
"The iPod touch was a revelation when it was introduced a year ago: an iPhone without the phone, a wish come true for geeks everywhere who had already signed their lives away to Verizon or Sprint. The improvements that come with the touch 2G are minor—a built-in speaker, a barely-thinner contour, and the useful-if-not-mind-blowing Genius feature. Nevertheless, they're something, and when you improve a five-star product, you get, well, an even-better five-star product. Sorry, folks, that's as high as we go. The greatest improvements are probably yet to come, as more exciting apps are designed to exploit the strengths of the touch platform. But as it stands the iPod touch remains the best portable media player on the market, period," Gideon reports."
"Although I really liked last year's third-generation fat nano, the iPod nano 4G represents a clear improvement in both form and function. The scroll wheel and subtly tweaked user interface work as quickly and as intuitively as ever. The accelerometer's greatest feat is not the shake trick, but the screen shifting option that allows for a better photo and video viewing experience on what, ultimately, is still a very small player. The added Genius and shake-to-shuffle features aren't exactly groundbreaking, but they do show that the king of digital audio devices isn't asleep at the wheel. It's continual minor tweaks like these to the venerable iPod line that keeps Apple's stronghold on portable media player market intact. Once again, with the nano 4G, Apple has produced the coolest, slickest, and most intuitive sub-$200 flash player you can get, and easily earns our Editors' Choice," Gideon reports."
"The Nano 4G feels impossibly light and thin, with a seamless metal construction that prevents it from snapping like a twig. A slightly curved design gives the Nano 4G the essence of an airplane wing," Bell reports.
"The Nano's 2-inch screen size remains unchanged from the previous model, as well as its 1-inch wide scroll wheel control," Bell reports. "Because Apple has flipped the Nano's screen on its side, menus and user interface get a dramatic overhaul from last year's model. Menu text size has increased slightly and album cover art takes up less real estate on the main menu. In a bid to increase the accessibility of the Nano for people with impaired vision, Apple has included a font size setting on the fourth-generation Nano that makes its menus more legible--a nice feature even if you have 20/20 vision."
"If you passed on last year's iPod Nano and are still holding on to a first- or second-generation Nano (or possibly an iPod Mini), there's no better time to bite the bullet and get an upgrade. Given its competitive price, attractive range of colors, and improved user interface, Apple's fourth-generation of the iPod Nano is its best yet," Bell reports.
iPod nano 4G packaging
iPod nano 4G contents
iPod nano 4G language screen
iPod nano 4G menu UI
iPod nano 2G, iPod nano 3G, iPod nano 4G
iPhone 3G, iPod nano 3G, iPod nano 4G
I picked up a Black 8GB iPod nano 4G on Wednesday and wanted to post some unboxing, comparison shots and 1st impressions. The iPod nano 4G is unbelievably thin, feels great in the hand due to its curved body, and the glass screen is amazing.
The accelerometer in the nano works just like the iPhone and iPod touch. If you're a lefty or a righty the screen rotates based on the way you're holding the nano. The accelerometer also allows for games to be played on the nano without using the click wheel. The marble maze game Apple includes is very similar to games available for the iPhone and iPod touch, you control the marble by the way you hold the nano.
The Genius playlist feature is also built into the new nano, it really does allow you to rediscover your music. My favorite feature of the new nano is "shake to shuffe", just shake the nano and it shuffles your music and moves on to another song (only Apple could come up with something so simple and cool).
Gizmodo has posted ther iPod nano 4G review . They love the the new UI, the built in accelerometer makes viewing videos and playing games great, the "shake to shuffle" feature chooses a random song but is smart enough to not skip tracks if the screen is off or the hold switch is on. Check out Gizmodo for a full review.
We all know Apple is going to announce a new iPod nano tomorrow, Apple's own "Let's Rock" banner shows a silhouette of the new nano.
Engadget has posted what appears to be a leaked shot of the upcoming iPod nano 4G complete with the typical packaging Apple has been packing nanos in. We'll know for sure if this is the real deal come Tuesday. Stay tuned.
Alibaba.com has posted a picture of a screen protector they will be selling along with what appears to be the iPod nano 4th generation. We'll know if this is the real deal come Tuesday. Stay tuned.
iLounge has posted pictures of the dimensions of the upcoming iPod nano, and iPod touch.
"Images of the supposed new iPod nano show a device that measures 90.75mm tall by 38.75mm wide by 6.08mm deep, compared to the second-generation nano’s measurements of 90mm by 40mm by 6.5mm. These numbers suggest that the device will be the thinnest and narrowest iPod nano yet released, though almost inperceptibly so, while also just a hint taller than the original and second-generation models."
"The second-generation iPod touch is depicted as having a shape similar to the iPhone 3G, masking increases in both the height and thickness by using a more tapered enclosure. This device is shown as measuring 111mm tall by 61.8mm wide and 8.4mm deep, versus the original iPod touch’s 110mm height, 61.8mm width, and 8mm depth, and the iPhone 3G’s 115.5mm, 62.1mm, and 12.3mm measurements. What appears to be an antenna enclosure is shown on its rear top left, with the same headphone port and Dock Connector port arrangement at its bottom. Notably, the drawings show what appear to be volume controls on the left side, addressing a key concern of iPod touch users; the added thickness might be attributable to changes in the battery. "

Apple sent out the above invite for a Special Event taking place a week from today, Tuesday September 9th @ 10am Pacific Time. The above invite makes it clear this Special Event will be iPod related. Apple is expected to announce redesigned iPod nanos and iPod touch price drops.
"The Cupertino-based company has used a September gathering to launch new iPods for the past three years, Munster advised clients in a research report Wednesday, adding that Apple shares have risen about 4 percent on average from the week before those events to the week after," Marsal reports. "Historically, shares have risen more than 47 percent between the week before those events to the four months after, he said."
Marsal reports, "At this year's event, Munster is expecting Apple to refresh its iPod family through a number of 'pricing and capacity changes.' ...Sharing the stage with new iPods will be a complete overhaul of the company's mainstream notebook families, Munster believes." Via MacDailyNews .
Now that the iPod touch 2.0 update is finally available on Apple's iTunes servers, we iTouch owners can join in on the App Store fun for $9.95 which is billed directly to our iTunes Store account.
The purchase transaction took as long as it does to purchase a song or video from the iTunes store. The download took about 6-8 minutes on my cable modem connection. The process to backup, prepare, reload, and verify the software on my iPod took a good 10-15 minutes or so.
Now that the 2.0 software is loaded, iTunes needs to reload all of my music, movies, pictures, and PIM data. There is no time estimate given, this looks like it is going to be the longest part of the upgrade process as I am using about 12GB of my 14.6GB on the iPod touch.
While my data is reloading, I'm off to the App Store!
Starting earlier this afternoon I've been trying to purchase the 2.0 software for my 16GB iPod touch since 5pm. Each time I click on the "Buy the Software Update" link I get dropped into the home page of the iTunes Store.
Apple fan site, AppleInsider.com has been reporting a number of problems with the iTunes servers bogging down under the stress of all the new iPhone activations and updates to existing iPhone 1.0 devices.
I'll update this article as soon as I'm able to purchase, download, and apply the iPod touch 2.0 software.
UPDATE 9:20pm:
I just clicked the "Check for Update" button in iTunes with my iPod touch selected in the Source side bar and received the dreaded, "This version of the iPod software (1.1.4) is the current version" message that I received at 6:30am before Apple released the 2.0 software. It looks like it is going to be a long weekend for Apple and their customers. At least I don't have to work overtime tonight.
UPDATE 10:40pm
Not wanting to give up on my iPod touch OCD, I just checked the update status again, and I received a message reading:
"The iTunes Store is temporarily unavailable. Please try again later."
Maybe a fix is on the way?
UPDATE 10:20am - 7/12/08:
What a difference 12 hours makes! The iPod touch 2.0 software update is ready to roll!
I've taken the plunge and applied the new iPod Touch 1.1.4 update to my unhacked 16GB iPod Touch.
The upgrade process was rather uneventful. The software download took 11 minutes and I didn't have to do anything special to apply the 150MB+ update. When the 1.1.3 ROM was released, I also purchased the software update adding Mail, Maps, Weather, Notes, and Stocks. Applying the 1.1.4 update preserved my software and settings. Literally, when the update was done installing, all I needed to do was to disconnect my iPod from my computer and start using it.
As with other reports filtering in from around the Internet, I did not notice any changes in the applications or settings. I was experiencing some crashes when user Safari to read AintItCoolNews.com, AppleInsider.com, and EngadgetMobile.com. After the upgrade, I spent a few minutes surfing those three sites trying to get Safari to crash and I couldn't. Hopefully Safari crashes are a thing of the past.
So now we need to sit and wait. As some have speculated already, this update probably includes the code to support third-party native on the device applications from developers other than Apple. I should caution you that I am guessing here as there is no apparent changes to the OS, GUI, or applications that I was able to detect.
If I discover anything of interest, I will post more about it.
Apple has announced an update to the iPod shuffle. A new 2GB model is available for $69.00, and the 1GB has gotten a price drop to $49.00.
CUPERTINO, California—February 19, 2008—Apple® today announced that its iPod® shuffle, the world’s most wearable music player, is now even more affordably priced at $49 and that it is introducing a new 2GB model of the iPod shuffle for $69. The popular iPod shuffle is just half a cubic inch in volume, weighs just half an ounce, features an aluminum design with a built-in clip and comes in five colors—silver, blue, green, purple and a (PRODUCT) RED special edition.
“At just $49, the iPod shuffle is the most affordable iPod ever,” said Greg Joswiak, Apple’s vice president of Worldwide iPod Product Marketing. “The new 2GB model lets music lovers bring even more songs everywhere they go in the impossibly small iPod shuffle.”
With Valentine's Day right around the corner Apple has released a Pink iPod nano just in time. The Pink 8GB iPod nano is available now for $199.00
I know there are many people out there with multiple iPods, iPhones, and iPod touch's. Griffin has come to the rescue with the Griffin Powerdock. The Griffin Powerdock will be available in either a dual dock for $50 or the quad dock for $70.
Labels: accessories, iphone, ipod, touch
You can now give your iPod video the GUI of the iPod touch . This hack will allow you to turn your old iPod video's UI into a UI that resembles the iPod touch. Via Engadget .
"Our channel checks indicate that of all the iPods, the Touch piqued the most interest from customers," analyst Darren Aftahi wrote in a research report to clients this week. "However, our conversations do not lead us to the conclusion that "level of interest" translated into consumer purchases of iPod Touch."
From interactions with sales representatives and store managers, Aftahi and his team determined that even though 8GB iPod Touch ($299) generated lots of interest among holiday shoppers, when it came to purchases, they instead decided on the 8GB iPod Nano given its smaller size and lower price ($199).
"Also, a lot of consumers seemed to opt for iPhones over iPod Touch because iPhones facilitate all that iPod can do (and more), but the opposite is not true," the analyst further advised clients. "Older individuals preferred iPod Touch because of its interface and Wi-Fi capability, while iPod Nano was more favored by younger individuals (children and teens)." Via AppleInsider .
PowerPoint 2008, the presentation maker included in the bundle, can export creations as a series of pictures -- but not video -- to iPhoto '06 and later. Alternately, users can save the slides to the Mac's Pictures folder.
"From there, sync pictures to your iPod or iPhone through iTunes as usual, then use the built-in photos or slide-show program on your iPod or iPhone to show your presentation," said Blair Neumann, a program manager in Microsoft's Mac development group, in a post to the team's blog Tuesday. IPhones and iPods that boast video viewing -- the iPod touch, the newest iPod nano and the iPod classic -- can also connect to a larger screen television or a projector using Apple's $49 component AV cable."
Despite Microsoft's rating of the Zune 80 for 30 hours of audio playback with the Wi-Fi feature turned off, "lab testing revealed that the Zune 80 is realistically capable of 22 hours of audio playback with the Wi-Fi feature turned off, or 18.5 hours with the Wi-Fi feature enabled," Bell reports.
"While 22 hours is certainly better than the 13 hours we got from the first-generation Zune, it's nowhere close to the 45 hours we were able to get from the competing 80GB iPod classic," Bell reports."
"CSS (Cansei de Ser Sexy, a Portuguese translation of 'tired of being sexy,' taken from a Beyoncé Knowles quote) released its debut album in July 2006. American fans and critics touted the group for its high-energy act and playful innocence. But CSS soon learned that buzz, rave reviews and a small indie following do not necessarily translate into lofty record sales. The album sold just 340 copies per week through October, according to Nielsen SoundScan," Cadelago reports.
"Then the iPod Touch commercial premiered on Oct. 28. In the next two weeks, CSS sold 2,000 records and climbed to No. 15 in song downloads and No. 5 in ring tone sales at Apple's iTunes Store," Cadelago reports. "'This is one of the rare instances where we can point to a single event and say, 'This is for sure what's driving all of our record sales,'' said Tony Kiewel, CSS's agent at Sub Pop records. 'The band is completely absent from this country and has been for ages. And the record is over a year old.' CSS's year-old record now stands at No. 19 on Billboard's Top Electronic Album chart, and 'Music is My Hot, Hot Sex' has since broke onto the all-important Pop 100 chart."
"The Canadian band Feist was quick to realize the benefits of its Apple partnership. Headed by singer-songwriter Leslie Feist, it released 'The Reminder' on May 1, a well-reviewed collection of alternative and folk songs. The record sold decently - 31,000 its first week and 21,000 the next, according to SoundScan. On Sept. 9, when its song '1234' was paired with Apple's new iPod video Nano, the band was averaging 6,000 record sales weekly for a grand total of 216,000," Cadelago reports.
"Feist's single placed seven times on Billboard charts, climbing as high as No. 4 on Hot Digital Songs and No. 10 on the Pop 100 chart. At the iTunes Store, the record is No. 25 in album sales and No. 44 in song downloads," Cadelago reports. "On Nov. 3, Feist secured the highly coveted musical guest spot on Saturday Night Live. And as of last Saturday, 'The Reminder' had sold 346,000 total records, 130,000 additional sales since the iPod commercial premiered."
The world's most popular music player turns 6 years old today. Steve Jobs announced the 1st iPod on October 23, 2001. The 1st iPod was a 5GB hard drive model that retailed for $399, and held about 1000 songs. Steve Jobs said, "the coolest thing about iPod is your entire music library fits in your pocket."
Watch Steve Jobs introduce the 1st generation iPod here . Who would have thought a little music player would change the face of music, computers, and culture? A struggling computer company in Cupertino;) Unlike some companies who taste success and rest on their laurels, Apple has dramatically enhanced each version of the iPod. The 1st generation iPod promised to keep your entire music collection (about 1000 songs) in your pocket, fast forward to the 6th generation iPod which still lets your carry your entire music collection in your pocket (40,000 songs) just in case your music library has grown over the years;)
So Happy Birthday iPod, here's to many more!!!
Labels: ipod
Quarterly iPhone Sales Exceed One Million
CUPERTINO, California—October 22, 2007—Apple® today announced financial results for its fiscal 2007 fourth quarter ended September 29, 2007. The Company posted revenue of $6.22 billion and net quarterly profit of $904 million, or $1.01 per diluted share. These results compare to revenue of $4.84 billion and net quarterly profit of $542 million, or $.62 per diluted share, in the year-ago quarter. Gross margin was 33.6 percent, up from 29.2 percent in the year-ago quarter. International sales accounted for 40 percent of the quarter’s revenue.
Apple shipped 2,164,000 Macintosh® computers, representing 34 percent growth over the year-ago quarter and exceeding the previous quarterly record for Mac® shipments by 400,000. The Company sold 10,200,000 iPods during the quarter, representing 17 percent growth over the year-ago quarter. Quarterly iPhone™ sales were 1,119,000, bringing cumulative fiscal 2007 sales to 1,389,000.
“We are very pleased to have generated over $24 billion in revenue and $3.5 billion in net income in fiscal 2007,” said Steve Jobs, Apple’s CEO. “We’re looking forward to a strong December quarter as we enter the holiday season with Apple’s best products ever.”
Labels: apple. mac, iphone, ipod
Are you diggin' the iPod Classic's new user interface, but don't feel like replacing your 5th generation iPod Video? Some clever folks over @ Driven Design have done just that, they've made an app that will give your iPod Video 5th generation the UI of the iPod Classic. You can download it here .
Gizmodo is reporting that Apple has crippled the iPod touch's calendar by not allowing you to enter events in it like you can do with the iPhone (stupid move Apple!!)
The above picture is from Apple's US site.

The above picture is from Apple's UK, Canada, France, and Spain site.
The Boy Genius has posted an unboxing of the iPod Classic.
"It could be just this unit so don’t go and dismiss it right away, but we found unlike previous iPods, we have to press really hard on the click-wheel to register "clicks". Not the physical buttons, but the actual scrolling motion. The UI looks pretty nice and is visually polished, but we found it pretty slow — definitely slower than the 5G iPod!"
Labels: ipod
"You might have noticed there's an empty spot there on that dock. What could that possibly be for, you might ask? It's for a new application we've written for the iPod touch, it's called the iTunes WiFi music store."
Four buttons: featured, top tens, search, downloads... "If you see something you like, tap it, free preview of the song." "You are now downloading the song... when it's done you can listen to it on your iPod touch, and it syncs back up to itunes."
"You can search for anything in the entire iTunes store. You can search for any artist, any song name, any album name, preview it, and if you love it go buy it. This is the new itunes WiFi music store."
"It's the same size screen as the iPhone, but it's even thinner. It's 8mm thin. Unbelievable. The new iPod touch. It's one of the 7 wonders of the world."
It's got WiFi on board 802.11b/g.
"Others have done this and it's failed. We understand why it's failed, and we know what to do make it successful. Well, what's the problem with WiFi? Well, part of the problem is getting onto WiFi... you may be fine at home and the office, but anywhere in between can be challenging."
"You may log in but you'll get a screen. Even walking through Stanford University you get a login page... so you can build in the hardware but you can't get the network [without the page]. So what do you do about that? We're going to add an application to the touch: the Safari web browser."
"Watch millions of free videos streaming over WiFi to the iPod touch." YouTube included.
8GB- $299
16GB- $399
Apple will be shipping the iPod Touch this month.
Labels: ipod

"We've got new iPod Classics: full metal design, even thinner than their predecessors. The new classic is starting at 80GB audio 30 hours, video 6 hours. And we've got the whole enhanced UI on the new iPod classic."
"We're going to offer a slightly thicker one as well... and it's going to have 160GB." applause. "This BOGGLES the mind! This new 160GB, which is far smaller than the original iPod, puts 40k songs in your pocket. Even better: battery life. 40 hours audio, 7 hours video."
80GB $250
$160GB $350
Available today, will be in all Apple Stores by the weekend.
Pictures via Engadget .
$149 for 4GB nano.
$199 for 8GB nano.
Available in all Apple Stores by the weekend.
Labels: ipod
According to the reports we obtained, the device will have similar form factor to the iPhone but should be thinner. It will include a touch-screen display with similar dimensions as the one found on the iPhone.
The question remaining unanswered is whether the new iPod will include flash memory or hard drive-based storage. Considering the fact it is thinner than the iPhone, sources speculated in favor of flash-based storage but today's pricing for this kind of storage is quite prohibitive compared to small hard drives." Via Mac Scoop .
Thinner than the iPhone?? Is that possible?? We'll know soon enough. Check back here around 1pm ET for the details.
The new iPod will feature similar dimensions to Apple's iPhone with which it will share the same display, but sources except the iPod to continue to sport a hard drive in place of Flash memory. Solid state media commands a roughly 15-fold price premium per gigabyte over a 1.8-inch hard drive, which is now available in substantial quantities at capacities up to 120GB."
"Apple's new iPod nano, meanwhile, will gain much of the same functionality as Apple's current 5.5G iPod, including video playback and a higher resolution 320x240 pixel display. The nano will remain Flash-based, with capacities expected to top out at 12GB or 16GB, in keeping with rival product offerings.
The iPod nano is also expected to feature the first substantial improvement to the iPod's traditional interface. Rumored to have been in development for nearly two years, the click-wheel based interface will pack plenty of animation and other visual flair, including CoverFlow." Via Think Secret .
"A reliable industry insider has told vnunet.com that the announcement will include plans to bring digital radio to the iPod along with an option to buy music using the device," Thomson reports.
"The source said that the new iPods will be able to receive digital radio, and will include a 'buy-now' function to allow the user to download and buy tracks as they are being played," Thomson reports.
"Other rumors about the new iPod line suggest the inclusion of a full touch-screen that does away with hardware buttons, and a new version of the iPod Nano that can handle video," Thomson reports." Via MacDailyNews .
Via WebbAlert.com and AppleInsider:
...the Beatles' final April 10, 1970 press release...ends:
"Spring is here and Leeds play Chelsea tomorrow and Ringo and John and George and Paul are alive and well and full of hope. The world is still spinning and so are we and so are you... When the spinning stops -- that'll be the time to worry, not before. Until then, the Beatles are alive and well and the beat goes on, the beat goes on."
Are The Beatles finally coming to iTunes? Coupled with the cryptic message, iTunes has also heavily featured the solo music of Lennon, McCartney and Starr. Hmmm...
It looks like the rumors were true, Apple sent out invites for a "special event" they will be holding on September 5th. It's almost a guarantee that we will see new, redesigned iPods. If the picture is any indicator of what's to come, some of these iPods will include Cover Flow just like the iPhone.
The fifth is odd day for an event (a Wednesday instead of the typical Tuesday), but we are told that the reason for this is the long holiday weekend. Whatever you say, your Steveness. It's also possible that Apple will make announcements on the 5th while shipping later in the month, which would validate the date range provided by AI's sources.
Four different models will be introduced next month, says AI, most of which will be NAND-flash-based and major evolutions of both the iPod video and iPod nano lines. Sources in the "far East" have allegedly seen fullscreen iPods that will have an OS that is based off of OS X. "What's interesting, however, is that the Apple has also been working on Mac OS-based iPod software for models that will retain their click-wheels—such as third-generation iPod nanos," writes Kasper Jade. "Interface concept videos recently published and then pulled from MacRumors consisted of genuine Apple material to this effect, AppleInsider can confirm." Via ArsTechnica .
Same form factor as the iPhone with some notable exceptions:
* Outside rim is black, not silver like the iPhone and more flush with the screen like the 5.5G iPods not rounded like iPhone
* No ear speaker or microphone for phoning
* Thicker - slightly
Things that are the same:
* OSX Embedded OS
* 480x320 screen
* Coverflow-enabled iPod application
* Single button home navigation