Apple Unveils “Biggest Change” in iPod Lineup Ever. Touch Screen Nanos, Dual Camera iPod Touch With FaceTime

I think we can all agree that Steve Jobs wasn’t joking when he said Apple hasn’t been “resting on [its] laurels” when it comes to changing/improving their iPods. In what he called the biggest change in the lineup ever, today’s keynote address saw them unveil a new iPod Shuffle, iPod Nano, and iPod Touch.

Let’s start with the smallest first . . . The new iPod shuffle was designed to retain the good things about voice commands, while making up for the misstep that saw them remove buttons all together from the previous generation. It’s a small square with the same button controls as the second generation model, and sports the familiar clip-on attachment for use with athletics. For $49, it’s a pretty slick little shuffle.

Moving on to the iPod Nano, we were introduced to the most marked departure from previous models. Apple went an entirely new direction by stripping away the physical buttons and using their multi-touch control scheme. It doesn’t sound like a bad idea, but the device’s square shape makes you wonder if it’ll be awkward getting used to navigating with touch controls. On the bright side, it’s definitely smaller and still has a built-in FM tuner and the ability to display photos. It’s $149 for 8 gigabytes and $179 for 16 gigabytes.

Jobs didn’t hold back when it came to introducing the new iPod Touch. It outsells Nintendo and Sony’s portable game players and has a 50 percent market share . . . The predictions turned out to be almost completely true: The newest generation of iPod Touch is following in the footsteps of the iPhone 4, getting the retina display, gyroscope, front-facing camera, and ability to make FaceTime calls to other iPod Touches or iPhone 4 devices over wi-fi. There will also be a rear-facing camera (but no flash). Physically, the new iPod Touch is even thinner, though that hardly seemed possible.

It was a big day for iPods, and an even bigger day for those with iPhone envy who are unwilling to sign a contract. The new iPod Touch is looking like an amazingly full-featured alternative. It’s priced at $229 for 8GB, $299 for 32GB, and $399 for 64GB.

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Devin Wieland

 

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