 
What comes in nine colours, sports a VGA video camera, a voice
recorder, built-in speaker, pedometer, FM tuner, MP3 player and colour
screen? And weighs next to nothing? It can only be an Apple then.
The new Apple iPod nano, that is.The fifth generation nano,
introduced on September 9 by Steve Jobs himself, looks almost identical
to its predecessor save for a higher resolution, bigger screen (2.2”)
but packs so much more. And the 16 GB version is cheaper than the
current version. Stated battery life is also better at 24 hours for
audio and five for video.
There is no doubt that the inclusion of a video camera without really
changing the dimensions of the player is a trump card for Apple. For
little more than the price of a dedicated video camera such as the Pure
Digital Flip Mino, you get everything else described above. There is no
High-Definition support – you have to look elsewhere for that – but nano
videos with sound are basically meant to be uploaded to Facebook,
YouTube etc. First reports suggest that the video quality is better than
that of the iPhone 3GS.
One caveat is that the nano cannot take still pictures. Jobs explains
that they could not a find a CCD sensor that would fit inside the
slender frame of the nano. (Hasn’t he seen the latest Casio Exilim
digital cameras?) But then, dedicated digital cameras are so cheap these
days….
There are 15 cool effects you can use while filming—including Sepia,
Film Grain, Black and White and Thermal (remember Predator?). There is a
so-called X-ray option, but before you get excited, it just adds a
‘negative’ look to your image. This is an on-the-go process – no
post-editing is possible in the player itself.
 The other big news is the FM tuner, a first for any iPod. The
earphones act as the antenna. You can record from the radio too (15
minutes max per recording) but they cannot be transferred to a PC, Mac
or another device. But the iPod nano lets you tag songs from the radio
that you can purchase later via iTunes in certain markets. You can play
AAC (Apple DRM and unprotected files), MP3, MP3 VBR, Audible 2, 3, 4 and
Enhanced, Apple Lossless, AIFF, and WAV files.
Video is strictly limited to H.264 (shooting and playback) and MPEG-4
(playback). JPEG and all common photo formats are supported. There’s
almost nothing new in the music department, except for a feature called
Genius Mix. It builds on the existing Genius feature, and organizes
mixes of your music library according to genre.
The pedometer is said to be very useful - enter your weight and start
walking. The nano will tell you how many steps you have taken and how
many calories were burned.
One more piece of advice: Do buy a pair of headphones as Apple’s
bundled earbuds apparently do not do full justice to the nano. That
apart, the nano is another winner from Apple. |
