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New iPods coming, iPod Touch Nano?
14 comments- TAGS:Apple, iPod, touch
- IT TOPICS:Macintosh & Apple, Mobile & Wireless, Personal Technology
With the recent news that Apple had just bought up half the world's flash storage supply and the September back-to-school season rapidly approaching, one thing should be on every Apple fan's mind.
iPods!
For the past 3 years, Apple has updated its iPod line in September and Apple has yet to introduce any new models (unless you count the 32Gb iPod Touch) this year. So what does Apple have in store for us this September?
iPod Touch Nano? Imagine an iPod Touch at the same size as today's Nano. Apple proved that people would still love the video playing capabilities of the Classic even with the scrunched, high pixel per inch screen of the fat Nano. If you double that screen size of the current Nano, the video playing capability becomes much better. Add some Wifi and landscape keyboard enhancements through all of the applications and you might have a winner on your hands. Apple might also be interested in having a sub $200 device from which to sell all of its iPhone applications, movies, TV shows and, of course, music.
It is hard to imagine that Apple will continue with the iPod Classic in its current form. Perhaps we'll see the iPod Classic adopt the Touch's full screen and touch interface. Imagine a 160Gb iPod Touch which gains just bit of thickness. I think there would be a considerable market for this.
How about the iPod Touch? What advancements could Apple build into its flagship iPod line? The obvious answer is to look to its big brother, the iPhone for answers. Could built-in speakers, Bluetooth, GPS, a camera, a microphone-in port be making its way into the device? We already know that the iPhone and iPod touch lines are slated to be remote controls in the upcoming iPhone 2.0 Beta software.
Adding GPS makes the iPod Touch a platform for in-car navigation that would give any of the other makers (Garmin) a run for their money. TomTom is releasing iPod/iPhone software through the App Store. All the pieces are already in place. That 8Gb-32Gb of space is plenty to store any mapped area someone desires. It could also store other location based data and update itself by Wifi.
How about a camera version of the iPod? Not just the standard 2 megapixel built-in either. Something that could rival a point and click? Remember that Apple made the first consumer grade digital camera called the Quicktake - it is in their heritage. A new iPod Quicktake would have to have a decent lens with optical zoom. Apple could also make a darn good video recorder out of the iPod Touch which would utilize all of that built-in storage. The Flip shows that it can be done and achieve moderate success. Apple should capitalize on this.
But maybe Apple plans to go a different direction with the iPod Touch? Could the device be the first in which Apple integrates WiMAX? The biggest competition to the iPod Touch, if you can call it that, is the Nokia N810 and perhaps the EEE PCs - both of which are slated to get WiMAX capabilities this year. Apple can't afford to miss this boat...if it ever comes in. In conjunction with a mic-in port, WiMAX could also make VoIP options very interesting - Steve Jobs has already said that Apple would allow VoIP applications on the iPhone platform over WiFi.
What else? Certainly you can think of other additions to the iPod line that no one has thought of yet?
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