Apple Releases 4th Gen iPod

[jackc]

Apple Store in Soho says no iPods yet. Damn!

 

[Freg3000]

I just called the apple store to check and they confirmed the only difference in the dock is the addition of USB 2.0 support for charging and that it is a tiny bit smaller to hold the new iPod BUT the old docks will work just fineyou just can't take advantage of the new "features"

I am glad USB is the only big difference, as I was worried about Apple confusing everyone with multiple docks. Seriously, you know how easy it would be for Joe Consumer to buy the "wrong" dock and his iPod not work? At least it still will work, albeit it without USB 2.0 connectivity.

Conversely, will the 3G iPods work in the new docks? I think they will, but if the new docks are 1mm smaller.....😀

 

[jeffbistrong]

happy

Yessss! 12 hour battery life, apple claims, can anybovy validate this? and should they be in stores now . . i wanna go get one . . .this makes me happy, and the redesigned wheel, sooo cool

 

[Andy_Hedin]

Although Apple says that 4G iPods will now "benefit from more language support," they don't say which languages were added that weren't supported before.

On the iPod Tech Specs page it lists the following languages for the new iPod:

Languages: Bulgarian, Croatian, Czech, Danish, Dutch, English, Finnish, French, German, Greek, Hungarian, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Norwegian, Polish, Portuguese, Romanian, Russian, Serbian, Slovak, Slovenian, Simplified Chinese, Spanish, Swedish, Traditional Chinese, Turkish and Ukrainian.

Contrast this with the languages supported on the iPod Mini (which I believe are the same as the 3G iPod):

Languages: English, French, German, Japanese, Spanish, Italian, Dutch, Danish, Norwegian, Finnish, Swedish, Korean, Simplified Chinese, Traditional Chinese.

The new languages appear to be:
Bulgarian, Croatian, Czech, Greek, Hungarian, Polish, Portuguese, Romanian, Russian, Serbian, Slovak, Slovenian, Turkish and Ukrainian

 

[BagelTycoon]

Re: Apple Soho store

Yesterday, a guy at Apple's NYC Soho store told me new shipments generally arrive Tue. & Wed.

This came up when I asked when they're getting the AirPort Express in stock (it hasn't been in the store yet), but this would seem to apply to the new 4Gs too.

Apple Store in Soho says no iPods yet. Damn!

 

[Stella]

We went through this last year when Apple decided to only give G3 iPod owners the new software.. and not G2.

When us G2 owners complaint on this forum, we were told by G3 owners - "STOP COMPLAINING, YOUR IPOD STILL PLAYS MUSIC. BLAH BLAH ".

Well, I hope those G3 owners aren't complaining now about the new features in the G4s, that aren't available in their G3 iPods through software updates...

Yeah, that does suck, seeing as I've only had my gorgeous 3G 15G iPod for a year, and would like to take advantage of the new software features. I did look at the software download page, and apparently we get a few bones tossed our direction:

Updates for iPod with a Dock connector and iPod mini

• Compatibility with iTunes 4.5 or later and the iTunes Music Store
  Improved playback performance
  Support for the Apple Lossless Encoder, to enable compressed music encoding at high quality

 

[bathysphere]

My only complaint...well...not even a complaint...my only cause for hesitation in lusting after an ipod...is that i can't record.

but i don't think that the reasson has muchh to do with the riaa

wouldnt encoding DESTROY battery life... becuase i assume it would have to compress the audio files (lossless of course, but still)

it would also be an extra jack to be fit in, although i think that is less the concern...


the thing is...i could use it as a hard drive...i can carry my library around with me...but i cant record..if it had tha, i wouldnt be able to control myself. i would HAVE to own an ipod.

but as it is...i am stuck thinking about why they havent added it. and o yea, you can transfer songs without the dock, doesnt the 20 gig come with 3 friggin cables...thereby covering all ossible bases in terms of data transfer...usb 2.0. firewire 4-4 AND 4-6

the main reasson i want a line in for an ipod though..i DON'T want to buy a minidisk recorder. i have always thought they were ok, but i actually read their spec, and the notion of atrac angers me. and converting files to atrac...not a fast and efficient process..and it isnt like you would really choose to play your atrac files on computer...what about the stuff you buy from itunes 🙂 and other stuff ou simply GET in mp3 or aac...silly sony.

an adapter for the ipod maybe? i want a reason to buy ..REALLY...help me out here...i am getting a decent check and i want a new hard drive...and well...the ipod technically IS a hard drive...

http://www.griffintechnology.com/products/italk/
this is what i use to record audio onto my 3g ipod. it has a built in mic, and a line in (mini). i use this to record audio for videos.

 

[joeboy_45101]

That software update is a worthless download. It adds nothing to my 15GB, and since nobody has a 4Gen. right now it's utterly useless. Would it kill Apple to release an update for the 3Gen's that actually fixes the battery meter problem. But all in all I'm not very impressed with the new iPods, they just added a click wheel and updated the user interface, granted the battery performance is better.

 

[tomjleeds]

If Apple doesn't make it, I'll buy it from Sony, as long as it works with iTunes
on the Mac.

Ih-uh. Not happening - Sony's first HD player hasn't even arrived yet, and it'll be the NW-HD1 which is coming out August/September. It's tiny, it looks great, but...it only plays ATRAC. Doh! 😡

We went through this last year when Apple decided to only give G3 iPod owners the new software.. and not G2.

When us G2 owners complaint on this forum, we were told by G3 owners - "STOP COMPLAINING, YOUR IPOD STILL PLAYS MUSIC. BLAH BLAH ".

Well, I hope those G3 owners aren't complaining now about the new features in the G4s, that aren't available in their G3 iPods through software updates...

I have to agree with you there - it drove me mad when my 10GB 2G didn't get any of the 3G updates. As you were, I was told by everyone to stop complaining, so I hope all those people aren't going to complain this time!

Note: I've just sold my 10GB 2G and ordered a 20GB 4G 😀

 

[ewinemiller]

ok. 3g owners:

how do you put shuffle in the main menu? am i being dense? 🙁


and yeah, although i think updating the product is great, i'm a little upset that there is no software update

Neon,

I don't have my iPod with me, but down in the options there was something about main menu. When you opened that up, there was a list of things you could put on the main menu, some were checked, some not. Shuffle was one of the options. After checking it, Shuffle shows on the main menu.

Regards

 

[Foxer]

Called my local Apple Store. Wednesday or Thursday.

 

[Duff-Man]

Can anyone confirm if the new 40 Go iPod comes with the remote and carrying case like the 3rd Gen or not...
If there is no remote and case, stop advertising they are cheaper !

Duff-Man says....read the other posts in the thread and read the specifications at Apple's site.....oh yeah!

 

[JCT]

A slightly OT question

Talk about a dilemma.

Just did the Cram and Jam (of course!). 😱

I currently have a 2G 10GB iPod that is still working OK, but the opportunity to upgrade to the 15GB 3G for a net cost of $70 was too tempting. My main reason for upgrading was the Dock connector, much easier to find accessories that work with it, plus there are 2 other iPods in the house (a 3G and a Mini), so if I had a 3G we could share accessories.

Even though the new 15GB 3G is still shrink-wrapped, Apple won't let me switch it to the new one and stay with the promotion. Even though the promotion now includes the new versions 😡

Basically sucks because I really like the click-wheel on my daughter's Mini. But I'm not going to shell out full price for a new iPod 4G when mine still works.

I'm thinking of just sending the 3G back and sticking with my old 2G, mainly due to the complaints I have heard about the poor battery life on the 3G and the annoyance of the 4 buttons across the top, e.g. accidental turn-ons, etc.

For those of you who have used the 3G (particularly if you upgraded from 2G -> 3G) do you have any advice?

And no, EBAY is not an option, too time-consuming.

Appreciate the help,

JT

 

[Andy_Hedin]

Neon,

I don't have my iPod with me, but down in the options there was something about main menu. When you opened that up, there was a list of things you could put on the main menu, some were checked, some not. Shuffle was one of the options. After checking it, Shuffle shows on the main menu.

Regards

On my 3G 20GB iPod (running version 2.2 firmware), the option to add "Shuffle" to the main menu is not available. What iPod do you own and what firmware are you using?

 

[mainstreetmark]

Sometimes you people wish for magic.

Sticking a wifi broadcaster in there in order to broadcast to an Airport Express doesn't come free (electrically speaking). Decoding to Apple Lossless and broadcasting over a 4.6GHz digital wireless network would require more power and more 'mass' to the iPod.

...and then it'd only be compatible for those scant few of us who have an Ae in the first place. Why would I want to carry around all this crap all day long when I don't even have an Ae at home, much less one in my car! A standard FM broadcaster is both smaller and cheaper, and requires less battery and is universally compatible.

It's silly to expect iPod to broadcast to an Ae any time soon, to appease the 0.1% of the userbase with an Ae, while ignoring the 100% of us who have an FM receiver laying around.

(And, the older iPods could shuffle/not-shuffle just fine. The option to do so is just now on the front. Additionally, the Dock is only useful if you wanna stand your iPod up, or if you want Line Out. You can charge and sync without it)

 

[Veldek]

Yessss! 12 hour battery life, apple claims, can anybovy validate this?

I wonder how anybody could validate this, as these new iPods aren't even out for 12 hours yet... 😉

 

[DWKlink]

I wonder how anybody could validate this, as these new iPods aren't even out for 12 hours yet... 😉

That's awesome!
😀

 

[MacBoyX]

Have you heard specifically that the new ipods will not work with the old docks? Im not certain, but I think they will. Because if they dont work with the old docks then they will also not work with other third party devices that dock with the ipod in a similar way.

Right from Apple's site...

iPod Dock (new Click Wheel models)

Just plug, unplug, and go. The iPod Dock makes charging and syncing easier than ever. A convenient and elegant home base for iPod on a desk or connected to a home stereo system, the dock provides charging and syncing via FireWire or USB 2.0*, and a stereo line out for simple connection to power speakers or a stereo system.

Supports new iPod with Click Wheel (20GB or 40GB) only. For an iPod Dock accessory kit for prior generation iPod with Dock Connector, use M9130G/A iPod Dock kit.


I only hope the 40 fits my 20's accessories like my inMotion 🙁

 

[SilentPanda]

I wonder how anybody could validate this, as these new iPods aren't even out for 12 hours yet... 😉

Duh... using the iTimeMachine that Apple releases in 2011 (for $499!) I have checked my iPod that I'm getting on Friday and it only lasts for 11 hours...

But don't worry. In 2008 the iPod will fit in your nose and you'll just have to drink Pepsi to keep it running. I'm not sure why the didn't make it fit in your ear instead but... probably something to do with heat.

 

[iMeowbot]

4) Get rid of that silly scratch prone crome on the ipod. They could still maintain the white on silver look by using bruched aluminium on the rear.

That's polished stainless steel, not chrome. They can't easily replace the steel; it's springy, strong and thin. Aluminum doesn't like to spring back when stretched, and deforms easily if that thin, especially if it's a flat sheet. (not a problem for the mini because its body is a single extruded tube; the rounded sides are really reinforcing ribs.)

Stainless looks dull gray when not polished, see the etched logo on an existing iPod to get an idea. A more brushed finish on stainless gives a harsh industrial look, almost like galvanized; picture a kitchen sink. Yecch.

You're right about the audio specs, all they tell you is the frequency response. Personally I'm okay with that, since distortion numbers and so on don't really serve that well to determine if something actually sounds good.

 

[CubaTBird]

but then

ipod mini owners are also left out in the dust in terms of the software update also. its not just us 3g users. but still... is there a place on apples web site where we could send them an email about this? or perhaps complain on their ipod message boards. 😛

 

[kirk26]

That software update is a worthless download. It adds nothing to my 15GB, and since nobody has a 4Gen. right now it's utterly useless. Would it kill Apple to release an update for the 3Gen's that actually fixes the battery meter problem. But all in all I'm not very impressed with the new iPods, they just added a click wheel and updated the user interface, granted the battery performance is better.

First day the new iPods are release and people are whining like babies! Give it a rest.

 

[mudflapper]

Can I upgrade my brand-new iPod?

I just bought my 15GB 3G on July 7th. It hasn't been 2 weeks yet. my receipt says I have 7 days to return my iPod. (If it's opened, you have to pay a restocking fee too.) My question is, since my iPod is so new, will Apple exchange it for a new 4G 20GB model? I honestly didn't think they were going to update all of the models so soon. :-(

I mean, good for Apple, of course. I just feel left out now and I would really love the new features.

I would think there's no firmware update for my model coming anytime soon either. THAT sucks. I feel like I bought a G4 a day before the G5 shipped or something.

 

[wdlove]

I'm going too visit my local Apple Store today. So maybe I'll get to see one of the new iPods in person.

 

[iMeowbot]

Right from Apple's site...

iPod Dock (new Click Wheel models)
[...]
Supports new iPod with Click Wheel (20GB or 40GB) only. For an iPod Dock accessory kit for prior generation iPod with Dock Connector, use M9130G/A iPod Dock kit.

I only hope the 40 fits my 20's accessories like my inMotion 🙁

Someone will just have to test it out. then! It could be that the new dock is simply molded differently to accommodate the new thinner body. Maybe the electrical connections are the same (and maybe not).