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Jason D. O'Grady & David Morgenstern
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Apple’s big day: all new iPods, iTunes and Apple TV

By | September 1, 2010, 10:31am PDT

Apple held its highly-anticipated press event today, and for the first time in recent memory, streamed it live via the Web. Cult of Mac reports that Apple decided to stream the event to test its new new data center in Maiden, North Carolina, slated to go into full operation later this year. (The $1 billion data center is one of the largest ever built).

Some of the announcements:

  • 230,000 new iPhone activations per day - this doesn’t include upgrades (jab at Android with that one)

iOS 4.1:

  • Fixes proximity sensor, Bluetooth, iPhone 3G performance bugs
  • HDR photos standard in iOS 4.1
  • Upload to YouTube
  • TV Show Rentals
  • GameCenter for end users
  • to be released next week

iOS 4.2 (sneak peek):

  • all the features of iOS 4.1, plus
  • Wireless printing via Print Center app
  • AirPlay (formerly AirTunes), stream audio, video and photos over WiFi
  • Coming out in November (free update)

iPods

  • 275 million iPods sold
  • all new iPods, biggest change in iPods ever

iPod shuffle (fourth generation)

  • buttons
  • voiceover
  • playlists
  • Genius mixes
  • $49 - 2GB
  • four colors

iPod nano

  • multitouch-based clickwheel
  • 46% smaller, 42% lighter
  • clip
  • Volume buttons
  • VoiceOver
  • FM Radio, Pedometer, Nike+
  • Six colors
  • $149 - 8GB, $179 - 16GB

iPod touch

  • number one game player in the world (50+% marketshare worldwide)
  • even thinner
  • Retina Display (4x amount of pixels, 326 ppi, 24-bit, LED)
  • Apple A4 chip
  • 3-axis gyroscope
  • front-facing camera and FaceTime (over WiFi)
  • rear camera with HD video recording
  • $229 (8GB), $299 (32GB), $399 (64GB)
  • Available next week (pre-order today)

iTunes 10

  • New icon ditches the CD
  • New social feature called Ping
  • Ping also available on iOS devices

Apple TV (second generation)

  • one quarter of the size
  • includes a remote
  • Music
  • TV shows
  • all HD
  • rentals only, no purchases
  • $4.99 first run HD movies (day and date releases)
  • $0.99 HD TV show rentals from ABC and Fox (commercial free)
  • Netflix streaming
  • streaming from a computer
  • AirPlay (coming in November in iOS 4.2)
  • $99, available in 4 weeks, pre-order today

What do you think of the new announcements?

See more coverage:

  • Ping: Apple should leave social to Facebook, Twitter
  • iPod Nano loses click wheel for square multi-touch display; starts at $149
  • Apple TV upgraded with rental model, no purchasing content allowed; $99
  • Is Apple’s new iPod nano the perfect geek watch?
  • Fourth-gen iPod touch announced with dual cameras, Retina display, FaceTime
  • New iPod shuffle includes voice over playlists and buttons; $49
  • Watching Apple’s Live Special Event Stream from a train
  • Photos: Apple’s special music event
  • Live Blog: Replay Apple’s event

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    Topics

    Apple iPod, Apple Inc., Apple iPod Touch, Apple TV, TVs, Flash Memory, Tv & Home Theater, Channel Management, Digital Music, Digital Media, Personal Technology, Home Entertainment, Marketing, Consumer Electronics, Jason D. O'Grady

    Jason O'Grady is a journalist and author specializing in mobile technology. He has published six books on Apple and mobile gadgets and his PowerPage blog has been publishing for over 15 years.

    Disclosure

    Jason D. O'Grady

    Jason D. O'Grady is the creator and editor of O'Grady's PowerPage, which has been publishing mobile technology news since 1995. He maintains an advertising relationship with the following legacy advertisers on the PowerPage:

    • Amazon Associates
    • Google Adsense
    • Tekserve

      • Advertising on the PowerPage is brokered by a third-party agency (BackBeat Media) and he recuses himself from these negotiations.

    Biography

    Jason D. O'Grady

    Jason D. O'Grady developed an affinity for Apple computers after using the original Lisa, and this affinity turned into a bona-fide obsession when he got the original 128 KB Macintosh in 1984.

    He started writing one of the first Web sites about Apple (O'Grady's PowerPage) in 1995 and is considered to be one of the fathers of blogging. He has been a frequent speaker at the Macworld Expo conference and a member of the conference faculty. He also co-founded the first dedicated PowerBook User Group (PPUG) in the United States.

    After winning a major legal battle with Apple in 2006, he set the precedent that independent journalists are entitled to the same protections under the First Amendment as members of the mainstream media.

    O'Grady is the author of The Nexus One Pocket Guide, The Droid Pocket Guide, The Google Phone Pocket Guide, and The Garmin nuvi Pocket Guide (Peachpit Press), the author of Corporations That Changed the World: Apple Inc. (Greenwood Press), and a contributor to The Mac Bible (Peachpit Press). In addition, he has contributed to numerous Mac publications over the years, including MacWEEK, Macworld, and MacPower (Japan).

    When he's not writing about Apple for ZDNet at The Apple Core, he enjoys spending time with his family in New Jersey.

    Talkback Most Recent of 63 Talkback(s)

    • how many times can you reinvent the wheel?
      It's the simplicity that people like about the devices. But what bothers me is the lack of multitasking. And being on the phone is not multitasking. You need to be able to run multiple programs at once. So, in my opinion, the iPhone is just an updated Palm. Also, there is no coverage where I live. To me, Android is still a better OS.
      ZDNet Gravatar
      Maarek
      1st Sep 2010
    • This event wasn't about the iPhone, D'oh!
      Go whine under a related article.
      @Maarek
      ZDNet Gravatar
      GoPower
      1st Sep 2010
    • uhm.. the iOS has had multi-tasking for a while now.. LOL..
      @Maarek - where have you been?
      ZDNet Gravatar
      doctorSpoc
      1st Sep 2010
    • RE: Apple's big day: Sept 1 event (in progress)
      @Maarek

      What do you mean no multitasking - did you miss iOS 4?

      Yes this wasn't about the iPhone - but Multitasking was even demonstrated on the iPad.

      Your opinion about the iPhone is yours - pretty stupid and ill informed one, but it's yours so you might as well have something of your own.
      ZDNet Gravatar
      richardw66
      1st Sep 2010
    • RE: Apple's big day: Sept 1 event (in progress)
      @Maarek

      They didn't reinvent the wheel. In fact they got rid of it on the iPOD nano. They evolved.
      ZDNet Gravatar
      maskman01
      1st Sep 2010
    • RE: Apple's big day: Sept 1 event (in progress)
      @Maarek
      YAWN..............
      ZDNet Gravatar
      coachgeorge
      1st Sep 2010
    • NICE JOB, ZDNET JAGOFFS
      Do you all enjoy a company that steals from its users?

      For example, ZDNet allowing you to type a potentially lengthy comment in here, and THEN telling you "Woops, you have to log in!" But they DISCARDED WHAT YOU WROTE.

      How offensive can you get?
      ZDNet Gravatar
      dgurney
      1st Sep 2010
    • RE: Apple's big day: Sept 1 event (in progress)
      @dgurney So you've been on the net for oh, about three hours now? How is it? Most of the rest of us have had these problems before, so we have ways around it. Better yet, don't write too much, especially if you don't have anything relevant to say.
      ZDNet Gravatar
      ssaha
      2nd Sep 2010
    • Now for a few years now I've heard that Apple TV
      is or has failed. Now I've never known Apple to hang onto a looser for very long. So can ANYONE give me any data on Apple TV sales and profit margins to date? Seems if Apple is still developing the product it must be making money but to be honest I don't know.

      Pagan jim
      ZDNet Gravatar
      James Quinn
      1st Sep 2010
    • It's A Loser! .....no doubt!
      @James Quinn Especially when compared to other Apple products. Here they didn't evolve Apple TV, they demoted it! Less features is just going to reduce sales even more. It's now just a subscription box and there are too many things out there to replace it. From Xbox 360, PS3 and Boxee that do far more.

      Talk about a joke.... there is nothing in this "Apple's Big Day" that's anywhere near Earth Shaking!
      ZDNet Gravatar
      Monarky
      1st Sep 2010
    • From what I have heard
      they won't release sales figures of under selling products (like they boast with iTunes, iPhones, iPods where they tell you how many they sold), so the estimate was along the lines of 400,000 units to date. They were embarasing enough to have Steve Jobs re-label it later down the road as "a Hobby".

      The problem is that it's likely losing money, so Apple, like many companies, may be pushing it until it recoupes R&D back from it. If it doesn't do well beyond that point, then they'll probally dump it at no loss, as the refinements are nothing all that special, so still not a large drain.

      And they have the money to wait another year or two.
      ZDNet Gravatar
      John Zern
      1st Sep 2010
    • RE: Apple's big day: Sept 1 event (in progress)
      @John Zern,Monarky
      I have no doubts that it's sales numbers do no compare to the iPod or iPhone but then again what does? What I'm curious about is despite this.. Is it possible that Apple might still be making money on it? I don't think it has been established that the Apple TV has EVER had to sell at iPod volumes to make money for Apple. Does anyone have a guess as to the volume needed for this product to make money? I don't think you do.. Do you so I'm guessing this is all speculation based on what you yourself admit to John as guesses.

      Pagan jim
      ZDNet Gravatar
      James Quinn
      1st Sep 2010
    • James Quinn. Why attempt to "muddy the waters"
      with half hearted attempts to confuse the subject? What does comparing sales to the iPod matter?

      Windows has outsold the iPod very easilly, should we use that as a metric against the iPod? No, that would be as illogical as your argument for AppleTV.

      Steve Jobs mentioned that "We introduced it four years ago, but it's never been a huge hit", and Apple's history of offering sales figures only for sucessful products would indicate that AppleTv may not have made any money yet.

      I would imagine that the Zune, which has sold more units then AppleTV, has made a profit yet many like you will claim that is likely not the case. Going on that logic, one would have to assume that it is likely that AppleTV has not made a profit, either.

      You must learn to remove your emotional attachment to Apple products in order to discuss such items logiclly.

      You may not enjoy where the facts on Apple products lead you, but you must accept them if they are facts, whether good or bad.
      plain
      ZDNet Gravatar
      Mister Spock
      1st Sep 2010
    • RE: Apple's big day: Sept 1 event (in progress)
      Wish Apple actually had something to talk about.
      ZDNet Gravatar
      colecrew
      1st Sep 2010
    • As long as they require Bonjour Service NO
      I will never load anything on my computer again that requires that resorce and net hog Bonjour Service. I know you can remove it but most people do not realize that and just live with the degraded responce and performance.
      ZDNet Gravatar
      Baer
      1st Sep 2010
    View More Comments

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