Ok, so a little update on the newest IPod nano Fourth Generation, released by Apple INC at the beginning of September. I am really happy to say that I got an early Christmas present from my husband and for almost a week now, have been able to test and use the speech features. First thing I’ll say is WOW!! After going through a few steps to install the speech and voice tags, almost every item on the nano now speaks! There is no extra software or hardware that I have to plug in or install, it just simply talks! The only things that aren’t spoken are the battery indicator, and the extras features like the clock, calendar and contacts list. I do wish there was a way to tell how much battery I have left, but the extras aren’t all that important to me. I can very easily find my lists of artists, albums, playlists, and everything.
One little downside, in case anyone is interested in buying the new nano. I have discovered that it will not charge on my old Altec Lansing docking speakers that I used for my previous IPod. I can charge it via the USB port on my computer, or plug the chord it came with into a USB wall adapter to charge the unit. This is a little frustrating for me, since I used my dock almost exclusively to charge my IPod every night. I called Apple to ask about this issue and was told that they had been having issues where the IPod would overcharge and blow up, sometimes even shooting sparks! As a result, they had to rethink how the wire pins are configured, and this causes many docking stations to be unable to charge the newest IPods. However, you can still play your IPod on the speakers and all but charging functions just fine.
All in all, this is an excellent product and a huge step that Apple has taken. As I have said before, they literally went from being almost completely inaccessible with the older versions of ITunes and the IPod, to being the manufacturers of one of the most accessible portable media players now on the market!!