Apple ditches two iPod classics, sticks with one

The biggest surprise for me that came out of tonights "Let's Rock" event from Apple was the iPod classic announcements. It seems that they have not listened to users. My take on the iPod classic is that people loved the mammoth 160GB model. It was for media junkies that just have to carry everything around with them.

Well, gone is the 160GB model. Apple also discontinued the 80GB model. They replaced both with one thin 120GB model. Okay, so you get a thin iPod, but what about the capacity?

The new iPod classic 2nd generation is available in just that one 120GB capacity. Either in silver or black (as before) and for the price of £169. So the price is really good. I know this thing will still sell, but I was hoping for a little more. Maybe some of the things like Wi-Fi and a slightly larger screen would have taken this too far away from its 'classic' moniker. That said, adding some new frills would have been easy and getting rid of the 160GB model is just daft.

Size, weight & battery
Height:4.1 inches (103.5 mm)
Width:2.4 inches (61.8 mm)
Depth:0.41 inch (10.5 mm)
Weight:4.9 ounces (140 grams)
Display 2.5-inch (diagonal) color LCD with LED backlight
320 by 240 pixels at 163 ppi
Up to 36 hours of battery for music
Up to 6 hours of battery for video

New iPod touch launched today by Apple

Well, Apple have done what seems like a nice revision to the iPod touch.

Main changes include the addition of side mounted volume buttons (like the iPhone), polished curved aluminum back, and the inclusion of the Nike+iPod receiver built into the unit. No news yet of if the transmitter is included in the box (as this is still a requirement), although from reading the specification it says 'Nike+ iPod Support', so this suggests that an additional purchase is still required.

Creating Genius playlists actually on the device is a nice touch. I am not too keen on the highly polished back. The brushed finish of the original iPhone was much nicer, at least the fingerprints that so many complain about on Apple kit were not a problem.

At £169, £219 and £279 for the 8GB, 16GB and 32GB respectively, this is a nice, but not essential upgrade. However, if you are in the market for an iPod, then the 'touch' really is a nice proposition.

Size and Weight
Height:4.1 inches (110 mm)
Width:2.4 inches (61.8 mm)
Depth:0.33 inch (8.5 mm)
Weight:4.05 ounces (115 grams)
Display 3.5-inch (diagonal)
Multi-Touch color LCD
320 by 480 pixels at 163 ppi
Up to 6 hours video playback
Up to 36 hours music playback

New iPod Nano 4G from Apple - launched today

Just gathering my thoughts and the details of the new iPod Nano, just launched today, Tuesday 9th September 2008. Available today in an 8GB capacity or 16GB by the end of the week.

Size and Weight
Height: 3.6 inches (90.7 mm)
Width: 1.5 inches (38.7 mm)
Depth: 0.24 inch (6.2 mm)
Weight: 1.3 ounces (36.8 grams)
Display 2-inch (diagonal) color LCD with LED backlight
320 by 240 pixels at 204 ppi
Up to 24 hours music playback
Up to 4 hours video playback

This looks like a worthwhile upgrade, with the 8GB costing £109 and the 16GB costing just £149.
The accelerometer is pretty neat too, so when you flip the Nano onto its side, the screen display rotates too. Shame that they didn't push the technology one step further by doing something with the click wheel. As you can see, the controls are not orientated correctly when you are viewing something in widescreen.

The colour line-up is very nice. Silver, black, purple, blue, green, yellow, orange, red and pink. This is a nice selection and nice to see no special edition with a premium price. What really amazes me is the size of this thing. When you take into account that it is just over 6mm thin, with those sexy tapered edges. The device practically disappears when viewed from the side. Also, pictured here, I really like the silver colour, with contrasting click wheel... this one might just get my money. The difficult decision is on the pricing, £149 for a 16GB Nano or add £20 for the entry level 8GB iPod touch? What would you do?

Geekanoids News Video #003 - 8th Sept 2008

It gives me great pleasure to bring you the third installment of Geekanoids News. This weekly roundup shares the news that has really excited me over the past week. Kevin does it again, "Let's Rock" with Apple tomorrow my prediction, nice picture from San Francisco, Zune (what!), and some exciting Adobe news. Remember to join me again tomorrow (Tuesday) evening for some extra special news coverage.

Geekanoids News Video #002

The second installment of Geekanoids News. This weekly roundup brings you details of what has caught my attention over the last week. New software for iPhone, something special at the Regent Street Apple Store, an iPhone contender and a brilliant product for MacBook Pro owners... enjoy.

Geekanoids News Video #001

I am so sorry, apologies to all my readers. Having done the short video for my 'news' last Monday, I was certain that I had shared it with you all. Just this morning I finished editing episode 2 and found that I had not published last weeks to the website. Without further ado, here it is.

Kevin Rose spills beans on new iPods

Kevin Rose of Digg fame has posted an interesting entry and video on his blog. Telling us of his insider information, revealing a new iPod Nano in a curved and tall/skinny form. Plus all of the iPod line-up dropping in price. All this plug a juicy snippet on Mac OS 10.5.6. Check out the video for full details below and visit Kevin's blog here. It is nice to see him doing posts like this, thanks dude.

Apple post another new ad, but ssssh don't tell!

Wow, yet another new advert out of the Apple HQ... and this one is probably a favourite of mine from their newest releases. 'Off the Air' introduces viewers to the fact that if you are switching from a PC to a Mac, Apple will help you transfer your files across... cool! Check out the new advert here.

Three new Apple Adverts... Calming Teas

Apple have three new adverts today, as part of their 'Get a Mac' series. Things kick off with 'Pizza Box' which is kinda funny, moving on to 'Throne' and then my favourite of the trio 'Calming Teas'. You would have thought that the humour would be wearing a little thin on this format. Not so, Apple deliver the message with their usual pizazz, I suggest you check the new ads out here.

Apple give 30 day free extension for MobileMe problems

Well, you certainly can't say that Apple don't value their customers. They acknowledge that the MobileMe roll-out did not go quite as smoothly as planned. They also tell us that their use of the word 'push' was not exactly as users had expected. As a goodwill gesture, they have given all MobileMe subscribers a FREE 30 day extension to the service.

Text below;
We have recently completed the transition from .Mac to MobileMe. Unfortunately, it was a lot rockier than we had hoped.
Although core services such as Mail, iDisk, Sync, Back to My Mac, and Gallery went relatively smoothly, the new MobileMe web applications had lots of problems initially. Fortunately we have worked through those problems and the web apps are now up and running.
Another snag we have run into is our use of the word "push" in describing everything under the MobileMe umbrella. While all email, contact or calendar changes on the iPhone and the web apps are immediately synced to and from the MobileMe "cloud," changes made on a PC or Mac take up to 15 minutes to sync with the cloud and your other devices. So even though things are indeed instantly pushed to and from your iPhone and the web apps today, we are going to stop using the word "push" until it is near-instant on PCs and Macs, too.
We want to apologize to our loyal customers and express our appreciation for their patience by giving all current subscribers an automatic 30-day extension to their MobileMe subscription free of charge. Your extension will be reflected in your account settings within the next few weeks.
We hope you enjoy your new suite of web applications at me.com, in addition to keeping your iPhone and iPod touch wirelessly in sync with these new web applications and your Mac or PC.
Thank you,
The MobileMe Team

iPhone 3G activation DOWN at Apple Store

After waiting in queue at the local O2 store and having an iPhone 3G sold from under my nose, I headed on down to cover the launch at the Apple Store Bluewater. Unfortunately the O2 servers were experiencing serious overload, so the queue was not moving. The guys and gals here were breaking into the petty cash to supply us with coffee and cakes, but people were getting a little frustrated. Let's hope the queue starts moving soon. Expect to see full coverage on the website later in the day.