New iPod's on their way. Nano is getting "squared"

[Mayareira]

http://images.macrumors.com/article/...ano_mockup.jpg

AppleInsider offers new claims of a significant redesign of the iPod nano scheduled for release at next week's media event, lending additional weight to the square cases and earlier rumors associated with the device.

People familiar with the matter indicated that the size and shape of the device, revealed this week through photos of third-party cases, will be more akin to the iPod shuffle than the current-generation iPod nano. Even with this small size, however, it is expected to have a traditional iPod dock connector, allowing compatibility with the existing iPod accessory ecosystem.

The new iPod nano is said to utilize a tiny 3cm-by-3cm display that was revealed in its bare form as unknown Apple-branded component earlier this summer. For comparison, the second-generation iPod nano had a screen that was about 3cm by 2.5cm.
In addition to the iPod nano, the report notes that Apple has been toying with plans to release a version of the iPod touch offering 3G cellular data access. The company is said to have begun seriously considering the idea after seeing the success of the 3G-capable version of the iPad released earlier this year, and prototypes of 3G-capable iPod touches are claimed to be in existence.

Finally, rumors of an update to Apple's iLife suite persist, with today's report suggesting that a portion of next week's media event might be devoted to a new version of Apple's multimedia suite. With Apple having moved to an approximately 18-month release cycle over the last few versions of iLife and the current version having been released in early 2009, an update in the near future would be a reasonable guess. One claim from late last month predicted an August 17th release for "iLife '11", which is rumored to see the discontinuation of iDVD, a significant revamp of iWeb, and a new "mystery" application. The claimed release did not, however, occur on the predicted date.

Not sure if I like the new desgin of nano but...it's small, I guess! 3G is definitely a nice improvement on touch.

[Khajit]

Next up will be the iMagnifying glass designed to let you see what's on your ipod.

[Mayareira]

Screen size is the same but, yeah design reminds me of those 5-10$ chinese small mp3 players. Still, it's all screen so...
I don't use Nano but if I did I'd probably go with the older design.

[Seanr]

ugh...

[Chun Liroy]

But wouldn't 3G cost.. well money? So they are really just making the iPhone just without the ability to make calls... which on AT&T it pretty much lacks anyways.

[Franzer]

looks like a piece of shit

[Correction]

A 3g ipod touch that can't make phone calls? Sounds just like the iPhone 4!

[feary]

no camera on the touch lol

[Kaisha]

They should have just made that the new Shuffle. Shit is way too fucking small. Doesn't look like it'd be convenient to cycle through the menus on also compared to the wheel.

But yeah, 3G Touch sounds like a moot point. You're going to have to pay for a data plan for the 3G bit, so why not just get an iPhone to begin with?

[Emirii]

The sad part is while it doesn't look at all functional, nor looks good, people will still buy it because it is an "ipod" and "new".

[feary]

The sad part is while it doesn't look at all functional, nor looks good, people will still buy it because it is an "ipod" and "new".

it wont be any of us so why does it matter? lol

[Mayareira]

Yeah no one on BG has iPod.

[Emirii]

Just sayin' it's going to be successful no matter what it looks like given the fact that the general public has no common sense when it comes to these things. "My friends all have iPods, i want one too!!" they are going to get it.

[Mayareira]

What "no common sense?" It is a good mp3 player, and it is much more common than you think here. Its fucking stupid to call it "shitty, bad" before it is even announced.

[Correction]

The form factor is going to be an issue. I certainly as hell don't like holding tiny fucking things in my giant man hands for very long. At that size Apple should just make it a wristwatch, because holding it in one hand while tapping through menus with the other doesn't seem very comfortable at that size. There's a reason TV remote controls haven't gotten that much smaller over the years, Apple should know this. They tried making a square nano already.

[Kerberoz]

I don't know anyone who thinks ipods are bad mp3 players. Overpriced, yes. It's pretty hard to fuck up a device that just blares lossy music through $1 earbuds.

[Chun Liroy]

What's bad is the shitty ass software that you are forced to use.

[Ramor]

The form factor is going to be an issue. I certainly as hell don't like holding tiny fucking things in my giant man hands for very long. At that size Apple should just make it a wristwatch, because holding it in one hand while tapping through menus with the other doesn't seem very comfortable at that size. There's a reason TV remote controls haven't gotten that much smaller over the years, Apple should know this. They tried making a square nano already.

i can't stand small shit, and it's the main reason why i didn't like the GC and loved the original xbox controllers, haters gonna hate but i don't have girly hands like a lot of guy seem to have

i don't get why you'd really want something that small either, i like my 120g classic and my only complaint is that the thing is super super slow, i know! i'll just give apple another 200$ and by the time i'm done waiting in line for my nano they'll announce a newer ipod that i can go out and give apple 200 more dollars for.

[Pharaun]

Don't care for the new look at all, the thing is waaaaaaaay too small. I like the old design better since it fits in my hand quite comfortably when I'm out running.

[antihero]

fuck smaller, we need larger. my 160gig video is almost full