Hope you don't mind two similar worlds running together, because today we're asking about not one, but two of Cupertino's latest. The iPod touch 2G and iPod nano 4G were both simultaneously (give or take a few minutes) announced
back in early September, and after getting a chance to
handle both, we felt that Apple did a stand-up job with the each of 'em. That being said, there's always a thing or two that could use tweaked, added or removed completely, but we'll spare you any additional opinions from us on that. Instead, we want to know how
you, dear reader, would change either of Apple's freshest PMPs. What are you digging? What's still not good enough? The floor is yours.
Ipod touch: make it unlockable T_T
I own an Ipod touch, but one of the first generation.
I always missed four things.
The buttons for sound regulation, that is quicker than unblocking it and doing it with the screen. But they already solved it.
Now they have to give the option to change the battery with a new one. Just like in cellphones. If I pay so much for a media player I want it to last longer than a normal batterly life. Or if I'm travelling and can't charge it, I want to be able to swap the battery with a charged one.
Since I have the 8GB version. I would love to have a micro-SD slot or some other expandable memory, and the option to copy the things from the memory card to the Ipod memory. It would be faster to put photos in. One could see more movies, series (I see entire seasons in my Ipod while doing excercise).
Last change would be to not just put the usb-cable to the pc but also the usb power adapter as DEFAULT in the box when you buy an IPod.
So three things.
- Swapable battery.
- Expandable memory slot (micro-SD for example).
- USB Power Adapter in the box as default.
a customizable 6 band graphic equalizer. the built in EQ presets are horrible, give us the option to create our own EQ curves!
Go back to Firewire! I hate the USB 2.0 syncing!
I think iPods would make great PMPs if they supported more video formats. Why limit it to MP4? Why must I spend hours converting my whole video library?
wildcharge builtin!!
No iTunes
No DRM
Ability to move songs off iPod onto another computer .. home to work for example
You know... the stuff that isn't going to happen anytime soon ... if ever.
Yes. I can get those things with other players but I like the size and usability of the nano along with Nike+ integration.
I've owned a couple of iPod's and my favourite so far is iPod nano 3rd gen. It has the right size and is a lot cuter than both 2nd and 4th gen. If I were to make a nano of my own, it would look like the 3rd gen, without the chromed back though and it would have a bigger screen. And Bluetooth, longer lasting battery, at least 30GB and be available in light pink and dark blue.
Disable coverflow on the nano. On the old nano, you didn't have to take it out of you pocket, hold it upright and wait until coverflow disappears so you can change the volume. the whole point of the nano, surely, is that you can operate it simply by putting your hand in your pocket and flipping your thumb around the dial. not anymore.
I want an iPod touch with a 500 GB 2.5" laptop hard drive to store tons of media. Such a beast could store my entire lossless music collection, all my photos, or even hundreds of DVD rips. 32 GB just isn't enough for a PMP to meet my needs.
I also wouldn't mind streaming TO the iPod such as SimplifyMedia allows but with all media types, especially if the storage capacities are going to stay low.
A large size version would be nice. Something about the size of a trade paperback. This would provide better video watching and better web page reading.
I would make the back of the touch NOT SHINY! AHH, it makes me crazy with the smudges and the scratches! It has always been a pet peeve of mine. I wish they would do like with the iphone and give it a matte finish
I assume Apple have done far more extensive HCI testing than I have, but there's still one thing about the iPod Touch that bugs me.
Rotating to landscape brings up cover flow with _all_ the albums, even if you're currently viewing a playlist. If I'm looking at albums that I've added this month and rotate to see them in cover flow view, it shows me everything rather than just the new albums. To me, this behaviour is quite unintuitive.
-Max
A radio, Why oh Why dont they build one in.....
ROCKBOX !!!!!!!!!
some ideas might have been covered, i didn't have time to read the 7+pages of comments but...
1. better transport controls while playing, how hard would it be to include a slider bar for the song or video, so i can go back to 1:12 in the song. i suppose i could hold the rewind button, but then there is no display of the running time so that is less than useful.
2. pausing without unlocking would be useful. to those who said "cuz they want to sell you their remote headphones", well, they should have had that incredibly complex piece of tech ready to ship with the new touch.
3. speaking of incredibly complex pieces of technology with justifiable delay times... why, a month after i bought my new touch, is there not a hard case with a screen protector available. in fact why weren't there stacks of them in the apple store on release. the ipod sock doesn't cut it. is the international brotherhood of acrylic, blow, and injection molding locals 435 cupertino and 816 beijing on strike for a better health care plan or something? did all the boxite in jamaica run out and aluminum producers are scrambling to find a new source before they can produce sheet aluminum for the case manufacturers?
4. it would be nice to have a model with the cellular modem built in, so you could buy a monthly data only plan and use it as a internet tablet on the go.
5. how bout a microphone built in for shazam? that might have been smart.
tap the screen for easy ff/rwd!!
Double tap home for music controls!! When locked unlocked or even in other apps!!
Make it charge with all my old hardware... my car adapter and my home Klipsch iGroove SXT iPod Speakers still play music but don't provide juice to the Touch :(
Allow it to sync with TWO computers keeping both library's up to date (including last played, star rating etc)
AD2P Stereo Bluetooth support! I don't care if it drains the battery, I want to be able to listen wirelessly without 3rd party adapters and such.
how about ... USING BOTH SIDES OF THE DEVICE
I need 80gb before I'll even look at it. 120-160 gb would be ideal. Who cares if it's a couple millimeters thicker?
GarageBand App would be sweet too.
Price is a big deal too. Student budget sucks.
BLUETOOTH!! =D
4g Nano:
-Volume control buttons
-Corners that aren't quite as sharp (I'm all for sleek, but this is getting a little ridiculous)
-Dark colored click wheel for colored models
-Click wheel controls that automatically change depending on orientation (possibly using E-ink tech)
-Wired-remote headphones included
-$20 cheaper
2g Touch:
-Anodized aluminum enclosure
-Some form of haptic technology
-Wired-remote headphones included
-$30 cheaper
Support for Linux please. Too hard to ask?
More PIM functionality on the Touch!
It's about 30% of what my palm used to do, get it up to about 80% and it'll be a winner:
Include a desktop app for notes, todos, synching, addressbook editing, file storage instead of just the crapola itunes interface.
If you can delete emails why not music tracks and photos?
Never have enough time to get rid of unwanted songs/artists/pictures at home/office, but i do on the tube/airplane/train/taxi and doctors/dentists waiting room,
When syncing it would just need to ask the usual 'Do you want you delete from device or library etc' ?
Ability to turn off the motion sensor in the nano, not just for the shuffle feature but if you sit or lay down it will switch to coverflow and you lose ability to control volume, the most basic feature of any music player.
They both need an off option for coverflow!
Nano needs better sound quality!!
My touch needs to use thAt mic and bluetooth(for stereo headphones and maybe file transfer for pics. That would work for wireless sync too!) apple hid in here!! A better speaker...
Better suport for manually managin music! Sync and editingtakes forever and I have like double the music my 32gb touch can handle in my iTunes so can't really do it auto!!
Battery on wifi sucks! Shake to shuffle is annoying but fun! So add it but be sure to keep the OFF option!
Video out on the headphone jack!!!!!!!!!
And what happened to search????!!!! Full keyboard! But no search for my 7499 songs! Even the nano has it wit the oil click wheel!
Fm radio with out the remote!!
Fm transmitter! and infrared! Even tho their outdated!!
And oh yea! Zune sucks!!
Rockbox/ ipodlinux are nice but too open! Transfering music to multiple computers would break a few copyright laws!
And fuckit why not make an touch nano! And at least a 64-80 gb sdd touch!!(cuz 120gb would kill the classic! and ssd isn't that far along! Mac air only has a 64gb ssd!!)
And since adobe has flash ready for safari they need to update that!!! With a copy paste!! And something so it doesn't crash so much!
Unless that's cuz of the msytery processor there things have!! Haha
Ps typed this on my touch 2g so sorry foe any typos!
There are two new app's already which allow wireless sync (to an iphone or other ipod touch device or to your mac). I think a camara would be a great feature, nevertheless.. the pixels must be above 5.0 and most of all size should be the same or thinner. Other things are bluetooth capabilities, a better speaker (buffering) system, a fingerprint recognition to set it on, a computer voice like Alex to listen to e-books or news & a complete full front screen (no black sides and no black button)... all digital. , yes probably that would be a great upgrade, oh !!, I forgot memory.. both battery life up to 50 video hours and 80 gb internal memory with HD capabilities (like ipod classic). yes, i think that should do it.
I think they should definitely add an FM radio so you wouldn't have to use a bulky add-on. They should the accelerometer able to turn off to.