New iPod Nano Fulfills Its Mission, Mostly

By Stephen Williams

It’s glossy, it’s slick, the video’s for real, the audio speaker’s not.

iPod Nano
Music and Video

I took a run up to the Apple store on 14th Street in Manhattan on Thursday, and a young lady showed me the new iPod Nano, a gold colored version with a sassy gloss finish and a nifty camera lens peeking out the rear. It was the only demo Nano in the house, she said, but I could buy all the Nanos I wanted — in any color — for about $150 and up.

After a short hands-on fool-around with it — others were waiting, real customers — I concluded that:

  • The video camera’s a delightful feature.
  • The speaker inside the Nano — if you can call it a speaker — lacks any fidelity.
  • The FM tuner’s a neat addition (although not too effective inside the store).
  • The satiny finish is cool.

The larger issue, however, is: why is there no camera in the new iPod Touch model?

It’s curious, since little brother Nano has one, and its seems a no-brainer to install a camera into the Touch, since it could be transplanted directly from the iPhone 3GS, which shares a similar form factor. There were stories last week that some “technical problems” had arisen in the camera option, but it appears that Apple might just be waiting to upgrade the device. Again.

Back to the FM radio, a component that Apple has steadfastly refused to include in its portable music players. As an article in Wired points out, “the answer comes with iTunes-Tagging. In addition to live pausing of the radio stream (and rewinding up to 15 minutes through the buffer) you can tag tracks by hitting the center button. If a radio station supports it, the song info is saved and later you can see a list in iTunes alongside, you guessed it, the option to buy the song.”

Meanwhile, as I reported earlier, it had appeared that Apple has lowered the prices on some “older” iPod models, including dropping the price on the iPod Touch with 32 gigabytes from $399 to $279. However, the latest update to Apple’s online Store page only refers to the new models introduced on Wednesday. A manager at the Apple store in Manhattan told me that all previous iPod incarnations had been boxed and shipped out of the Chelsea location.

Comments are no longer being accepted.

Nathan September 16, 2009 · 11:19 am

Live pausing of radio? Rewinding? A link to buy the song? Wow. Those are awesome features that will be industry-changers in the radio world.

This will create a lot of pressure to broadcast digital info about your songs, and make radio interactive. Suddenly it won’t seem as antiquated in a world with services like Pandora. And radio still has this going for it: no cellular data plan needed to use it. It’s truly free.

Jim Teece September 16, 2009 · 12:20 pm

iPod touch is very thin (.33″) in comparison to iPhone (.48″). I hope they keep it thin even if that means no camera.

The iPods (.24″) are thinner then the iPod Touch, so my assumption is that yes you can put the same camera from the ipod into the ipod touch, but people would expect the same camera with autofocus and 3 megapixels found in the iphone.

If the touch is a gaming device and an example of the tablet we all want, then maybe a series of wired and wireless cameras with varying resolutions could be in order. ($19 to $49) Clip it on and go. That way I can turn it toward me and use it for video chats too.

The real key is how to sell one of each kind to everyone in iPod fan homes. Exercise with the nano (Nike +), play games with the touch.

Congrats to Apple for pushing this further and further every year.

Dan September 16, 2009 · 12:40 pm

The author asks why there is no still camera in the Nano. David Pogue recently interviewed Steve Jobs, who explained why a still camera wasn’t included:

“That reason, he said, is technical: the sensors you need to record video are extremely thin these days—thin enough to fit into the wafer-thin Nano. But the ones with enough resolution for stills, especially with autofocus (like the sensor in the iPhone), are much too thick to cram into a player that’s only 0.2 inches thick.”

//bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/09/09/in-qa-steve-jobs-snipes-at-amazon-and-praises-ice-cream/?scp=1&sq=david%20pogue,%20steve%20jobs&st=cse

Cordell September 16, 2009 · 1:00 pm

Unfortunately, to connect the iPod to a TV set to watch video on a larger screen requires Apple’s proprietary docking station or AV cable for an extra $50. The company included special firmware to lock out other manufacturers’ docks or cables wishing to provide this feature.

Farrah September 16, 2009 · 1:28 pm

Sounds like TiVo for radio. I’ve been asking for that for years. Finally!!!

slappy September 16, 2009 · 1:36 pm

For the price, loads of capabilities and the form factor, this thing is one amazing piece of tech.

Barbara Tucker September 16, 2009 · 1:43 pm

I bought this little gadget last week as an early birthday present to myself. Why? I’m a walker–usually early morning–so I listen to NPR’s ‘Morning Edition”! This Nano has a pedometer too. I think the sound quality is terrific. Of course, I’m comparing it to my other little Aiwa walking radio which finally died after fifteen years.

Pam September 16, 2009 · 1:44 pm

I wonder how the new nano will compare to Microsoft Zune. I heard the Zune has HD radio capability. Can you do an article comparing the two.

Dean Swift September 16, 2009 · 4:57 pm

The official answer as to why the Touch doesn’t have a camera added is that they wanted to keep production costs as low as possible. This is so the Touch could compete price wise with the PSP and DSi as a handheld game machine.

DH September 16, 2009 · 11:46 pm

As I recall, all of the iPods have a chip that ca provide FM capability but this is the first time hat it’s been utilized. Good.
The iPod keeps on moving !

rob September 17, 2009 · 12:14 am

blah blah, apple only updates its nano, but not the touch? the nano gets a pedometer….who cares? and video camera…who cares, it cant even take pic. the big event that apple had last week was such a let down, was waiting for something to come out of it, i was waiting for the upgraded touch, but they focus on the nano…wtf? i think i will be looking into a zune hd……720p video out, NVIDIA Tegra HD processor, HD Radio, wireless synch and share, Wi-Fi, OLED multitouch screen and tagging songs to buy later. Can the nano do any of that? who we kidding, while most of us will just buy the apple because they think it is cool, but when you compare the two side by side then just maybe the apple doesnt look so cool anymore.

Ali September 17, 2009 · 2:08 am

Wish we had an Apple Store near us -or at least somewhere in the country- so that I could try these new toys out. Now, the new nano is really cool, but I bought my iPhone so that I could have my iPod inside my cellphone! So I think I have to upgrade to 3GS instead of buying that shiny little iPod/camcorder/radio.

iGenius September 17, 2009 · 7:41 am

The iTouch has no iCamera because it is a gaming machine. The iTouch has always been primarily a gaming machine. Only iPhones have iCameras, and the iTouch is a iGaming machine, and not a telephone.

mike czarnik September 17, 2009 · 9:32 am

i hate this new ipod im moveing on to zune

Chris Freitas September 17, 2009 · 8:03 pm

I had actually did buy the new iPod Nano, but returned it to the Apple Store the next day. It was not that it was a bad product. It was more like, why should I own one of these when already owning an iPod Classic with 120 GB of space and has much of the same features minus the accelerometer, built-in FM radio, and camera. The new Nano is great to have, if you already don’t have a media player. However, this thing should not replace any iPods or other related devices unless you are looking for something in terms of flashy gimmicks. If I had to recommend the MP3 player of choice, get the classic. For $250 plus tax, you can have up to 160 GB to put your entire music library (and most likely have a ton of space left), watch TV shows or movies, play podcasts, and even download some simple little games. Also, for FM radio fans, you can buy an FM Radio Remote for it, but it is a pricy $50 and doesn’t have the rewind/pause feature, while it is still suitable for radio listening.

r4 September 24, 2009 · 5:55 am

This will create a lot of pressure to broadcast digital info about your songs, and make radio interactive. Suddenly it won’t seem as antiquated in a world with services like Pandora. I had bought the new iPod Nano, but returned it to the Apple Store the next day.