The iPod nano as a measure for purchasing power

One of Australia's largest bank used the latest 4GB iPod nano as a way to compare global currency and purchasing power of 55 countries. Reuters reported that according to the Commonwealth Bank in Australia, the cheapest place to buy a nano right now is in Hong Kong while it's best to avoid Brazil when you are thinking of getting one of Apple's shiny new toys.

With their third generation 4GB iPod nano selling at $148, Hong Kong is in the 55th place. Brazil in on top of the list with Brazilians having to shell out $369 for a nano. That's 150% more expensive as compared to Hong Kong. Also, it's $1 cheaper to buy in Hong Kong as compared to the US, which placed 54th. The Philippines is in the 38th place at $198.

The iPhone vs the iPod touch

Was meaning to write this since last week but things sort of piled up. I am waiting for iLounge's mystery review of the iPod touch. The veil of secrecy adds suspense and a sense of dread. Is the iPod touch not what's cracked up to be? We'll soon know either by tomorrow or next week.

But for the curious, what is the difference between the iPhone and the iPod touch. The most obvious answer of course is that the iPod touch is not a cellphone. The Unofficial Apple Weblog's Erica Sadun has given readers a rundown of the main differences between the two devices. I'll leave it up to you guys to read here posts.

What I am going to do is give my thoughts on why I am more inclined to get the iPod touch rather than the iPhone. Then I'm going to give my reasons why I am not going to get the iPod touch.

Even though the iPhone is hailed by some as revolutionary product, there are some things missing that leaves me wanting. During the limited time of using the iPhone, I was impressed by the screen, the UI, and the ease of use. However, I cannot see myself using the iPhone as my primary phone. The reasons are as follows:

• I've often riled against people who keeps complaining about the 2 megapixel camera on the iPhone and how it's not enough. I dismissed this initially and thought that the camera really doesn't matter. But using my K800 I slowly began to appreciate the fact that even if the K800's 3.2 megapixel camera won't beat a dedicated 3.2 megapixel digicam in a shootout, it was already good enough to take pictures with. Aside from that, I could also shoot videos. Again, shooting videos was something I never gave much thought. That is, until I started using Facebook. I found out that it was really fun to take random, silly events and share them with your friends. The iPhone doesn't have video nor does it allow you to send MMS, which is another stickling point. It's something very minor but if you use this feature, no more how infrequent, you are going to miss it.

• The iPhone has a limited number of SMS that it can store and as far as I know, there's no way to backup your SMS from the phone to your PC. Backup SMS messages? Is that odd? Well, I think most will find it odd but I'm a bit of a packrat and I tend to keep things. That includes messages. This is one thing I surely will miss. The iPhone by the way can store 200 SMS messages. The K800, 1000 messages.

• Some other points include the recessed headphone jack: I want to be able to use the earphones of my choosing. Don't force me to buy an adapter that cost $20. It's ridiculous. The weight is also a factor. It's heavy enough to become a nuisance when placed in my pants pocket. A holster would probably solve this.
  

What is a plus when it comes to the iPhone is that it eliminates having to carry two devices with me: my phone and my iPod nano. Then again, Both devices together probably take up much less space and weighs less than the iPhone.

That said I am not saying that I'm ruling out the possibility of me ever owning an iPhone. It's just that version one-point-oh of Apple's cellphone is not compelling. That and the fact it's not yet available in Asia. Hopefully, by the time that it is released here in Asia, there is a vesion 2.0 with a better camera and video. I can live without the SMS backup. Maybe.

With that out of the way, let's talk about the iPod touch. Surely, this device is my iPod holy grail. I can listen to my music and podcasts, watch videos, and surf the tubes with this ultimate device. PC Magazine even gave it the Editor's Choice award and gave it 5 out of 5 stars. Cool! 

Well, yeah. It is cool. But I also have issues with it. How unenamored am I with the iPod touch? Let me count the ways:

• The lack of physical buttons is a big deal for me. Right now, I can control my iPod nano without having to take it out of my pants pocket. I can play/pause, rewind and fast forward by feel alone. I can even adjust the volume levels. Unless a product comes out that will let me control my iPhone's iPod feature without having to take it out of my pocket, then I'm not buying. Of course, that means I have to spend more.

• I'm bringing up the issue of weight again. One of the reasons why I gave up my 5G 30GB iPod was that bugged me a bit when I was carrying with me. My left pants pocket would act like a pendulum every time I walk. I never was able to fill up the 30GB. I think I only managed to use half. I also didn't watch that many videos or movies. Audio is my preferred media.

• No bluetooth. Why? I mean, why? I just realized lately how cumbersome it is to have your ears tethered by earphones. When I have my iPod nano with me (which is all the time) I would snake the earphone wires under my shirt. I often find myself having to untangle the wires even when I'm already using the Sumanjin smartwrap. Bluetooth would have freed me from this. Of course, I understand that freedom from the wire would mean decreased battery life. No win situation for now. Perhaps Apple will have built bluetooth in their iPods once they have their own bluetooth headset.

With these complaints I still am attracted to the idea of having an internet device in my pocket. Surf almost anywhere. Anywhere with free Wi-Fi, that is. Bragging rights of being one of the first to have it also is alluring. Still, they are not compelling enough reasons. I'm giving the iPhone and the iPod touch a pass for now. Maybe 2008 is the year. Maybe.

iLounge holds back iPod touch review

Jeremy Horwitz posted on iLounge that they were not going to release their review of the iPhone. Yet.

We consider timeliness of our coverage to be imporant, but we consider accuracy to be even more important. It goes without saying that haste is the enemy of certainty.

Very mysterious, iLounge. Very mysterious.

Horwitz finishes with:

Our review of iPod touch will likely be one of the most controversial we’ve published, so we’re re-running some tests to make sure we’re being fair. You’ll see the results very soon, and we hope they’ll help you make a more informed decision about whether to buy into this particular iPod, or hold off for next year’s replacement.

"Sounds ominous," says the first comment. I agree.

What dark secrets were discovered by Horwitz and his cohorts? What dastardly deed has Apple done? Will the review result in the downfall of Steve Jobs?

Ok, the last one was a bit overdone. Still, I'm really curious to what they found wrong with the iPod touch? From the initial murmurs from the series of tubes, some are saying that the iPod touch are not meeting their expectations. Screen. Audio. Interface. Or all of them? What could it be?

As Horwitz said: stay tuned.

Getting album art for your iTunes

For iTunes users out there, if you're not aware of it yet, you can put album art with the songs that you have ripped from your CD collection. This will make your iTunes look prettier and the album art can also be uploaded to your iPod (those with the colored screens).

The album art appears in the artwork window, as well as in the album view and cover flow view.








Amazon.com is an excellent source for album art but sometimes the pictures are small or the resolution is not that good. I'm not so sure but I think it was iTunes 7 that allowed users to download album art for their albums from the iTunes Store. There were hacks that allowed you to grab these album arts via a website and then store a copy of the picture into your computer. Updates to the iTunes software would disable these hacks though. Still, people will always find a way around the restrictions Apple has placed.

Josh's iTunes Album Art Grabber allows you to grab album art that's 1425 x 1425 pixels! In grabbing an album art, you have to put both the name of the artist or band and the album. Try not to omit any words even if it's just "A", "The", "In", etc. This might screw up the search.

iPod touch now available.

The Unofficial Apple Weblog posting has revealed that the some Apple Stores in the US have the iPod touch on stock. Fifteen minutes later, unboxing photos appeared on Flickr. So now it's official; the iPod touch has landed. For those who wants more information about the iPod touch, download the manual from Apple here. The iPod touch's feature page has videos showing you how to use the different apps and features on the device.

Playlist reports that only the 16GB models were available. No word when the 8GB will hit the stores.

The release is much earlier than I expected. I have to contact the guy from HK on when the touch will be available there.

Updates:
NeoverseTV has posted a quick video of the iPod touch on Youtube.

iLounge has their "Ten Things You Need to Know About iPod touch." The iPod touch's screen may differ from that of the iPhone with the latter looking better when viewed off-angle. Gizmodo seems to confirm that the iPhone screen is 'better' than the iPod touch's. Sound quality also is not as good as the iPod classic's, the touch having more background hiss. Find out more in their top ten list of the things you may want to know about the iPod touch. I hope that these anomalies are just a result of first production run. Then again, perhaps some components were sacrificed to bring down the cost of production.

Regardless of the initial thoughts about the iPod touch from other sites, PC Magazine gave the iPod touch 5 out of 5 stars and has been given the Editor's Choice award. Their bottomline:

With an excellent interface and elegant design, the iPod touch is simply the best portable media player ever made.

Introducing: the iPod touch

At Apple's September 5 Special Event, Steve Jobs unveiled the iPod classic (aka video iPod) which sported a new look and bigger capacities at 80GB ($249) and 160GB ($349). The iPod nano was redesigned. Supposed leaked pictures of the iPod nano showed it with a bigger screen but more squat than tall. People started calling it the iPod phatty, iPod bilbo, or iPod stubby. The third-generation iPod nano does sport a bigger screen and is more squarish but looks way better than from the supposed leaked pictures. Some reviewers mentioned that photos of it do not give justice to the 3G iPod nano. The nano needs to be held and used to really appreciate it. The iPod shuffle just got new colors.

What probably was the centerpiece of the whole event was the introduction of the phone-less iPhone also known as the iPod touch. The iPod touch is the iPhone without the phone, camera, and bluetooth. The Mail app is also gone. Both devices at first glance look the same. However, the iPod touch lacks the silver trimming around it and is thinner at 8 mm. It also lacks the slit for the speaker. The placement of the earphone jack has been moved from the top to the bottom of the unit and to the relief of some, standard headphones can be used without any adapters.

The iPod touch has the same gorgeous 3.5-inch screen, plays music and videos and does Wi-Fi, too. Safari confirms that the iPod touch run a version of the Mac OS like the iPhone does. Other applications are: Youtube, Calendar, Calculator, and Contacts. On the bottom of the screen there are the icons for music, videos, photos and the iTunes Store. The iTunes button allows users to download music from the iTS without having to use their desktop PC or portable.

The iPod touch comes in 8GB and 16GB models. The 8GB model will sell for $299 and the 16GB will sell for $399. It will start shipping by the end of September. The iPod shuffle, iPod nano and iPod classic are already available. To know more about the new iPod line up, iLounge has their "Ten Things You Want to Know About the 2007 iPods." They've also put up videos of the interface for the iPod classic, iPod nano, and iPod touch.

Gruesome autopsy pictures...

... of the iPod classic and third generation iPod nano.

iPod Touch

I wanted full screen iPod.

I got it.

I wanted cover flow.

I got it.

I wanted Wi-Fi.

I got that, too.

8GB for $299.

The iPod touch.



(No bluetooth though. Sucks.)

(At least I'll be poorer by just $300 come Christmas instead of $400.)