Do you own the latest version of the iPod nano (sixth generation)? Do you look for a way to turn it into a watch? If yes, then this watch conversion kit might be the right solution for you. Dubbed nanox, the kit just went on sale in a total of 39 countries via Amazon (US, UK, Japan), and it’s probably the one with the highest quality out there (Facebook page).

Made from aircraft-grade anodized aluminum, the nanox is available in the seven colors Apple offers the iPod nano itself in. The kit, which doesn’t require using tools or screws, comes with 2mm thin straps made of 100% silicone and an anti-glare sheet for the nano display.

Maker emonster says the nanox is produced at the same factory as other Apple devices (it’s made of the same aluminum 6061 alloy Apple uses for its products). The kit was designed by acclaimed Japanese designer Noriaki Miyata.

And quality has its price: the nanox costs US$125.99 in the US Amazon store (£79.99 in the UK, Yen 9,800 in Japan).

Uber-nerds rejoice: the iPod Nano has been updated with sixteen new clock faces for your viewing pleasure. The device now also acts as a more accurate pedometer and does not require outside dongles to connect to Nike+ hardware.

The new devices are almost exactly the same as the previous version and they cost $129 for 8GB and $149 for 16B (previous versions costs $149 and $179.)

[Image credit: Engadget]

The report cites a source called “Ray” from California, so if you know any Rays, you might ask them if they know anything. This isn’t the first time we’ve gotten wind of a potential camera on the iPod nano. Back in April, an unverified photo made its way around the web, showing off the newest iPod nano with space in the back for a camera.

Clearly, this has not been confirmed with Apple, but the Taiwanese tw.apple.pro blog has correctly leaked the last six versions of the iPod nano. Still, that picture doesn’t really look convincing.

[via Apple Insider]

A charming couple in Ottawa, Canada, Chrys and Dom Coballe, is making some handsome, if expensive, iPod Nano watch bands that pop out and even turn at an angle to offer multiple viewing angles. Although I think the hey day of the iPod Nano watch is over, they seem far too charming to just ignore.

The product, called the Deckster, is made of metal and leather and costs $125 to pre-order on Kickstarter-like CKIE. For $500 you can have dinner with the couple in Ottawa or Montreal or “Or an equally enjoyable Skype chat if you’re not nearby.” There’s no telling how wild things can get if you submit $1,000 or more.

Regardless, I’ve seen a lot of iPod Nano watch bands in my day and I’m not sure I’m amazed by any of them but this one looks acceptably solid and usable.

http://www.ckie.com/app/webroot/flash/player/youtubeplayer.swf

Product Page

Another day, another Kickstarter project. This one is a little iPod Nano dock that looks like a Glade Plug-In. It plugs right into the wall and then you pop the Nano on top. An internal hollow amplifies the sound and, well, that’s it.

Design wise, we wanted to develop a product that was: portable and small in form-factor, convenient yet out of the way (no cords!), while not compromising on sound quality. Early form inspirations were wall plug-in nightlights and scented oil warming devices. Another important consideration was to complement both the minimalist rectilinear design of the iPod nano, WHILE addressing the round form-factor of the large speaker driver.

For a $79 pledge you get one of the docks and the designer has hit $79 out of $30,000 so, um, I guess act fast.

Product Page

For those who like to incorporate tech with exercise, there’s nothing better than Nike Plus. It’s simple, cheap and fun, especially since you can compete against friends. The HEX Sport Band offers easy functionality with Nike Plus and adds a bit of fashion into the mix.

Similar to other HEX watch bands, the Sport Band features an easy way for iPod Nanos to pop in-and-out of the silicone case. On the side of the band there are controls for for changing volume and tracks. The other side is for the Nike Plus receiver. It looks like a lightweight alternative to lugging the iPhone around. Expect to see these at the climbing wall.

Price is only $29.99 and $8.95 for the cable keeper. You can buy them here.

The Hex Watch Band didn’t make it into our iPod Nano watch round up but by gum it should have been there, especially considering this truly magical example of videography provided by the company itself.

The band costs $29 and holds the Nano in a handsome rubber case. It’s really nothing special but this video, as we can plainly see, definitely is.

It’s not much of a hack – JWhelton simply removed an app and looked at the underlying OS – but this is proof of concept stuff that shows that the iPod Nano is essentially a stripped-down iOS device with severe limitations.

Interestingly, the device also potentially supports TV-out, iCal, and passcode locks, although that good be vestigial code from the real iOS.

He’s releasing a tutorial this or next week if you want to try it yourself.

With just about 2 hours to go before the funding closes, the project to turn iPod nanos into watches is closing in on a million dollars in funding. Yes, they’re now way more than double the next closest project in terms of funding through Kickstarter. In total, over 13,000 people have contributed just over $918,000 for the project.

What’s especially insane is that the initial goal for the fundraising was $15,000. Clearly, the project’s creator, Scott Wilson, underestimated demand.

So will it become the first $1 million Kickstarter company? It should be close. More than 1,000 people have pushed the total up over $100,000 in just the past day. “We’ve seen numerous projects rally strongly in their final 24 hours.  We’re unsure if it can make the $1M milestone, but we’re excited about the prospect and we’ll be watching!,” Kickstarter’s Justin Kazmark tells us.

The first batch of watches are set to launch at the end of this month, with the rest coming early next year. You can watch it being manufactured in China here.

When the first iPod Nano watch straps appeared on the scene in September, I was non-plussed. I’ve seen plenty of wrist-mounted MP3 players, phones, and other junk to understand that anything you wear on your wrist and still have to connect a pair of headphones to is bad news. In general, you look goofy and feel goofier.

But there was something about the Nano watch. Maybe it was because Apple made it abundantly clear that this wasn’t a watch. They made it hard to read the time – you have to press a button every time you want to see the clock – and they added a clip to suggest you should strap this to your jacket and not your wrist. But by gum I wanted to try the Nano watch.

My first effort used a standard nylon NATO strap popularized by James Bond in Thunderball. Nilay at Engadget tried a similar solution using a fat leather strap.

Not content with the fit of that solution and not foolish enough to buy a custom iPod Nano watch band made of diamonds, I looked to some of the ready-made solutions.

The first one that caught my eye seems to work the best. It comes from iWatchz and you simply slide your iPod Nano into it and lock it into place. This model has the metal actually touching your wrist, which could be a problem for some with allergies and will definitely ruin the surface over time. However, for $25 you basically have a watch that turns into an iPod and that won’t fall out while performing vigorous activity like exercising or breaking rocks in the hot sun.

The TikTok and Lunatik models are similar in design except that these keep the watch safe and secure with bolts and screws. Obviously it’s hard to get these right now since they don’t exist, but they are another option.

=
Finally, I tried the Quadmountain Ultimate One, an all in one strap that firmly grips the iPod Nano in a rubber band. The guys at Quadmountain sent me a rapid prototype of their model and I’ve got to say it’s probably the most comfortable of the few that I’ve seen. It is made all of rubber except the buckle and the Nano is completely protected on all sides. The unit they sent me is obviously a prototype and made of slightly less resilient materials but I’d totally wear this model over the previous two I tested. Pre-orders will be shipped for $25.

The real question, however, is whether the iPod Nano makes a good watch. It does and it doesn’t. If you’re a watch geek, stay far away. This thing is like the the LED watches of old in that you need to press a button to see the time. If you like Tokyoflash watches however, you may be able to survive. Sadly, even when you press the button the time appears after a second or two and in analog form. To Apple’s credit, they did give the clock a sweep second hand so you can feel like you’re wearing an Omega but the face itself isn’t very readable as the pips are rather small on the chapter ring – watch nerd talk for the “dots are too tiny so you can’t tell where the hands are pointing.” I would totally pay for a “change your clock face” app, although many have made it clear that the Nano isn’t a real iOS device.

Wearing the watch for a week was an unusual feeling. I couldn’t check it at night without fumbling for the button and I couldn’t shower in it like I do my Seamaster (which you’re not supposed to do anyway, but I’m a risk-taker). People loved looking at it but the joy was short-lived. If you’re trying to peacock with this, I wouldn’t. The ladies will probably consider you a big freak instead of a “cool guy with an iPod watch.” Otherwise, it’s good fun.

Generally, if you want to wear a cool, high-tech watch, you could do worse. Please, however, take it off when you want to listen to music. Thanks.

We’ve talked a lot about Diaspora, the open-source Facebook-alternative, in recent months. One of the reasons for that is the massive success they had raising money on the crowdsourced fund-raising site, Kickstarter. The project raised over $200,000 from nearly 6,500 backers in just 39 days. Now a new project has already blown that tally out of the water: an iPod nano-based multi-touch wristwatch.

Scott Wilson, the founder of Chicago-based product and design studio, MINIMAL, set out with an idea: to create two watch enclosures for Apple’s latest iPod nano. He wanted the TikTok to be a low-end model ($35) and the LunaTik to be high-end ($70). So he put his project on Kickstarter with a goal of raising $15,000. So how is he doing?

Well, he’s raised $341,895. And he still has 22 days to go.

Wow.

Wilson’s project has not only blown past the high-profile Diaspora one, it’s poised to demolish the all-time funding leader, the Save Blue Like Jazz movie. That project raised $345,992 when it closed on October 25. Wilson’s project should pass it tomorrow, if not tonight after I publish this post.

And with good reason. While the idea is a simple one (Apple CEO Steve Jobs even joked about such an idea on stage to highlight how small the nano is), but it’s something a lot of people clearly want. The project has 4,636 backers so far. And the video Wilson made to accompany the project (below) looks quite a bit like an Apple-produced video.

Wilson had a goal of shipping the TikTok by late December and the LunaTik by mid January. At first, money was the issue. Now it seems as if demand may be the bigger problem. (To be clear, given the prices he’s selling these for, the iPod nano is not included.)

Again, the project still has 22 days to go on its funding run. I have to imagine it’s going to shoot well past $500,000, putting it far atop the Kickstarter Hall of Fame.

Update 11/25: And sure enough, it’s now that biggest Kickstarter project ever. It has now raised over $370,000 from over 5,000 backers so far. And there are still 21 days to go…

[thanks David]

The silicone Hex band lets you snap your Nano right into it, and has little buttons for controlling the player. And there’s a hole for plugging in your headphones… which of course are now attached to your wrist, so you have to put the cord up your sleeve. Not exactly GQ.

And of course, they still haven’t fixed the fact that the watch won’t tell time for one whole day straight, or that it’s not water resistant, or that people will see it and laugh, laugh, laugh.

[via Gizmodo]

Of course, Apple tells us that it’s all about the touchscreen, and I’ll admit, I do like having my iPod Touch. But you have to ask yourself, is it really necessary to put a touchscreen on a device that small? The last generation nano functioned perfectly fine without a touchscreen, and sold quite well as I recall.

By skipping the camera and using cheaper forms of memory, Apple managed to save on both component pricing and manufacturing. Given that the kind of memory used in the nano has consistently dropped in price on a yearly basis, it’s not surprising that Apple chose to use NAND flash memory over other more expensive kinds.

[via TGDaily]

There are a few problems right off the bat. First off: battery life. The Nano only has about 8-10 hours of battery life in continuous use, which is less than desirable for a wristwatch. I mean, who wants a watch that you have to recharge every night? Next off, a lack of water resistance. The Nano is not intended to be used near water, and your hands generally are near water more often then you realize. Finally, as a fashion accessory. I like a chunky watch as much as the next guy, but the new Nano is still a little large to wear on your wrist.

If your heart is set on wearing one, you can pick up a Maratac watch band for about $17, and stick it behind the clip on the Nano. I actually have two Maratac bands; they are high quality and look great with a real wristwatch. With the Nano? That’s your call. I think I’ll pass.

[via Gizmodo]

I remember my first iPod very well. Shockingly, I was a little late to the party, waiting until the fourth generation iPod (now called the “iPod classic”) in 2004 to join the revolution. And I only bought one because I was planning to drive out to California (from Ohio) and I wanted enough music storage to last me the entire trip. I remember unboxing it and thinking: “wow, I can store all my music on this tiny device?”

Today, six years later, I still have that old iPod. But I no longer consider it “tiny.” In fact, it’s more of a “brick” both in size and weight. It held 40 gigabytes of my music on its miniature hard drive platters. Today, the latest high-end iPod touch holds 24 more gigabytes and is a sliver of the size and a fraction of the weight. And it plays music for 28 more consecutive hours. Oh, and it has a color screen. One you can touch. One you can multi-touch.

With the unveiling of its new iPod line last week, Apple has made it very clear what the future is: touch. The iPod classic, while still around, wasn’t updated at all for the first time in nine years. At the other end of the spectrum, the iPod shuffle underwent a return to form — literally — as in, its form factor is now the same as it was two generations ago.

These are now the last two remaining iPods without touch screen integration. And both are clearly moving out to the pasture.

That’s not to say the shuffle is dying yet. It still fills an important niche for Apple — the cheap niche. At $49, it is by far the cheapest iPod available — by $100. But it’s clear that if it was feasible, Apple would put a touch-screen in this device too. Amazingly, it’s now almost the exact same size as the iPod nano (more on that in a bit), the major difference is the lack of a screen. Instead, the shuffle focuses on its VoiceOver capabilities (the carry-over from the last generation, which fully relied on them).

But again, this iPod refresh, which Apple CEO Steve Jobs called their biggest one yet, clearly points to the future of the line — and really, the future of Apple in general: touch.

The two big updates in the iPod lines this time around are the iPod nano and the iPod touch. First, let’s talk about the nano.

The iPod nano

The previous version of the nano was nice with its elongated form factor. That said, every time I used one, I had to fight the urge to touch its screen to navigate through it. Finally, I can do that. And just as the way Apple killed off the need for a physical keyboard with the iPhone’s touchscreen, here, they’ve killed off the need for the old standard click wheel. As such, they’ve been able to make the nano much, much smaller.

As I noted above, it’s crazy but the nano is now almost the same size as the shuffle. It’s now the same square form factor, just a bit bigger. And it’s a good thing it’s a little bigger because Apple needs the room to squeeze four different apps on the various nano pages.

Yes, like the iPhone and iPod touch, the nano now has apps — sort of. Don’t get too excited, Apple says there will be no third-party apps for the nano (at least not yet), instead, they have some standard apps they created to use on the device. These include “Now Playing,” “Playlists,” “Radio,” “Clock,” “Photos,” “Fitness,” and a few others mainly to give you quick access to your content.

So how do you control a touch screen device with such a small screen? It’s quite simple, actually. Most of the time you’ll be traveling through music which is done with the on-screen controls. But when you need to return to the main menu, you simply hold one finger down for a few seconds on the screen and the main screen fades in. Just as with the iPhone/iPod touch, you flick left and right to get to other pages of “apps.”

Album artwork is nicely displayed when music is playing, and touching the screen once will bring up controls. Swiping to the right here gives you more options (such as Genius and Shuffle).

But the most interesting little feature of this nano is that you can use multi-touch to rotate the album artwork. Why would you want to do this? Because like the shuffle, the nano now comes with a clip on the back to easily attach it to a piece of clothing you have on. By putting two fingers on the screen and rotating, you’ll ensure your controls and/or album artwork are just the way you want them. This is one of the little things that makes Apple, Apple.

The sound quality on the device is solid — in line with previous generations of nanos. And the 24 hour audio playback that Apple lists in the specs seems about right. I have been unable to wear the battery down all the way over several days.

One unfortunate side effect of this new tiny size is that Apple had to remove video support. This means the iPod nano can no longer play videos, nor can it record them (there is no longer a camera). I suspect people may be disappointed by this until they see the actual device. Can you imagine watching a video on this screen? Because I sure can’t.

The removal of the camera itself will disappoint some people, but it was always a bit odd anyway as it only recorded video and not still images. I think the new size and touch screen in exchange for the video capabilities is a good tradeoff. Especially when you consider the new iPod touch.

The iPod touch

What the new nano lost in video capabilities, the iPod touch gained — and then some. The latest version of this device is not only the first with a camera — it has two cameras, one in the front and one in the back. And the one in the back shoots 720p HD video.

For some people, that alone will be reason enough to part with at least $229 for the 8 gigabyte version. But when you add in the fact that it has the same “Retina” display that Apple made for the iPhone 4, and the A4 chip which Apple included in both the iPhone 4 and the iPad, and of course, FaceTime support, there’s no question that this thing is going to be a massive hit for Apple.

Obviously, everything I said in my review of the iPhone 4’s 960-by-640 resolution Retina display is the same here. Simply put: it looks amazing. What’s great is that despite the same basic specs, the iPod touch is tiny when compared to the iPhone 4. Putting them side-by-side, the iPod touch is significantly thinner and also a little shorter.

It also trades the all-glass back and controversial antenna siding for a more conventional silver metal backing. While obviously the iPod touch doesn’t need the cellular components of the iPhone, it still is interesting that Apple has done away with the outside antenna (which also handled the WiFi, which the iPod touch does have).

The metal back is also slightly curved around the edges on the iPod touch, this makes it feel even slimmer. As with previous generations of the device, the headphone jack is at the bottom, while the top only contains the screen on/off button (which is actually a little easier to hit thanks to the curved sides).

People are now likely to use the iPod touch for three main reasons: music, gaming, and video.

For music, the song remains the same. This iPod touch seems inline with previous iPod touches. Apple says it has upped the battery life a bit (about 10 hours more of audio playback and 1 hour more for video playback), which is likely a result of the power saving techniques of the A4 chip. I wasn’t able to run the battery into the ground; it seemed solid — not iPad-good, but better than the iPhone.

For gaming, the combination of the A4 chip and the Retina display makes this an awesome machine. Jobs noted during the keynote that when you consider iOS devices as portable gaming devices, they’re outselling the entries by rivals Nintendo and Sony — combined. That’s likely to continue, if not accelerate from here. Every game I tried ran smoothly and looks brilliant with this screen.

Video is the big new addition here though, obviously. When taken outside (or in good light), the 720p videos look excellent. Inside, in low light, at things things can be a bit murky, but that’s probably to be expected (and there is no flash on the iPod touch). Just as with the iPhone, you can use the iMovie application (sold separately) to edit videos right on the device. All in all, it’s a great little HD movie machine — one that’s insanely small.

Photos, however, are a different story. Sadly, the lens in the iPod touch is not the same 5 megapixel variety found in the iPhone 4. Because of that, Apple limits still-image resolution of 960 by 720 pixels — very low. I found still pictures taken with the iPod touch to be grainy — again, especially in low light. The iPhone 4 performs much, much better as a camera.

When I asked Apple why they were limiting the camera to such a low resolution, they noted that the focus here was primarily video. The picture-taking capability was simply a bonus feature they tacked on for people who wanted the ability to take some quick shots, they said.

With that in mind, it may have been wise for Apple to make video capture the default mode for the camera on the iPod touch (it is still picture capture).

(Above: An image taken with the new iPod touch in medium light.)

Having a full 5 megapixel camera that is as good as the iPhone 4’s would have also undoubtedly required Apple to make the iPod touch a bit bulkier (and added a little bit to the manufacturing costs, undoubtedly). To me, it would have been worth it, but they clearly felt it wasn’t.

The other big component of the camera is FaceTime. On the iPod touch, things work a little differently because there is no cellular service to latch on to (that’s how it works on the iPhone 4 — you first place a call to the person you wish to FaceTime with). To work around this, Apple has made email addresses the new way of doing this with the iOS 4.1 update (due this week). Sadly, I wasn’t able to test this new link-up ability on my demo unit, but I did try it in the demo area right after the Apple event last week, and everything seemed to work fine. Once you establish the initial FaceTime connection (in this case, via email address), the device remembers connections so it’s one-click from then on.

This addition of a second device that does FaceTime is important for Apple. Clearly, they feel this is a major feature their portable devices will have going forward (they sure are promoting it enough). And by making it an open standard, they hope others will adopt it. With FaceTime on the iPod touch, millions more people will have access to the feature. In my opinion, Apple still needs a better management system for FaceTime calls (something like FacePlant), but when you connect, it’s very, very impressive.

Touching

The transition is taking place before our eyes. The click wheel, once the signature of the iPod line, is all but extinct now. Instead, Apple is continuing their march forward into touch.

This shouldn’t be surprising give that last week, Jobs revealed on stage that the iPod touch is now the most popular iPod Apple makes. As sales of other iPod models have been in decline for some time, the iPod touch was going the other direction. With its new touch capabilities, Apple undoubtedly hopes the same will be true for the new nano as well.

And with the iPod touch, the iPod nano, the iPhone, the iPad, and Macs (with the Magic Mouse or Magic Trackpad or MacBook trackpads) all now using multi-touch in one way or another, Apple is slowly but surely aligning itself to be the leader in touch computing going forward. The writing is on the wall — it’s hand-written.

Today, Apple announced the next iteration of the iPod nano. Just as leaked, the new version is smaller and squarer. The rumored touchscreen is also onboard – though it’a pretty small (46% smaller – 42% lighter). Apple thinks it is very usable.

Similar to nano’s of past, the new nano will have FM radio w/ Live Pause and iTunes tagging, something Apple refers to as the “smarter way to radio.” Also, the new nano will not have a camera – not sure how many used the camera, nonetheless we hate to see it go.

It’s no wonder why the new shuffle was made even smaller; the new nano is just about as small as the old shuffle. The new Nano is all gesture based and runs iOS4, meaning it should be fast and easy to use. Storage capacity for the nano is kept the same, again, with 8GB and 16GB, priced at $149 and $179 respectively and comes in seven colors. You can pre-order today and they’ll be available next week when they ship.

For those more into the athletic lifestyle, the new nano will be great: built-in clip, pedometer, and as before, support for the Nike+ Sport kit come standard. The battery life is said to be 24 hours. Though Apple is running a free Nano with Mac purchase for their back-to-school promotion, the new Nanos aren’t included. Oh well, we tried.