Apple Refreshes Their iPods Along with The Apple TV
I posted an article earlier on what I thought Apple would unveil. Well, today was the big day. What did they announce? Keep on reading for the full scoop!
As expected, Apple’s entire iPod lineup has been completely refreshed. Let’s start with the new iPod Shuffle, which experienced the least amount of change compared to the iPod Touch and Nano.
Apple has gone back to the second generation Shuffle design, but has retained the updates granted to it in the fourth refresh. We now have the return of the classic iPod click wheel. The new iPod shuffles are much smaller than ever before, and are Apple’s cheapest gadget, starting at $49 for the 2GB version.
As you can see above, the iPod nano has gotten a major overhaul. They are now much smaller than before, come with a shuffle-like clip on the back, and have a multi-touch touchscreen. If you look closely, you’ll notice the background wallpaper resembles the one that comes default with iOS4, which enables backgrounds in the wallpaper. The various options for your music resemble apps, and it looks like you’ve got 4 pages of “apps,” by default.
Did anybody notice how Apple silently removed the video camera on the back? Apple also stealthily removed video playback, if anybody managed to catch that either.
I think they’ve finally realized that a video camera is absolutely not unnecessary on an iPod Nano. However, I think that video playback was a good feature that they killed in the latest refresh, something I would miss if I upgraded to the latest iPod Nano. Like last year’s Nano, this one also has a built-in FM radio, something that should probably be on the iPod Touch/iPhone, especially since you’re paying a premium.
This brings us to the main attraction, in my opinion – the new iPod Touch. It has a new shape, to accommodate the new dual cameras. Earlier this year, Steve had mentioned that “millions of people will be able to use FaceTime this year.” This latest refresh definitely supports that quote, with FaceTime enabled on all of the latest iPod Touches.
The new iPod Touch 4G also has a retina display, which comes as no surprise. It also packs in Apple A4, which is a 1ghz processor, that Apple has underclocked for better battery life. Along with that, the iPod Touch is now incredibly thin, and the camera on the back allows for HD video recording. However, you cannot take pictures with it, it’s strictly video recording only. Gametime, similar to Xbox Live, is set to be launched sometime next week, along with iOS 4.1, which I’ll get to in a little bit.
Finally, the Apple TV is finally been refreshed. As you can see, it is noticeably smaller than the previous version, and will retail at $99. It features HD video, just not Full HD (1080p), but rather, 720p. It has Netflix streaming built-in, along with iTunes rentals, (HD) YouTube streaming, and much more. There are also 99 cent rentals, but it is SD, not HD, unfortunately.
Next week, iOS 4.1 is set to launch. One of the main features is HDR photos. If you didn’t know, HDR stands for “high dynamic range.” It basically combines two images, one dark, one light, and combines them to form one perfect image. It is also supposed to help alleviate the proximity sensor issue, somewhat.
All in all, it was a great Apple event. Some of our speculations came true, and some did not. I for one will not be buying any of these because I already own an iPhone 4. What are your thoughts on this? Are you going to pick one of these new devices up? Drop a comment below!
