Apple’s Fall event was held earlier this month, and as expected, they announced a lineup of all new iPods.  The new iPods represent improvements across the board, but how improved these products truly are may be slightly misrepresented.  The new iPods include a new iPod Touch that is very similar to the last model physically, but with a set of new features.  The new iPod Nano and iPod Shuffle are complete redesigns from their last models, and come with some limitations, but also some welcomed advancements…Let’s break it down.

The New iPod Touch

At first glance, the new Touch is absolutely insane.  It’s an iPhone 4 without the cell phone aspect.  As a Verizon customer, this got me pretty stoked.  The highlights about the new iPod include:

• A slimmer profile
• Front facing camera
• FaceTime support
• Apple’s Retina (4x standard resolution) display
• HD video recording and editing
• 802.11n WiFi
• Three-axis gyroscope
• iOS 4.2 with Game Center

Don’t get me wrong when I say this, because this is an amazing device and in most ways its the best iPod ever (Except for, as it turns out, the iPhone 4,) but the stats appear slightly better than they really are.  While these are basically all features the iPhone 4 introduced, while they are included in the Touch, some have been skimped on.

First, while the front facing camera is VGA, just like the iPhone 4′s, the back camera, which is used (by most people) for a large majority of pictures and video, has had its megapixel count reduced to less than a megapixel.  While its still great for video, I see no legitimate reason to reduce it this far.  I understand it probably saves them some cost, but 1.3MP would have been far more acceptable, and can be found in the cheapest of cell phones.  In addition, its not like this is some ploy to get people to buy the iPhone instead, as these are 2 different sets of customers.  Someone who wants a Touch and is on AT&T already has an iPhone, and someone who wants a Touch by itself is probably in a contract with another cell carrier.  Good luck getting those customers to pay an early termination fee just to get more megapixels, Apple.  Not going to happen, even if you did something stupid like made the screen worse as well…Wait what?

Yeah.  They did that too.  The second reason the iPod Touch‘s stats aren’t quite what they appear is its display.  The iPhone 4 has what’s called an IPS display, which I could break down into a bunch of technical terms, but won’t, because all it basically means is the iPhone 4 has great viewing angles.  Viewing angles affect you when you’re on the couch showing 2 friends a YouTube video and they’re on either side of you.  When they’re viewing from the sides, they see great colors and detail because of the IPS display.  While Apple puts this display on their iPhone 4, they decided not to include it on the iPod Touch.  So yes, the resolution is great, but if you’re not sitting right in front of the iPod, good luck seeing it.

We’ll have a review unit soon and will throw a video up with a rundown of how the camera and screen perform in real life, so keep an eye out for that.  In the meantime…On to the Nano!

The New iPod Nano

At first sight, the new Nano is super engaging.  It’s small, it clips anywhere you want it to, its all touchscreen, and it appears to run iOS, meaning apps, apps, and more apps.  Only problem here is, it doesn’t.  While it looks like iOS, and may well be some slim version of it, it does not run apps, and does not have an App Store.  Like the Nano always has, it plays music.  This though, for Nano junkies, sucks.  Because for a while now the Nano has played video, and this was does not.  If you want video, you’re getting an iPod Touch, or you’re getting a Zune.  No Nano for you.  On the plus side though, it comes with some features the old Nano didn’t, including:

• It’s super tiny (okay, not really a feature, per-se, but seriously, it’s small.)
• Built in FM radio
• Built in Genius playlists
• Built in Nike Plus support

As you can see, it’s not exactly a Touch, but its also way smaller and starts at $149, which is a pretty great deal for 8GB’s and a touch screen.

The New iPod Shuffle

In my opinion, this is one of the absolute best moves by Apple at the iPod event.  The iPod Shuffle has been reintroduced, and in a big way.  For those who don’t know, the last Shuffle had no buttons.  I’m not kidding.  None.  It was controlled by a couple controls integrated into the headphone cord.  This meant if you lost your headphones or didn’t want to use the crappy Apple one’s, you were out of luck.  I can’t even begin to explain to you how unpopular this design decision was by Apple.  Finally though, they’ve rectified the Shuffle situation for those who love their music players small and easy to use.

The new Shuffle is 2GB, $49, and is the size of a postage stamp.  (Practically as thin as one, too.) It’s got the clip that it’s always had, 15 hours of battery life, and most importantly, BUTTONS!!

Wrap-Up

So there you have it.  Three new iPods, and for those wondering, the iPod Classic is still around, but has gone unchanged.  Are you running out to get one?  Did you already?  Or are they just not different enough to make another purchase?  Tell us in the comments, and remember, we’ll have video reviews up soon, so sign up for email alerts or our RSS at the top of the page, or fan us on Facebook to keep up to date!

Source – Apple