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Apple Updates Consumer Desktops and Introduces a New Mac Pro

Lisa Weddle — Tue, 03 Mar 2009 11:55:16 -0600

It's been a long time coming, but Apple has finally announced updates to the iMac and the Mac Mini today. Along with this long anticipated news came the announcement of a new Mac Pro featuring Intel "Nehalem" Xeon processors and high-performance graphics.

The New Mac Pro

"The new Mac Pro is a significant upgrade and starts at $300 less than before. [It] features an advanced system architecture, new faster processors and our best-ever graphics options to deliver a faster, more powerful system that our professional customers are going to love," said Phil Schiller, Apple's senior vice president of Worldwide Product Marketing.

The new Mac Pro includes Intel Xeon processors running at speeds up to 2.93GHz, each with an integrated memory controller with three channels of 1066MHz DDR3 ECC memory that, the company claims, delivers up to 2.4 times the memory bandwidth while cutting memory latency up to 40 percent. Every Mac Pro comes standard with the NVIDIA GeForce GT 120 with 512MB of GDDR3 memory, a high-performance graphics card which the company says provides nearly three times greater performance when compared to the previous generation system.

The new Mac Pro features an updated interior that provides easy access to all components for expansion. The Mac Pro includes four direct-attach cable-free hard drive carriers for installing up to 4TB of internal storage when using 1TB 7200-rpm Serial ATA drives. An optional cable-free Mac Pro RAID card delivers performance up to 550MB/s and allows the four internal drive bays to be set up in RAID 0, 1, 5, or 0 + 1 configurations for improved disk performance and redundant data protection.

The iMac

Apple has given the 24-inch iMac twice the memory and twice the storage and, to the cheers of consumers everywhere, has dropped the price.

The iMac line starts with the 20-inch iMac ($1,199) with a 2.66GHz Intel Core 2 Duo processor, 2GB of 1066MHz DDR3 memory, a 32GB Serial ATA hard drive and NVIDIA GeForce 9400M Integrated graphics. The 24-inch iMac starts at $1,499 and features a 1920-by-1200 pixel widescreen display. The 24-inch model includes up to a 3.06GHz Intel Core 2 Duo processor, 4GB of 1066MHz DDR3 memory, a 640GB or 1TB Serial ATA hard drive, and a variety of graphics technology from NVIDIA GeForce 9400M integrated graphics to the NVIDIA GeForce GT 130 or ATI Radeon HD 4850 discrete graphics for ultimate performance.

The Mac mini

Starting at $599, the Mac mini is available in two models. It features a 2GHz Intel Core 2 Duo processor, up to 4GB of DDR3 1066MHz memory, up to 320GB Serial ATA hard drive, five USB 2.0 ports, FireWire 800 and a SuperDrive. It also features NVIDIA GeForce 9400M integrated graphics, which the company claims is up to five times better than the previous model. The new model also has dual display support for Apple or third-party displays with Mini DisplayPort or DVI connections.

Apple's Commitment to Green

Apple claims that the Mac mini is "the most energy efficient desktop in the world" due to the fact that it uses less than 13 watts of power at idle (10 times less power than a typical desktop PC). All three updated models are said to exceed Energy Star 4.0 requirements, use PVC-free internal components and cables and contain no brominated flame retardants.

Check out the specs and prices of the new machines below:

MacPro

Quad-core Mac Pro with one 2.66GHz Quad-Core Intel Xeon 3500 series processor with 8MB of shared L3 cache, 3GB of 1066MHz DDR3 ECC SDRAM memory, NVIDIA GeForce GT 120 graphics with 512MB of GDDR3 memory, 640GB Serical ATA 3Gb/s hard drive, $2,499

8-core Mac Pro with two 2.26 Quad-Core Intel Xeon 3500 series processor with 8MB of shared L3 cache per processor, 6GB of 1066 MHz DDR3 ECC SDRAM memory, NVIDIA GeForce GT 120 graphics with 512MB of GDDR3 memory, 640GB Serical ATA 3Gb/s hard drive, $3,299

iMac

20-inch 2.66GHz iMac with 2GB 1066MHz DDR3 SDTAM, NVIDIA GeForce 9400M Integrated graphics, and 320GB Serial ATA hard drive, $1,199

24-inch 2.66GHz iMac with 4GB 1066MHz DDR3 SDTAM, NVIDIA GeForce 9400M Integrated graphics, and 640GB Serial ATA hard drive, $1,499

24-inch 2.93GHz iMac with 4GB 1066MHz DDR3 SDTAM, NVIDIA GeForce GT 120 with 256MB GDDR3 memory, and 640GB Serial ATA hard drive, $1,799

24-inch 3.06GHz iMac with 4GB 1066MHz DDR3 SDTAM, NVIDIA GeForce GT 130 with 512MB GDDR3 memory, and 1TB Serial ATA hard drive, $2,199

Mac mini

2.0 GHz Mac mini with 1GB of 1066MHz DDR3 SDRAM, NVIDIA GeForce 9400M Integrated graphics, and 120GB Serial ATA hard drive, $599

2.0 GHz Mac mini with 2GB of 1066MHz DDR3 SDRAM, NVIDIA GeForce 9400M Integrated graphics, and 320GB Serial ATA hard drive, $799

Apple

Native Instruments Guitar Rig 3 Kontrol Edition

David Biedny — Wed, 13 Feb 2008 19:05:27 -0600

The Rig Kontrol 3 pedal requires a Mac host.

The Holy Grail of the electric guitar involves a single magical box that replaces racks of gear and puddles of pedals, with no compromise to quality, accuracy and flexibility. Guitar Rig 3 is a significant evolution in digital guitar hardware and software. It could easily serve as the cornerstone of a completely digital guitar setup.

The Guitar Rig 3 Kontrol Edition consists of the software, which is also available separately for $339 and can be used as an Audio Units effects plug-in, and the Rig Kontrol 3 pedal, which combines full switching and control of any and all of the software’s many modules and features with a complete analog-digital interface. The Rig Kontrol 3 sports high-quality, 24-bit, 192KHz in and out; two input channels with separate gain knobs; a headphone jack with volume control; a stereo pair of balanced quarter-inch jacks; and MIDI-in and -out ports. There is also a pair of external foot-pedal controller inputs, extending the live performance potential. The Kontrol gets its power from the USB 2.0 connection (USB 1.0 doesn’t fly), so you need a Mac host. It’s a cinch to program the eight switches to modify any aspect of the many controls of the amps and effects, and the pedal is sturdy enough for the rigors of the stage.

The brand new Modifiers let you change and modulate any amp or effect setting.

The software emulates four new amp models, bringing the total to a cool dozen. All the bases are covered, from clean Fenders to ultra-dirty Marshall and German boutique offerings, and the amps are eminently usable and fit well into an overall song mix. Purists may argue that the amp emulations are not spot-on to the real thing, but we found the range and quality of the individual amp models outstanding, with convincing overdrive breakup and air around the sound. When you select a specific amp, a matching speaker cabinet is automatically inserted into the chain, and you can mix and match different amps, speaker cabinets, and microphones to your heart’s content.

Guitar Rig 3 includes great new effects, including a cool re-creation of the venerable Roland Space Echo, a tape-based delay and echo unit legendary in the musical universe. There’s the Delay Man delay, a simulation of the funky Memory Man analog delay from Electro-Harmonix. Mix in the outstanding range of distortion and fuzz effects (11 in total), the luscious modulators, the perfect emulation of the Digitech Whammy pitch shifter, a variety of equalization and filter effects, and a decent Wah (finally!), and you have a one-stop shop of tonal tools ranging from bread-and-butter to bizarre, and you can control everything via the Kontrol hardware.

The bottom line. Guitar Rig 3 is a truly exciting turnkey solution for electric guitarists looking to replace the spaghetti nightmare of cables and foot pedals. While there are some pedals we’d still love to see emulated, you’d be hard-pressed to exhaust the vast array of possibilities to be found in Guitar Rig 3.

COMPANY: Native Instruments

CONTACT: www.native-instruments.com
PRICE: $599

REQUIREMENTS: 1.4GHz G4 or faster or 1.66GHz Intel Core Duo, Mac OS 10.4 or later, 512MB RAM

Excellent range of amps and effects. Kontrol Rig hardware does everything. Fantastic audio quality. Universal binary.

Nothing really.

Boston Innovative IMEP MP-702-388

Roman Loyola — Thu, 31 Jan 2008 11:59:01 -0600

The screen’s nice, but you can’t play your brand-new iPod’s video on it.

The iMep MP-702-388 looks like a portable TV, and it is, but it’s also a boom box with an AM/FM radio, a DVD video player, a CD player, and an iPod speaker. The radio works well, and there’s a collapsible antenna to help with reception. We didn’t have much luck with the TV, even when we attached a TV antenna, but you if you have cable, just connect it to the iMep. DVD movies looked good onscreen, and you can use the included remote control to navigate through the DVD menus.

Naturally, we’re most concerned with the iPod speaker. Videos from docked iPod classics, nanos, or touches don’t play on the iMep’s 7-inch LCD. It’s not really the iMep’s fault. Apple changed the way the video-out feature works on the newest iPods. Pop in a fifth-generation iPod, and it’s all good—5G iPod videos play without a hitch. You could buy the $49 Apple Composite AV Cable to connect your newer iPod, because the iMep has a composite video-in port, as well as an optical-in port, connectors for an antenna and a coaxial cable, and two sets of audio-out ports.

You can play music from any dockable iPod (even the new ones) through the iMep dock just fine. The audio is clear but feels clipped at the ends—the highs don’t sound complete, and the bass doesn’t have much response.

The carrying handle is comfortable, but you can’t carry the iMep with an iPod docked in it, because the handle knocks against the iPod. The iMep comes with a power adapter, or you can load it up with eight D batteries. How long the batteries last depends on the type you use (go for alkaline or rechargeable) and what you do with the iMep. Video requires much more power than playing just audio.

The bottom line. The iMep is a nice size for carrying as well as for tight quarters where space is at a premium. Its use is limited with the current iPod generation, but we especially like using it with the 5G iPod.

COMPANY: Dockable iPod, 8 D batteries (optional)

CONTACT: www.i-mep.com

PRICE: $299.99

REQUIREMENTS: Dockable iPod, 8 D batteries (optional)

Lots of media devices in a small package. Lots of input ports. Good size.

Can’t play iPod classic, iPod nano, or iPod touch videos on LCD. Weak bass. Disappointing TV antenna reception.

Apple Hardware Prototypes: Four Radical New Concepts Revealed

Jon Phillips — Wed, 28 Nov 2007 01:15:05 -0600

Take yourself back to 2001. Digital audio players were nothing more than nichey gadgets bopping around the periphery of the consumer-electronics market. Then came the dynamo we now simply call “the classic,” and in a flash, both digital music and Apple’s repute as a hardware company achieved something close to metacultural transcendence.

The iPod gave its owners a fashion statement, a design icon, a mark of cultural literacy. It became a synonym for all portable music players and turned even the most clueless consumers into knowing technophiles. Even the iPod’s essential design—soft, white, and devoid of busy interface elements—made a powerful new statement about consumer-electronic aesthetics. The follow-up to the iPod would have to be equally magnificent. The world expected nothing less than another category-creating piece of lifestyle gear.

Apple didn’t let us down. Last year the company gave us the iPhone, and within a single news cycle, the definitions of smartphones, cell phones, audio players, video players, and even GUIs were rewritten. Rewritten, combined, pushed, pulled, exploded, congealed, and totally turned on end.

But what comes next? Apple now finds itself in the enviable position of trying to top its latest mass-market phenomenon. We don’t know what Steve Jobs is preparing to pull from his jeans pocket at the next Mac Expo, but we must assume his R&D teams are working on something very, very cool.

Just for fun, we challenged ourselves to conceive four new product directions for Apple Almighty. Our parameters were twofold: First, our imaginary products would have to be technically feasible (kinda, sorta), and, second, they would have to represent a trip into uncharted territory—either a new product category or consumer demographic. On the following pages you’ll find the fruits of our fanciful, fictitious, faux R&D. Our prototypes, we hope, will leave you thoroughly delighted.

See related design contest.

Squidget

It’s addictive, inexpensive, and blingfully customizable. Meet Apple’s flamboyant first foray into the tweenager market.

Just like the widgets that populate our Dashboards, the Squidget is compact, lightweight, and imminently useful for very specific tasks. It’s also got all the visual energy of a Skittles party on happy dust, making it an extension of Apple’s move toward wilder colors and ever-more-canny form factors. Aimed squarely at the iChat demographic, the chameleonlike Squidget includes a select menu of iPhone apps and costs just $129, making it a communication/entertainment gadget that 8- to 14-year-olds could plausibly afford.

Click to enlarge

1. Expect to see Apple partner up with the elite fashion houses. The plaid stripes of this special-edition Burberry model flow seamlessly from the video wallpaper to the glossy shell. Even the perimeter lighting displays the Burberry palette.

2. Apple revamps its Squidget shells in new colors, patterns, and finishes twice a year, creating a style line that evolves as quickly as teen couture.

3. On Squidget-optimized MySpace home pages, your friends can check out your playlists and uploaded photos, and even install your customized identity theme, which kicks into action whenever you initiate a chat session. Like a “push ringer” on steroids, your photo pops up on your pal’s screen, and his spaz lighting begins blinking out your name in Morse code.

4. The three function buttons on the inside can be assigned various contextual tasks, but one must always be your Home button, lest navigation become wonky. Squidget games, optimized by developers just for Apple, make liberal use of these three physical keys.

5. With a diameter of 2.2 inches, the Squidget is a tad narrower than the iPhone. You can stuff it in your pocket, wear it like a wristwatch, or rock it around your neck, Flavor Flav style.

Squidget communication is firmly rooted in the world of alphanumerics—instant messaging over Wi-Fi and text messaging over a cell network. Swivel the outer disc and you’ll find an inexpensive monochrome LCD displaying a touch keyboard. Once you’ve finished getting your dish on, you can surf the Web, or download music and Squidget-exclusive games directly from iTunes. With just 1GB of solid-state memory, there’s no room for a large iTunes collection, but the $12.99 all-you-can-text monthly service plan includes “pushed” songs in your favorite genres. The tracks appear magically in a bucket of dedicated memory, and you can listen to them for free for 72 hours before they disappear. Should you decide to transfer a song to permanent memory, you pay just 75 cents per track (a nifty price break for the Squidget Nation).

Using a next-gen version of Toshiba’s just-announced circular LCD technology, the Squidget can display custom wallpapers—either static images or video screen savers—that cover nearly the entire surface of the upper lid. But the truly killer personalization feature is Squidget Public Alert System Lighting (aka “spaz lighting”): The entire perimeter of the device is ringed with a light strip that can be programmed to blink out codes in different colors, locations, and durations. Magenta lights chasing each other around the perimeter might mean your girlfriend wants to chat. Yellow lights rapidly blinking on and off could signal that your mom wants you home for dinner.

And dark blue lights that just pulse slowly, on and off? That’s your signal to the world that you’re in the depths of teen angst, and disturbing you now would be a very bad idea.

iEye

Seriously—how long did you think Apple would wait before launching the ultimate camera?

What Apple did for music via the iPod, and smartphones via the iPhone, it now does for photography and video. The iEye is the ultimate mobile device for capturing, editing, and distributing all of your iLife memories. In a slim, sleek, easy-to-use package, the iEye records stills and video, all in high definition. Just shoot a bunch of content and then use the multi-touch interface to explore your creative chakras anytime, anywhere.

Click to enlarge

1. A camera just wouldn’t be a camera if it didn’t have a shutter button. The iEye’s single button also serves as a Home button, easing navigation regardless of which menu you’re in.

2. The physical dimensions of the iEye are pretty much identical to those of the iPhone, give or take a few smidgens. Notice, however, the larger swath of screen real estate. The extra room is appreciated during content editing. When you’re in recording mode, the display orientation corrects itself as you transition from landscape to portrait shooting. Oh, but of course.

3. The iEye product line offers optics, resolutions, and capacities for every price range. The sweet spot of the line, however, represents a bounty of features for just $499: 720p HD video, 5.1-megapixel stills, 12GB of flash memory, and a large-capacity lithium-ion battery hardwired inside. Optical zoom is limited to 3x because Apple wanted a lens that would be flush with the iEye’s surface when fully extended. Lens cap, you ask? Third-party developers will be creating all-encompassing “iEye Tents” by the dozens!

4. The 30-pin connector makes a comeback. Dock your iEye to transfer files or just power up the battery.

Our little doble ojo (which we suspect will be nicknamed “ai-yai-yai!”) includes lite versions of iPhoto and iMovie. By pinching and tapping the camera’s touchscreen, you can mash all your memories together with the simple editing software you’ve come to know so well. You can also grab titles, transitions, borders, and music from built-in theme libraries, creating slideshows and movies that are almost disarming in their polish and finesse. And don’t worry about growing tired of the built-in themes, because iEye users can create their own custom template material and share it online.

Your iEye projects can be packaged and transferred to your Mac for final editing—but that’s only necessary if you want to go full-tilt Ken Burns or Jim Jarmusch on what you’ve created. We think most users will tap into the onboard wireless protocols (Wi-Fi and 3G) to send their masterpieces to friends or to post them to a .Mac account.

Besides adding legitimate, no-excuses content editing to a dual-purpose handheld camera, the iEye simplifies—perfects, actually—the onscreen UIs that leave most digital camera users crying for help from more tech-savvy friends (or people who actually read the manuals). The iEye control menus are easy to access and even easier to understand. It’s inevitable that Apple would try its hand in the digital camera/camcorder space, especially when so many competing products have been screaming for the new multi-touch UI. Throw in mobile versions of iPhoto and iMovie, and you have a handheld wonder that epitomizes Apple’s “create, share, enjoy” mantra.

iProtection

A postmodern response to the existential threats of urban living.

Sure, you chuckle now. But in 10 years’ time—when the polar caps have melted and wild dogs are roaming the streets—you’ll be glad Apple had the foresight to develop iProtection. This pocket-sized mobile security system is the world’s first hip and mainstream personal safety device. Who says your descent into full-tilt paranoia need not be fun? Music might be your boyfriend, but the arc of an 800,000-volt stun gun is your biker-looking uncle who lets you shoot guns in the backyard.

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1. A perfectly cylindrical iProtection baton might roll away if dropped. That’s why our design includes a single flat face.

2. Releasing the stun gun button resets the biometric safety, ensuring that your iProtection can’t easily be used against you (should, God forbid, the worst occur)

3. You’ll be interested to know that iProtection doesn’t carry any version of iTunes and can’t play any type of media downloaded from the Internet. (The soundtrack of postmodern paranoia can be heard in the wind.)

Identification, illumination, and electrification are the cornerstones of iProtection safety. If you sense an assault is imminent, you can activate a piercing, 120-decibel alarm siren that immediately identifies the locus of your trouble. A built-in GPS tracker further identifies your whereabouts—as soon as you hit the alarm (which also includes a silent mode), a distress signal sends your coordinates to local law enforcement. The GPS also includes a real-time display, which is perfect for calling in updates of your exact location should you ever find yourself stuffed in the trunk of a moving car, your iPhone conveniently within reach.

Naturally, the iProtection system includes a high-intensity LED flashlight. Your acts of urban payback will be nothing if not well lit. All of which leads us to the baton’s offensive component, an 800,000-volt stun gun with a three-stage safety trigger. Press the trigger once, and a biometric sensor immediately recognizes the thumbprint as yours, unlocking the safety toggle. Press the button a second time to arm the stun gun; the electrodes will rise from the baton’s surface. Press the button a third time and iProtection issues a nasty electrical discharge. Your assailant would not want to be mocking your choice of iPod colors right about now.

iCar

Sleek on the outside, clever on the inside, the Audi-Apple iCar is TT-terrific.

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You knew it had to happen. In a world where Apple’s industriousness compels us to envision an “i” preceding everything of material value, we cannot move forward without first considering an iCar. In late August, bloggers began reporting that Apple and Volkswagen were working on a partnership, so we fast-tracked our iCar concept for a grand unveiling in this month’s issue. You were expecting an Apple-fied VW Beetle or Jetta? Sorry, we don’t see it happening. The Beetle is too femme, and the Jetta, well... We look deep into its headlights and find no soul.

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So Volkswagen must turn to its Audi brand to launch the iCar, tapping the TT Coupe, which made an almost Apple-like design statement of its own when it launched in 1998. The iCar concept retains all the lines of the latest TT, but adds some coy exterior features that leave no ambiguity about Audi’s gene-splicing experiments with Apple DNA. The body, wheels, and brake calipers are painted iPod white, while the side skirts and front splitter are clad in iPod chrome. The TT’s side mirrors are simplified into half-spheres, giving this one-off design study an extra touch of round-edged-ness and symmetry. And because we’ve always wanted to see the G5 grille protecting a car’s radiator, we did exactly what you’ve been thinking about doing since 2003.

Form always follows function in the world of iDesign, so when folks pay the extra $3,800 for the iCar option package, they also get cockpit controls that broadcast “I am the car of the future!” to anyone lucky enough to slide into the leather front seat.

iCar. This is it. We can now move forward in the growing world of iDesign with closure, confidence, and peace of mind.

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The iCar cockpit redefines how we interface with traditional automotive controls. The tach/speedo cluster is an LCD that can be customized using the center console’s Settings menu. Whether you want numerical readouts or a traditional analog look and feel, the choice is yours, with skins and color options galore. The speedo here is set to display a large number for whatever 10 mph speed threshold you’ve just passed. The orange line is a visual of your current speed, while the red line is your own user-defined nanny marker—when orange passes red, you know you’ve surpassed your comfort limit.

The steering wheel features two scrollwheels so you can thumb through menu choices without using the touchscreen in the center console. There’s also an iSight located in the steering wheel hub, so that your iChat AV buddies can see you during calls on the road. (Wireless data networks of the future will make all this happen!) To help eliminate accidents caused by iChat AV convos, your friends can see what you see when you’re driving (notice the inset of your road view on the center display). This way, when you’re trying make a left-hand turn in rush-hour traffic, they’ll see what you’re doing and shut the heck up.

Controls for music, driving directions, communication, and climate are all accessed via the center touchscreen. iPhones and iPods nestle snugly in their very own dock. Once you experience this state-of-the-art UI, you’ll never be able to drive old-school again.

iPod Classic and iPod Nano

Roman Loyola — Tue, 09 Oct 2007 13:03:04 -0500

The new iPod nano: It's a movie theater in the palm of your hand.

Darn you, Apple. You know our iPod love is fickle, and you take advantage each and every time. We were happy with the 5G iPod (a.k.a. the video iPod), but we admit, we wanted the next-generation iPod with spiffy new features. The 2G iPod nano? It was a nice little music player that also made us happy, but we knew it could do more - and apparently, you did, too. So now here we are, with a new iPod classic and iPod nano to covet. Darn you, Apple.

The original iPod product line that started it all now has the “classic” designation to help differentiate it from the other iPods. The iPod classic is still a hard-drive-based media player, available as an 80GB version for $249 or a 160GB version for $349. The iPod classics are the same height (4.1 inches) and width (2.4 inches) as the previous iPod, but the 80GB (0.41 inches) and 160GB (0.53 inches) iPod classics are 0.02 inches slimmer than the respective iPods (30GB and 80GB) they replace.

Since there’s no change to the dock, you should be able to use the iPod classic (as well as the iPod nano) with any dock accessory, including speakers, and Apple includes an iPod classic Universal Dock adapter. If you have a case for your 5G iPod, it might fit the iPod classic (If your case depends on a snug fit, like silicone sleeves do, to maintain clickwheel alignment with the case opening or to simply keep your iPod enclosed, then you’ll have to shell out cash for a new case.). We were able to use one of our favorite cases, Griffin Technology’s iClear ($19.99) with the iPod classic, even though the fit wasn’t tight. Don’t worry, though; case manufacturers should have iPod classic-specific cases in time for the holidays. Way to keep that iPod economy rolling along, Apple.

However, once you see the new iPod classic, you could decide that you don’t need no stinkin’ case. Say goodbye and good riddance to the old iPod’s glossy exterior, because the iPod classic has an aluminum front that’s quite durable. In our testing, we didn’t notice a scratch or nick after a couple of weeks, while the previous iPod had scratches mere minutes after we opened the box. Another case change that actually made us a little misty-eyed: Silver is the new white - the iPod classic comes in black or silver, which will make members of the Oakland Raiders’ Raider Nation punch-drunk giddy.

The iPod nano now has a 2-inch screen that’s a half-inch bigger that the screen in the previous iPod nano. That means the iPod nano is now wider, but to maintain nano-ness, Apple cut down the vertical height. The new iPod nano looks squat (it’s 2.75 inches tall and 2.06 inches wide) but it’s not bulky and is actually as thick (0.26 inches) as the previous iPod nano. You can choose from five colors (black, blue, green, red, and silver) and two capacities (4GB, $149, silver only; or 8GB, $199, all colors). Feature-wise, the iPod nano is essentially a smaller version of the iPod classic, and is now capable of video playback and games.

The iPod classic and iPod nano have a new iPod software interface that now incorporates graphics. Sometimes the graphics help, while at other times, the graphics just seem decorative. The main menu is split in half with the menu options on the left and an appropriate graphic on the right. When you select Music in the main menu, the iPod displays an album art montage. Or, if you select Photos, the iPod runs a random slideshow of your pics complete with the Ken Burns effect (Apple sure does love that Ken Burns effect).

More...

The iPod classic’s new metal shell gives it an industrial-strength look.

The graphics in the main menu don’t make navigation any easier; we actually wonder if they suck away precious battery power. However, drill down though the menus and the graphics become more useful. When perusing your list of albums, podcasts, or TV shows, the iPod uses a thumbnail of the album art for quick visual recognition. When you view your iPod’s music, a Cover Flow option is now available, which adds some pizzazz to the iPod by letting you sift through your music while looking at the album art. When you’re listening to music, the Now Playing screen displays album art.

The screens for both the iPod classic and the iPod nano are stellar. Colors look true to life, the detail is sharp, photos look vibrant, and text is easy to read. Our tolerance for watching video on such small screens was tested, though, especially on the iPod nano. The iPod classic’s 2.5-inch screen seems to be the minimum size limit for watching a full-length movie comfortably. We found that the smaller the screen, the more concentration required while watching video, and doing that on the iPod nano’s 2-inch screen was a true test of concentration. With the iPod nano, we were most comfortable with videos that were one hour or shorter.

All the new features are nice, but what’s most important is the sound quality - to borrow a phrase from Steve Jobs, it’s all about the music. With the included earbuds, both iPods produce full-sounding midrange tones, clear highs, and bass that doesn’t thump too heavily. If you’re an experienced iPod user, the sound quality will be familiar to you. The iPod classic and iPod nano don’t have the recessed jacked found on the iPhone (hip-hip…), and the iPod’s earbuds use an iPhone-friendly connector (…hooray!).

Apple says you should be able to get about 5 hours of battery life for video on both iPods, and we got surprisingly close. Our new iPod classic played video at full volume and brightness for 4 hours and 35 minutes, while the iPod nano lasted 4 hours, 19 minutes. When it came to music playback, we got 39 hours from the 80GB iPod classic, which exceeds Apple’s specified 30 hours. The iPod nano, which Apple says should last 24 hours for music, lasted 30 hours. We tested music playback with a 6-hour playlist, the backlight set for shutoff after 10 seconds, full volume, and no EQ settings.

Apple includes three games with the iPod: iQuiz, a trivia game; Klondike, a solitaire card game; and Vortex, an arcade-style Breakout-type game. The PlayStation Portable and Nintendo DS have nothing to worry about, since the iPod game library is full of casual games that won’t appeal to PSP or DS gamers. Unfortunately, previously purchased games that we played with our old iPod wouldn’t load onto the iPod classic or iPod nano. Better fix this, Apple.

To connect the iPod classic and the iPod nano to a TV, you need a $49 Apple Component AV Cable that connects to the iPod via the dock - that’s a change from the previous iPod, which used a component cable that connected to the headphone jack. And finally, the iPod still doesn’t include a power adapter. Our hopes were raised when we found an adapter came with our iPhone, but no dice with the iPod. The power adapter remains a $29 option. C’mon Apple, at least include the adapter with the iPod classic.

The bottom line. The iPod classic and the iPod nano are the best of their respective product lines ever released. Will you be lucky enough to get one this holiday season? We hope so.

iPOD NANO

COMPANY: Apple

CONTACT: www.apple.com

PRICE: $149 (4GB), $199 (8GB)

REQUIREMENTS: Mac OS 10.4.8 or later, iTunes 7.4 or later, Mac with Internet access, USB

Excellent screen. Improved software interface.

Power adapter is a $29 option. Screen too small for prolonged video watching. Previously bought games won’t sync.

iPOD CLASSIC

COMPANY: Apple

CONTACT: www.apple.com

PRICE: $249 (80GB), $349 (160GB)

REQUIREMENTS: Mac OS 10.4.8 or later, iTunes 7.4 or later, Mac with Internet access, USB

Say so long to the scratch-prone plastic. Thinner than ever. Improved software interface. Excellent screen.

No power adapter. Previously bought games won’t sync. Time to buy a new case.