Ugly iPod Nanos, But If It Runs OS X, I May Not Care

August 23rd, 2007

Over the weekend some “spy” photos of the new iPod Nano surfaced. They come in several colors and look a bit odd — basically smaller and wide, rather like Nintendo made them. Check out a photo over at Paris Lemon. The larger photograph I’ve seen has these new Nanos arranged in a flower shape reminiscent of the ads for fruit colored iMacs.

Anyhow, as with many Apple products, these iPods will undoubtedly look better in the flesh rather than via some blurry Internet photos, but in comparison to the present Nano, I don’t really care for this design. One of the big selling points of the Nano is the small thin size that I’d compare to an elegant, overpriced chocolate bar. This new look doesn’t seem to capture that feeling.

Still, I’m not worried. Here’s an AppleInsider rumor claiming that this fall, variants of OS X may find their way into iPods. This undoubtedly means new software features, and ideally some that are currently only on the iPhone.

If the new Nano feature-wise turns out to be the just the old Nano plus video, I’ll be annoyed. But if it adds some iPhone-esque features due to new OS X underpinnings, I’ll overlook an odd design for more capabilities.

And I wonder what’s in store for the actual, hard drive based iPod.