Touch Screen iPod Nanos?

[MacRumors]

Businessweek's Cliff Edwards speculates that Apple may introduce a touch-screen iPod nano in time for the holidays. He bases this prediction on analyst expectations and other recent whispers, but also reports that he saw a similar device in the wild:

Out in the wild the other day in San Francisco, I saw a guy whip out and change his music on a black touch-screen device that looked suspiciously like an iPhone, only smaller. Apple often has key employees test new devices for bugs before rolling them out, so it’s not out of the question.

Apple is widely expected to revamp their iPod line in the coming months with talk of a taller version.


Article Link

[Apple Ink]

Fake..... and as for the device... (if what Ed says is true) might probably be the iPhone nano!

But I refuse to believe that Apple's replacing the click wheel with a touchscreen any time soon!
Also, this supposedly will destroy the essence of the word "nano" for iPod!

[johnnyjibbs]

Very speculatative article with pretty much not a single fact (I'm still trying to find one).

Yes we know that touch screen is the new big thing and it won't only be limited to iPhone/iPod Touch. We also know that iPod Nano tends to get everything the best iPod does one generation later, so that would indicate that touch will be coming.

Other than that, who knows? And music subscription? Please... when are people going to stick that one to rest....

[nagromme]

I can believe it.

I fully expect there to never be another iPod Classic. Makes more sense just to add thicker, HD-based Touch models. And I can see SOME chance of touch-based nanos coming too--and the clickwheel vanishing forever. It's iconic, but something better has come along (and thanks to the iPhone, pretty iconic in its own right).

My guess about a touch-based Nano:

* Just SLIGHTLY smaller screen (maybe 5% smaller, same res) so that typing etc. is still possible. (I'd expect the touch nanos to run the SAME software as Apple's other touch devices.)

* But almost no margin around the screen.

* No giant empty space at top and bottom of screen. Home button could even be a long thin bar built into the margin instead of a large circle.

* Face dimensions would then be a lot smaller than an iPod Touch--and somewhat bigger than the current nano, but not THAT much. And with good reason to accept the increase.

* Could still be thin like the current nano, or a bit thicker for battery life, but still thinner than a full Touch.

* The tiniest end of the lineup would not be lost: that's the Shuffle anyway.

* This sounds likely to be the REAL truth behind the iPhone Nano rumors. Not a phone at all.

Alternative possibility: same screen as the Touch but with less surrounding margin. The nano, touch and classic merge into ONE new product (probably called touch). Super-thin flash models and thicker HD models.

[pmppk]

Must've been a samsung instinct.

[wizard]

I'm not sure why people have such a hard time imagining a small touch sceen iPod in a Nano form factor. Given the right aspect ratio it would allow Apple to deliver a larger screen on a physically smaller device. Think the old Nano dimensions.

Apple already has patents in place to cover the interface. That interface could still have a click wheel just in a virtual sense. Or something else altogether it just won't have all of the current Touches features simply due to size. I can easily see a device with one third the area of the current iPhone's screen.

Dave

[t0mat0]

Does the iPhone have a click wheel to do it's iPod function?

Exactly.

Image from
http://applecia.com/wp-content/uploa...-evolution.jpg

[johnnyjibbs]

Originally Posted by nagromme

And I can see SOME chance of touch-based nanos coming too--and the clickwheel vanishing forever. It's iconic, but something better has come along (and thanks to the iPhone, pretty iconic in its own right).

What's funny is that the click wheel was invented to solve the problem of having to keep moving your thumb again and again (like using a mouse to scroll a very large area so that it always moves to the edge of the desk and has to be replaced). It was an elegant solution, since moving your thumb around in a circle is infinite.

Now touch has come along, which has better potential, but with the iPhone we're back to the bloody linear scrolling model and so large lists - particularly non-alphabetised ones - become very laborious to navigate...

Besides needing the obvious iPod search on iPhone (I know I've said that 1000 times), why can't they add a virtual scrollwheel option?

Originally Posted by t0mat0

Does the iPhone have a click wheel to do it's iPod function?

Exactly.

Which is exactly why iPod song navigation has stepped backwards with iPhone.

[freddiecable]

think it is quite viable! why stick to the click wheel for its own sake? with touch - you get more screen value...

I am aware of the advantages of click wheel though...

[benspratling]

Originally Posted by johnnyjibbs

Now touch has come along, which has better potential, but with the iPhone we're back to the bloody linear scrolling model and so large lists - particularly non-alphabetised ones - become very laborious to navigate...

Besides needing the obvious iPod search on iPhone (I know I've said that 1000 times), why can't they add a virtual scrollwheel option?

Which is exactly why iPod song navigation has stepped backwards with iPhone.

Index. Oops, I'm sorry, didn't mean to pop your bubble.

[nagromme]

I agree about tactile controls--with buttons on the edge like iPhone being one solution.

And I agree about price: that would be one reason to see the nano stick around with a wheel. It could get cheaper than today, cheaper than a touch version could be. On the other hand, Apple does want to push this touch platform, and the Shuffle is still there on the cheap end.

Originally Posted by johnnyjibbs

What's funny is that the click wheel was invented to solve the problem of having to keep moving your thumb again and again (like using a mouse to scroll a very large area so that it always moves to the edge of the desk and has to be replaced). It was an elegant solution, since moving your thumb around in a circle is infinite.

Now touch has come along, which has better potential, but with the iPhone we're back to the bloody linear scrolling model and so large lists - particularly non-alphabetised ones - become very laborious to navigate...

Apple has solved that in a much better way than a clickwheel--but we've only seen it (AFAIK) in the Remote app, which is better in several ways than the current touch iPod app.

Alphabetic lists are already easier on a touch than with a wheel: tap a letter to get in the area, then scroll (with physical coasting) to zero in. Much less chance of overshooting, and MUCH quicker to get through a long list. I like my wheel iPod--it's WAY better than lifting your thumb endlessly on the scroll wheels/strips/buttons of other brands--but it's not the ultimate answer.

So now, with Remote, Apple has brought that same instant scrolling to non-alpha lists, via a row of dots on the right side. Move your thumb up and down the edge (like a computer scrollbar really) to quickly scan the entire list. Flick to zero in.

[t0mat0]

Originally Posted by johnnyjibbs

What's funny is that the click wheel was invented to solve the problem of having to keep moving your thumb again and again (like using a mouse to scroll a very large area so that it always moves to the edge of the desk and has to be replaced). It was an elegant solution, since moving your thumb around in a circle is infinite.

Now touch has come along, which has better potential, but with the iPhone we're back to the bloody linear scrolling model and so large lists - particularly non-alphabetised ones - become very laborious to navigate...

Besides needing the obvious iPod search on iPhone (I know I've said that 1000 times), why can't they add a virtual scrollwheel option?

Flicking through as a gesture helps to an extent, as does being able to pick a letter A-Z. I'd agree that the linear model needs tweaking - so that moving your finger more to the left or right from the middle affects rate of movement through a list perhaps, so you don't have to flick flick flick through. A circle flick through would also be useful. I'd imagine it'll be revisited at some point through multi-touch gestures, and for sure by next year, come Snow Leopard and Quicktime X.

Till then, it is harder to do, but at least you can skip tracks and pause through your headphones, negating the need to get to the iPhone for those functions. Reminds me of the Sony Ericsson scroll wheel that got added years back - the infinite circle was very useful, rather than having to click click click pages down to get to something. (A circular movement of the iPhone left or right, if it's in your hand? Tilting it? A two finger /other gesture?)

If they are going the reduce the scrollwheel route, i'd imagine they would clearly know they have to provide an equal or superior UI. But then, they're the folks that brought us the click wheel in the iPod. They know a few things

[Orng]

Originally Posted by johnnyjibbs

Very speculatative article with pretty much not a single fact (I'm still trying to find one).

I guess that's why it's a Page 2 item.

[iMacmatician]

Originally Posted by Cliff Edwards

Out in the wild the other day in San Francisco, I saw a guy whip out and change his music on a black touch-screen device that looked suspiciously like an iPhone, only smaller. Apple often has key employees test new devices for bugs before rolling them out, so it’s not out of the question.

Is this the new "I heard from a friend"?

This is why I think the click wheel iPod nano will stay for at least some time. An iPod nano touch (I'd like it) would be at most an addition to the current iPod lineup, and not (yet) a replacement for the iPod nano.

1. The rumored upcoming iPod nanos appear to be click wheel-based (no sign of touchscreen)
2. Some tasks are much easier to do with a click wheel than with a touchscreen
3. Apple just updated/redesigned their UI for the nano and touch. If Apple was going to discontinue those iPods, would they have made a new UI?
4. A touchscreen may be too expensive over a click wheel for the lower price segments

[twoodcc]

i would like to see this, but i doubt this is coming. we'll see

[maxrobertson]

I need to buy an new Nano in the coming months. I sure hope that it's touchscreen instead of "tall plus click wheel" because the picture of that looked uncomfortable to hold. Plus I just like touch so much.

[Popeye206]

Dudes... I think what they saw was the super secrete "Zune Feel Micro". It's a new rumored innovation out of Redmond.

Personally, I think Apple would want to change over to the touch screen for all iPods. It makes sense to have an updatable user interface on all the devices and no physical parts to break. Plus... toss in WiFi and applications (which no other MP3 player can even come closer to right now) and now the iPod is miles ahead of the competition.

MP3 and Movie Player, wireless music sharing, Games, custom applications... need I say more???

[scotty56]

I don't even care if apple releases an iPod/phone nano, but wow it'd be cool to see some new "apple" looking device in the wild that has not been announced.

[kockgunner]

:O apple actually tests its ipods?!?! why didn't they do that for the macbook pros. so many problems still exist and they didn't fix them for the duration of the 5 year old design. now their just gonna give up and move on to a new design soon.

[Shamrock73]

If he actually saw something like he described then it was likely a Samsung P2. It is about the size of the previous nanos and has a touch screen, it's actually looks like a pretty nice player.

[nagromme]

Originally Posted by Shamrock73

If he actually saw something like he described then it was likely a Samsung P2. It is about the size of the previous nanos and has a touch screen, it's actually looks like a pretty nice player.

Certainly possible:
http://reviews.digitaltrends.com/ima...lding_big1.jpg

The likelihood of a smaller Touch/"touch Nano" happening, to me, is more from looking at what Apple has done and where they might go. The "when" is up in the air, and this particular eye-witness report holds little value by itself.

[Eric S.]

Originally Posted by johnnyjibbs

Very speculatative article with pretty much not a single fact (I'm still trying to find one).

In other words, a (gasp) rumor!

Originally Posted by johnnyjibbs

Which is exactly why iPod song navigation has stepped backwards with iPhone.

Agreed. I have a Touch and, like everyone else, I find the music UI incredibly clumsy. Too bad too, because it has so many other capabilities worth carrying around.

[iMacmatician]

Originally Posted by Eric S.

In other words, a (gasp) rumor!

Rumors are generally more reliable than speculation. Rumors generally come from insider sources while speculation is just guesswork.

[Eric S.]

Originally Posted by iMacmatician

Rumors are generally more reliable than speculation. Rumors generally come from insider sources while speculation is just guesswork.

Whatever. Is this what we're reduced to? Man, I wish we could get some real news about any of these products!

[twobluebullets]

iPod touch....................