The 7th-gen iPod Nano

Original photo found at Apple.com

I’m a fan of the iPod nano, as I’ve blogged about here before. There was no iPod announced last year, so the 6th gen ended up lasting two years with just a couple of minor software updates.

So when Apple announced the new nano today, it was welcomed, with a couple minor “why didn’t they do this?” items I will discuss later.

Since I’ve not seen this other than in the event announcement today, I can’t say how cool it is just yet. But spec wise, it looks really nice. 2.5″ multi-touch screen, Bluetooth for wireless headphone and speaker use, support for Nike+ Fitness, the FM radio, videos, music and podcasts. The colors look really vibrant and it’s got a 30 hours battery life for music (which is a huge plus).

Wish List

I will be getting one of these, but not sure when. But there were a few items that I was curious why they were not part of this update. One is a 32gb model. The only choice is a 16gb model. Even with it’s new thinner case, I’m sure they could have squeezed in 32gb. For $149, 16gb matches the price of the last nano. I’d gladly have paid $179 for a 32gb model. But alas, nothing.

There is also no camera. While the size of the last nano made it clear why there was no camera, the 5th gen nano had a camera for shooting videos. With this bigger screen, and the photo support, a return to having a VGA camera would have been great.

And of course, no click wheel, which is handy to have in the dark, but with this big of a screen, and given that I’m used to using my iPhone in the dark, I think getting used to the touch screen icons and controls isn’t as difficult. So the click wheel, while still nice and functional, it’s days might be numbered here. The Shuffle and the Classic are the remaining iPods and both have click wheels.

While most of the excitement of the day is the iPhone 5 and the 5th gen iPod Touch, I’m still a fan of the smaller iPods and will stay that way until, well… I don’t have a need or want for one and the iPhone is my sole portalbe Apple device.

Anyone else excited about the new iPod? Any wishes for other iPod updates [like a 250gb iPod Classic]?