Apple iPod Shuffle, iPod Nano, iPod Touch (2010): Features, Buying Advice (Prices in Malaysia, too)
Apple announced all new iPod shuffle with buttons, iPod nano with multi-touch display, and iPod Touch with retina display and cameras for FaceTime. Read on for what’s new about the iPod family and the iPod price in Malaysia Apple Store.
Table of Contents
New iPod Touch: Retina display, FaceTime, camera, HD video recording
Yes! Apple iPod touch now has 2 build-in camera, front-camera for FaceTime and back-camera for shooting HD video(720p) and (low quality) photos. Like the iPhone 4, new iPod touch has the Retina display and A4 chip (read: better performance).
The FaceTime on iPod touch allows you to make video calls to family and friends (with new iPod touch or iPhone 4) over WiFi network. It’s free. Like games? The new Game Center on iPod touch lets you add friends to your gaming network and challenge them.
Did I tell you that new iPod touch is even thinner than the previous model? The battery life is 40 hours music playback and 7 hours video.
If you are thinking, “Now iPod touch has camera, it is the iPhone 4 without only call function and GPS”. You are almost correct.
Sadly, the camera build-in iPod touch is meant for video shooting. The photo shooting resolution is ONLY 960×720 pixels. Why 960 pixel for photo height, and not HD video’s 1280 pixels? Well, I guess it is because the iPod touch screen resolution is 960x640 pixels.
In short, iPod touch does NOT have a great camera, forget about taking great photo with it.
Price: USD$229 (8GB), USD$299 (32GB) and USD$399 (64GB)
Malaysia price: RM829 (8GB), RM1079 (32GB) and RM1399 (64GB) (estimated ship: 4-5 weeks)
* No 16GB iPod touch model.
New iPod nano with (small) touchscreen
Unlike previous iPod nano models with long rectangle shape, the new iPod nano is, like iPod shuffle, in a small square shape and clip-able. Available in 7 colors, 8Gb or 16GB.
It is slightly bigger than iPod shuffle and comes with 1.5-inch, 240×240 pixels multi-touch display. The iPod nano’s display is so small that it can only display 4 icons at one time. Tapping on iPod nano would be like poking your own palm.
Not fat-fingers-friendly. But nice to be a small shiny digital photo frame that clipped on your body to show off to your friends.
For its main feature — Music. It has 24 hours of music playback battery life and FM radio tuner with live pause (yes, you can pause a live radio broadcast up to 15 minutes).
Though small in size, iPod nano still have the build-in 30-pin connector like iPhone/iPod Touch to be able plug it into your existing iPod accessories, e.g. car stereo system, speakers. New iPod nano also has build-in accessibility to be disabilities friendly.
What’s missing from previous iPod nano is the video camera and cannot playback videos.
Price: USD$149 (8GB), USD$179 (16GB)
Malaysia price: RM549 (8GB), RM679 (16GB) (estimated ship: 7-10 business days)
The iPod shuffle is now in a small square shape aluminum clip body with buttons. It comes with 5 colors: silver, blue, green, orange, and pink. 15 hours of battery life and 2GB storage space.
The clickable control is back to iPod shuffle (previous model is buttonless) and 18% bigger. VoiceOver feature is still available to tell you the song’s title or artist in 25 different languages.
New iPod shuffle supports multiple playlist and Genius Mixes (automatically mix your music together).
Price: USD$49 (2GB)
Malaysia price: RM179 (2GB) (estimated ship: 5-7 business days)
My two cents
Nothing much about the iPod shuffle. Get it if you want to own an Apple product at lowest budget.
The iPod nano with multi-touch display is shiny but I don’t think it’ll be fingers-friendly. Nice to be a small digital photo frame keychain with music playback, which make it a nice & affordable gift for your love and friends.
iPod touch is more powerful (new A4 chip) and more useful (cameras) and more affordable (cheaper than previous model). It is great if you already have a phone and want another device for music, video, games, and free video call (provided your other end is using iPod touch/iPhone 4).
I would recommend you to buy iPod touch, instead of iPod nano. With a little extra money, you get few times bigger display and many more features (read: FUN).
All new iPods are now available for online order at Apple Store (Malaysia), free shipping & free engraving.
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