iPod Nano to be Totally Redesigned, Lose Clickwheel?
iLounge has found a Chinese site showing what they claim to be cases (made by X-Doria) for Apple’s iPod nano and iPod touch models. Notice, how the purported iPod nano case is perfectly square? This suggests that Apple may be set to introduce a redesigned iPod nano with a touchscreen similar to the one that was discovered a month back. However, a perfectly square screen would seem to be a regression from the current iPod nano’s widescreen display.
The nano 6G case features an open strip on the rear – perhaps for a camera or built-in clip – as well as what appear to be volume buttons and a larger button on the top side while a Dock Connector and headphone port are along the bottom.
Just yesterday an analyst predicted that Apple will be dropping the clickwheel from the iPod nano. This case design seems to fall in line with this prediction.
That said, you have to take into account the iPod shuffle. Would Apple be totally replacing the shuffle with the smaller nano? It seems silly to keep both if one could effectively replace the other in terms of size and features.
As for the iPod touch cases show, very little is added to what we already think we know. The case has a hole to make room for a camera and flash similar to the ones found on the iPhone 4. The case does not cover the front bezel, which is believed to house a camera capable of making FaceTime calls.
I really don’t know what to make of this one. On the one hand, I can see them redesigning the iPod nano and canning the iPod shuffle all together. On the other hand I can see them redesigning the iPod shuffle making it a small, touchscreen device. The detail I’m hung up on, is the screen aspect ratio. Apple went to all of that trouble last year to make the screen wider on the nano, now their going to make is smaller and use the 4:3 aspect ratio? We’ll see.
My guess for the small, square screen? A controller for the new Apple TV that is expected to be released at the media event. If the new Apple TV has all of the features that it’s rumored to have, it will need to be controlled with a more sophisticated device than the standard five button remote Apple ships with the current Apple TV. Again, we’ll see how all of this pans out come September 1st.
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It was about 3 years ago that Apple dropped “Computer” from their corporate moniker. At that time, Apple had begun to sell personal music players (iPod), smartphones (iPhone), music (iTunes) and TV products (Apple TV). It was an appropriate move given their new product mix.
This name change would also dovetail nicely with an emerging trend. We are witnessing a move away from “Swiss Army Knife” type devices toward products that perform specific functions extremely well.
- Take computers, for instance. They can do just about anything (music, video, gaming, voice, web surfing, e-reading). However, who really wants to carry to listen to music on a laptop, if they can do so on the smartphone?
- The same goes true for smartphones. Smartphones have become significantly bigger than their mobile phone ancestors of a decade ago. This was to accommodate larger screens for reading and input of non-voice applications such as watching video. Having said that, who wants to watch a video on a smartphone when they can do so on a tablet such as an iPAD?
In fact, the success of the iPAD demonstrates this trend. Consumers have embraced the iPAD, even in the presence of comparable products such as laptops, netbooks and smartphones. Put plainly, consumers are amenable to having multiple devices to ACCESS their music, content, applications and services.
The opportunity for Apple is to extend ACCESS to the iPod Nano. ACCESS would include both connectivity (WIFI and/OR 3G) and support for iOS. Consumers would be able to possess all 3 types of devices and use them as appropriate. For instance, I may decide to use my iPOD Nano when I am active (e.g. hiking, jogging, etc) in place of my iPhone. I would be able to receive calls and run my apps (e.g. fitness).
Although it requires assistance/cooperation from carriers, it would create an opportunity for them as well. Ideally, the carrier would allow consumer to utilize existing minutes/data, as well as “softphone-like” capability to transfer incoming calls when using the Nano. In turn, carrier could enjoy increased ARPU by charging a nominal consumer monthly fee for each connected device (e.g. iPhone, iPAD and iPod Nano).