Hands-On With New Apple iPods

Apple on Wednesday refreshed its family of iPod products. The iPod Nano, iPod Touch and iPod Shuffle all received some compelling makeovers that should help Apple stay in the lead in the portable media player market.

The iPod Nano was the most interesting upgrade. It does away with the click wheel seen in previous models and is now more like a belt buckle with a multi touchscreen displaying four mini icons on the main screen ? basically, a quarter of the size of an iPhone or iPod Touch.
The Nano is now 1.6 inches wide, 1.4 inches tall and just 0.3 inches thick including the belt clip.
One screen on the Nano shows Artists, Playlists, Genius Mixes and Now Playing. Swipe your finger and you get a few more apps: radio, photo, podcasts and settings. There?s no home button, so you have to hold your finger down on the screen to exit an app, which is simple enough. You can also rearrange the icons by holding your finger on an app until it jiggles, then move it to wherever you?d like ? just like on the iPhone.
The question remains as to whether or not the iPod Nano is running iOS and if we?ll be able to jailbreak it to run different apps. Apple hasn?t disclosed whether the operating system was iOS, but it sure looks like it. Update: An Apple engineer told Wired magazine editor Mark McClusky that the Nano does not run iOS.
Also noteworthy is that the Nano does not include a camera, even though last year?s model just introduced one. I guess nobody cared about shooting video with the tiny device, which isn?t surprising.
What?s nifty on the Nano is the small integrated clip to snap the device on to your pocket or belt buckle. The entire body including the clip is made of aluminum so it feels nice and sturdy.
Moving on to the iPod Touch, this was a predictable but monster update. It?s about a millimeter thinner than the iPhone 4, even though it?s got most of the same guts. There are the front and rear cameras ? the rear for shooting high-definition videos and photos, the front for FaceTime video conferencing.
The Nano now has an Apple A4 processor and the high-resolution ?retina display.? Grip it in your hand and it feels really smooth and light.
I had a chance to test FaceTime and it felt even faster than FaceTime on the iPhone 4, though this time around Apple might have just had a better Wi-Fi connection.
Overall, the new iPod Touch is the same as the iPhone 4 but now we can?t really say, ?It?s an iPhone without a phone,? because the Touch includes a video-conferencing webphone! That?s a major difference and should have an impact on video conferencing in general.
Last, and least important, was an upgrade for the iPod Shuffle. To put it simply, it?s another belt-clip iPod similar to the Nano, only with the traditional click wheel. On the top is an integrated button for VoiceOver, which enables you to dictate the playlist or artist you want to listen to. Example, if you say ?Play songs by The Shins,? the Shuffle will obey your commands.
The Shuffle is puny ? 1.2 inches wide, 1.1 inches tall and 0.3 inches thick. And it is so lightweight I could barely even feel it in my pocket, which should be ideal for athletes.
Photos: Jon Snyder/Wired.com
Update: Corrected an error where I said the previous iPod Nano snapped photos, when actually it only shot video.
See Also:
Hands-on With the New $100 Apple TV
Apple Takes Aim at Cable With Tiny New Apple TV
Live Blog: Apple?s iPod, Music Event
Apple to Live Stream Press Conference ? to Apple Customers Only

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