iPod Nano 5G

Cult of Mac have published an extensive and overwhelmingly positive review (with plenty of images and example videos) of Apple's latest iPod Nano.

Excerpts follow:

"It can record video, play movies, store weeks’ worth of music, wake you in the morning, remind you of a dental appointment, record how many steps you walked to work, and how long it took you. It remembers all your contacts, records voice memos, stores your shopping lists and plays a bunch of games that are controlled by tipping and tilting the beautiful little device."

"The nano is a slick piece of hardware. The colored aluminum shell is bright and shiny. It’s extremely well made. There are no gaps or seams or flimsy tabs that might fall off. It feels solid and expensive, but also very small and light."

"Video recording is the blockbuster new feature. The video is bright, sharp and detailed, even if it is only VGA (640 x 480). The camera transitions well between sunlight and indoors, and the microphone picks up sound well."

"The effects are fun. In the past I’ve found effects gimmicky, but here they make perfect sense."

"Video playback is fantastic. The nano’s screen is really sharp and detailed. So much so, it’s almost hallucinatory. I watched a couple of videos, and they looked trippy sharp. Maybe it’s the small screen."

"Watching a movie or TV show on this device is no problem. Holding an iPhone to watch a movie can be tiring on your arms, but the nano is so small and light, I didn’t have a problem."

"The built-in FM radio is slick, and a welcome addition. Live Pause allows you to stop the audio for up to 15 minutes and pick up later where you left off. And Song Tagging lets you tag songs, which are added to a list in iTunes when you sync."

"Music on the nano works great. I really enjoy Cover Flow, which I hate on the computer. Tilt the nano sideways, and it displays thumbnails of all the songs or albums, which are easily browsed by turning the scroll wheel."

"The bad: Almost too small and light for clumsy middle-aged fingers. No still pictures. The tinny little speaker is so weak, it’ll waken only the lightest sleepers."

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Brett's 2p'orth: How long can it be before Apple adds a SIM card to this?
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