iPod Nano (5th-generation)

March 12, 2010 in In Digital, New Tech by admin

I’m holding Apple’s fifth-generation iPod Nano, and it’s feeling like deja vu. Here we are again with an 8GB and 16GB iPod Nano that bear the exact same shape and dimensions as last year’s models, priced at $149 and a slightly more wallet-friendly $179, respectively. Sure, the aluminum is a little glossier, and the screen now stretches out to 2.2 inches (up from 2 inches), but most people would really need to have an Apple fanboy’s eagle-eye to discern last year’s model from today’s.

But don’t let looks fool you. Under the hood, Apple really juiced the fifth-gen iPod Nano up with a ton of tricks that serve to make the Nano better. I’m not convinced all of the Nano’s new features were executed perfectly, but at least nothing about the fifth-gen Nano is a step backwards for Apple (unlike the third-gen Nano’s awkward shape, or the button-less iPod Shuffle). For the sake of mentioning it, just know that everything found in last year’s model is here as well, located in exactly the same place, with the same font, same everything. Music, photos, videos, podcasts, battery life, sound quality…same, same, same. Well, technically, rated battery life is up a little for video playback, clocking in a 5 hours instead of 4.

iPod Nano oddity No. 1: I can record video, but I can't snap a photo no matter how hard Antuan poses.

One thing the built-in speaker won’t work on, however, is the Nano’s new FM radio, since headphones need to be plugged in for the radio to work. That’s fine by us, though, since we were sure hell would freeze over before Apple would ever place a radio inside an iPod. Since 2001, customers have pleaded with Apple to add an FM radio to the iPod, only to find themselves shaking their disillusioned fists in air, year after year. Well, the iPod has an FM radio now, so I suppose we can all just shut up about that.

In fact, the iPod Nano has a fairly spectacular radio, capable of displaying RDS station info, tagging songs, and even pausing and rewinding. You heard right, you can pause up to 15 minutes of radio, which the Nano will cache internally until you’re ready to start up again. And as far as song tagging goes, provided you can find a station that broadcasts enough RDS data to make an accurate song tag, your tagged songs live in a separate radio submenu.

Once you sync back up to your computer, iTunes will ask you if you want to look up your tagged songs in the iTunes store. It’s neat, but not exactly reliable, since RDS info is hit or miss in most towns.

: iPod Nano oddity No. 4: Why on earth did Apple place the camera and microphone right where you’d naturally hold the thing?

Wrapping things up, Apple added a new pedometer feature into a “Fitness” submenu that lives in the Nano’s “Extras” directory along with games, voice memos, alarms, notes, etc. It’s cute, and works a little like a poor man’s Nike+iPod kit. In fact, iTunes will even prompt you after it sees you’ve used the pedometer, to see if you’d like to track your progress on the Nike+ Web site.

Apple has also thrown in a Genius Mixes selection under the music menu, which brings over one of the new ballyhooed features from iTunes 9. Essentially, these Genius Mixes are instant groupings of music based around a common genre, such as rock, pop, or jazz. So far, the feature hasn’t really won me over, but I’ll give it some more time and see if it surprises me.

So, now you know my first impressions of Apple’s fifth-generation iPod Touch. Stay tuned for CNET’s full review later in the week.

by Donald Be

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