Just 24 hours after the announcement of the new iPods, I made my way to the Apple store on Regent Street in London to see how the new iPods are. Here's what I thought as I spent time with the new iPod Nano and iPod Touch.

Follow up:

iPod Nano

Well this is really something. After seeing the pictures before the event, I wasn't convinced, having seen some better photos on the Apple website, I wasn't a fan, but I felt they didn't look too bad. After seeing them for real, in true Apple style, the looks awesome when you see them up close. The colours are bright and vibrant. And wow these things are thin! There is a slight curve to both sides of the new Nano, and much like the 1st and 2nd generation Nanos, the candy bar form lends itself to easy single hand operation. Very comfortable to hold and incredibly light. The curvature with the tapered edges feels really natural, the click wheel is responsive, and the new "long" screen actually works really well. Really solid feel as well, which is surprising given the size, a definite thumbs up here!

iPod Touch

One word springs instantly to mind... this thing is THIN!!! The original Touch was thin, but I compared my 1st generation Touch to the new one, and the 2nd generation is noticeably thinner. The curved back with the tapered edges really fits snugly in you hand. The first generation doesn't quite feel right in the hand, but Apple have made a huge improvement. The volume buttons felt sturdy, the shiny back is like a mirror, and the screen looks gorgeous as ever. Throw in the reduced prices, this feels like a natural progression. It's very hard to find fault with the physicality of the device with just a few minutes contact. It's light yet feels really robust.

One very interesting point though, 2.1 firmware was announced at the Apple event, yet when I looked at the version number on the iPod Touch in store, it was 2.1.1, perhaps Apple has already patched 2.1? certainly was surprised to see the extra .1, I wonder what bug fixes were made

Overall Thoughts

Apple have definitely hit the mark with these updates. Both feel like a natural progression, and the new curved backs that Apple seem to be putting on their devices really makes these iPods fit snugly in your hand. Build quality seems excellent, there certainly wasn't any cause for concern. Both of these updates get my thumbs up, and are definitely recommended if you are in the market for a new MP3 player.