The Newest New iPod
The new fifth generation iPod, which comes in either black or white and prices at $299 for 30GB and $399 for 60GB of storage, features a 2.5-inch color screen and is thinner than its predecessor. Besides being able to play music files such as AAC and MP3, display photos such as JPEG, play Audible audiobooks and play podcasts, this new iPod can also play video. This new video feature has long been anticipated and has been the subject of many Apple rumor websites for quite sometime.The video feature works like this. As an iPod owner, you go to the iTunes store through the new iTunes 6 software and access the videos area. From there, you can currently select from over 2,000 music videos as well as ad-free episodes of selected ABC or Disney television programs - such as Lost and Desperate Housewives - and short films from Pixar Animation Studios. After you make your purchases, the videos are downloaded to the iTunes software on your computer and then synced onto the iPod itself, just like music, audiobooks, pictures and podcasts. You then access the videos by selecting the video option from the main screen on the iPod’s display. From here, you can navigate and play your video on the go using the click wheel.
Besides videos purchased from the iTunes store, the iPod can also play home videos exported from Apple’s QuickTime 7 Pro.
Other features of the new iPod are those which have been introduced in previous generations of this device, including USB 2.0 support, calendar and contacts synchronization with Microsoft Outlook, song shuffle, photo slideshows set to music, a world clock and playlists.
It is interesting to note that Apple is not the first company to develop a portable device which can play videos; by this move however, they quickly become the most high profile.