The New 5th Generation iPod Nano and What It Means to the User
The new iPod Nano does video. But that it is not all its does. It also has other features like VoiceOver and the FM radio. These features are in themselves important enough to be taken note of.
Videos
First is of course the Video camera. It enables the iPod Nano to be a direct competition to the Flip Mino and also the Kodak Zi8 (Nano doesn’t do HD though). It has the signature ease of use that Apple interfaces have. There are special shooting modes just like in Photo Booth. So you have cyborg [remember the first Terminator movie?), motion blur, X-Ray, etc. The Nano is powerful enough to give you a live preview of four modes at a time. Once you have shot your video, you can upload it to Facebook, mobileMe and YouTube via the iPhoto application. Windows users will be able to use other photo applications for this. iPhoto also allows you to do basic edits to your videos.
What this means is that you now have a decent secondary camera in something small and thin that you are very likely to carry around everywhere, everyday
FM Radio
The long demanded FM Radio is here and with extra features too. You can pause live radio just live TV on TiVo on the Nano. This radio is also an ingenious money-spinner for Apple. Why? Because of a feature called iTunes tagging. This enables you to tag as they play on the radio. Then when you next hook up to iTunes, the tagged songs are displayed for your to preview and/or buy. Bottom line – Apple makes it easy for you to remember and buy that-song-on-the-radio. It is available only in the U.S. and only on the radio stations that support it and broadcast track information.
So now you can listen to something other your own collection, know what that song is called and make a note of it to buy later.
Genius
A new way for you to be lazy and count on others to do your work. Genius, as you know, makes playlists of well matched songs for you based on a database made of billions of user inputs. It now has something called Genius mix that mixes songs together based on that database. Apple says its like listening to a Dj playing an endless mix.
The visually pleasing Cover Flow feature lets you browse through songs and albums by looking the Album art. Plus, you can now shake your Nano to get a completely random song.
VoiceOver
By using the click wheel or the controls on the special Apple Earphones, you can get your Nano to tell you the title and the artist name of the track that is currently playing. You won’t have to look at the screen anymore. It will recognize the proper language for the track and speak in that language. So if it detects something called ‘La Dolce Vita’, it will start speaking Italian. Thankfully, you can change this to a language that you understand, like English. Languages can be changed on a per track basis.
Voice Memos
Voice recording has been enabled via the built in microphone. So now you can set voice reminders, record class lectures or may be that new tune you have been thinking about making. The built in speakers will allow you to play it back and share with others on the go.
Nike + iPod
This feature was already there in the last generation iPods. This syncs your walking and running data with your iPod through a proprietary Sports Kit that connects your Nike Shoes to your iPod. The data can then be viewed in interesting ways like how high you have climbed (showing the image of a skyscraper).