New iPods for Ya

Apple has debuted some new iPods including the an entirely new model, the iPod Touch. The Touch seems to basically be an iPhone without the cell phone features. As it’s name suggest, the Touch uses a touch screen interface like its big brother the iPhone. This may seem great but I can see it quickly becoming a fingerprint magnet, especially if it uses a glossy screen. It’s hard to tell from pictures.
Perhaps the closest thing to a PSP killer, the Touch brings a 3:2 aspect ratio 3.5” screen and wireless web browsing to the iPod. A big feature is being able to buy and download music through iTunes strait from your the Touch without a computer. Another big plus over the similar Sony PSP is the inclusion of Wireless G Wifi, which tops out at 54 megabits/s while the PSP’s Wireless B is limited to 11 megabits/s. This will mean much faster web surfing and downloading. The Touch can also stream YouTube video. One downside is the lack of an RSS 2.0 capabilities. This feature can be used to stream your own music and video collections with the PSP. The iPhone’s faster WiFi connection would make it perfect for that role. The Touch is fairly limited in terms of storage space, with 8gb or 16gb of flash memory. I would have preferred it to have a bigger mechanical HDD instead, especially for the price. At $299 for the 8gb, the iPod Touch isn’t cheap though in all fairness, a PSP with the same memory would cost almost the same. However, it still represents a quantum leap over past digital music players. The iPod Touch only comes in one colour, black.

The iPod Nano has been redesigned. It’s stubbier and is now made out of anodized aluminum rather than polycarbonate (aka bullet resistant) plastic. It can also now play video, at 320×240 resolution. The screen is slightly bigger than the previous Nano. It comes in 4gb or 8gb and starts at $149. Not a bad price for what it does. As for colours, it comes in gray, sky blue, red, black or a pastel green. However, only the more expensive 8gb model comes in different colours. The 4gb only comes in a gray.

The original iPod, now known as the iPod Classic has beefed up its storage space. It now comes in either an 80gb or 160gb model. It starts at $249 US and comes in gray or black. A good deal for its massive amount of storage. Too bad Apple doesn’t allow the iPod to be used as a mass storage device. Apple has also begun selling games through iTunes for the iPod Classic. I expect them to be rather simplistic though since the iPod doesn’t have a lot of processing power.

Lastly the Shuffle. What’s new? Well nothing actually. Just some new colours. It comes in the same colours the 8gb iPod Nano does except replacing black with a sort of lavender colour. The pastel colours are too 1980s in my opinion. Apple still hasn’t added a display for the Shuffle. Also a bump 2gb would have been nice with the removal of the 2gb Nano.

In summary, I’m thrilled about the new iPod Touch. The iPhone without the PDA/cell phone features yet still very innovated. Will I buy one? No. My PSP does pretty much the same things. The other iPods have just really been tweaked and I don’t think they’re really worth it. The Nano does now play videos though at $149 is an attractive price.