Apple have released the much rumoured iPod Photo, available from the Apple Store. I think it is a lovely product, even the slideshow on TV is beautifully designed, showing the battery live onscreen too. I love the 5x5 display for preview too, the control wheel looks like a great interface for that, which I'll hopefully get to play with at the London Apple Store opening, in November.
Basics are a 2 inch 65 thousand colour screen and integration with iPhoto libraries via iTunes in a new version 4.7. 40 and 60GB version are available, which should satisfy most people. Also the battery life is longer at 15 hours, it'll even drive the TV and play music for a slideshow for 5 hours. It ships with all the cables you might expect, including the standard earbud headphones, though I think you might want a better set.
The cost is reasonable, but I think it is a pity that you need to go to a third party to get the Belkin media reader to actually get photos onto the device in the wild. The sync from iPhoto will solve a lot of the use cases, but there is still a need for a phototainer type device in an iPod form factor.
Some other notes, Chicago has gone as the typeface, it is now Myriad, like everything else. No video support, so no iMovie preview, but hardware DV codecs probably burn battery life. No bluetooth either, so all those scenarios for music sharing are stymied, plus the integration possibilites with a future Airport Express and immediate sync to stero from headphones is a missed opportunity, original syncing idea from Tom.
Apple seem to be taking the iPod on a gradual journey, adding functionality whilst not radically changing the device. In keeping with the just say no philosophy espoused by Jobs the iPod is focused on playing music. The additional features are optional and I'm glad to see the original iPod remaining on sale. It has moved quite a long way from the 5GB music only device of a few years ago, yet it remains pretty much the same device, which is quite a good achievement. I should do a feature comparison to show what has been added, but not now.
The iPod still remains a playback only device from Apple, you need your own Mac or PC to get information onto it. I cannot see it morphing into the iPhone or other two way smart phone devices. I'm a second generation 20G owner and this has me quite tempted, there is sufficient new functionality that if I had a digital SLR I'd definitely want one. Actually the best thing I did for my musical entertainment recently was get some decent headphones...
Leave a comment