14 DAY TRIAL // Hosted yesterday at the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts in San Francisco, Apple’s “It’s Only Rock and Roll” event saw the introduction of new, camera-equipped iPods, as well as players with more storage capacity and more color, iTunes 9 (with a collection of new features), and iPhone OS 3.1 (which brings genius lists and other minor improvements).
The new iPod nano adds a video camera, mic and speaker. Users can now shoot video wherever they are, view it on their iPod nano and use their computers to transfer their videos, and upload them to YouTube. In addition to these enhancements, the new nano features a larger, 2.2-inch color display and a built-in FM radio with live pause and iTunes Tagging, as well as a built-in pedometer. Available today in an 8GB form for $149, and a 16GB form for $179, the new iPod nano comes in nine brilliant colors including silver, black, purple, blue, green, orange, yellow, (PRODUCT) RED and pink.
The new iPod touch lineup starts at $199 – for 8GB of storage. New models, which deliver twice the capacity for the same price, include the 32GB iPod touch for $299 and the 64GB model for $399. “At just $199 the iPod touch is the most affordable gateway to Apple’s revolutionary App Store with more than 75,000 applications that you can wirelessly download right into your iPod touch,” Philip Schiller, Apple’s senior vice president of Worldwide Product Marketing, said. “You get a great iPod, a great pocket computer with the industry’s best mobile web browser and a great game player, all in this super-thin beautiful enclosure.”
Apple’s iPod shuffle, now available at just $59, is touted as “the world’s smallest music player” and “the first music player to talk to you.” The player, previously available in matte silver and black, is immediately purchasable in five vibrant colors, as well as in polished stainless steel (Apple Store exclusive). The iPod shuffle is available worldwide in a new, 2GB model for just $59 and a 4GB model for $79.
iTunes 9, the latest version of Apple’s popular application to purchase, manage and play media, now adds innovative, new features such as iTunes LP, Home Sharing and Genius Mixes, as well as a redesigned store and improved syncing. The software also includes a new way to manage the contents of your iPhone or iPod touch. Lastly, iTunes 9 comes with Home Sharing, a feature that lets you easily transfer songs, movies and TV shows to other computers around you.