It’s official, the new fourth generation Apple iPod Nano has just been announced by Steve Jobs, and from initial impressions it has been well worth the wait.

The first feature worth mentioning is it’s new accelerometer function which, like the iPhone, allows you to switch from landscape to portrait easily, just by a tilt of your wrist. This will make watching videos on your new Nano a whole lot more sensible as you now have a chance of actually making out what’s going on, on screen.

The accelerometer will also allow you to shuffle between songs simply by shaking your iPod! Hopefully this function can be switched off for the poor souls who are forced to sit at the back of a bus everyday, as the engine reverberation will never let you get through a song.

The new Nano will also feature Apple’s new Genius playlist which we mentioned will be part of the iTunes 8 upgrade. Genius will create intelligent playlists from songs in your library that have general similarities.

This latest addition to the ever growing iPod family is the thinnest iPod ever and will be available in a bright range of 9 colours. One for every day of the week and two spare for when you inevitably lose your Nano in the pub.

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