iPod nano, iTunes 5, iTunes Phone

adpowers writes "Lots of updates today on the Apple front. First we have the iPod nano, which is an iPod photo-esque replacement for the iPod mini. It comes in 2 and 4 gig varieties and is half the thickness of the mini it replaces. A new iTunes is release as well, which looks similar to Mail.app. I'm not sure I like the cosmetic changes. It also touts an improved search bar, but I can't find an explanation of what that means. Finally, Apple, Motorola, and Cingular announced the ROKR E1, which has the iTunes on a cellular phone. (Theorized last week.) It syncs with iTunes just like an iPod." Coverage of the Apple news extravaganza available at The NYT, Forbes, Gizmodo, Mobiledia, and Macworld.

Quicktime 7 for Win

[GreyedOut]

With iTunes 5 also comes Quicktime 7 [apple.com] for Windows.

Re:Flash or HDD based?

[MasterOfUniverse]

Yes, its flash. Look here http://www.apple.com/ipodnano/specs.html [apple.com] at the bottom Technical Specifications: iPod nano.

Re:No firewire, USB 2.0

[justforaday]

Since it has a dock connector, I'm assuming that you just need to get a firewire/dock cable. They more or less ditched firewire as the stock connector when they switched to color screens on the regular lineup a few months ago.

New Search

[godawful]

The new search is kinda snazzy, type a few letters and you get a little bar that lets you narrow it down by all, music, audiobooks,pod casts, videos, booklets, etc etc, certainly helpful for those with large catalogs

More like a Shuffle

[That's Unpossible!]

This thing replaces the ipod mini, no doubt, but really it's more the size/weight of a shuffle... very sweet. It's THINNER than the shuffle fer chrissakes!

Size comparison:

Shuffle: 3.3 x 0.98 x 0.33
Nano: 3.5 x 1.6 x 0.27
iPod: 4.1 x 2.4 x 0.63

Weight comparison:

Shuffle: .78 ounce
Nano: 1.5 ounces
iPod: 5.9 ounces

Re:No firewire, USB 2.0

[ashpool7]

Look at the requirements on the tech specs page. Under "connectivity" it does not mention firewire. However, under Power and Battery it says: "Charging via USB or FireWire to computer system or power adapter"

So, who knows.

Apple & Motorola Press Releases

[necro2607]

Press releases here, for those interested in more detailed information..

Apple iPod nano [apple.com]
Apple iTunes phone [apple.com]
Motorola ROKR [motorola.com]

Disappointing phone

[AC-x]

Rather then a new take on the mobile phone Apple are simply peddling an average Motorola phone that just happens to be preloaded with an iTunes player. It doesn't even look any good (especially compared to the V3). They may as well have just made a java version of iTunes player.

On the other hand iPod nano looks pretty cool (good in black as well), be interesting to see inside one of them (hopefully pictures should appear any moment :), I'd guess it still uses CF media but that's practically the entire height of the unit.

Re:Odd...

[ModernGeek]

I think it detects what your OS is, and then shows either the mac or windows version. I'm on my mac mini right now, and the screenshot is of the mac version.

ROKR E1

[Sarcastic Assassin]

Is it just me, or does anyone else detest the styling of the ROKR E1? If Motorola can release something as slick as the Razr (even if they can't spell it right), you'd think they'd be able to at least make it look nicer than some crap phone from three or four years ago. I personally think the iTunes phone would be better as a clamshell design, or some other, more crazy design I have yet to imagine... However, the phone seems to be multifunctional, allowing you to store music and data, to the tune (pun intended) of 512MB of total storage (from what I can gather from the FAQ [apple.com]) Apple definitely deserves props for the iPod nano. Wow, that thing looks amazing... Also, props to Apple for delivering what looks like a great new iTunes release.

Re:unanswered questions

[Anonymous Coward]

There is alot more details here:
http://direct.motorola.com/hellomoto/ROKR/ [motorola.com]

1. MIDI, MP3, WAV, and AAC (but they must be trasfered through the iTunes software)
2. Only 1.1. Pity, because it will take over an hour to fill with music.
3. About $100 for 512MB
4. $249.99 with two year contract

Quicktime 7 for Windows (standalone installer)

[.Spyder78.]

Quicktime 7 without iTunes can be found here... http://www.apple.com/quicktime/download/standalone .html [apple.com]

Re:Headphone jack

[Gogo Dodo]

With the nano being so thin, they probably couldn't stack the screen on top of the jack. So it was either move the jack to the bottom or move the screen down.

Re:ROKR questions

[Cutriss]

I wouldn't blame Apple or Motorola. Motorola makes some excellent kit, but then companies like Cingular and Verizon make them strip it to little more than a credit card with an antenna.

The odds are very, very good that an enterprising hacker would be able to unlock full BT functionality on this phone.

Re:ROKR questions

[Anonymous Coward]

Given that the average song is several megabytes of data, syncing over Bluetooth would be impractical in the extreme.

Re:No more apples for me

[rabbit994]

Why does WIndows reboot? Have you thought about checking the Event Viewer to see why?

Linux isn't supported so what do you expect?

Re:On first look, quite nice

[soft_guy]

It is the same price as the mini for the same amount of storage, except now its flash instead of a hard drive.

If you wanted the best price per unit of storage, you would buy the full sized iPod. The mini was always a bad deal when you factor in the amount of storage and compare it to the larger iPods.

Re:No firewire, USB 2.0

[Anonymous Coward]

To everyone in the thread going on about how they don't have USB2 so can't use the iPod nano - you have USB so you can use that. Data transfer will just take longer.

ROKR Availability in Canada through Rogers

[necro2607]

The ROKR will be available in Canada exclusively from Rogers Wireless, according to this [motorola.com] Motorola Canada site. Too bad there isn't more detailed information though. Rogers Wireless' [shoprogers.com] site has no information on the phone or its pending availability unfortunately.

Re:Does iTunes 5 fix volume adjustment?

[Otto]

Volume adjustment already works in iTunes/iPod. Turn on Sound Check on both iTunes and the iPod. Wait for it to finish scanning your library (it'll say "Determining Song Volume"), then resync with the iPod.

Works great for me.

Rhythmbox working on it...

[VValdo]

From the Rhythmbox [gnome.org] development list [gnome.org], they're working on:

• podcast support [gnome.org]
  
• iTunes-compatible music sharing [gnome.org]
  
• iTunes-compatible music browsing [gnome.org]
  
• iPod support [gnome.org]

In development, but coming soon...

W

iTunes now supports VBR AAC too!

[Otto]

Along with everything else in QT 7, iTunes now allows you to encode AAC in VBR mode. FINALLY!

ROKR vs. Treo

[guacamolefoo]

I felt a tinge of regret for a nano second after seeing the iPod phone release. What's the big deal? My Treo 650 plays video, it displays pictures, it plays mp3 files (I have a 512mb card stuffed into it and could get bigger ones pretty easily), it takes pictures (not great, just VGA, but nice for a phone), and it takes movies w/ sound, which have been a nice addition to my personal blog or my family (mostly pictures of the chilluns). Oh yeah, it also works as a PDA and a phone.

I don't see why the iPod phone is that big a deal. The Treos have been able to play mp3s for a while now. Too bad palm didn't name them r0x0rz or whatever. Apple is so about image.

Give me a Treo any day of the week.

Re:No firewire, USB 2.0

[Anonymous Coward]

I just got one from a local reseller that put them on sale earlier this afternoon. Apple seemed to plan this pretty well as compared to other launches, where the new product wasn't available *anywhere* for weeks. Anyway, yes, it is indeed the exact same interface and the firewire cable from my clickwheel iPod works exactly as it should.

Re:ROKR questions

[Moofie]

"Why can't you sync iTunes via BlueTooth"

Because it would take a month. BT is handy, but it's sure not fast.

Re:Imagine if you will

[Tycho]

There is a specification for transfering stereo audio over Bluetooth. I have a Bluewave from Macally, which is a set of Bluetooth headphones with a Bluetooth transmitter for an iPod. With a headphone extension cable the transmitter could be used with anything with a headphone jack. There are several problems with the Bluewave. One is that both the transmitter and the headphones each uses two AAA batteries which isn't enough power, as the set only lasts about four hours, but that is not the fault of the Bluetooth spec. At any rate, the worst thing that happened to me was that the connection was lost and all I heard was loud static. Turning the headset and transmitter off and then back on fixed it though. On the other hand, the headset of the Bluewave has a 1/8" jack so it could be used wirelessly with a cassette adaptor in a car, but why?

Re:iTunes Linux Support

[Overly Critical Guy]

So far removed that the letters are all jumbled and say "BSD"!

Sigh...

Re:Always a deal-killer.

[Anonymous Coward]

If I understand you correctly, you seem to think that you need the dock in order to charge/transfer data on an iPod. The dock is totally optional (and not intended to be carried around, to be sure). It's just a nice thing on your desk to rest your iPod on when you aren't carrying it around. But you can hook the USB cable directly to the iPod itself. The dock doesn't even come with the iPod I bought a month ago.

Also, you can transfer any data to and from the iPod since the original, as far as I know.

No ogg though, but... come on, get real.

Re:ROKR questions

[dcam]

Motorola makes some excellent kit

I can't comment on the hardware side of things, but Motorolla's software is rubbish. Counter-intuitive, slow and annoying. I owned a T720, which I was very happy to drop for a Nokia 6230.

I thought it was just me, but my brother-in-law has the same experience with his new motorolla phone. Having spent the money to buy a top of the line Motorolla phone, he wants to dump it for something that has a usable interface.

Re:On first look, quite nice

[eyeruh]

Actually, the answer is yes to both questions.

Re:No more apples for me

[QuaZar666]

then you have some seriously wrong with your Mac. Run DFA and fsck on the thing first off. I have several macs here, and am around macs all day at work and usual culprits are login items, directory structure damage, some weird application that installed some weird sys pref item that installed itself, system level fonts, sometimes hardware but not as common as everything else.

Re:No more apples for me

[themonkman]

If your having GTKpod problems, especially when it deals with the mounting of the iPods internal hard drive, you might want to visit a tutorial on my blog. I used to have very similar problems, and found a solution to them. http://www.superpatriot.net/blog/sky_monkey/?archi ve=465 [superpatriot.net]

Re:DRM changes in 5.0?

[Stargoose]

I just installed iTunes 5 and am still able to play songs that I unlocked with JHymn.

And, yes, they're songs I paid for (or, Pepsi paid for them, I suppose) and unlocked for legitimate reasons (primarily so I could listen to them at work on my Linux machine).

Re:No firewire, USB 2.0

[javaxman]

I believe that since it uses a normal dock connector, if you buy a firewire cable it should work fine (just like new minis only come with usb cable, but firewire cable if you have it works fine...)

I wish that were the case, but unless Apple's posted specs [apple.com] are wrong, that's not the case. Firewire is listed under "Power and Battery" at the bottom, as a method for charging, but under "Mac System Requirements" is

Macintosh computer with USB port (USB 2.0 recommended)

Mac OS X v10.3.4 or later

I actually hadn't noticed the little 10.3.4 gottcha there at the end, either...

It does seem to indicate that I could use USB1.1 to transfer ( unlike the shuffle ) ... though, yuck, I can see why that would be 'not recommended' for 4GB of data transfer !!!

So, I guess I could update to Tiger, and use USB1.1 to transfer data, and Firewire to charge... but I'm not going to. Flat-panel G4 iMac users are sorta out of luck with this one... unless they're willing to transfer 2-4 gigs at USB1.1 speeds, I guess.

iTunes 5 + QT 7 : avoid them

[clamx]

Just tested them (Windows version):

iTunes 5 rebuilds the music library, so you might be unable to revert to iTunes 4.9.

iTunes 5 has a new interface look, and it automatically use the language set up in the "Regional and Language Options" control panel, under the "Regional Options" tab. It seems clever, but it is not since this setting is used to define the default currency, time format, etc. NOT the default language of the GUI. This setting exists in Windows XP but does not appear on regular consumer versions (only on Corporate ones, when a Microsoft MUI extension is installed). Yes, it's stupid since other OS like MacOS X let you switch the language of the entire interface even on the cheapest Mac you can get, but it's the way Microsoft did it. The only right way to define the UI language is to do it on a per-app basis. Which means : Add a bloody "Language" options to the iTunes preferences instead of trying to play the smart guy. I have an English version of Windows and my Regional Options are set to French, but I'd like iTunes to be in ENGLISH like the rest of the UI.

iTunes 5 still not support OGG.

iTunes 5 is unable to read correctly some very old AIFF files I still have in my Library (by "old", I mean "from my Atari ST": 12,538Khz 8 bit mono). QuickTime 7 opens them perfectly and it worked with iTunes 4.9.

QuickTime 7 is a real pain in the ass. I mean it. First, if you registered QuickTime 6, you need to pay again to register QuickTime 7. The player has the exact same limitations than the previous versions: it's unable to open files which have Unicode filenames or filenames that are >31 characters. Yes, exactly like on MacOS 9! Furthermore, the very convenient menus to work with tracks (delete tracks, enable tracks, extract tracks etc) disappeared. Now you must open the Movie Properties dialog, go to the correct tab, enable or disable the track(s), go back to the movie window, work on the track(s), go back to the Movie Properties dialog, etc. I use QuickTime Pro mostly to correct the movies I do with my little camera without recompression (the sound is delayed by 1 sound frame), now with this version it's became a real torture. By the way, if you use any keyboard shortcut of the Pro version (for example Ctrl-F for Fullscreen) but have the basic player only, you get a message asking if you want to register. It seems very clever too, except that some movies I made use QuickTime scripts associated to some keyboard shortcuts... like Ctrl-F. Guess what's happening ?

I've always been a big supporter of QuickTime, hoping that QuickTime 7 would be the same leap for the Windows versions that it was for the OS X version of QuickTime 6... I guess I had too much expectations...

Re:On first look, quite nice

[ozmanjusri]

there are no legal channels through which to purchase video content which respects the author's rights.

Garbage. You can download thousands of free videos at http://www.archive.org/ [archive.org] alone.

Re:Where's my 6Gig option?

[E8086]

"I have the 5Gig Seagate Pocket drive" ok, one of those, they're nice and avg $140

3.5" drives use a lot of power, and should have their own power cord. 2.5" drives use less so they can be usb/bus-powered. The only time I've seen problems is when the PC/Mac they're connected to has an underpowered power supply, the generic or older Dells and similar or if too many unpowered usb devices are in use. I've had my generic 2.5" case with a 10GB IBM travelstar for over a year with no problems.
5gb and 8gb are on the small side for 2.5" drives and don't seem to exist in the form of pocket drives yet. Newegg has external drive cases for about $15 and the smallest 2.5" is 30gb for $61, you can probably find a 10 or 20GB elsewhere. It won't be as small as your 3" round pocket drive, 3x5x.5" the size of a .5" stack of index cards and still fits in a pocket while holding a few times as much as pocket drives and minis. The other option is a full sized ipod, $300 for the 20gb, or a used older smaller one if you can find it, and has a battery so a sudden loss of power shouldn't happen. The only other 5GB+ I know of are the high capacity CF cards, $665 for 8gb, also at Newegg.
I hope that was helpful.

Re:It's about the flash, baby.

[timster]

The iPod mini has never been flash, period, end of story, never will be. The iPod shuffle was the only flash iPod before the iPod nano.

People get confused about this because the microdrive in the mini speaks the CompactFlash protocol, but it is a spinning platter disk all the same.