Key features still missing

Apple has generally done well with its latest iPods, reviewers say. The iPod touch is so far garnering the most praise, for instance getting compliments on its thinness, audio quality and HD video recording from Wall Street Journal writer Katherine Boehret. Businessweek's Arik Hesseldahl claims that the player has "kicked up the intensity about a dozen notches" thanks to an A4 processor and a Retina Display. Edward Baig of USA Today points out that the Touch is now closer to the level of the iPhone 4, but still missing some core features, like a GPS receiver, an LED flash and a five-megapixel sensor for the rear camera.

The updated Nano is getting more of a mixed reception. While Boehret enjoys the player's photo viewer, and Hesseldahl says he eventually found the new touchscreen interface intuitive, both Baig and Hesseldahl observe that Apple has removed earlier features, namely video recording and playback. Hesseldahl argues that the Nano has been "stripped down for the better."

Coverage of the iPod shuffle has remained relatively quiet, AppleInsider notes, but overall in favor as a result of it regaining buttons. More is in fact being said about Ping, Apple's new social network. The service is criticized by Baig as "incomplete," and in other cases for lacking hooks for other social networks, such as Twitter and Facebook. Support for the latter was pulled shortly after launch because of corporate politics.

by MacNN Staff