of existing products is how they can make it smaller. The older iPod touch was impossibly thin. They just couldn't make it any thinner. But that's what we think. To prove us wrong, Apple has done just that. Not only did they make it thinner they also added in more stuff to it, including two cameras, one of which records in HD!
The older iPod touch was 8.5mm 'thick', while the new one is just 7.2mm. When you look at that figure and what all Apple has added in the new touch, you realize that Apple's engineers are a different breed of people, capable of bending the laws of physics in a way that a common man cannot even comprehend (nor can the engineers of other companies for that matter).
There are five major additions to the new touch. First is the Retina display, which debuted on the iPhone 4. It's 960 x 640 pixels, which is four times the resolution of the older iPod touch displays and since the size has remained unchanged at 3.5-inches, it has an amazing pixel density of 326 ppi, which is the highest for any mobile device, so high that you cannot see individual pixels with the naked eye.
The second addition is the A4 chip, same as the one found on the iPhone 4. Rumored to be clocked at around 1GHz, the new chip will make the iPod touch much faster and will also significantly improve the gaming experience as now the developers can make more detailed and high quality games knowing that the processor is fast enough to handle them.
Another thing that will make gaming better is the addition of a gyroscope, which is the third important addition. The three-axis gyroscope will make motion based gaming a lot more precise, while adding new ways to control the games.
The next important feature is the addition of a front video camera. It can record videos and images in VGA resolution. With it you can make FaceTime calls with people using the new iPod touch as well the iPhone 4.
The last major addition is the camera on the back of the device. With it the new iPod touch can record videos in 720p resolution at up to 30 frames per second and also take pictures in 960 x 720 resolution. Just like on the iPhone 4 the rear camera can be used during a FaceTime call to show the person on the other side what you are looking at. You can geo-tag the images using Wi-Fi. Whether the camera on the back supports autofocus or not is not mentioned. However, my guess is, it doesn't. But for such a thin device, it is a miracle they managed to put in a camera capable of recording HD videos.
Visually, you will notice that the back is now completely flat and not curved as on the older model. Also, the tiny spot on the top left, which was the Wi-Fi antenna, has now disappeared and one wonders where Apple could have relocated it. I guess we will have to wait for iFixit's teardown for that. Apart from that the new touch is identical to the older model.
The battery life on the new model is rated at 40 hours for audio and 7 hours for video, which is longer by 10 for audio and 1 hour for video than the older model. This, despite the thinner size and added battery-consuming features. It's sorcery, I tell you!
The new iPod touch will be sold in three capacities; 8GB, 32GB and 64GB models, and unlike the previous generation, this time it seems they all will get the same hardware. The US prices will be $229, $299 and $399 respectively. In India you can expect the prices to be around the same as the current iPod touch, at Rs. 12,500, 18,500 and 24,500 respectively.
The Good:
Nothing. Zip. Zilch. Nada. It's absolutely the same. It wasn't even mentioned at the event, like it doesn't even exist anymore. Is that how you treat senior citizens?
The Good:
The Bad:
On the top of the nano you will find the sleep/wake and volume buttons, and on the bottom is the dock connector and the earphone jack. On the back is a clip, so you can attach it to your shirt or bag. Visually, the new nano looks almost exactly like the shuffle, except it has a touchscreen instead of buttons and a dock connector.
The interface of the new nano is based on the iOS devices. You will see four icons at a time on the screen and to see more you need to swipe left. To get back you swipe right and to jump to the first screen you press and hold anywhere on the screen. You can rearrange the icons on the screen any time. Just press and hold on the icons until it jiggles and then move it to wherever you want. You can also rotate the orientation of the display by just using your two fingers on the screen and doing a twisting gesture. I wonder why one has to do this manually though; why can't the accelerometer do it on its own?When you go into the music playback screen, you will see that the album art takes the entire screen in the background. On the front you will see the track info on the top, the playback buttons in the middle. To get more options such as repeat, shuffle or Genius, just swipe left on the screen to get them.
The new iPod nano comes with a built-in FM radio (with Live Pause) and can also display photos. However, due to the smaller display size video playback is no longer an option. This is a major omission compared to the previous generation model, which cannot playback video but also record it using its built-in camera.
Other features include shake to shuffle and a pedometer for fitness freaks as well as support for the Nike + iPod Sport Kit. The new nano will be available in six colors, plus a (PRODUCT) RED version, available exclusively through the iTunes Store. The battery life is rated at 24 hours for audio playback, which is the same as the previous generation models. The new nano will be sold in two capacities, 8GB and 16GB for US $149 and $179 respectively. Expect them to be priced around Rs. 8,500 and Rs. 10,500 respectively in India.
The Good:
- Really small
- Multi-touch display
- Interface looks well designed
- Built-in clip
- Only iPod to have built-in FM radio
The Bad:
- The screen looks bit too small
- No more video recording and playback
New iPod touch
The iPod touch has been the most popular iPod for Apple. In fact, it has been the most popular product for Apple, a title that was previously held by the nano. People seem to have taken very well to the touch, a device that offered them all the iOS goodness of the iPhone without the phone (and contract). It has been a huge success as a gaming platform too, selling more than the number of handheld consoles that Nintendo and Sony sell combined, with 50 percent of worldwide market share. So how can you make something so great even better?
Well, the first thing that Apple probably has in mind when making newer versions of existing products is how they can make it smaller. The older iPod touch was impossibly thin. They just couldn't make it any thinner. But that's what we think. To prove us wrong, Apple has done just that. Not only did they make it thinner they also added in more stuff to it, including two cameras, one of which records in HD!The older iPod touch was 8.5mm 'thick', while the new one is just 7.2mm. When you look at that figure and what all Apple has added in the new touch, you realize that Apple's engineers are a different breed of people, capable of bending the laws of physics in a way that a common man cannot even comprehend (nor can the engineers of other companies for that matter).
There are five major additions to the new touch. First is the Retina display, which debuted on the iPhone 4. It's 960 x 640 pixels, which is four times the resolution of the older iPod touch displays and since the size has remained unchanged at 3.5-inches, it has an amazing pixel density of 326 ppi, which is the highest for any mobile device, so high that you cannot see individual pixels with the naked eye.
The second addition is the A4 chip, same as the one found on the iPhone 4. Rumored to be clocked at around 1GHz, the new chip will make the iPod touch much faster and will also significantly improve the gaming experience as now the developers can make more detailed and high quality games knowing that the processor is fast enough to handle them.
Another thing that will make gaming better is the addition of a gyroscope, which is the third important addition. The three-axis gyroscope will make motion based gaming a lot more precise, while adding new ways to control the games.
The next important feature is the addition of a front video camera. It can record videos and images in VGA resolution. With it you can make FaceTime calls with people using the new iPod touch as well the iPhone 4.
The last major addition is the camera on the back of the device. With it the new iPod touch can record videos in 720p resolution at up to 30 frames per second and also take pictures in 960 x 720 resolution. Just like on the iPhone 4 the rear camera can be used during a FaceTime call to show the person on the other side what you are looking at. You can geo-tag the images using Wi-Fi. Whether the camera on the back supports autofocus or not is not mentioned. However, my guess is, it doesn't. But for such a thin device, it is a miracle they managed to put in a camera capable of recording HD videos.
Visually, you will notice that the back is now completely flat and not curved as on the older model. Also, the tiny spot on the top left, which was the Wi-Fi antenna, has now disappeared and one wonders where Apple could have relocated it. I guess we will have to wait for iFixit's teardown for that. Apart from that the new touch is identical to the older model.
The battery life on the new model is rated at 40 hours for audio and 7 hours for video, which is longer by 10 for audio and 1 hour for video than the older model. This, despite the thinner size and added battery-consuming features. It's sorcery, I tell you!
The new iPod touch will be sold in three capacities; 8GB, 32GB and 64GB models, and unlike the previous generation, this time it seems they all will get the same hardware. The US prices will be $229, $299 and $399 respectively. In India you can expect the prices to be around the same as the current iPod touch, at Rs. 12,500, 18,500 and 24,500 respectively.
The Good:
- It's impossibly thin
- Retina display
- A4 processor
- 3-axis gyroscope
- Front VGA camera for FaceTime
- Rear camera for recording HD videos and stills
- Improved battery life, despite all the above additions and size reduction!
- There is still a loudspeaker somewhere in there
- Did I mention how thin it is?
- 64GB is still the maximum limit
- An FM radio would have been nice
- Probably no autofocus for the rear camera, but I'm just being greedy now
Nothing. Zip. Zilch. Nada. It's absolutely the same. It wasn't even mentioned at the event, like it doesn't even exist anymore. Is that how you treat senior citizens?
The Good:
- It has more storage space than the MacBook Air; more than you'll ever need
- Only iPod left with the click wheel now (I'm not sure how that is a good thing though)
- That classic design still looks good
The Bad:
- Way too old now
- Nothing much to offer apart from the humongous storage space
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