With each unique music player stemming up from global manufacturers to the local produce, one would say there will be no dearth of music listening devices. Amidst the crowd, fancy looking ones attract the market.  Majority of the music gadgets are fabricated with cameras or internet connection or even a calling facility. On due course of time, the user would abandon it because, for the simple fact that merging all these features in a music listening equipment would ultimately fade the fun and joy of listening to the songs. Whilst many manufacturers overlook the product usability and continue with concept of “all in one” strategy, Apple has cautiously laid diverse roads to reach plenty of customers. Apple’s electronic consumer items are neatly bifurcated based on usability and necessity, hence deviate from the path of collating all features on to one music player. In the midst of many music player models, iPod shuffle still race amongst the ace products as is an ultimate musical entertainer.

Overview:

Apple launched its first iPod Shuffle during January 2005, a very simple one sans the click-wheel. The device was simple and primarily it maintained an easy to operate decorum and hence was highly welcomed by the elder people and the kids. The second generation shuffle was coated with metallic finish rather than the plastic one and the third generation was completely bland and faced issues with respect to the usability. Due to the design flaws it had been eventually forced to be recalled from the market, something that Apple rarely does. Until recently, the fourth generation iPod Shuffle is been pitched within a short span of time. It stands for the testimony of the lessons that Apple had learnt from the previous launch and carefully applied it in this model. Except for the additional memory space and some new features this shuffle takes up the similarity of the second generation model. Keeping the price index low, it is definitely competing globally and locally.

iPod Shuffle 2GB 4th Generation

Design Parameters:

Wearable and portable could be the two words to describe the iPod Shuffle’s design essence. The fourth generation 2GB iPod Shuffle breathes a fresh air by amending the dimension parameters. It stands tall to a height of 1.14” and width of 1.24 and lighter to the weight of 0.44 ounce. The contrast difference to the previous generation shuffle is the increase in the height and decrease in the width and the weight. By making it slightly taller, there is a notable assurance in the grip. The body is made up of aluminum and gleams up in five different colors. The color contrast is suitably balanced between the body and the plastic control. Especially in the case of silver, the black colored click wheel control accentuates the appearance. Whereas in the case of the other colors such as the pink, orange, blue and green the inner control is touched with white and appears a bit duller than the body color. iPod Shuffle has not abandoned the metal clip on the rear side. It can be personalized using the engraving available from the App store.

Nothing can be compared to the classic click-wheel navigational system which has gained so much of momentum. Up to an 18% size increase has been done to this click wheel; and this gives a better operating freedom, especially for broad handed individuals. The increased size in the click wheel has pushed the iPod Shuffle a bit taller than its contemporaries. The play/ pause button can be operated to lock the device when not in use. The fast forward and the rewind action can also be done.

As opposed to the previous generations, this Apple iPod 4th Gen Shuffle one is engineered from a single piece of aluminum. The body is entirely metallic besides the click-wheel. The top, bottom, rear buttons and ports are entirely metallic, thus giving a sturdy feel to it. The aluminum used in the previous releases were sort of matte looking and gives a polished look. Unlike many flimsy music players, iPod Shuffle can withstand pretty good amount of shock and fall. The metallic body further assures a better robustness while handling it. The metallic finish is not kept glossy, but still looks shiny, however some users complain the iPod’s rear side to be bit slippery to touch especially with wet fingers. Even the color selection has been carefully selected in a not so bright manner than compared to the predecessors.  The orange and the greens appear less catchy and Apple has kept the color key low, perhaps to bring about a good contrast between the metal body and the plastic control.

Regarding the length of the USB cable, it comes a bit short. It is cumbersome to get connected from the rear side of the desktop towards the front. The earphones length is compromised and cannot reach all the way from the ear to the waist. The in-line remote control that aroused moisture related issues during workouts is not added in this generation.

Despite the size, iPod shuffle successfully and conveniently integrates the buttons and controls. The volume button, song selection and the play and pause button retains the same place in the click wheel. The shuffle switch is accommodated on the top panel and it permits three stop sliding. The headphone port can be used to connect the unique USB cable thus lacking the flexibility of listening to music and charging at the same time.

Features:

Shuffle Switch
The shuffle sliding switch gives a cocktail of Playlist or the order that has been loaded. In the three way slide, the extreme left operation rings in a different way, and the middle order plays the songs in order and the right side push gives a randomized collection of songs. The shuffle switch has not undergone any major change and the same pattern descends from the first generation iPod shuffle.

Genius Playlist
Similar to any iPod, this one too needs to be synchronized with Apple’s iTunes (media management application). On connecting the iPod shuffle to the system using the USB cable, iTunes takes care of the rest. The complete synchronization and organization of the music content and ability to shrink the song’s storage capacity is the highlight feature of iPod family. Customization of the playlist for different activities makes it a perfect blend for any theme. The much adorned feature of the latest iPod’s, viz the Genius Playlist is introduced in the 4th generation iPod shuffle. On activating the genius Playlist the user can get a good blend of songs assorted as per their beat and sound level.

Voice Over
The idea to combine voice over feature in a screen-less iPod is great. The voice over is enabled with 25 internationally used languages and it conveys the name of the ongoing song or the Playlist, thus enabling the user to shuffle the Playlist quite sensibly. When compared to the third generation shuffle, that has employed the pressing of play/pause button; the fourth generation has gained a voiceover button that is placed alongside of the power switch. Voice over can be used in several ways such as, pressing the button instantly gives the Playlist title and pressing it twice gives a voice status of the battery level and hence the user need not remember the color code for the battery level.

Storage
The iPod shuffle 4th Generation can also be used as flash storage device and can store files in its decent sized folder. As stated earlier, the iTunes can zip the song size and manages a storage limit of 500 songs. On the contrary to the previous launches like launching the product and adding additional memory and selling it as either a higher or lower margin is refrained in the 4th generation. It straight away comes with 2 GB storage limit and splitting up with 1.88 GB of usable storage. But with the inclusion of voiceover, if it is activated, the iTunes will designate the song details and can add up to a minor space of 10MB for every song; even if it is negligible it can still lower the capacity slightly.

Battery Life
Rechargeable lithium-ion battery assures a run time of 15 hours. Apple states that it is achievable when the device is set at 50% volume and playing the songs randomly at varying bitrate. The battery performance is better than the third generation bud modest when compared to the previous (the 1st and 2nd) models which actually ran for a time period above than the claimed one. The average charge time scarps to 3 hours and an 80% charge is achieved within 2 hours.

Apple iPod Shuffle 4th Generation Colors

Performance:

Transfer Efficiency:
The content transfer speed can be described as the average time required to transfer the data from iTunes to the iPod shuffle. It is slightly higher when compared against the previous model. A rough estimate of almost 6 minutes is necessary to complete the transfer and the synchronization process. A rather sluggish pace when compared against the iPod Nano. At the same time, the content refresh rate to select or eliminate the songs at one shot consumes up to eleven minutes. Considering the aggressive competition, many manufacturers sell the players with features such as radio, display screen etc… Apple claims the iPod shuffle 2GB 4th generation as the least priced iPod ever. Might be this could be the reason that the file transfer speed is bit compromised.

Audio Performance:
The audio performance is regarded as the iPod shuffle’s best catch ever in that particular genre. It is quite common for any manufacturer to save the best for the higher end models; however Apple had broken down that notion by designing the finest sounding iPod shuffle ever. Funny though, the sound effect is very prominent if it is used with good ear phones rather than Apple’s graded ones. The effect is tremendous and the iPod catches even the slightest click and trebles and gives the smoothest listening experience. The audio richness obtained in better quality ear phones must be taken in to consideration by Apple. At some point, aggressive competitors are definitely going to give a better audio performance using their enhanced earphones, even if their music player is not so efficient enough to pull to a remarkable output. Moreover, Apple has a nice theme to bring out an equal sound output from all the songs stored in the shuffle. The sound output from each song varies depending on the quality of recording. However iTunes irons it out by using the “sound check” option and it must be applied to the iPod shuffle. Once this minor set-up change is completed, all the songs would play in a relatively good and equal volume. Most of the iPod’s does not sync well with third part earphones, the 4th generation iPod shuffle is a stand out. The song transition is clean as the hiss sound is made completely inaudible and thereby creating a tranquil transit from each song. The voice in particular has a better bounce and stands apart from the background score. Another solace in this generation is that the user need not drain out money to purchase the remote accessory; it supports quite a good number of third party remote add-ons.

Verdict:

iPod Shuffle 2GB 4th generation gets the trendy look from the previous model. The features are rightly cooked and not overdone. So none of the inconvenience arises, because the device silently delivers the function it is indeed to be. Many annoying and unwanted accessories such as the picture capturing facility, or wider screen display are pulled away in this model. All these features are futile in a miniature sized music player. Not to mention, it is sold at a very competitive price. At the same time, many users prod that Apple could have added radio feature in to the shuffle as compared against many of its competitors. It is a good idea though, but the beauty of shuffle lies in the sleek and compact design, if radio feature is dumped, the signal strength could be weak or many buttons and controls in addition to the existing ones must be added. All these factors will compound the effect of user interface issues. Therefore, with the least complicated design and operating system, iPod shuffle indeed rocks the world.

Apple iPod Shuffle 2GB 4th Generation – Technical Specification Table

Manufacturer Apple
Model Name iPod Shuffle 2GB 4th generation
Product Type Digital Player
Dimensions (W x D x H) 1.24 x 0.34 x 1.14 in
Weight 0.44 ounce
Body Housing Material aluminum
Memory 2GB
System Requirements Mac or PC with USB2.0 port, iTunes 10, Windows 7,
Windows vista, Windows XP home
Compatible audio formats Protected AAC & AAC, MP3 VBR, AAx,AAX+,
Apple Lossless, AIFF, and WAV
Software iTunes version 10.0 or later
Additional Features Genius Playlist
Voice Over
User Interface USB port with 2.0 compatibility
Battery Lithium-ion rechargeable battery
Accessories Earphones, USB cable, user manual
Warranty One year

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