The nano now comes in a variety of colors: silver, pink, green, blue and black. But no white? That's sacrilege!

Be that as it may, the revamped nanos pack more storage capacity. They come in 2GB, 4GB and 8GB versions that hold 500, 1000 and 2000 songs, respectively. The original nano came in 1G, 2GB and 4GB versions that held 250, 500 and 1000 tunes.

However viewing album art and photos on the iPod nano is not its forte. The nano changes each photo's thumbnail to 7 by 6.5 millimeters and shrinks the five by five thumbnail of the standard iPod to three by four. And that's just too teeny to work effectively even though you can store your iPhotos on the device.

As with the first generation, the 2G iPod nano features the same 30-pin dock connector as the "standard" iPod, which means it works with the hundreds of accessories developed for the iPod family. Apple says the nano offers up to 24 hours of battery life -- that's 10 more than the company promised for generation one. My experience says that's about right.

If you want the most bang for your buck when it comes to the music/memory ratio, go with the regular sized iPod. Ditto if you're into recording and or photo viewing with your iPod. But if you're looking for a classy music player that's eye-poppingly svelte, look no further.

Apple has unveiled new accessories designed for the second generation iPod nano, including lanyard headphone (US$39), an armband ($29), a dock ($29) and a new compact USB power adapter ($29) that's almost half the size of its predecessor. The new iPod nano features the 30-pin iPod dock connector, allowing it to work with a wide range of third-party products. Apple says there are now more than 3,000 accessories available for the iPod.

The new iPod nano models are now available worldwide through the [url=http://www.apple.com]Apple Store[/url], Apple's retail stores and Apple Authorized
Resellers. The new 2GB iPod nano model in silver is available for US$149, while the new 4GB models in silver, pink, green and blue go for $199, and the new 8GB model in black is available for $249. All iPod nano models include redesigned earbud headphones and a USB 2.0 cable. The iPod nano requires a Mac with a USB 2.0 port and Mac OS X version 10.3.9 or later and iTunes 7.0 or later; or a Windows PC with a USB 2.0 port and Windows 2000 (Service Pack 4), Windows XP Home or Professional (Service Pack 2) and iTunes 7.0 or later. Internet access is required and a broadband connection is recommended.

Macsimum rating: 9 out of 10.