Apple recently rolled out a new Firmware Update for 5G iPods, not the most recently announced models with brighter screens and the search feature. Unfortunately, the update doesn’t add the search functionality to the old models, however, it does add support for Games and Hi Res movies, and, more incredibly, increases the duration of your iPod’s battery life.

Jason Snell, from Playlist tested the battery life of a 5G iPod before and after a firmware update and he came to the conclusion that it had approximately 18% more duration while playing videos. In other words, you can now safely watch one of your “Lord of the Rings” movies without the battery running out, yes, even the extended versions.

Though I don’t think that it’s very correct for Apple not to include the search feature on this new firmware update, I guess it was expected, given that they didn’t do it for the iPod Nano either. However, the extra battery life should perhaps please the 5G owners more.