The iPod Nano (marketed lowercase as iPod nano) is a portable media player designed and marketed by Apple Inc. It is the midrange model in Apple's iPod family. The first generation was introduced in 2005. It uses flash memory, like the iPod Shuffle, but with a 2-inch (diagonal) QVGA display and the "click wheel" found on the iPod Classic. The iPod Nano has gone through four models, or generations, since its introduction.

Features

Instead of the hard disk which is used in the iPod Classic, the Nano uses flash memory.

The first, second, third, and fourth generation iPod Nano include some pre-installed games: Brick, Music Quiz, Parachute, Maze (an accelerometer game), Vortex and Solitaire. The third/fourth generation iPod Nano include pre-installed games, but can also run games which Apple makes available for purchase in the iTunes Store.

Unlike the preceding iPod Mini, its battery is soldered to the printed circuit board of the device, making it harder to replace manually, although replacement batteries are readily available.Fact: date=August 2008 The flash memory chips used are surface mount devices, making any attempt to upgrade the Nano's storage capacity impractical. It has 24 hours of power when fully charged.

The lack of the remote connector found on the top of many previous models means that a number of third-party accessories do not work with the iPod Nano; newer versions using the dock connector have been made. The first and third generation iPod Nano did not support voice recording; the second and fourth generation Nanos function with third-party recording attachments. It did not function with either Apple's iPod Camera Connector or other camera connectors from third-party manufacturers.

First generation

History

Development work on the design of the iPod Nano started only nine months before its launch date. The Nano was launched in two colors (black and white) with two available sizes: 2 GB (roughly 500 songs) for US$199 and 4 GB (1000 songs) for US$249. On February 7, 2006, Apple updated the lineup with the 1 GB model (240 songs) sold at US$149. Apple also released some accessories, including armbands and silicone "tubes" designed to bring color to the Nano and protect it from scratches, as well as a combination lanyard-earphone accessory that hangs around the neck, and avoids the problem of tangling earphone cords.

Electronics

The iPod Nano uses general-purpose integrated circuits (IC) instead of smaller, low-cost custom-developed chips, possibly to reduce time-to-market. This design, however, increases the number of electronic components and increases the cost. Japanese engineers estimated the component cost of the 2 GB Nano as between JP¥22,000 and JP¥27,000 (US$185-US$227), which was high compared to the retail price of JP¥21,800 (US$183) at the time. The cost of 2 GB NAND flash memory was about JP¥14,000 (US$118). Apple also opted for the 0603 (1.6x0.8 mm) surface mount technology which was just beginning widespread use in mobile phones in 2005. The iPod Nano uses a PortalPlayer PP5021C "system on a chip" with dual embedded 80 MHz ARM 7TDMI processors.