The fifth-generation iPod nano has been out for three months now but I’ve only managed to play with one last week. Big thanks to Andrew dela Serna of Alleba and Andrew’s Travels.
The fifth generation iPod nano has the same physical dimensions with the fourth generation iPod nano albeit the 5G iPod nano is lighter by 0.5 grams and has a more polished casing. The 5G iPod nano’s screen is bigger (2.2 inches vs. 2 inches) and has more pixels (240×376 pixels vs. 240×320 pixels) as compared to the 4G iPod nano.
The one significant addition to the 5G iPod nano is the video camera that’s capable of shooting VGA video but can not capture still images. Aside from the camera, the 5G iPod nano also has a built-in microphone, FM radio with Live Pause feature, Pedometer, and speaker.
Prologue
I wanted to load some of the stuff from my own iTunes library before I started with my review. Once the iPod nano appeared on iTunes, I saw that firmware was still version 1.0.1. So, I clicked on “Check for Update” and updated the firmware to v1.0.2. Once the update was completed, I tried to upload my playlists and podcasts into the iPod nano.
It wouldn’t sync.
iTunes kept telling me that the iPod nano “couldn’t be found”. I realized that the iPod nano was still formatted under Windows., I opted to do an iPod restore after which I no longer had any issues syncing songs, playlists and podcasts into the iPod nano.
Ooo… Shiny… And slippery
The 5G iPod nano’s casing is shinier and feels more poished than the 4G iPod nano. In my hands, it was a bit slippery, me being a tad seborrheic. The 5th gen iPod nano comes in nine different colors, two of which, yellow and red, are exclusive for purchase only in the Apple Store.
I find the click wheel on the nano a bit small. It’s difficult to reach the area covered between the 2 o’clock and 7 o’clock positions with my thumb. Add to that the slippery feel of the case I mentioned earlier and I find myself trying hard not to drop the device. The silicon case the owner bought with the device helped with the slipperiness and for me to get a better grip.
The screen looks amazingly good. Even at half-brightness the screen is still viewable under direct sunlight. Videos and photos came out clear and crisp. Rotating the iPod nano 90-degress activated Cover Flow. This behavior can be toggled on or off in the Settings menu.
I hear voices
One of the things I was most curious about was the VoiceOver feature. This feature first appeared in the 3rd generation iPod shuffle early this year and then in the 5G iPod nano, 3G iPod touch and iPhone 3GS in the second half of this year.
VoiceOver lets you hear the title and artist of the song or podcast that’s currently playing without interrupting the music or podcast. This, according to Apple, helps avoid users from being distracted by looking down on the screen while on a ride or on a run. VoiceOver is available in twenty languages including Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Russian, Turkish and Swedish.
When the iPod nano was first handed to me for review, I was under the impression that the only way to activate this feature was via the play/pause button on the Apple Earphones with Remote and Mic. I asked Andrew where his earphone with remote was. He said that the nano came with the standard Apple earphones. I later found out that the Apple Earphones with Remote and Mic was an optional accessory for the 5G iPod nano, unlike the 3G iPod shuffle and 3G iPod touch the packages of which included as standard the Apple Earphone with Remote and Mic. There had to be some other way to activate the VoiceOver feature. Well, it turned out all I had to do was just press the center button while a song is playing to get the VoiceOver going. So I tried that.
Click.
No VoiceOver.
Click. Click.
Still no VoiceOver.
What was going on here?
I had to find and read Macworld’s review of the 5G iPod nano to learn that I had to download and install the VoiceOver Kit first before I can use the feature on the nano. Doh.
I installed the VoiceOver Kit when I got home (right after upgrading the iPod nano’s firmware to version 1.0.2. I ran into some problems during the download and install but I won’t go into that anymore). Once installed, iTunes proceeded to generate VoiceOver messages. (Listen to what VoiceOver sounds like at Apple’s iPod nano page)
After playing with it for a short while, I now consider VoiceOver as a novelty rather than something that’s really useful. It’s fun at first to listen to VoiceOver narrate a long song or podcast title but that becomes tiresome after awhile. Good thing you can interrupt VoiceOver by pressing the center button a second time. Given the option, I probably won’t activate VoiceOver if I had my own 5G iPod nano.
Lights. Camera. Action!
I guess the new feature I should talk about is the video camera. The video camera shoots at a resolution of 640×480 (VGA) at 30 frames per second, either in landscape or portrait mode. The iPod nano uses the accelerometer to detect the orientation of the device.
Once the video camera is turned on, pressing the center button for more than a second will bring up the video effects menu which includes sepia, black and white, X-ray, film grain, thermal, security cam, cyborg, bulge, kaleidoscope, motion blur, mirror, light tunnel, dent, stretch, and twirl.
The camera placement is awkward, especially when shooting in portrait mode. If you hold the iPod nano the ‘regular’ way, your fingers will block the video camera. The solution is to hold the iPod nano’s top and bottom with the index finger and thumb and use the other hand for the controls on the click wheel. Or you can hold the iPod nano upside down.
Yup, you read it right. Just turn the iPod nano upside down and the accelerometer will make sure the video is oriented properly.
When shooting in landscape mode, I found out that it’s better to grasp the side edges of the nano between your middle finger and thumb and use the index finger to click on the center button to start and stop recording. Holding the iPod nano like in the ad works, too, but I feel like the index finger might stray in front of the camera.
The built-in microphone performed real well outdoors even with some noise in the background like traffic and people milling about. I also tested the microphone inside a mall and it was still able to pick up my voice even with all the din around me.
To delete a video (or delete all videos), go into the Video Camera menu, select an event and then press the center button for more than a second to bring up the option. Deleting videos is also possible via the Videos menu.
At full capacity, using the video camera for more than 30 minutes drained about fifth of the capacity. That estimate is based on what was being displayed by the battery icon.
What about the music?
Oh, right. I forgot about that.
Nothing new in terms of music playback. There’s the neat feature where the iPod nano goes into Cover Flow mode when the nano is rotated 90 degrees.
5G iPod nano firmware version 1.0.2 allows control of podcast playback speed from slow to fast.
The speaker was surprisingly loud at three-quarters full and the podcast I was listening to was fairly audible. The test was done inside a room with a not-so-silent air conditioner running in the background.
Apple added an FM radio tuner with Live Pause feature which lets users “pause” a radio broadcast and the iPod nano will store up to 15 minutes of the broadcast into memory. You need to have the headphones plugged in since the iPod nano uses that as the antenna for the radio. The new iTunes Tagging feature works only in the U.S. or with radio stations capable of iTunes Tagging.
Extras
The new Pedometer feature uses the built-in accelerometer to keep track of your steps. You can key in your weight and then use the iPod nano to keep track of how many steps you’ve taken for the day as well as how many calories you’ve burned. The 5G iPod nano works with the Nike + iPod Sport Kit without the need for an adapter. Any workout using the Pedometer or the Nike + iPod Sports Kit can be optionally uploaded to nikeplus.com.
The built-in mic lets you record voice memos without the need to purchase a pair of headphones with microphone.
A few bumps
There were a few things that I’ve noticed while I was reviewing the 5G iPod nano. I must preface this section by saying that it’s been quite awhile since I’ve used iTunes with an iPod. As a matter of fact, this is the first I’ve used iTunes 9 together with an iPod. So my quibbles might largely be due to ignorance on my part.
I decided to use my MacBook Pro as my test computer instead of my iMac. When I first tried syncing my songs and albums to the iPod nano, I noticed that some of my artists weren’t listen in the Artist pane in the Music tab of the 5G iPod nano. However, I didn’t have any problem with syncing playlists that contained those ‘missing’ artists.
Some of the albums in my MacBook Pro’s iTunes library came from my iMac’s iTunes library transferred using Home Sharing. I thought that perhaps iTunes could only detect songs on my MacBook Pro downloaded from the iTunes Store. That didn’t make sense though since the iPod nano uploaded the playlists and I was able to play all of the songs with no problem at all. So it had nothing to do permissions or DRM. I tried to add more albums from my iMac via Home Sharing thinking perhaps something went wrong with the transfer first time around. I still ran into the same issue.
I went into my MacBook Pro’s iTunes Music library and selected one of the artists that was missing from the list. in the column browser, I noticed that in the Artist column I saw “Compilation” instead of the name of artist or band. Aha! The problem might have something to do with transferring songs that have been compiled as part of an album or group. I proceeded to select all songs that had the artist changed to “Compilation”, right-clicked to access Get Info, clicked on the Options tab and selected “Part of Compilation: No”. That fixed it.
Another problem I ran into was with regard to transferring videos I took with the 5G iPod nano into my MacBook Pro (I didn’t read the manual so it’s still my fault. Heh.) Turns out, in order for iPhoto to recognize the 5G iPod nano, I had to turn on “Enable disk use” in iTunes. Once this option was enabled I was able to transfer all videos into my iPhoto library. Enabling disk use requires the user to manually eject the iPod nano before disconnecting it from the computer.
Epilogue
It was fun reviewing the 5G iPod nano, especially the video camera. I was planning to upload the videos I took but I changed my mind.
Anybody looking for an excellent multimedia device should seriously consider getting the 5G iPod nano. Not only can it play music, podcasts, movies, and TV shows, it can shoot videos plus you can listen and record (to some degree) FM radio broadcasts and it can help you keep track of your walk or run.
If you know where to look, you can get the 8GB 5G iPod nano for ₱7,200 and the 16GB version for ₱9,800.
Am I getting the iPod nano anytime soon? Thought about it. But I have something else in mind. Be sure to come back next time.
Again, my thanks to Andrew dela Serna for lending me his 5G iPod nano.
[Images courtesy of Apple]
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