DigitalSandbox

So Apple had their annual iPod release event yesterday and there were some very nice changes to the line-up. Let’s do a quick round-up of the releases and then I will give my more detailed impressions.

For starters, there was iTunes 8. Not a major refresh but a it picked up some nice new tricks. HD TV Shows, new Grid View, new visualizer, and, of course, Genius. The iPod Classic is still kicking around but comes in only one flavor now — 120 GB. The Nanos saw a major refresh and are looking better and better all the time. They went back to the tall and skinny format which is great and they added some iPhone-esque features to the little guy as well. They included some accelerometers that allow you to view content (menus, videos, or photos) in either landscape or portrait view. And then the newest member of the iPod family, the Touch, picked up some new tricks, and very slight modification to the case, and a big ol’ price drop.

Now that we know what we are talking about let’s dig a little deeper.

iTunes 8

I really like most of the changes to iTunes. There are some that I am kind of meh about, but I guess the important thing here is that I don’t think they took any steps backwards. Let’s start with the HD TV Shows. This is a good first step. You have to offer the service before you can get wide-spread adoption. I personally won’t be using it — not HD TV and I don’t really buy shows from iTunes — but I am glad they are offering them. One improvement over the HD Movies is that you can get them on your computer. I wish they would have announced that you can now rent/buy HD movies on your computer instead of just AppleTV, but it’s a start.

The new visualizer is positively spell-binding. I always thought the visualizer was cool, but I never really used it while listening to music. This visualizer is so beautiful that I might start turning it on pretty frequently. I will have to see if Front Row can use the visualizer when you are playing music.

The new Grid View is a nice addition, but I have a bit of a love/hate relationship with it so far. I like being able to browse my library by seeing everything laid out in that grid, and grouping them in different configurations (all albums by the same artist of all albums in a genre) is handy. My biggest complaint is that I tend to my library on Shuffle, and if I leave it in grid view it wants to play a Shuffle from one grouping; the first group in the list. This might be okay for the genre grouping, but the album or artist grouping means you get a shuffle for that album or artist; again the first one in the list. It might be better when I get the rest of my library re-ripped (long story, don’t ask), but for now I’ll probably stick to Cover Flow.

And that brings us to the Genius. I can see this being a really useful feature. It allows you to select one song from your library and it will select a group of similar songs to that one. Very nice and an easy way to create a work playlist (nice and mellow and not overly distracting) or an excercise playlist. In order to do this it does upload information about your library to the iTunes store, but by doing this they are able to make better recomendations by comparing it with all other iTunes users. I tried out it out and it really does a pretty good job, but there are some limitations. I selected a song that I just got for free off of Amazon (grab it while you can) and it couldn’t find any matches. Obviously, that will be smoothed out as more people share their info, but be advised that it can happen on obscure tracks. They also will show you (if you choose to) tracks that might go good with your songs that you don’t have yet. It’s kind of like the Mini-Store, but way more useful.

iPods

So there isn’t much to say about the Classics. 120 GB is more than enough for almost everybody and frankly I think this may be the end of the line for the veteran iPod. Maybe one more refresh, but it really is on the way out as Apple transitions to the Nano and the Touch being the bulk of the line.

The Nano got the biggest bump. The rumors were 100% correct on this one, which in some ways is dissapointing. (It’s a bit like finding out what your Christmas presents are before the big day.) But I have to say, I really like this new version. I didn’t like the “fat” Nano until I had a chance to handle one, but I still preferred the old look. This new version combines the best of both. You get the tall, skinny look, but the benefits of the widescreen of the “fat” Nano.

They accommodate this by letting you rotate the Nano from portrait to landscape view just like the iPhone and the Touch. The screen then rotates and you are in business. Frankly, I had expected them to do this with the last revision as it seemed only natural once you saw the iPhone and Touch in action. I really like this newest incarnation and could easily see myself with one of these if my plans for an iPhone don’t pan out.

The Touch’s biggest change is in the price. At $229 for an 8 GB Touch I think a lot of people might be picking these up. The case is almost identical to the previous edition, but they did add a physical volume control to the side and then they packed in some nice features on the inside as well. They integrated the Nike+ receiver into the unit making this the ideal iPod for runners (you will be able to not only track your progress but pull up the website after your workout and see how you’re doing overall). It gets the iPhone’s built-in speaker, and one thing that they didn’t mention as a feature of the Touch, but did mention for the Nano is that it has line-in capabilities through a new set of earbuds that incorporate a mic (it’s not mentioned on the Touch’s info page, but take a look at the compatibility section on the In-Ear Headphones page). Can you say VoIP? If someone makes that happen I can see a whole lot of people that would pick one of these up instead of an iPhone. I know I will be tempted. It would even be worth jail-breaking it to get this feature in my book.

The interesting thing about the Touch isn’t really so much new features as it is a new marketing angle that Apple is trying. They are positioning this as “the funnest iPod ever” and actively promoting it as a gaming device. It’s a whole new market segment they are trying to capture, namely the Nintendo DS crowd. That’s what makes the Touch so compelling. It’s not just an iPod, and it’s not just a DS. It’s all that and more. You get an iPod, internet device (browsing, email, etc.), and an application platform (not just a gaming platform like the DS). It will be very interesting to see how aggressively Apple pushes to get game developers on the platform.

And all the iPods get the Genius as well. This will be very handy for creating playlists on the go. Say you head to the gym and forgot to sync. Not a problem any more as you can let Genius create a new playlist for you right there on the spot.

Were there things missing form this release? Sure, they never hit all of my (or anybody else’s) wish list, but this was a solid release with some very cool gadgets to look forward to. Should be an interesting year as Apple really revs up the App Store and we get to see just how serious they are about expanding that market.