Kris Abel was down in San Francisco for the Apple press conference, and had the chance to get hands-on with the new iPods, including the uber-tiny nano and the wafer-thin Touch. Read his in-depth report here.

When you've sold 275 million iPods, it's no longer about delivering someone their very first experience with digital music. Apple's business has now become one focused on providing a new sense of discovery; of rekindling a relationship that many once described as life-changing, but now consider normal. Yesterday, Apple revealed its most significant digital music upgrade: launching a music-based social network called Ping to entice fans back to the iTunes Store for a more connected experience with their favorite musicians. The company also unveiled an entirely new family of iPods, giving those eager to rediscover their love of music a point to start that relationship anew.

An entire room filled with iPods may seem like it could be an impressive sight, but as it turns out, the shrinking sizes and thinning forms of the devices means you end up seeing more of the room they reside in than the iPods themselves. So Apple got creative. In the demo area that attendees had the chance to visit after Steve Jobs' keynote, Apple stacked the players into tiny pyramids, using pieces included in the packaging to give them a little extra height and make them stand out. Even then, though, they seemed to drown amongst the see of cameras and cell phones journalists whipped out to snap shots of these latest objects of desire.

The New iPod Shuffle

Smaller, attractive, and metallic in feel, the new Shuffle is really just a hybrid of the previous generation models. Back is the square body with the clickable ring controls and simple metal clip. But included now is Voice Control, a text-to-speech system originally designed to replace any need for buttons, but now serves as just a nice way to look up the names of forgotten songs and artists.

Physical controls tend to make things easier in terms of connectivity, and that's the case here with a dedicated button on the body for Voice Control. This means you can now use the feature with any pair of earbuds, not just Apple's.

The circular wheel on the front is now exactly the same size as a quarter, and there's something about the brushed aluminum finish and its size that lends it the feel of a watch face. I can see some crafty users creating bracelets or wrist straps to go with it.

Of the five colours available, the new silver design, with a mercurial feel and black wheel for accent, is by far the most attractive. I wouldn't be surprised if it was the first to sell out.

The New iPod nano
At first glance, the new nano seems uncharacteristically square and utilitarian. The brushed aluminum finish seems almost an effort to overcompensate for any lack of shape. And the screen looks like a flat sticker that's too large for its base.

It's not until you turn the player on or clip it to your clothing that you get the sense of the borders and framing Apple has included. That the nano has a touchscreen is wonderfully perplexing. Even at a mere 1.54", the multi-touch controls work remarkably well. There's little need to adjust; everything is still intuitive, even at the micro scale.

The unit's features are presented much like app icons that you can organize and rearrange, and hop into one from the other. No need for a "back" button: simply swipe the screen from right to left, and it works no matter what application is running.

I didn't get a chance to try out either the built-in FM radio or the pedometer, but those features, along with the customizable wallpaper, help give the nano a level of sophistication that the previous generations lacked.

The clip on the back of this miniscule device is really the design element that will drive its use. With a touch-screen, it's better to clip the nano somewhere than it is to hold it in your hand. If this means using a spot that holds it upside down, you can easily change the screen orientation with a twist of two fingertips.

More than most of the iPods I've handled, the new nano is one you really need hands-on time with to really understand just how intuitive it is.

The New iPod Touch
In looks, the new Touch is no different than the previous generation models (aside from being thinner, of course.) But in ‘geek cred,' it's loaded to the eyeballs. Wafer-thin and with a beveled metallic back to accentuate its wane body, the new Touch is an astonishing thing to contemplate. It now has all the features of the iPhone 4 (yes, even a camera!), save for the phone part. (Apparently radio antennas do take up a significant amount of space.)

There's been a lot of discussion that smartphones will begin to steal sales away from iPods. But with two built-in cameras, a Retina display, and Apple's A4 processor, the new Touch is bound to steal a few smartphone sales. Why opt for a contract when you can grab a Touch and use Skype or Facetimeover WiFiinstead?

What the new Touch lacks (aside from a cellphone connection) is GPS and a built-in flash. It takes impressive photos, includes the new Gyroscopic sensor for gaming, and unlike the iPhone, which has to offset its front facing camera to accommodate the earpiece, has its camera lens placed right in centre view.

The performance and speed of the device is the best Apple can deliver right now in a mobile device. And for something so thin,you can almost hide it in your wallet. That's undeniably impressive.

Anxious journalists await Steve Jobs' keynote presentation, where he reveals the new family of iPods, new Apple TV, and the updated version of iTunes with the Ping social networking initiative.

All photos by Kris Abel

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