iLounge has obtained both models of the new third-generation iPod shuffle, and will be posting unboxing photos in this story as we take them, along with some brief first impressions.
Update: It’s very similar in size to the Apple Bluetooth Headset, and as small as the smallest flash drives we’ve seen. Its rear clip is somewhat of a fingerprint magnet, and it lacks personality from front, to side, to bottom.
The black color is same as the iPod nano 4G and 120GB iPod classic, and if a user plugs in headphones with no music loaded onto the device, a voice directs him/her to sync to iTunes.
Update 2: The results of our initial file transfer test show the new shuffle to be faster than the second-generation model, but not as fast as the iPod nano 4G. When transferring our 1GB test playlist, it took the iPod shuffle 3G 2:02 to transfer, while the iPod nano 4G took just 1:27.
The same transfer on the second-generation iPod shuffle took 2:33, but it was only a partial transfer, as some songs could not be played, and iTunes showed only 392MB as transferred.
In addition, iTunes must connect to a server to download the VoiceOver kit before that feature can be enabled, meaning that an Internet connection will be required for initial VoiceOver setup.
In our initial audio testing with a pair of Ultimate Ears UE-11, there is an immediately noticeable difference in the amount of static present in the audio compared to the iPod shuffle 2G—hissy, static-like noise present in the prior generation’s audio is gone in the iPod shuffle 3G.
