Tuesday, July 25, 2006

New Nano and Video iPod May Face Delays

For over half a year rumors of a large-screen, "Video iPod" have been milling about. Reports call for a wide-aspect, 4-inch touchscreen that covers the entire face of the unit, with an on-screen clickwheel, rather than a physical one. The latest word on a release date has long indicated Q4 of this year. As it turns out, we might not see this new unit until the first half of 2007.

Researcher Shaw Wu of American Technology Research claims that both the next generation iPod nano and the Video iPod will lag previous expectations, IB Times reports:
"We previously believed that new nanos and the widescreen video iPod could ship in Q3 and Q4, respectively," he tells clients in a research note, "however, we now believe that both could be delayed by a quarter or two."

"Apple is aiming to increase both the screen size and improve the battery life - two conflicting attributes that are difficult to improve simultaneously and require significant engineering," he writes.

While we're all anxious to get our hands on what is surely the ultimate iPod, recent reports indicate that it might be worth the wait. Reports indicate that the 5G iPod's replacement will feature a powerful 3D graphics chipset from Nvidia, presumably enabling advancd 3D gaming, placing the iPod in competition with the Sony PSP and Nintendo DS.

The next generation iPod nano is expected to be released in an all-new, scratch-resistant magnesium or aluminum enclosure available in a variety of colors. The new nano is expected to appear with double the current song capacity, 4GB and 8GB, able to store ~1000 and ~2000 songs, respectively.

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