I listened, I sang, iPod

It must be music that makes the world go round. Or perhaps maybe just the music players that make the music go round.

And in the world of music lovers it’s the iPod that seems to be the gadget of choice.

Just last week I made a trip to the Power Mac store in Greenbelt 3, and as I had expected the place was full of people of all ages getting their hands on the newest iPod Nano.

I got my hands on them, too.

Let’s see, the new iPod Nano has video playback, an enhanced user interface featuring Cover Flow, and a cute new design. It features a larger two-inch display with 204 pixels per inch, which lets users watch their favorite home movies and photos in the same resolution they currently enjoy on the video iPod.

The iPod Nano also includes three fun games and delivers up to 24 hours of audio playback or five hours of video playback on a single charge. It is encased in a beautiful new all-metal design made with anodized aluminum and polished stainless steel and comes in four new colors — silver, black, blue and green.

“We’ve taken the most popular music player in the world and added stunning video playback just in time for the holiday season,” said Steve Jobs, Apple’s CEO at the launch of the new iPods recently.

But what really caught my fancy is that I could use the iPod Nano as my reliable digital recorder, and for me, that makes all the sense in the world. In the past when the Nanos were launched iPod changed the docks where the digital recorders were inserted. This time, they remain the same — ergo, it is perfect.

The iPod Nano’s 204-pixel-per-inch display is 65 percent brighter than the previous generation and delivers 320x240 resolution. It also comes with an enhanced user interface that shows off album artwork and photos like never before, and now includes Cover Flow, so you can scroll through your entire music collection by album cover artwork using the click wheel.

I asked the sales people at the Power Mac store to load a few covers for me and I was in love with the device. I also got one music video. Sold I was, blue was my top choice of color.

I played a few games — iQuiz, the entertainment trivia game; Vortex, a fast-paced, 360-degree brick-bashing game; and Klondike, the popular solitaire card game.

Now that I have my new iPod Nano, I hope they don’t launch any newer one soon. But that seems like an impossible dream.

Classic and then some more

I have friends who tell me that the newest iPod classic which comes in 80GB or 160GB is the best thing to have. These iPods can hold an entire collection of music, photos, home videos, podcasts and games — up to 40,000 songs or 200 hours of video are no small wonder. But more than that, the new iPod classic can be used as a nifty hard drive.

“The first iPod put 1,000 songs in your pocket — this new iPod classic can put 40,000 songs in your pocket,” added Jobs. “With a thinner, all-metal enclosure and an enhanced user interface, the iPod classic is ideal for people who want to hold everything on their iPod.”

What makes this iPod classic interesting in the looks department is the all-new rubber cover. Slip and slide-proof.

With as much storage space as a computer, the iPod classic is better than a heavy and chunky traditional hard drive and it is definitely more hip. It fits in the pocket, too. Go ahead, carry the office files in your pocket and sing your fave tune as you walk along.

What a touch

Coming real soon to the Power Mac in Greenbelt is the iPod Touch. I can’t wait to get a hold of it. But patience, as they say, is a virtue — and those of us who are impatient will have to learn to wait a few more days.

The new iPod Touch features Apple’s revolutionary multi-touch user interface that enables users to find and enjoy all of their music, videos, photos and more on its gorgeous widescreen display with just the touch of a finger.

First introduced on iPhone, the multi-touch interface uses pioneering new software to present the perfect user interface for each application.

The iPod Touch also includes Wi-Fi wireless networking, the first on any iPod, and three amazing applications — Safari, the most advanced browser on any mobile device, that lets users wirelessly view webpages just as they look on their computer, and features Google Search or Yahoo! oneSearch; Apple’s YouTube application that lets users wirelessly watch over 10 million free videos from the Internet’s most popular video website; and the new iTunes Wi-Fi Music Store that lets users wirelessly browse and preview songs and albums from the most popular online store.

With its gorgeous 3.5-inch widescreen display, iPod Touch is perfect for watching videos as well as for viewing photos and album art. iPod Touch has a built-in accelerometer that automatically senses when you rotate it into its landscape position. When you’re in music, it automatically switches to Cover Flow so you can look through your music collection by album cover artwork with just a flick of a finger. When in Photos, it automatically displays the photo in its landscape aspect ratio, and when in Safari, it displays the webpage horizontally.

iPod Touch also has a built-in ambient light sensor that automatically adjusts the display’s brightness. It features up to 22 hours of audio playback and up to five hours of video playback.

An iPod to have, to hold and to touch.

Can’t wait.