Passing earwax-tainted earbuds between friends is nobody’s favorite way to share iPod tunes. An integrated speaker in the smaller iPod nano and iPod shuffle models could end that practice for good, and provide opportunity for a host of new iPod possibilities.
A newly published Apple patent describes how Apple could add a teeny speaker dome to the clip on the iPod shuffle or iPod nano. It’s a sneaky way to add some extra functionality to Apple’s smallest media players — all without adding any extra bulk.
According to the patent, which was broken down by Patently Apple, the addition of a speaker would be a “natural evolutionary step for their media players.”
The addition of a speaker — along with Apple’s embrace of the iPod nano as a wrist-worn device and the integration of Nike+ exercise software — would also position Apple well for targeting the same fitness market that’s home to the Motorola Motoactv, NPD analyst Ross Rubin says.
Over the past two years, several signs have pointed to one or more iPod lines being discontinued. Indicators include lackluster sales (last quarter, Apple sold 6.6 million iPods, a 27 percent decline from the same period in 2010), and a dearth of product refreshes for the shuffle and classic models. Nonetheless, Apple continues to support its beloved line of media players. And now it seems new energy may be breathed into the line.
CEO Tim Cook said iPod is a “large and important product” for the company at Apple’s 2011 iPhone event. And Apple recently dropped the prices of its nano and touch iPod models, making them more competitive and more accessible to a wider market. Current iterations of the nano and shuffle have no external speaker, but the larger iPod touch does have one.
The iPod nano-like Motoactv, a wearable fitness-tracking music player.
Rubin sees the addition of a speaker to, say, an iPod nano as a gateway to a slew of new use-case scenarios.
“One thing it might point to is the nano being used to interface with an iOS device,” Rubin says, much the way the Motoactv can sync with an Android device, and be used to relay the arrival of calls or text messages on its small screen.
Rubin says future nanos could be worn on your wrist, displaying social media updates relayed from an iPad stowed away in your backpack or messenger bag. A nano with a small speaker could also feature an audible alarm, making timed work-out tracking all the more convenient — useful when you want to use Nike+ without earbuds.
Rubin also points out that you could activate Siri requests using the small screen on your wrist and have answers relayed to you through the speaker.
If the speaker only ended up being used as a music playback mechanism, Rubin says, “It wouldn’t make a radical difference” in how we use or perceive iPods. True, but not needing to share earbuds anymore? Still a plus.
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In our continuing tradition of rounding up new mobile
application releases we found interesting and/or exciting over the
past month, we present you with this new list of apps for June
2011. Previously in June, 
TNW Quick
Hit
Looking forward to seeing the Zune HD in action!
I wouldn’t be ruling out the app store for zune quite yet,Amazon put a page up about the zune, then quickly took it down after they put some things up that microsoft claimed “wasn’t true”. One of which was an applications function. This will probably not go as deep as the ipod, but hey you never know…
great site by the way.
Shg,
You might be right…with the integration of the Zune and the xbox 360 dashboard, it’s very possible that we could see an app store.
Thanks for visiting!
Zune HD is going to be awesome. I’ve been waiting for this for so long!!!!
Looks promising. Can’t wait to try it out!
The storage will equal that of the ipod touch. There will be a 16 & a 32 Gb device. There is also talk of a 64Gb device.
Bob,
Yes we are all excited about having a true competitor to the iPod!
Andy,
I agree with you…it’s going to get really interesting as we near the Fall 2009 launch!
Alec,
Great points! I think the 64GB would be a huge success for those who look to carry a lot of HD video with them.
You didn’t include a lot of things. For example: zune pass, online video and music store, etc. This is sort of biased, it seems.
Anonymous,
This post needs to be updated as it was created a few days after the Zune HD was released. I will try to get it updated with the added specs.
Oh man, I’ve been a Zune consumer since first gen.
And I must say I have loved it over ipods ever since. When I pod first came out, I had the first and second generations and they definitely were not reliable. So I moved onto zune and i was very happy. The only reason i moved to 2nd gen zune was because Mine was stolen. Now I’m onto 2 years of problemless zune-ing and i love it.
Can’t wait for the Zune HD.
I just wish people would give Microsoft a chance and stop autobuying into Apple.
Rismaticattack,
Thanks for sharing…I also agree that most people just buy an iPod without ever comparing the two…that will just leave more Zune HD’s for the rest of us!
zune hd is going to be awesome! i can’t wait to buy one
if microsoft releases some kind of development kit for the zune hd (meaning for applications, besides i dont even know if XNA Game Studio supports touch), and creates a centralized location for distributing them (aka app store) the zune hd would easily be better than the ipod touch…selling it for a lower price would not hurt either
i seriously cannot wait for the hd. i have a red zune 80, which i love. its probably the only electronic i have that i can take care of because i love it so much. went through five ipods within a year though. 3 internal and 2 external problems. i hope they include an app store so those apple fanboys shut their mouths. i love macs but apple…you can keep those ipods and iphones. i dont want them. lets go microsoft. make this thing awesome! hopefully they integrate zune 4.0 with winmo. one more device i can use
I was disappointed by this comparison, as the table at the top is VERY inacurate. I’ll explain;
You list both as having a screen resolution of 480p, which is completely incorrect. 480p is 720×480. The iPod Touch is 480×320, while the Zune is 480×272. The Touch has the technically higher resolution, but that’s a 4×3 res streatched to 16:9, which can make the image appear less sharp. The Zune HD’s OLED should be clearer. However, neither is up to par with 480p yet, however, the Zune HD does do true 720p output via an HDMI dock.
As for the built-in application store, the Zune HD does have it, and it’s called the Zune Marketplace (which goes live on the Xbox on August 12th). The Xbox version will initially have only videos and music. However, when the Zune HD launches, eitehr the Zune Marketplace or the Windows Live Marketplace will be storing the apps for Zune HD/
Just 2 things i would put into the loop 1 the hd has OLED screen which is way better than the barberic lcds that need back light. That means when your outside or in a bright area you will be able to see your screen and have rich deep colors and real black. And the other was the browser, Microsoft wants the browser to be a full functioning browser with flash it wont on release date but still has the possibility of that. That would be a plus one over the touch’s browser
The touch just got touched.
the touch just got touchéd
actually the only way i would be impressed of even consider buying a Zune HD is if it came in 80 or even 120 gig models
lets wait for the unveiling of the new ipod touch in september 09 to make our final judgments.
Im not sure If I should wait until next year, Will Microsoft add more features to the zune HD? or should I just get the Zune HD that is coming out this september?
wait and see. i’m sure people on youtube will make videos comparing the hd and touch. look at those videos and decide for yourselves.
Zune features better battery life due to the OLED.
Zune features fm radio
Zune features HD radio
Zune features marketplace for 15$ unlimited(basically itunes)
Zune features HD output
Zune features Xbox syncing
Itouch features slightly larger display
Itouch features thousands of apps
Itouch now features bluetooth
Those are the most important differences.
they both have accelerometers
they both have multi touch screens
problem is i think ipods break more
ive owned 4 ipods all which have had some problem(only one was a touch)
Ive owned one zune which was the original and to this day it hasn’t had a problem except for the zune crash of 2k9
Hey i am against the ipod corporation but i have to admit the hd video output has no appeal to me, first of all you need to have a HD tv secound you need to buy a special dock sold seperatly and third you have to download/buy hd programs. I still will prob buy the Zune because it has so much more then i touch. p.s. the built in application section is completly biast because zune is set up differently its app store would be equivalent to the zune marketplace.
does anybody know when the itouch 3g is going to be able to be bought in the UK????
Bt i cannot decide which to buy between the Itouch3g and the Zune HD
zune hd rules ipod !!!!!!!!!!!!! everyone on this site choose zune
cant wait!!!!
some one died in the stupid fire ipod touch cant have gps…. ie it doesnt have a reciever to locate the ipod… the ipod touch has no radio tuner and bluetooth is useless for the ipod because of its a ipod not a phone… and the thought of syncing my music library over bluetooth scares me…. syncing estimated finish time 3years 267days 10 hours…. oh yeah
i am pretty sure nvidias tegra chip is much faster than the ipod touches processor and uses more battery
, not for sure on this one but am i
willing to bet money on it i am pretty sure nvidias tegra chip is
much faster than the ipod touches processor and uses more battery
, not for sure on this one but am i
willing to bet money on it
The Zune HD has, in my opinion, a better touch screen than the itouch, a faster processor, and a nicer display with more vibrant colors. With more apps, the Zune HD will rule supreme over the itouch. Of course, this is just my opinion.
I really don’t know much about the zune at all. But I have the ipod touch 16 GB and it’s really pissing me off so I’m looking to switch. Something about not having the freedom to share music between computers and devices just doesn’t sit right with me. Also, the fact that I can not see where my free space is going to on my ipod irritates me. So, i’m looking into the zune. However, zune has a lot to measure up to if im going to give up on apple. But, i have an open mind with a strict wallet.
zune rules!!!!
is zune gonna be able to stream youtube videos sometime? if so, if i bought a zune right now, will i be able to upgrade my zune by just downloading the new zoftware
After all the reading and comparing of the Zune vs iPOD Touch devices I’ve done recently, I’ve come to the conclusion that both are good depending on what your looking for. My basic needs are for listening to music while at work, checking messages from e-mail & facebook, fantasy sports, and a 3rd music source for my DJing gigs. I do like the idea being able to download music from more sources with the Zune. The other Apps aren’t that important.
With this being said, what do you recommend I go with?
>_> really whoever said that the itouch’s processor is faster the a nvidia tegra should probaly go jump in to a firey pit of lava first lets see it says NVIDIA nver doubt that name ever and the tegra is amazing lil chipset im sorry but that processor is ten times better then any ipod of existence the only way ipod would get better is if they ask ati but ati wont help apple or i hope not that would suk i hate apples anywayz microsoft ftw and the most famous question of them all can your MAC benchmark crysis or even run the menu LOL
i’ve had so many problems with ipod ! first one was an ipod, which had an hardrive issue after barely one year. Then i bought the ipod touch 3g, harddrive broke after barely one year too! seriously considering switching over to zune
The OLED screen just blows the iTouch’s screen “out of the water”. If only my parents would get me a Zune Hd…
Okay, the nVidia Tegra is amazing, but I will admit that the iPod Touch has great apps. However, the Tegra allows for 3D, as well as better memory allocation. The only problem forseeable for the Zune is that it restarts the OS after games that are XNA. And for those of you bitching about how the iPod has this great app store, the iPod has also been around longer, so of course it will. The Zune forums have huge amounts of gaming and other applications for the platform. Also, there will also be firmware updates. When, and yes, I said when, the Zune gets flash and Java support, I say the iPod will die out. Until then, the Zune is cheaper, more streamlined, and damn right it’s sexy!
I have just received my Zune HD from Microsoft and would like to know where are a good set of links for tutorials and APPS. I did find that it works better with Win 7 OS and had problems with XP Pro. I really like that I can take music to and from my Zune which the Ipod can not. My daughters are jealous!
looks alright
i hope its as good as it sounds!
Really informative blog.Thanks for sharing comparison between Zune HD and iPod Touch…Keep it up.
I was thinking that the Zune seems just a tad more people customizable than a Itouch but if they want to really compete against the Apple’s Itouch then they should create an App Store as well. People want to be able to do this and have fun widgets. They should just put their own signature look on it. I love the Zune HD and I’m def. thinking of getting one.
Well idk witch I’m ganna get!! My frend had an Ipod touch and she loved it but my dad had a zune hd and he liked it so!!! I guess that there both pretty good but it depends on what ur lookin for!!!!
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