REVIEW: Apple's new iPod Nano is no small step forward
The iPod Nano has always had several specific roles to fill in Apple’s line of music players. It’s the “workout iPod”: compact enough not to be disruptive during a run. It’s the “kids’ iPod”: affordable(ish) and lacking any sort of Internet capabilities that would make parents worry about what sort of trouble their children could get into. And significantly, it’s “the iPod for people who just want to listen to some damn music and podcasts and aren’t terribly interested in acquiring a bold new paradigm in pocket computing.”
The 2009 edition released last week underscores all of those roles. And despite significant enhancements that make the new iPod more useful and fun, the basic price is unchanged: the minimum buy-in is still $149 for 8 gigs (with a $20 price drop for the 16 gig model, now $179).
After years of fiddling with shapes and sizes, Apple seems to have finally settled on a design that they like. Its shape and size are unchanged since last year; it’s still like a stylish and colorful remote control. The screen’s been stretched to widescreen dimensions, which makes it even more practical as a video and photo viewer. The effect is hardly cinematic but it’s a nice compromise; it offers a credible viewing experience without putting another cellphone-sized device in your pocket.
Overall, Apple’s signature goal for the 2009 iPod was to see just how many new features they could cram in without adding any extra millimeters.
Yes, the Happy Young iPod Users in this year’s commercials are shooting video of each other. It shoots 640x480 video at 30 frames per second with sound. How good is the video? In a dispassionate evaluation, you’d have to admit that it’s really no great shakes. It shoots great footage when there’s a decent amount of light and the hand is steady. But when there’s lots of movement, the “jello effect” of the rolling CMOS shutter is fairly pronounced. And though it shot acceptable video inside a dimly-lit restaurant, scenes with severe backlighting or little direct lighting resulted in a moving study in black and nearly-black.
The placement of the lens is a bit unfortunate, too. It’s close to the edge of the device, behind the same button you need to push to start and stop recording; suffice to say that the pad of my index finger was well-documented throughout the test period.
But Apple is selling this as a “fun” camera, so what the heck. It’s a terrific camera when you consider that this feature is “free” in every way; it didn’t add so much as a millimeter to the bulk or a dollar to the price of last year’s Nano. And unlike a Flip Mino, say, you can shoot a whole week’s worth of vacation videos on the Nano. You’re limited to 20 minutes per video, but you can fill the Nano to capacity at roughly 15 megabytes per minute.
Even if you don’t particularly care about the video feature, it brings two fab collateral features to the Nano. There’s a new Voice Recorder app which records surprisingly clear, crisp audio, and they’ve somehow crammed a tiny speaker in there that’s certainly loud enough to enjoy a podcast without your headphones on, assuming that the room is relatively quiet.
The hardware hits keep coming. There’s a new FM radio tuner with a couple of useful tweaks. You can pause live broadcasts, and skip back ten seconds to see if the drunk guy on the sports call-in show really just called Tom Brady a “nigh-Falstaffian counterhero to the emerging dominance of the Tristan-like Brian Hoyer.” And if you hear a song you like, you can bookmark the title and artist for future perusal in the iTunes Store, thanks to a new iTunes-specific tag inserted into the broadcast. All Clear Channel stations are adding the tag, so Apple’s off to a fairly aggressive start with that feature.
For you folks who’ve fallen for that “regular exercise is a vital part of longterm health” nonsense, the new Nano has a trio of neat tweaks. There’s a built-in pedometer, and now support for the Nike+ system (the “magic bean” in your shoe that tracks speed and distance) is built right in.
The Nano also incorporates the same VoiceOver feature of the iPod Shuffle: if you have a set of headphones with an integrated clickbutton, the Nano will speak the names of albums, artists, tracks and playlists to you, allowing you to navigate through your music without having to unpocket the device and look at the screen.
Apple has another winner here. Thank Heavens they haven’t chosen to turn the Nano into a trivial little fashion player, giving a huge reboot each and every season Just Because. No, Apple continues to build upon the Nano’s tremendous equity. And they’re doing it in just the right way: by keeping the size and price where they are, and packing in more value without sacrificing the simplicity that Nano users prefer. If you want a premium but still affordable pocket music player, the Nano is still your go-to choice.