Video, FM iPod gets mixed reviews

“It’s Only Rock ‘n’ Roll, But We Like It” was the theme of Apple Inc.’s Press Conference on Wednesday.

But it might have been “Only for the Nano.”

The revamped iPod Nano will feature vivid and metallic colors, a “pause-able” FM radio tuner and, most significantly, a 640×480 resolution video camera with an integrated microphone.

It will serve as an audio as well as a video recorder, and will boast “one-touch” uploading to YouTube.

It will feature a slightly larger screen at 2.2 inches, though it will use the classic wheel for user input as opposed to the iPhone and iPod Touch’s “multi-touch” screens.

“Yeah, that sounds cool and useful, especially for a journalism or PR major,” Brett Kukuk, a senior from Waterford and CMU MicroChips cashier, said.

Now available

The Nano is on sale at electronics retailers, including MicroChips, in the lower level of the Bovee University Center.

The new iPod is available in eight or 16 gigabytes of storage for $150 and $180, respectively.

“It sounds like a good deal,” said Hartland sophomore Brendan Sherman.

Sherman mentioned how it would be a boon to always have a video recorder with him.

Some students are excited, but still hesitant about the high prices Apple commands in the technology market.

“It sounds cool, but I wouldn’t pay that much for it,” Alyssa Atkinson, a Ferndale sophomore said.

A disappointment

There was less thunderous applause than usual as Apple executives took the stage at the Yerba Buena Conference Center in San Francisco.

Many expected an Apple Tablet computer or a new iPhone, but neither were revealed. Most of the news focused on improvements to existing brands, such as the iPod Touch and Classic, as well as iTunes.

The iPod Classic will soon be distributed in a 160-gigabyte version, although the Classic line’s sales, lower than other iPods, could make this the last release of the original 2001 MP3 heavyweight.

While the event itself was mostly business as usual, it did mark the first public business appearance of Steve Jobs, Apple’s CEO and co-founder, since his liver transplant in April.