Another year, another iPod nano. As expected, Apple introduced the next generation of its flash-based music player during the September 2009 iPod event, once again building on its current feature set in an attempt to appeal to more buyers.

The new nano (fifth generation, for those keeping count) is very similar to the fourth-generation version. What differentiates the 5G nano, however, are a few major feature additions plus a handful of refinements intended to keep the nano on everyone's stocking stuffer list.

Quick look at what's new

If it weren’t already plainly obvious, the major new feature of the fifth nano is the addition of a video camera. That alone could have probably justified the new device, but Apple went a few steps further, leveraging existing (but latent) capabilities already on the nano to add several other features. These include a full-featured FM tuner application, a pedometer, a Nike+ receiver, VoiceOver support, and a voice notes application.

In addition to these new software features, there is a video camera, a slightly larger screen (2.2 inches compared to the previous two model’s 2-inch screen) and an increase in the resolution accordingly (240x376 pixels at 204 pixels per inch compared to 240x320 pixels, also at 204 pixels per inch).

With the addition of the video camera comes a built-in microphone, which enables audio recording in both the video and voice notes applications. Finally, a built-in speaker has also been added to enable full, headphone-less playback of recorded videos, voice notes, and even music and videos.

Sadly, though, you cannot play radio through the internal speaker. The tuner requires the headphones to be inserted as they perform a dual-role as the FM antenna.

Pedometer

The 5G iPod nano comes equipped with a built-in pedometer that, like most pedometers, counts your steps as you take them. With more people paying attention to their health and with the general popularity of pedometers as a cheap and easy way to track how much you're walking, the addition of a pedometer in the iPod nano is, at worst, gimmicky, and at best, nice to have. The pedometer does not require the purchase of a Nike+iPod Sport Kit—all that's required is that you turn it on via the nano's menu system and begin walking.

The nano tracks your steps by the bobbing of your body when you walk (thanks, accelerometer!). When you turn it on, the pedometer asks you to input your weight (but not height or any other body specifics) so that it can give you a ballpark figure on calories burned. As with most calorie estimates, this is probably not all that accurate.

What's cool about the pedometer is that you can set it to always be on or just keep it on when you're running that specific "application." If you have it set to always be on, it will show a little shoe at the top to indicate that it's tracking your steps. You can also set a daily step goal and see your history on a calendar—we took 1,922 steps on September 11 between the time we left the Apple Store and the time we stumbled home that night. The pedometer doesn't convert your steps into distance because it has no way of determining how long your stride is or how fast you were going at that time—if you want to track those things, you need to use Nike+.

Built-in Nike+

iPod nano users have always been able to use their devices with the Nike+ system, which goes a step beyond the traditional pedometer (no pun intended) to actually track your distance and speed while running. However, users have to connect a dongle to their devices that talks wirelessly to the shoe transmitter.

Though we prefer to run with smaller and lighter music devices (hello iPod shuffle), the nano's Nike+ capabilities continue to make it a popular choice among runners looking for a middle-of-the-road music player that isn't too bulky but can still track their runs.