Apple announced the next generation iPod Nano on 4th October, and iFixit, the teardown specialists disassembled the tiny device for checking the reparability score.

Below is the step-by-step guide to disassemble the iPod Nano 7th Generation:

iPod Nano 7th Generation Teardown

The new iPod touch includes iOS 5, which includes over 200 new features including iMessage, Game Center, Notifications and Wi-Fi Syncing to iTunes.
iPod touch also works with iCloud, Apple’s breakthrough set of free cloud services, including iTunes in the Cloud, Photo Stream and Documents in the Cloud, that work seamlessly with your iPhone, iPad®, iPod touch, Mac® or PC to automatically and wirelessly store your content and push it to your devices.

iPod nano now features larger icons for even easier navigation of its intuitive Multi-Touch user interface, and you can choose from 16 new digital clock faces, ranging from classic analog looks to Disney characters including Mickey Mouse and Minnie Mouse. iPod nano now tracks your runs and walks right out of the box with no accessory required, making it even easier to get your fitness program up and running. iPod nano can track the time, pace and distance of your run, the calories you burn, and the number of steps you walk.

Pricing & Availability
iPod nano is available today for a suggested price of $129 (US) for the 8GB model and $149 (US) for the 16GB model. iPod touch with iOS 5 and iCloud will be available October 12 in black and white for a suggested price of $199 (US) for the 8GB model, $299 (US) for the 32GB model and $399 (US) for the 64GB model through the Apple Store (www.apple.com), Apple’s retail stores and Apple Authorized Resellers.

Apple announced that the IOS 5 would be made freely available to iPhone 4, iPhone 3GS, iPad 2, iPad, iPod touch (fourth generation) and iPod touch (third generation) from October 12. For a brief look of feature improvements of IOS 5, please click here.

Apple removed the camera from the iPod nano from the latest generation due to its miniature size. Now the new leak from China suggests that Apple’s next-generation iPod nano could have a camera bearing the same design. Chinese-site Apple.pro has published an image of what seems to be the body of the upcoming iPod nano. The camera slot is evident from the image above and if we have to guess, this could be recording only video, just like the previous iPod nano.

Needless to say, we’re still skeptic over this until some other assuring image surfaces on the web.

[Via Engadget]

Apple has dropped the iOS 4.3 update couple of days early and is now available for download from iTunes. The software update is free and will update the iPad, iPhone and iPod touch to the latest OS that brings in lots of features like improved AirPlay, faster Safari performance, iTunes Home Sharing that allows users to stream content from their iTunes to the iDevice, iPad screen rotation lock and personal hotspot feature for iPhone 4.

Apple iOS

A week after Nimbuzz added HD voice calling support for Android devices, Nimbuzz has added the same functionality to iOS as well. Nimubuzz to Nimbuzz calls can be initiated in HD that promises to give superior audio quality.

The new version will also bring stability improvements, offline mode and improved contact list.

You can download the Nimbuzz 2.0.4 from the iTunes store.

Over the years, iPod nano has undergone a lot of changes. What started as a sleek, tall audio player for the first two generations was revamped as short and fat video player in the third generation and the fourth generation adopting the ol’ tall sleek look while the previous gen adding a camera to the mix. The latest generation however, is totally different from what we’ve seen in the past.

The sixth gen iPod nano is the smallest nano till date and gives away the click-wheel and the camera to integrate a touchscreen display. It’s a multi-touch display akin to the iPod touch and iPhone but only smaller.

The new nano adopts a similar ‘square’ design to the iPod shuffle and even boasts a clip at the back. Additionally, the top side features buttons like +/- volume and sleep/wake whereas the bottom side has a 3.5mm headphone slot along with the data cable connector.

The iPod nano has a 1.54-inch TFT display supporting up to 240×240 pixels or 220ppi, making the interface and the icons look sharp. Apple has created a UI which is similar to the iOS but the fact is that the nano isn’t running the app-friendly iOS, which means installing apps on the nano is not a possibility. But just in case, even if it were possible, running any kind of app wouldn’t be any fun on such a miniscule screen.

Anyways, the nano’s UI works similarly to the iOS like swiping the home screen, holding an icon to jiggle and rearrange its position or using the multi-touch display to change the screen’s orientation. Since the only buttons present are used for volume and standby, all the important functions are expectedly, controlled via the screen.

Tapping the icon will let you play songs or view images or swiping to the left will allow to dig deep into the menu. However a user can hold down a finger to return back to the home screen. Overall, the UI is pretty much a breeze to use.

Moving onto its audio quality, Apple bundles the nano with a normal earphones. The audio quality good and seems to be an improvement from the previous generation nano.

The new iPod nano comes with additional features like Shake to Shuffle, built-in FM Radio, Fitness supporting Nike + and VoiceOver. Just like the previous generation, the FM Radio supports Live Pause, which is a really nifty feature. What Live Pause does is that it records up to 15 minutes of FM broadcast that can be played back. But one thing to note here is that this recording is not allowed to be stored. Another helpful feature present in the FM Radio is tagging. Tagging a particular song will save the details of the song and the next time you sync the device with the iTunes, the software will allow to preview and buy the song from the iTunes Store.

On the fitness front, iPod nano is equipped with a built-in pedometer. The player can keep a record of your steps and even supports syncing with Nike+iPod Sport Kit.

VoiceOver has somewhat become a standard in Apple’s iPod line and the feature finds the place in nano’s new generation as well. The VoiceOver tells the name of the song and artist in over 29 languages.

To sum this up, for a player so small, a touchscreen display seems to be overkill. But considering touchscreen as the one of the most sought feature in today’s mobile devices, we can’t really complain if Apple is trying to cash in on the demand. The player promises a full day audio playback and is targeted at users who are looking for a touch-enabled music player.

It comes in multitude of colors in two storage capacities – 8GB and 16GB and is priced at Rs. 10,700 and Rs. 12,700 respectively.

Rating:
Pros: Multi-touch screen, UI
Cons: No video support

One thing I like about Apple is that they’re not afraid to experiment with their product designs. Take the third generation iPod Shuffle, for instance. They took a bold step to take away the physical player controls in lieu of in-line music controls, which to be frank, was not accepted by all. Thankfully, Apple has realized it and brought back the clickwheel design we’re used to see in an iPod in its fourth-generation iPod Shuffle.

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Read the rest of iPod Shuffle 4th Generation Review (304 words)

Sprint has launched a unique case for iPod touch that not only protects the iPod but also allows users to surf the internet using Sprint’s 3G connection. The ZTE Peel that will go on sale from November 14 is a MiFi-like device that slides nicely on second and third-gen iPod touch devices and takes advantage of Sprint’s 3G network to create a Wi-Fi hotspot, which can be used by iPod touch to browse the web anywhere. Another advantage is that Peel’s connection can be used by an additional Wi-Fi-enabled device.

ZTE Peel supports Wi-Fi 802.11b/g and wireless security through WEP 64-bit.

Peel will sell for $79.99.

Press Release

The iPods that were unveiled yesterday in the US will soon be available in the Indian market. All the iPods will be available from next week from Apple’s authorized retailers and will cost as follows:

2GB iPod shuffle: Rs. 3,200
8GB iPod nano: Rs. 10,700
16GB iPod nano: Rs. 12,700
8GB iPod touch: Rs. 15,400
32GB iPod touch: Rs. 19,900
64GB iPod touch: Rs. 25,900

To know more about the new iPods, click here.