The iPod Nano is now here in its third version but with the same incomparable design that makes it so unique.  Very attractive and small, it finally makes the transition from audio to multimedia player.  And actually, its main innovation is that the Nano finally can read videos.


There is now a whole new universe it can offer.  First of all, there is access to podcasts and this with incredible ease.  We have to say that for once iTunes is of great help.  All you have to do is go on any site that offers podcasts, click on the subscribe link – carefully choosing the format – so that the podcast will automatically appear in iTunes. The latest video will be synchronized with each Nano connection to your computer.  This makes it very easy, for example, to watch the day’s news or weather on your way to work.

Unfortunately, use  with movies is a lot less practical.  Naive as we were, we tried to place a one in our iPod Nano as we would an audio file via drag and drop in iTunes.  While this is an easy operation for music, it resulted in an error message for most video files.  iTunes doesn’t make the conversion to video formats read by the Nano, which are the same supported by QuickTime Player.  You will therefore have to encode your movies in .m4v, .mp4 or .mov by using the H.264 or MPEG-4 codecs. By the way, here is compatibility as shown on Apple’s website :

•    H.264
File formats: .m4v, .mp4, and .mov
Video : up to 768 kbits/s, 320 x 240, 30 images per second (ips), baseline profile up to level 1.3.
Audio : AAC-LC up to 160 kbits/s, 48 Khz and stereo audio.

•    MPEG-4
File formats: .m4v, .mp4, et .mov
Video : up to 2.5 Mbits/s, 480 x 480, 30 ips, simple profile.
Audio : AAC-LC up to 160 kbits/s, 48 Khz and stereo audio.

This is encoding that iTunes isn’t capable of carrying out from other formats.  You therefore have to obtain an additional program, role your sleeves up, and convert your video collection. Of course in the end, the size of the iPod Nano 3G’s screen is not really meant for this use and it’s more intended for the playing of short video clips or podcasts.

You may have gathered that iTunes isn’t our favorite.   Actually, it’s not the software per se that we don’t like but more Apple’s protection policy which makes iTunes absolutely necessary and its limitation to a single computer.  By this we mean that it’s impossible to put audio files in the iPod  without going through iTunes and therefore no drag and drop unlike MP3 USB keys.  And also and more importantly, synchronization with iTunes can only happen on a single computer.  Each time we connect an iPod to another computer, it’s impossible to add other tracks...unless you empty the player’s entire contents.  In short, an iPod is a music library contained in a single computer.

In use, the iPod Nano is still as practical and enjoyable.  Sound quality is good on the condition you change the original earphones whose sound is too dry, unrefined, and lacking in mediums.  Note that there is now also Apple’s CoverFlow, a system which allows you to shuffle through album covers with the dial, a very attractive function.