Apple has now posted a video-on-demand stream of Apple’s special event that was held today in San Francisco. The MPEG-4 video requires QuickTime software.
The Wall Street Journal’s Walt Mossberg has offered up the first review of the iPod nano. “I have been testing a nano for the past few days, and I am smitten,” says Mossberg.
“It’s not only beautiful and incredibly thin, but I found it exceeds Apple’s performance claims. In fact, the nano has the best combination of beauty and functionality of any music player I’ve tested—including the iconic original white iPod. And it sounds great. I plan to buy one for myself this weekend.”
Apple’s use of flash memory in the new iPod nano likely increased its component costs.
“Right now, 1GB of flash memory in the volume market costs about $45, according to both Semico and iSuppli. Thus, the 2GB iPod Nano, which sells for $199, contains around $90 worth of flash, while the $249 4GB version has about $180 worth of flash, said Semico’s Jim Handy.”
Tim Bajarin, president of market research firm Creative Strategies, said Apple could possibly sell 12 million iPod nanos in the upcoming holiday quarter alone. “The iPod nano is the most important product for Apple,” he said. “This is where the volume is going to be.
