New iPods (Nano and Touch) and EarPods

First up, the New iPod Nano

• The Nano showed evolution.
• It now sports a bigger display and lighting connector.
• The new 7th gen iPod nano returns to the bigger screen form. Looks really clean and this calls for joy times for fans of the older iPod nano.
• The new iPod nano is 5.4mm thick, 40% thinner than the 6th-gen iPod nano.
• Allows up to 30 hours of music playback.
• The volume rocker on the side also doubles as a way to play and pause the music, as well as scroll through it.
• Display -- 2-inch, multi-touch
• This new iPod will be available in bright colors like, Purple, green, blue, yellow, red, black, silver.
• It also features a built-in FM tuner with live pause facility.
• You can also view photos and widescreen video (Widescreen video sounds exciting!)
• Apps like fitness and pedometer come built-in, and also integrates with Nike+ right out of the box.
• It now also has bluetooth (wondered if it would have WiFi too, but no it doesn't..)
• Bluetooth lets you wirelessly stream to external devices like cars, headphones and speakers.
• So, finally... No web browser, no WiFi.
• Lightning (connector) plugs in on the botton left side
• iPod Nano- 16GB $149, available in October

Second is, the New iPod Touch

• Roughly 175,000 games and apps that work on the iPod Touch.

• iPod Touch has a longer screen, too.

• 5th generation model -- looks a whole lot like the old one from the front, except with the larger screen found on the iPhone 5.

• 6.1 mm thick, 88 grams. Thinnest and lightest iPod touch yet.

• The new iPod touch features an Aluminium back, but a non glossy one.

• Headphone jack on the bottom left, also uses the new lightning connector.

• So, both the Touch and iPhone 5 will have the extra-long 4-inch screen. App-makers, you've gotten the message loud and clear.

• The New iPod Touch uses the A5 chip.

• Although not as fast as the iPhone 5's A6, but still a dual-core chip, which Joswiak says is 7x faster than the previous model when it comes to graphics.

• But, has an A5. So, Touch and iPhone 5 now have A5 and A6, respectively. Maybe this will settle into the pattern for iPhone and Touch.

• A project of Natural Motion, company says it used to require a supercomputer and now works on an iPod Touch. App/Game is coming this holiday, the company says.

• In terms of battery life, allows up to 40 hours of music, 8 hours of video.

• Eight hours of video: better for the tykes on road trips.

Camera Features

• Camera on the back has a mic, flash. 5 megapixel w/backside illumination, hybrid IR filter, five-element lens, f/2.4 aperture, w/autofocus, and Sapphire crystal.

• Also includes the new panorama mode. New device runs iPhoto for iOS.

• 5 instead of 8 megapixel, but same lens construction. And Panorama. The Touch is a franken-portable all around.

• Hidden button for a new feature called the "iPod Touch loop" Lets you attach a wrist strap to it.

• So Apple's effectively turning the iPod Touch into a consumer camera.

• Video specs: shoots 1080p video, front camera does FaceTime HD w/720p.

Other features / upgrades

• Other things upgraded: Bluetooth 4.0 w/LE, 802.11 a/b/g/n, same as iPhone 5.

• iPod Touch gets Siri too

• Supports AirPlay gaming via Apple TV. Virtual controllers, etc.

• Comes in a bunch of different colors: silver, black, blue, yellow and a red.

• Colors of the iPod shuffle are getting updated to match the nanos, otherwise unchanged.

• One more color, the product RED models.

Availability

• New iPod Touch 32GB is $299, 64GB is $399, available from October

With this, the price of iPod Shuffle is now, $49 (2GB Shuffle) and the old iPod touch is for 16GB $199 and 32GB $249

Earpods

• 3 years of design for a new headphone. They're called EarPods.

• Matches up with the leaks from earlier, three little grills.

• The controls on the headphone have also been bumped up in size

• Port in the back tunes mid-range, port in the stem does bass.

• The design provides better lows as a result.

• Airflow comes in at the base of the bud.

• Crazy-looking from the side.

• Ships as a standalone accessory today.

• Included in the 5th generation iPod Touch, 7th generation nano, and with the new iPhone 5.

• Yes, they come with the new iPods/iPhones (but not the Shuffle)

Available in retail, and in the company's online store. Apple has contributed more than $50M to that cause with these models.


This feels like a good time to look back. The iPhone 5 met expectations nearly completely, with few if any surprises. iPods had a few wrinkles up their sleeve.