SleepyEgg

Apple's iPod line didn't get much in the way of updates this year for the first time in roughly a decade. During Apple's fall media event earlier this month, the company announced that just two of its current lineup of four iPods would see any kind of update at all. The iPod touch, previously only available in the traditional black, would now be available in both black and white (ooh, ahh), while the iPod nano gained a handful of clock faces and the ability to track workouts via Nike+ without the need for the accompanying shoe dongle.

It was the latter announcement that piqued my interest. As a runner and an iPod nano aficionado who has been following the development of the Nike+iPod partnership since 2006, I'm familiar with how both Apple and Nike have tweaked the functionality of the Nike+ product over the last five years. Before the iPod nano that was introduced this month, the iPod nano's built-in Nike+ functionality usually required the use of a wireless dongle that only fits into a special divot underneath the insole of a Nike+ shoe—this, the companies argued, was to ensure that the app's measurements were accurate and more precise to your own walking or running style instead of merely estimating your distance or speed.