Ever since the rumour mills were working over time, I had been waiting eagerly for the news about Apple’s new, much hyped iPod. There was a market speculation on the introduction of a touch-screen iPod which added to the frenzy. Yesterday THAT speculation turned into reality when Apple announced the iPod Touch alongwith upgraded versions of the other family members. My reactions are mixed for now.
The iPod Touch will have the same features touch-screen as the iPhone — infact it looks the same as well. Additionally it carries WiFi capabilities, so users can connect to the net with Apple’s own Safari browser. Apple has signed up with Starbucks to offer the iTunes WiFi store on your WiFi enabled device. With the revolutionizing iPod Touch, Apple has ushered into a new segment of innovation — MP3 players being ported with wireless capabilities to connect to the internet. In my opinion, this version of the iPod will go down well with individuals who haven’t had a first-hand experience of the iPhone since the similarities cannot be ignored. But the Touch is available in only 8 and 16GB models which is sad news for those expecting something ‘big’ from Apple. In my opinion, the offer of owning a touch-screen iPod with more storage space, would have looked more appealing.
The iPod Nano has also undergone changes including a bigger screen display and it can play videos too. Frankly it no longer sports that slim ‘pencil’ appeal anymore, rather it looks like a squished version of its big brother — who just got bigger! the iPod is now called ‘Classic’ and has been upgraded to 160 GB (yay!). The design looks much sleeker now, with accentuated curves all along. The decision of going for a path-breaking touchscreen iPod with less storage or a 160 gigs iPod Classic, would be a tough one to make.
