Lately, times have been hard for the world’s most famous mp3 player, the iPod. Many mp3 players have surfaced from Apple’s competitors, who have come tantilisingly close to usurping the iPod’s throne. With that in mind, the new range of iPods (announced the 5th September by Apple) have come just in time.

We‘re particularly interested in two mp3 players in this new range, the iPod Nano and Classic. The two feature up to 8 GB and 160 GB of space respectively.

The iPod Classic has just replaced the traditional iPod, which can be considered the “iPod Generation 5.5”, how better to term an upgrade from the 5th generation of the original iPod? This is the mp3 player that suffered most from comparisons with its competition. Many mp3 players combining audio and video features dethroned them with features like battery life, storage space and even ergonomics (thanks to progressively bigger and often touch-sensitive screens). The arrival of the 6th generation (now called the iPod Classic) is a breath of fresh air from Apple in the mp3 player arena.

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The iPod Nano also suffered from competition but was still largely successful. The Nano benefited from an improvement last year much more important than that of the traditional iPod; its new aluminum design (and the fact that it’s available in several colours) was certainly a key to its success. Competition was harsh for the iPod Nano though, and it was hard for it to retain its lead with mp3 players equipped with far bigger screens than the 1.5 inches that it sports (in spite of its above average price).

The new iPod Classic and Nano will have to answer directly to those criticisms, and they’re only the tip of the iceberg. This article will take the opportunity to examine the solutions offered by Apple, and to see if they’re enough to make the iPod Classic and Nano the new reference points for their respective categories.

The iPod is dead. With the iPod Classic, Apple buries the commercial name and finally renames its mp3 player. The Classic could easily have been lost without its own name in the iPod range, which, from now on, will be composed of four different mp3 players. The “Classic” adjective is probably the one thing that best characterises this device, whose lineage dates back to 2001 and the introduction of the original iPod.