Apple Unveils New Generation of iPods

[Jason Dunn]

If you're an iPod fan, today is a great day for you - Apple has released a wave of new iPods that are every bit as impressive as I was afraid they'd be. ;-)<br /><br /><img src="http://images.thoughtsmedia.com/resizer/thumbs/size/500/zt/auto/1189022722.usr1.jpg" /><br /><br />As I followed <a href="http://www.engadget.com/2007/09/05/steve-jobs-live-apples-the-beat-goes-on-special-event/">Engadget's excellent coverage</a>, I was blown away by what I was seeing. Here are the very brief highlights of where the iPod lineup now stands and what I find most significant about each one:<br /><br /> <li>iPod Shuffle: not much changd here other than new colours. Same design, which works really well for the target market, and the price point is $79 USD. <br /> <li>iPod Nano: a two inch display running 320 x 240 resolution. The pixel density is off the charts here, which means amazingly smooth and crisp text, images, and video. It can now play games like the bigger iPods can, and is available in five colours. Coverflow support has been added, and it will give you 24 hours of audio and 5 hours of video on a single charge. The price? 4 GB for $149 USD, and 8 GB for $199. <a href="http://www.engadget.com/2007/09/05/ipod-nano-3g-first-hands-on/">[engadget hands on]</a><br /> <li>iPod Classic: The new iPod 80 GB Classic boats 30 hours of audio playback, 6 hours of video. They have a 160 GB version that boosts that number to 40 hours of audio and 7 house of video playback. The price? $249 USD for the 80 GB version and $349 for the 160 GB version. The body of the iPod Classic is described as having a "full metal design", and they're even thinner than before. <a href="http://www.engadget.com/2007/09/05/ipod-classic-first-hands-on/">[engadget hands on]</a><br /> <br /> <li>iPod Touch: This is an iPhone without the phone. 3.5" wide screen display, 480 x 320 resolution, 8mm thick, full multi-touch interface, 802.11 b/g WiFi, and most of the apps from the iPhone: calendar, clock, calculator, contacts, YouTube, Safari web browser, etc. No mention of an email client. 22 hours of audio, 5 hours of video. And the cherry on top? iTunes WiFi Music Store - that's right, full mobile browsing and purchasing of iTunes music. It downloads the song to the iPod Touch, then when you sync it pushes them onto the desktop. <a href="http://www.engadget.com/2007/09/05/ipod-touch-first-hands-on/">[engadget hands on]</a><br />Apple has certainly raised the bar yet again - can any other digital media player catch up? Every day I doubt it more and more...

[ctmagnus]

The 160GB is impressive. However, I was really hoping for a 16GB Nano.

[Jason Dunn]

The 160GB is impressive. However, I was really hoping for a 16GB Nano.

Yeah, I'm a little surprised there's no 16 GB Nano - the Creative Zen has a leg up it seems, especially with the SD card expansion...

[Jason Dunn]

The iPod touch walkthrough video is quite impressive:

http://www.apple.com/ipodtouch/guidedtour/#ordernow

[Lee Yuan Sheng]

Did I miss something? There's a 16gb touch.

Nice products, but other than the Touch it's starting to look very plain.

[Jason Dunn]

Did I miss something? There's a 16gb touch.

Yeah, I just edited my message - I didn't realize there was a 16gb touch. Information overload. :?

[Dyvim]

I was pretty underwhelmed with the iPod nano "phatty". 1 year later and the nano still tops out at 8 GB when others are releasing cheaper 16 GB flash players. It's also wider and heavier (albeit slighly shorter). True it has video and a price drop, but I just think they're missing their core user audience here. I think most nano users are people who want something really small and simple - especially for use in the gym or out exercising. Adding a bigger screen for video and games adds nothing to that and making it heavier is a no-no. And they already have other iPods that do video. I also prefer the aesthetics of the previous nano (iPod mini-like curves).

I might have to get myself an 8 GB black 2G refurbished nano on the cheap while they're still available as I feel that was the superior portable platform. (I still think it's the sexiest looking of the small flash-based color screen players). The nano "phatty" look just doesn't do it for me.

If I want video I'll get an iPod classic or Touch. Or a Creative Zen Vision. I think a 2.5" screen is borderline too small for video anyway, so 2" would really be straining the old eyes.

[ctmagnus]

I might have to get myself an 8 GB black 2G refurbished nano on the cheap while they're still available as I feel that was the superior portable platform. (I still think it's the sexiest looking of the small flash-based color screen players). The nano "phatty" look just doesn't do it for me.

I feel the same way. However, the 2G 8GB Nanos are still $300CAD, whereas the 3G 8GB Nanos are $220, a 25% + difference.

[rzanology]

as much as i hate apple...they're making it reeeeeeally hard to look the other way this time. the touch is reeeeally really interesting! i love my zune marketplace...but damn that thing is pretty!

[alese]

I like the Touch, but there is no Bluetooth.
It would be really nice to be able to listen to the music without wires...

[Philip Colmer]

Apple has certainly raised the bar yet again - can any other digital media player catch up?
Surely on the PMP side of things, Apple is the one catching up? Archos products offer more functionality with better specifications and a lower price.

The 605 WiFi comes with up to 160GB of storage for less money, plays more formats and has a bigger screen with higher resolution.

--Philip

[Dyvim]

Surely on the PMP side of things, Apple is the one catching up? Archos products offer more functionality with better specifications and a lower price.

On the tech specs side of things, that has always been true of Apple's products. They're never the first, but they're often the first that are done simply and cleanly in a sleek, small form factor.

Yeah, the Archos has a 160 GB player but it's big and clunky and heavy and the interface ain't so great.

It's like saying a Windows Mobile PDA can do more than an iPod. Of course it can (except it still can't surf the web like the Touch), but the interface is still clunky after how many years and software iterations? If you're a techy power user geeky type (like me), you don't care and love your PDA, but the average person won't.

Also, is the Archos really cheaper? The 160 GB players are going for $399 at Amazon and you have to pay extra for a Web browser, and pay extra for a Flash module, and pay extra for Widgets, etc. You can easily spend $500 to pay for functionality that ought to be in the device from day 1.

[Jason Dunn]

Surely on the PMP side of things, Apple is the one catching up? Archos products offer more functionality with better specifications and a lower price. The 605 WiFi comes with up to 160GB of storage for less money, plays more formats and has a bigger screen with higher resolution.

Hrm. To be honest, I've never considered Archos a serious player - their user interface is truly horrible in my opinion, and I think their marketshare is minuscule. The new generation five looks decent, but Archos won't even respond to my email requests about a review unit, so I've never had an opportunity to really put one through the paces...maybe if I could do that I'd change my opinion. I do know Archos was the first media player to have a browser, which Jobs conveniently "forgot". :roll:

[Jason Dunn]

Also, is the Archos really cheaper? The 160 GB players are going for $399 at Amazon and you have to pay extra for a Web browser, and pay extra for a Flash module, and pay extra for Widgets, etc.

Uggg....there's another reason to not like the Archos. It's RIDICULOUS that they want to charge for added features. 8O

[Chris Gohlke]

The first MP3 player I ever bought was an archos. The box laid out all these great features. Get it home and open it up to find that you have to pay extra to activate these features. Promptly returned it to circuit city based on the fact the packaging was misleading regarding the feature set.

The touch might end up being my first Apple purchase ever. It looks alot like the PDA I always wanted. I've been excieted for a while about the Asus Eee, but now am debating whether I want one of these instead.

[Philip Colmer]

Uggg....there's another reason to not like the Archos. It's RIDICULOUS that they want to charge for added features. 8O

This is a topic of some debate over on an Archos fan forum. The question is this: would you rather pay a lower price and then add just the bits you want, or would you pay a higher price to get a device with all of the options but you might never use some of them?

Not very different from the car market with their model choices and accessories.

--Philip

***long quote trimmed by mod JD***

[rzanology]

heres an interesting twist. I am willing to pay 299 for a 8 gig ipod just so i can have touch screen and flashy flashy stuff going on....mean while i have a 30 gig zune thats fully functional which i paid 250 for. hmmmm

[Phronetix]

Mine is ordered, as is my new nano (red) - don't tell my wife, that's a gift. :-) I even got the expedited shipping to get it asap.

I was talking it over with a friend about getting an iPhone instead and then using the software unlocking that has recently become available. What turned me against it is Gizmodo's revelation that the iPod touch uses the same binaries for applications as the iPhone, and there are great instructions online to easily use the terminal on the iPhone to get these binaries onto the iPhone while synchronizing. So, we will see. I have no idea how to access this on the Touch, but like always I leave that to the dedicated Apple fanboy geeks in the know. You know who you are. :wink:

A developer friend of mine notes, however, that Apple could easily block this with a command like "if not iPhone then exit" in the application binary, so we will see how easily it becomes a handheld. I would like to get a mail and note app, as well as medical software onto it. I can keep the forum posted as to the progress of this project as well.

Cheers,
Dennis

[Dyvim]

If they end up hacking the Touch so that they can copy over and run some of the iPhone applications (like Notes and esp. Email) as well as install other 3rd party applications (not as important to me as e-mail), I just might have to get myself a 16 GB Touch. The form factor is too cool for couch web surfing.

And there's already an iPhone web browser app (Signal (http://www.alloysoft.com/)) that can turn your iPhone into a remote control for iTunes, WinAmp, or WMP on your computer. I bet it works on the Touch too since it is just a web app. The Touch would make a darn fine iTunes remote- and about the same price as a Sonos remote but much more functional!

edit: added url to Signal (http://www.alloysoft.com/) website

[bryhawks]

I was SO hoping for something like the touch to come out yesterday, and watched the video walkthrough with glee...until I found out it maxes out at 16GB, not 80+. Color me EXTREMELY disappointed.

I would have been willing to deal with the extra thickness to get a 1.8GB HD. I know, eventually it'll be 32GB Flash and it'll be harder to justify rotating media, but my music collection - which I like to browse all over every few days - is ~40GB and that doesn't account for any pictures or *gasp* VIDEO one might want to put on the touch.

It does play video, right? ;)

[Phronetix]

my music collection - which I like to browse all over every few days - is ~40GB and that doesn't account for any pictures or *gasp* VIDEO one might want to put on the touch.

It does play video, right? ;)

I do not buy that statement. Not the fact you have 40 GB in music/audio, but the fact that you browse all over that 40 GB every few days. Just not feasible. The other thing, if all you mean is that you scroll through your list every few days, you can still do that while choosing the folders to sychronize when you plug in the unit to your computer.

I am surprised they elected not to go with a HDD, but it would have made the iPhone's storage seem rather Nano-ish by comparison.

D

[Tim Williamson]

True it has video and a price drop, but I just think they're missing their core user audience here. I think most nano users are people who want something really small and simple - especially for use in the gym or out exercising. Adding a bigger screen for video and games adds nothing to that and making it heavier is a no-no.

QFT x eleventy-billion!!!

I would have thought Apple knew who the Nano demographic was, I guess not. I don't think people will enjoy watching videos on a screen that small, and personally I don't need video ability on my Nano.

I wouldn't mind the software update for my 2G Nano, but I'm still waiting for a user customizable EQ and a way to re-arrange songs in "To-Go" playlists. Coverflow is neat, but more of a novelty.

Thanks, but I'm sticking with my 2G Nano. The only thing that would tempt me to upgrade at this point would be 16 GB's in a 2G form-factor.

[Jeremy Charette]

The one that excited me was the 160GB Classic.

I spent the week on vacation, and used my 30GB 5G to play ripped DVDs on a Sonic Impact Video 55 on the plane. Fantastic experience, but I was wishing for more space (1 GB per movie), and better battery life (30GB petered out after 2.5-3 hours, whereas the Video 55 went 6). The 160GB would be great for use with a portable screen like the Video 55.

I could bring my entire music collection, and 100+ movies on vacation with me.

[Jason Dunn]

...would you rather pay a lower price and then add just the bits you want, or would you pay a higher price to get a device with all of the options but you might never use some of them?

I'd rather pay a slightly higher price and get a device that does everything it says it can right out of the box. I can't think of a single other consumer electronics device that you need to "upgrade" in this way. It's just insulting. And you know that it's not costing them $19.95 to license an MPEG2 decoder, they're using it as an excuse for extra profit. Ditto for the Web browser. They could raise the price of the whole unit by $10 and MORE than pay for all the costs of the software add-ons.

Not very different from the car market with their model choices and accessories.

Having a portable media player that says it plays VOB files, but no, oh wait, only if you buy an update is like having a car that says it has air conditioning but, no, oh wait, only if you purchase this can of freon. ;-) It just seems goofy to me.

The whole thing just smacks of a lack of integrity toward their product.