Apple iPods

Another big launch from Apple this year: The company refreshed its popular iPod line-up by adding a host of new features in iPod nano and Touch. While the company termed the new nano, “thinnest-ever,” the new iPod Touch is called “the funnest iPod ever." The fourth-generation nano is oval shaped at the edges, giving it a sleeker and slimmer look, unlike the previous compact design. The player has a 2-inch (diagonal) LCD display with blue-white LED backlight and 320 x 240 pixel resolution. Users can now view content in both portrait and landscape modes. iPod Touch too has gone sleeker in design. It now sports a rounded chromed-steel back that wraps around the sides just like the 3G iPhone. The player has a 3.5-inch (diagonal) widescreen multi-touch display with 480 x 320-pixel resolution at 163 pixels per inch. There were strong speculations that Apple will increase the memory capacity of iPod Touch to 64GB. But, both the models disappointed with no memory upgrade. Among key features, the new nano comes with a "shake to shuffle" feature that changes songs as the user shakes the player. Another addition is the built-in accelerometer which flips the screen orientation, a feature already available in iPhone. Users can now view photos and video in both horizontal and landscape mode. The second-generation iPod Touch too introduced many new features: support for on-device Genius playlist creation, Microsoft Exchange Push email, multi-language keyboard, dictionary support, MobileMe, multiple calendar management, contacts search and a scientific calculator. Popularly termed iPhone cousin, iPod Touch now has a volume rocker switch on the sides for making quick volume adjustments without touching the screen. There's also a built-in speaker added. Apple claims the new iPod Touch will support up to 36 hours of music and 6 hours of video.