Apple has recently made a few big, or should I say huge changes to their iPod lineup. On Wednesday Apple had an event announcing all of the new changes that they were implementing. Some of the bigger ones were changing the design and features of the iPod Touch, the iPod Nano, and the iPod Shuffle. The iPod Touch is the iPod that received the most new features, including dual cameras, Apple A4 chip, a microphone, Apple’s retina display, and FaceTime support. The new game center was also introduced. As for the cameras, there is both a front and a back camera. The back camera is capable of recording 720p HD video and taking stills, and the front camera can be used for FaceTime or just recording videos.
The addition of FaceTime is probably one of the bigger additions to the iPod Touch, and we don’t know how it works yet, but it will probably be amazing. Of course, the addition of FaceTime means that there is now a microphone on the iPod Touch. The new Touch is also a mere 7.2 mm thin, which is even thinner than the last generation, but still more powerful.
A feature that some tech blogs seem to have overlooked is that the new iPod Touch also has a gyroscope, which will make gaming even more precise. The new retina display also increases the resolution of the Touch dramatically. The battery life is also a little bit better than that on the third generation iPod Touch. Some of the other hardware has also been upgraded such as to the RAM, to 512 MB. Overall, the improvements to the iPod Touch are amazing, and upgrading is totally worth it. Your upgrade will come at a cost, though. The new 8 GB version will set you back $230, the 32 GB $300, and the 64 GB $400. You can pre-order the iPod Touch now and it will ship on September 8th.
Now, let’s talk about the iPod Nano. The Nano is probably the iPod that has been changed the most in terms of design. Apple has cut out the usual click-wheel and has made the entire iPod Nano a 1.5 inch capacitive touch screen display with multitouch support, though I don’t know how useful multitouch would be on such a small screen. The menu system has also been redesigned to make better use of the touchscreen. Some of the other new features are the increased battery life, which is now 24 hours of continuous music playback. Apple has also removed the camera from the Nano, which some people could find extremely offensive.
The new iPod Nano looks much better than the old version and it probably performs better too. You can get the 8 GB version for $150 and the 16 GB version for $180. The iPod Nano ships on the same date as the Touch, September 8th. Last but not least, Apple has also made some changes to the iPod Shuffle, even though there weren’t that many things that could be changed in the first place. One of the things that you will first notice has changes is that the buttons have returned to the iPod Shuffle. The shape of the Shuffle is also a little squarer. Other than that you won’t notice any design changes. Other than the design of the iPod Shuffle it doesn’t look like anything else has really changed. You can get the shuffle for $50 for a 2 GB version, also shipping on September 8th. Apple has sure made a lot of changes to their devices, but most if not all of them are probably for the better.
