New iPods, iOS 4.1/4.2, and iTunes ... Everything you need to know!
OK, here's a quick rundown of what Apple announced today.
Check out the image gallery detailing all the new hardware unveiled today!
First up, a completely revamped iPod line (flash memory iPods only, Classic line remain unchanged).
iPod shuffle
Here Apple moves away from the button-less approach it adopted with the last update (resulting in what many call Apple's worst product and biggest mistake) and introduce a design that you might remember ...
2GB, buttons, 15 hours of battery life and VoiceOver feature.
Priced at $49, pre-order now and ships in a week.
iPod nano
The iPod nano gets the miniaturization treatment, and gone is the clickwheel, and in its place is a multi-touch screen.
Here's the spec on the screen:
- 1.54-inch (diagonal) color TFT display
- 240-by-240 pixel resolution
- 220 pixels per inch
Missing though seems to be the nano's ability to play back video and the camera. Odd that Apple would remove features, but not that it wold do so sliently.
24 hours of battery life.
Priced at $149 for the 8GB and $179 for the 16GB version. Pre-order now and ships in a week.
iPod touch
Apple's best selling iPod gets a revamp too, becoming truly an iPhone without the phone.
New iPod touch gets FaceTime, Retina Display, 3-axis gyro, and the ability to record HD video (720p, 30 frames per second), camera (960x720) and Game Center.
Battery life is 40 hours for audio, 7 for video.
8GB costs $229, 16GB costs $299 and 64GB costs $399. Pre-order now, ships in a week.
Apple TV
Apple TV gets a much needed revamp.
Here users get HD movie and TV show rentals, with new releases costing $4.99 and TV shows costing $0.99. There's no purchasing, it's all a rental based system, so no more storage issues. Also integrated is Netflix and YouTube streaming along with iTunes music and photos from your computer, iPhone and iPad.
It features HDMI, USB (only used for service and support), Ethernet and optical audio, along with WiFi.
Priced at $99, this ships September.
iOS updates
Today there were two iOS related news releases. First is that the iOS 4.1 update will be out for iPhones and iPod touch next week (not all models, only those already capable of running iOS 4). This update will bring with it a number of bug fixes, specifically relating to the proximity sensor and Bluetooth. Also, it will bring HDR photography to the iPhone, iPhone 3G performance fixes, HD video uploads over WiFi, TV show rentals and Game Center.
The, coming November is iOS 4.2 for the iPad. Basically, this bring everything that's on the iPhone iOS 4.x to the iPad, along with wireless printing and AirPlay streaming audio, video and photos over WiFi.
Both these updates will be free to all users to download.
iTunes 10
This latest incarnation of iTunes, along with getting rid of the old CD icon, brings a social element to iTunes.
A feature called Ping allows users to follow artists and friends, to check out profiles, and find out what others are listening to - basically a way to get iTunes users to spend more money.
iTunes 10 is available for immediate download.