Apple releases new iPod lineup
Apple showed off their new lineup of iPods earlier today. There were many changes across the board, and they finally introduced the long-awaited touch-enabled widescreen iPod dubbed the “iPod Touch.” Details on each model follows…
Quick facts…
iPod Touch – [$299 8GB / $399 16GB] This new powerhouse packs many of the features that people have been desperately waiting for including a shiny new 3.5″ touch-enabled widescreen and wireless (wifi) capabilities. The iPod Touch obviously mimics the iPhone in design and in interface. Along with this device, Apple is releasing a mobile iTunes store. Wherever you have wifi access, you’ll be able to buy and download songs directly to your iPod.
What we say… While this is definetly the coolest iPod to come out (maybe ever), it is still not the ultimate iPod due to several shortcomings. The first and most obvious is the 16GB of maximum storage space. That right there is a deal breaker for me. I have about 30GB worth of songs (and most of my friends have even more). So this thing can only hold about half of my songs, and we haven’t even started talking about storing videos yet? My other gripe is the wireless capabilities seem hindered. I always thought the coolest thing about an iPod with wireless built-in would be the fact that I could sync up to my computer wirelessly. For example, my iPod is pretty much an exclusive jukebox for my car. I’d love to be able to update my iPod through my Wifi in my garage without ever having to take the iPod out of the car.
iPod Classic – [$249 80GB / $299 160GB] This is basically what used to be known as just the “iPod”. I guess all of the other iPod models have names, so they decided to name the original iPod the “classic”. Besides the new pricing and storage capabilities, this 6th generation iPod also sports a new software UI. The iPod Classic now sports an all-metal frame that is very similar to the iPod Nano’s.
What we say… I kinda miss the shiny iPod look, but I doubt I’ll miss the fingerprints. For people with large music libraries, this might be there only choice. 80GB at $249 sounds like a pretty good deal to me. I guess it’s finally time for me to get rid of my old 3rd Gen iPod.
iPod Nano – [$149 4GB / $199 8GB] The third gen iPod Nano gets the biggest updates of all the existing iPods. This new wider (but still thin) iPod has been nicknamed the “fatty” by many people. This Nano now does video and basically has all of the capabilities of it’s bigger brother the iPod Classic including video games and more.
What we say… While many people find the new wider form factor objectionable, I think it was well worth the trade-off to be able to get a bigger screen on the Nano. The fact that it can now do video makes this probably the best iPod to mix capability with portability, all at a $149 price tag… Me likey.
iPod Shuffle – The Shuffle was left virtually untouched. Apple will be releasing new colors of the Shuffle, and thats about it.
What we say… OK, maybe this isn’t exciting, BUT the Shuffle needed the least amount of tweaking out of the bunch anyways. The small formfactor is almost perfect, and I don’t see many updates needed for this device for a while. Many people would like to see a screen on the Shuffle, but I am a fan of having an extremely basic no-screen barebones option in the lineup.
For more information check out Engadget’s coverage of the new iPods…