First iPod nano 4G photo hits the web

[AppleInsider]

A Mac website has obtained what's believed to be the first proven genuine photo of a fourth-generation iPod nano, days ahead of its launch.

The image, deliberately masked by MacNN to protect the identity of the shot, bears a near perfect resemblance to images that have been circulating the web of the device, all of which began when Digg creator Kevin Rose posted an image on his personal blog.

True to the leaks, the new flash-based iPod is tall and has a tapered shell at the front and back which is reminiscent of the MacBook Air. The report claims that the new nano is wrapped entirely in aluminum, but that it will come in "more vibrant" colors than the light-tinted models on sale today -- one of which is the coppery orange that was used for the second-generation iPod shuffle.

Throwbacks to the new model's close cousin, the second-generation iPod nano, are also in evidence elsewhere: the dock connector is once again offset from the center, and the packaging is the same clear, tall plastic case.

Fourth-generation iPod nano. | Image credits: MacNN.

An unobscured version of the image later published by MacNN.

MacNN provides little else to fill in details of the product itself but is convinced the updated iPod nano will not only be announced at next week's "Let's Rock" event but that it should be ready to sell almost right away and thus mirror many of Apple's more recent product launches. The site also warns returning students that the new models won't qualify for the back-to-school promotion from this summer that ends on September 15th.

[ View this article at AppleInsider.com ]

[papiti]

I don't get it, they want to make us believe that they have the first picture of the next iPod Nano 4G, but the don't really show it. That's kind of stupid of them. From what I can see it's just a drawing, therefore, i don't believe them. Show me the money, then I will believe!!!!!

[jasenj1]

Hmmm.... Tall and slender... Looks suspiciously like a phone handset to me... iPhone nano, anyone?

- Jasen.

[andrewhaji]

Originally Posted by jasenj1

Hmmm.... Tall and slender... Looks suspiciously like a phone handset to me... iPhone nano, anyone?

- Jasen.

Not a chance.

[satchmo]

And we're suppose to take their word for it because...?
It may well turn out to be true, but how is this any different than any other 'confirmed' rumour?

[solipsism]

No mention of the clickwheel buttons? I would think it would be remiss of Apple to offer the same Zune experience as their Zune 4/8 with the printed buttons being sideways when watching videos in landscape mode. Besides that, the Zune has a better UI than the Nano and Classic.

[teckstud]

Love the aluminum orange- welcome back.
And seriously, if you watch video on that sized screen in landscape mode you'll need reading glasses or a magnifying glass to say the least. Makes no sense.

[Ronbo]

You know, if this was April 1, this would have been a great article. But it's not, and this has too much of the whiff of the Troll about it. Did you hire someone from the National Enquirer? "Here's a really lame artist's sketch of a photo we swear was authentic. And on page 3: Elvis found! Louisiana batches of Soylent Green test positive!"

[solipsism]

Originally Posted by teckstud

Love the aluminum orange- welcome back.

Me too.

[papiti]

Originally Posted by Ronbo

You know, if this was April 1, this would have been a great article. But it's not, and this has too much of the whiff of the Troll about it. Did you hire someone from the National Enquirer? "Here's a really lame artist's sketch of a photo we swear was authentic. And on page 3: Elvis found! Louisiana batches of Soylent Green test positive!"

JA, JA, and where's the Chupacabra and Lockness Monster!!!

[T'hain Esh Kelch]

Seriously.. My first post on AI in a year, and all I've got to say about this article is:

Bleh.

[teckstud]

Originally Posted by solipsism

Me too.

Great and Tuesday should be very interesting with all the speculation these last 2 weeks.

[JeffDM]

Originally Posted by teckstud

Love the aluminum orange- welcome back.
And seriously, if you watch video on that sized screen in landscape mode you'll need reading glasses or a magnifying glass to say the least. Makes no sense.

It should still be easier than the current nano, which also plays video, but on a smaller screen than the claimed update.

[ultralord910]

Check out Click Here for the photo without the blur. Looks pretty nice to me

[solipsism]

Here is what looks like the original pic. It's definitely slick looking in the copper tone, but the curved screen seem like this should be a fake.

[SpamSandwich]

Originally Posted by solipsism

Here is what looks like the original pic. It's definitely slick looking in the copper tone, but the curved screen seem like this should be a fake.

Looks pretty real, if oddly out of focus for no reason...

Why exactly was the image given a Photoshop treatment? I see nothing that should be obscured...

[Browzilla]

It can't be true.

There's no elevator.

[MacTel]

Originally Posted by jasenj1

Hmmm.... Tall and slender... Looks suspiciously like a phone handset to me... iPhone nano, anyone?

- Jasen.

Looks like a chocolate candy bar to me. From the photo mockups I'm not too sure I like the looks.

Will this have the iPhone OS on it?

[razorpit]

Originally Posted by SpamSandwich

Looks pretty real, if oddly out of focus for no reason...

Why exactly was the image given a Photoshop treatment? I see nothing that should be obscured...

It was taken with an iPhone...

[Virgil-TB2]

The photo was obscured because it's actually sort of illegal and definitely not cool to post them. Engadget, classless idiots that they are, just don't care.

I think something is wrong or missing here though. Going back to the old off-centre dock connector when they just finished selling everyone "universal" docks sounds odd. The curved bezel is also definitely an odd choice although I guess if Apple assumes everyone is watching widescreen content then the glare from reflections will be limited to those parts of the image that are blacked out in the letterbox format. The fact that you have to rotate the thing and then remember that it's rotated when you are using the controls is also awkward.

The only thing they could do to make this a non-yawner of a product is perhaps to make it super-duper cheap. Like Shuffle prices cheap.

I suppose there is hope that they are purposely leaking this so as to direct peoples attention away from the real star of next Tuesday's show, but that's probably wishful thinking only. It will sure be sad if this is the only real new product. the revamped iPod touch will have to be something super hot to make this show anything more than a colossal bore.

[JeffDM]

Originally Posted by Virgil-TB2

The photo was obscured because it's actually sort of illegal and definitely not cool to post them. Engadget, classless idiots that they are, just don't care.

Thanks for the heads-up. I can see why it might be a problem to post photos, but for a story, posting a photo gone over with some heavy artsy filter effect is a "let's not but say we did" kind of maneuver. We're supposed to take their word that artwork is based on a real, authenticated photo of a real 4th G nano when it's done over heavily enough to be anything but a nano and the source of the authentication isn't named. Yeah, and I have some prime real estate to sell at bottom dollar and I have a secret buddy that works with the court clerk that says it's the real deal.

I think something is wrong or missing here though. Going back to the old off-centre dock connector when they just finished selling everyone "universal" docks sounds odd.

Finished, as in they don't sell any more? There should still be a fill-in plate available for it like they did with previous models. It looks like it should work just fine with the old nano fill-in plates.

[Ireland]

Originally Posted by razorpit

It was taken with an iPhone...

No, the iPhone can't take 'em that close

[iVlad]

how can this be fake? U serious?

[Kevinneal]

Here is the image with the perspective corrected as much as possible, gives a better idea of dimensions

[jcsegenmd]

The leaked photo of the new nano doesn't make sense; is it instead possible that the scroll wheel part of the image was not a physical scroll wheel, but rather a "virtual" scroll wheel and in reality the ENTIRE surface of the new nano is a touch screen? This would
(1) over double the viewable "real estate"
(2) provide the first apple media product that would view films in 16:9 ratio
(3) give the "wow" factor that we'd all like to see in such an event,
(4) explain why Apple's CFO said the margins were going to be off--touch screens are more expensive--for the september quarter, and
(5) justify the statement made last month that it would be a product line that would leave the competitors scrambling for years to come
Previous Topic | Next Topic

[takemura]

If apple was Chinese company like Meizu and KDDI AU more known outside Japan every one would say that tha new i pod is a rippof of a year old design by Naoto Fukasawa... And i think the same... Very very unoriginal.

[takemura]

Originally Posted by jcsegenmd

The leaked photo of the new nano doesn't make sense; is it instead possible that the scroll wheel part of the image was not a physical scroll wheel, but rather a "virtual" scroll wheel and in reality the ENTIRE surface of the new nano is a touch screen?

this is a great idea, if we look closer we can even see a darker square around the wheel, and if we consider it is in the box and turned off, on this part should be a sticker.... This even explains the form – it is round to protect the screen more yet I’m not sure I have ever seen a touch screen device with round screen surface.

[Kevinneal]

Originally Posted by jcsegenmd

The leaked photo of the new nano doesn't make sense; is it instead possible that the scroll wheel part of the image was not a physical scroll wheel, but rather a "virtual" scroll wheel and in reality the ENTIRE surface of the new nano is a touch screen? This would
(1) over double the viewable "real estate"
(2) provide the first apple media product that would view films in 16:9 ratio
(3) give the "wow" factor that we'd all like to see in such an event,
(4) explain why Apple's CFO said the margins were going to be off--touch screens are more expensive--for the september quarter, and
(5) justify the statement made last month that it would be a product line that would leave the competitors scrambling for years to come
Previous Topic | Next Topic

would be nice, but as you can see the ipod is turned off in this photo, so the virtual part would be blank not showing the click wheel

[Wonderkid]

If you walk into a Sony showroom, you can buy the more flexible (built in FM Radios, video playback etc) Sony Walkman devices. They are more sexy and easier to navigate than the iPods too featuring a seperate Home button and Dpad that is a lot faster than a scroll wheel combo. (Hence Dpads a featured on every mobile phone/PDA today.) And even if this was not the case, why is there such excitement over a fairly boring device from Apple? If Apple were about to launch a multi-touch web tablet, iPhone Nano or 10mm thin iMac, I would see reason for all the drama, but to me, this is an embarassment to Apple - too much hype over nothing.

[Mr Underhill]

Looking at that screen in the photo perhaps optimum viewing is acheived whllst holding the iPod horizontally, perhaps for music video, websites etc.. With this in mind you'd think they'd make the scroll wheel horizontal also.

My two cents.

[takemura]

Originally Posted by Wonderkid

this is an embarassment to Apple - too much hype over nothing.

If we think logically there are reasons, and every one has their own: people with the old nanos 2G who want to update are very interested in the new offering, apple fans can’t miss another product, market researchers carefully observe how apple will make people buy their new thingamy, design participants are looking for what else could be done with the UI and new software, techy people await new announcements along with the new Nanos… and so and so on. Together it generates the hype.

[Marvin]

Originally Posted by takemura

If apple was Chinese company like Meizu and KDDI AU more known outside Japan every one would say that tha new i pod is a rippof of a year old design by Naoto Fukasawa... And i think the same... Very very unoriginal.

Why does it have to be original? If it's a practical design then there's no reason to go with another less practical design. It looks to me like it won't taper at the top and bottom, only at the sides so it is a bit different.

I think the tall screen is a welcome change. The ipod nano (fatty) plays videos but trying to to watch them on that extremely small screen is ridiculous. This will at least make it useful for videos and also show more songs at a time in a scrolling list.

Perhaps the extra size will allow a bump in capacity. Scrap the single color 4GB (£99) and make the current multi-color 8GB (£129) all £99.

[merdhead]

Originally Posted by Virgil-TB2

The photo was obscured because it's actually sort of illegal and definitely not cool to post them. Engadget, classless idiots that they are, just don't care.

I think something is wrong or missing here though. Going back to the old off-centre dock connector when they just finished selling everyone "universal" docks sounds odd. The curved bezel is also definitely an odd choice although I guess if Apple assumes everyone is watching widescreen content then the glare from reflections will be limited to those parts of the image that are blacked out in the letterbox format. The fact that you have to rotate the thing and then remember that it's rotated when you are using the controls is also awkward.

The only thing they could do to make this a non-yawner of a product is perhaps to make it super-duper cheap. Like Shuffle prices cheap.

I suppose there is hope that they are purposely leaking this so as to direct peoples attention away from the real star of next Tuesday's show, but that's probably wishful thinking only. It will sure be sad if this is the only real new product. the revamped iPod touch will have to be something super hot to make this show anything more than a colossal bore.

Who is the idiot again?

Either something is illegal or not illegal. There isn't really any middle ground. There's no copyright on the picture, and it's unclear if the author intended to limit distribution, which to me is the only issue, and there would be a fairly good fair use rational for posting it here. It's not child pornography or contains photos of military secrets, so other than copyright, what is the problem? Apple had it's company secrets revealed? A few days in advance? Not much of an injury.

[merdhead]

I've just received the full text of Steve's talk on Tuesday. The text, deliberately masked by me to protect the identity of the source, is below. I, for one, can vouch for the authenticity of the text through my own sources.

"Thanks all for coming here today [...] are pleased to announce that [...] and having sold a record [...] and boom! [...] oh, and one more thing [...] Thank you for coming, any questions."

Pretty exciting!

Also I've recieved pictures of the new MacBooks. I've had to obscure the pictures, so you'll have to use your imagination a little:

[merdhead]

Originally Posted by Wonderkid

If you walk into a Sony showroom, you can buy the more flexible (built in FM Radios, video playback etc) Sony Walkman devices. They are more sexy and easier to navigate than the iPods too featuring a seperate Home button and Dpad that is a lot faster than a scroll wheel combo. (Hence Dpads a featured on every mobile phone/PDA today.) And even if this was not the case, why is there such excitement over a fairly boring device from Apple? If Apple were about to launch a multi-touch web tablet, iPhone Nano or 10mm thin iMac, I would see reason for all the drama, but to me, this is an embarassment to Apple - too much hype over nothing.

Marketing? Credit to Apple for being able to get people to buy mediocre products in droves.

[cnocbui]

If that image contains a serial number in the text on the packaging, Apple would likely be able to easily identify the source of the leak.

LCDs do not do anodized aluminium well - that is not a touch surface. It is as boring as it looks people. A cheap mass market item to be sold by the bushel.

Oh, and remember the criticisms about the touch volume controls and inability to be operated by feel - this nano won't be touch for the basic controls.

Iphone OS? - struggling to be polite - No.

Tall and tan and young and lovely
The iPod from ipanema goes walking...

The only thing Apple could pleasantly surprise me with is an iPod touch with decent storage. A 120gb HD would be nice. I know everyone bangs on about it not happening because flash memory will soon fall in price but the honest truth is it hasn't - not enough. What are we going to get this time 64gb at three times the cost of 120-160gb if they had used an HD? Spare me any replies about battery life - pure twaddle. My 3rd gen iPod was down to about 2hrs of life and I could get by.

Many people I expect use playlists or just have it on random and let it play. Stick a bit more RAM in there and cache the whole playlist or next 20 songs to it from the HD and the HD would rarely have to spin up.

I know it isn't going to happen, just as I know I won't be buying anything from the ho-hum about to be launched.

[Walter Slocombe]

Originally Posted by solipsism

Here is what looks like the original pic. It's definitely slick looking in the copper tone, but the curved screen seem like this should be a fake.

can't believe all the "FAAAAAAKKKEEE!!!!!" whiners are still so ready to shout "FAAAAAAKKKEEEEE!!!!" like some sort of badge and merit of how "clever" they are.

these, if you recall, are the same people that said NO WAY would Apple do the fatty nano... yet, its been on sale about a year now..

so were the leaked images of IT all fake?

its like all the posts about analysts "why does no one call them on their STUPID predictions?" well why does no one call these "FAAAAAAKKKKEEEE!" assholes?

---

of note, the image has now gotten an iPod dock connector, earlier pics had what looked like a mini usb connector, so somethings changed.

I think this stuff is intentionally leaked, because of Apples ubiquity in the market, and the maturity of the music player market, they are now at the point where they are dealing with a conservative audience, change in design is actually seen as a "bad" thing, so leaks will help to draw all the bile and bluster out BEFORE the event, so that the reveal is actually allowed to be reported as a good thing, if people don't believe that, then they weren't around or have forgotten the wailing about the nano fatty... which then all died down.

in a few years time, I'd "almost" expect to see the design shown off first to help get rid of old stock designs to those reluctant to buy a new design iPod.... almost!

[success]

Originally Posted by takemura

If apple was Chinese company like Meizu and KDDI AU more known outside Japan every one would say that tha new i pod is a rippof of a year old design by Naoto Fukasawa... And i think the same... Very very unoriginal.

Yes! I was just about to say that. I see that FUGLY phone almost every day here in Japan and see maybe one person every 6 months using it LOL

MAJOR step back in design. TOTALLY unoriginal.

OH wait...the 80's is trendy.

[Dunks]

Everyone seems to be assuming the screen is larger than the current nano.

That seems to me to be an unusual choice because it would make the device larger.

Judging by the size of the dock connector I think the screen is the same size as the current nano. Which means this thing will be tiny!

Imagine apple have simply chopped the clickwheel off the current nano and placed it to the side of the screen. This allows the "chin" of the device to be more square which enables the click wheel to be naturally larger than the squashed one on the current nano (which results from its more rectangular "chin"). A Portrait display is also better for scrolling through lists. Subtle, but beautiful design. I'm surprised we didn't arrive here sooner.

I'm very interested to see what colours they go with this time. Cobalt blue and a bright lemony yellow please steve! A very dark pencil-lead grey could look smart too (and give black a rest for a while).

I wonder if apple would ever do one in a woodgrain instead of aluminium (for a price premium). Probably too many variables to make it worthwhile. it would be smokin' though.

[philbot]

Looks like a very poor fake to me

Easiest photoshop technique in the world, to stretch an existing nano

has anyone checked the blue channel?