Filed under: iPod Family, Rumors
iPod nano 4G rumors-a-go-go
Whoo baby, the rumors and pics just keep flowing out of the cyberwebs. Engadget has posted two blurry images since late last night. Not sketches or renderings or quiet whispers, but real photos. Or fake photos. Not like this type of fakery is hard. Still, all signs keep pointing to our beloved 3g nano going on a diet next Tuesday. Serious joggers everywhere may rejoice (personally I prefer the 2g form factor for running).One more thing... iTunes 8 would be a logical announcement, and the rumors of a subscription model might make sense. We got a suggestion (not a tip, this was merely someone's idea) that Apple might give away some flavor of iPod with a 2-year committment to subscribers. I'm not sure the "act now and we'll throw in this handy shuffle!" angle is Apple's style, but it might be the sort of thing they'd do in a soft economy to keep people hooked on the iTunes/iPod ecosystem. Either way we'll know in a few days, won't we? And yes, TUAW will liveblog the September 9th event for your amusement and edification.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
Floris said 8:37AM on 9-06-2008
It seems like everyone has forgotten about the iPod classic. Is it no more? Will it be gone? I really wonder.
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Eddie said 10:08AM on 9-06-2008
I heard that there will be a 2nd generation iPod Classic announced on wednesday. I haven't heard anything about the specs for the new one, but I think it's safe to say they'll lower the price.
ekorch20 said 11:01AM on 9-06-2008
That is true, apple's focus has definitely shifted towards the iphone and ipod touch. But really I think a large portion of the market for the classic has actually bought nanos, especially since the 3rd generation nano. It has all the same capabilities, so really the only limitation is storage capacity and battery. Regardless the nanos have been hugely successful and have definitely bolstered the whole iPod line. Personally I don't like this rumored update. I am not a big fan of the "ultra-curvy" design aesthetic and I agree with Kohler, the new one is ugly.
Galley said 12:36PM on 9-06-2008
The classic is dead. Streaming your library via Wi-Fi (or the Internet) is the future. 32GB of flash is plenty for a "local cache". The nano may be dead as well. I'm sure Apple wants everyone to have access to the App Store.
Eric said 1:18PM on 9-06-2008
Wi-Fi streaming is not the future... it may come along, but it won't be the exclusive way to listen to music. If I had to rely on Wi-Fi access to listen to my music, my iPod would be silent 90% of the time I'm using it.
jP said 2:57PM on 9-06-2008
@Galley
Streaming music libraries may be the future, but not the near future. At least not until we have better all around networking in this world.
Also, I doubt that they will discontinue the iPod Classic anytime soon. I suspect there is a huge population of iPod lovers who have giant libraries of music, videos, and podcasts that they want to carry with them 24/7.
Ryan Trevisol said 3:54PM on 9-06-2008
I have about 45gb of music. I use my iPod classic to cart it around in my car all the time. Just hit play and shuffle does the rest. It would be a complete waste to use a Touch for that function. Size and weight isn't an issue either as it's mounted permanently in my dash, and the larger screen makes it easier to glance to see what's playing.
Rowan said 7:17PM on 9-06-2008
What do you mean the screen is bigger on the classic, the touch has a much larger screen.
AJ said 11:51PM on 9-06-2008
@ Eddie:
I think its referred to as the 7th generation iPod Classic, since its a continuation of the original iPod line.
Amidee said 9:13AM on 9-06-2008
Holy dang.
Are they seriously going to change shape after only ONE YEAR?
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Tim said 9:16AM on 9-06-2008
Has anyone seen even one of these images get a take down notice from Apple? Remember the Fatty Nano pictures last year everyone said was fake, and then the take down notices started rolling in.
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Some Dude said 4:45PM on 9-06-2008
This photo appears to have been taken by an Apple employee. The white area behind it looks like the corian display tables in some of the stores, and the white cord looks like a mag safe cable going to a macbook on display. Chances are they're already BOH in the stores and an employee took this picture with their iPhone.
Justin Kohler said 9:42AM on 9-06-2008
Ok, is it just me or does this design look ugly? How are they going to fit the new interface on that ugly skinny screen? Blech....this is definently not the 4G nano. Apple wouldn't dare release a product as ugly as this onto the market.
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Rubbinz said 10:14AM on 9-06-2008
Call me crazy, but I'm actually looking forward to the chance to get one of the 8GB "fatty's" when they hit the refurb dump for less than they are now. I kinda actually like it. I need one mainly for audiobooks because I keep killing my iPhone's battery with 10+ hours of audio play daily.
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Stephen Heaps said 11:22AM on 9-06-2008
The first thing i saw when i noticed the new "unboxed" picture on Engadget this morning, the old dock connector. He just put the [maybe] new iPod Nano 4G beside his old iPod Nano 2G box.
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Brett said 12:03PM on 9-06-2008
Why would Apple want to go back to that form-factor and design? It's not much different than the 2nd gen nano.
If this is the case it's clearly a step backwards. Because the current 3rd gen are an improvement and i really like it's shape.
Turning the new nano to it's side to be able to watch videos would be really stupid.
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Stephen Heaps said 2:31PM on 9-06-2008
Uhm, iPhone / iPod Touch ring a bell?
Kind of smart if you ask me...
Staticoranges said 2:27PM on 9-06-2008
Did you fail to notice the huge screen on the top of it?
Ted said 2:07PM on 9-06-2008
"The classic is dead. Streaming your library via Wi-Fi (or the Internet) is the future. 32GB of flash is plenty for a "local cache". The nano may be dead as well. I'm sure Apple wants everyone to have access to the App Store."
Maybe for you, not for me. My choice is still the 5.5 Gen, of which I have two. I can carry my entire library of 60+ Gigs with me (audio, as well as video) AND I can operate in bed, in the dark, in the car, even in my pocket. No touch screen to have to look at and operate. A touch screen is really an inefficient interface just to play a song or playlist. And many times, living in a rural area, I'm not near a hotspot or my local network. Why fiddle with streaming when you can have it all locally?
Yeah, I have an iPhone, but my player of choice for audio is still the older iPod.
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Level 5 said 2:16PM on 9-06-2008
Yeah I'm hoping for no death of the classic either. I have a 80GB Black Classic (gift, I would had opted for 160) that's in a case and STILL has the original Factory Plastic on that's going on E-Bay. Commute for work is over 12hrs a week for this guy, and I have a dedicated iPod deck in the car, gotta have 1000's of tunes, and I listen to most of them.
Hell if I could get one of:
http://www.command-tab.com/2005/03/13/ipod-super/
these to power a 3.5" disk without headcrashing, you can best bet I'd just get a busted 2G iPod and a 1TB disk to match.... I'd just bring my laptop to the car when I wanted to give it an update :)
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