The latest version of Apple's smallest music-and-video player is simpler, speedier, and packed with smarts
The Good: Great screen, light, improved interface
The Bad: You must twist the device 90 degrees to watch videos
The Bottom Line: Another great effort from Apple, even if you liked the previous iPod Nano a little better
Let me start by saying I loved Little Fatty, and I miss it.
The nickname was affectionately given to the last Apple iPod Nano, a device that was for me the best version. Squarish and compact, it was the third generation of the iPod Nano line and the first to support video. Released on Sept. 5, 2007, it lasted barely a year.
The new iPod Nano, now the fourth to bear that name, forsakes the squarish design in favor of a return to the lanky rectangular form that characterized the first- and second-generation Nanos, released in 2005 and 2006, respectively. The screen is two inches, measured diagonally, which is the same size as on the prior Nano but more rectangular and vertically oriented.
I've spent about two weeks with the 2008 edition, and while I like it a great deal, I would like it better if I didn't have to turn it to a horizontal position to watch video on it. Held upright, the screen is too skinny for video. Held horizontally, it gives a bit of a wide-screen appearance, suitable even at that size for watching a TV show comfortably, and it's hard to argue that video doesn't look great on the new screen.
Navigational Smarts
There is much about the device that makes up for that one admittedly mild criticism. One is a substantially improved user interface. The prior-generation Nano may have had a nice shape, but the screen was too narrow for the two columns of information presented for navigation. The new narrow, vertically oriented screen puts an end to that. There's only one column of information at a time, and a drop-down menu, invoked by holding the center button, adds some much-needed navigational smarts.
When selecting from a list of songs, you can hold down the button and see four options: Start Genius (more on that later); Add to on-the-go, which, as with previous iPods, adds a track to the on-the-go playlist; Browse Album, which lists the other songs on the same album; and Browse Artist, which provides the artist's complete song list.
The new menu significantly speeds up the process of finding things and moving from one song to another on the fly, and that's a good thing. Believe it or not, from a company known for its simple interfaces, iPods have over the years become a little complicated to operate.
This is also the second iPod Nano to support Cover Flow, the eye-popping way to shuffle through albums stored on the device. It's about the closest you can come on an iPod to flipping through a batch of records in a box. Turn the device to one side when browsing music and the feature flips on automatically, allowing you to cycle through each cover using the navigation wheel. It looks better than it did on the prior device, but as with video, I could do without the whole 90-degree shift.
Then there are the touches only Apple (AAPL) would think of, such as a 180-degree crank. When watching videos, if you flip the device around, the video automatically reorients itself. Brilliant. And a Shake feature lets you hear random songs after literally shaking the device. How fun!
