Steve Jobs today introduced a new model of iPod nano at the widely publicised reported “Let’s Rock” event at the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, San Francisco.
As predicted by the rumour mill, the new model of iPod is taller than the iPod nano it replaces with an elongated screen. The longer screen enables the device to be turned on it side for improved widescreen video playback.
However, a surprise addition was the inclusion of the accelerometer from the iPhone (the sensor that measures movement). This enables you to adjust photographs and album art , depending on which way you hold the iPod.
The iPod 4G has a built in accelerometer that detects which way up it is being held
Steve Jobs said: “It combines the best of both worlds: The portrait ratio from the original iPod nano, and the same super high res display from the recent one. And it is the thinnest iPod we’ve ever made.”
Another unique feature to the iPod nano is “shake to shuffle” this is where you can shake the iPod nano to shuffle to the next song.
The iPod nano is made out of curved aluminium with a curved glass display, it share design features with Apple’s MacBook Air with a thinner tapered edge.
Like iTunes 8, the new nano also sports the new Genius Playlist functionality. If you hold down the centre button you can access a new menu that enables you to create Genius Playlists. These compare your music with other songs in your library to build playlists of similar sounding music.
Another new feature is the iPod nanos built-in voice recorder. This works when you connect a microphone enabled earphone to the iPod nano. Apple also launched a new style of earphone for it iPod range, that incorporates the shuttle button and microphone found on the iPhone earbuds, but also includes volume controls ($29, sold separately).
The iPod nano is available in eight different colours that Steve Jobs referred to as “chromatic”. The new model of nano also saw its storage space increased to 8GB and 16GB. It is immediately on sale in the UK. The price was announced at 109 for the 8GB model, and 149 for the 16GB model.
The new iPods are ready to ship and go on sale in the next few days.
Steve Jobs closed the “Let’s Rock” event saying: “We think we’ve got the best line up we’ve ever had for this holiday season. We enter the season having sold 160m iPods and have the strongest line up of iPods we’ve ever had and best version of iTunes. We’re ready for this holiday season. And we’re glad to share it with you this morning.”
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