Yes, Apple updated iPods again. The Touch is faster with a larger capacity. The Classic is has more capacity. The Shuffle can be had in more colors and at a lower price/capacity. All pretty boring. The only iPod that cornered my attention this September is the Nano. Let's look at the 16gb version:- Lower price. $179 down from $199.
- Video camera. 
- Pedometer. Coordinates with Nike+ if you use it.
- Microphone. No headphone microphone required for voice notes.
- Speaker.
- FM radio with RDS and song tagging for later purchase (Zune ripoff) and 15 minute buffer (iPod original).
- Voice prompts (optional).
- Larger screen. Always a good idea.
- Polished colors. Yes, more fingerprint prone.
If all you do is the math, the new Nano is by far the best iPod value you can find today. Compare to the 4gb Shuffle at $79. Add $100 to get 4 times the capacity and all the features I listed above.
This Nano is nearly a miracle from Apple. FM radio? That was a "pigs fly" moment. Not only did it get a radio, but that 15 minute buffer makes it THE best FM radio out there at the moment. Of course it's not the first player to have an FM radio. It doesn't have FM recording capability. It doesn't have HD radio like the new Zune HD does. There are other players with these features if you need or want them.
In case I forgot to mention, the Nano also plays movies and music and podcasts, displays photos Contains a calendar, Contacts list, Notes display, 3 games, clocks, and a To Do list. It's also beautiful. I'll leave complaining about the camera lens placement to others. I'm skipping an audio quality comparison. No grades for individual apps.
Should you buy yourself a new Nano? There are dozens of other players that cost less money. There is nothing else on the market with this mix of hardware and features though, so YES. I bought the blue 16gb Nano, engraved. Last thing I needed. The only new iPod I wanted.
4D
That's right. I plunked down my money for the SDK and 32gb Zii Egg, and here are my first impressions. The bottom end is where you'll find the headphone jack, Mini, USB jack, and Zii proprietary connector jack. The top edge shows the power button, and you can see the HD camera lens near the top on the Zii's back. I've left the little plastic protection tab on it until I see an app that can actually make use of this camera.
According to Zii Labs, this is very impressive hardware. However there is no way to demonstrate or evaluate many of the features at this point. No Apps to use the cameras. No apps to use the GPS. Not even a setting to turn bluetooth on. What we did get is a Music app, a Video app, a Photo app, a web browser, a some basic settings to play with.
It's a case of Amazing Potential that is still Undeveloped.
The Music App handles MP3, M4a, and WAV files so far. Sound quality is great when using decent headphones. I haven't seen the screen display cover art yet. You get all the necessary controls within the music app. There are no preset or user definable equalizer options. You can sort by Album, Artist, Genres, or All Tracks. The now playing screen can cycle between three sets of options including with track position slider, with volume slider, and just album art to view. I'll state again that so far I haven't been able to display any album art in the Music app though.
The Video app is quite capable. I threw AVI, MP4, and WMV movies on the Zii and all played fine. No audio/video sync issues. No frame drops. The Zii came with a sample MP4 video that was 1280 x 720. I tried 540 x 360 WMV and 320 x 180 AVI movies with no difficulty. There is certainly room for improvement in the Video app, but those would only be settings for brightness and perhaps playback speed. This Zii should be able to output HD movies directly to your TV over HDMI. I've got the required HDMI cable coming, so we'll see. I don't know where I'll find any 1920 x 1080 video content, but am confident the Zii's processor is up to that task. Below is a scene from Mulan. You can see a reflection of my Camera lens on the very glossy screen. 
UI. There is not much to say about the User Interface. You've got app icons. You tap on those icons to open the app. When done with the app you hit the Home button to return to this home menu. Nothing innovative or creative here. Screen response is at times hesitant, as if the Zii is not paying attention. Yet when it wants to the response can be instant. There is NO multitasking yet. Even the Music app stops playing if you return to the Home menu.
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