iPod Touch | Entire iPod lineup gets facelift

Friday, September 07, 2007

On Wednesday, during the Apple media event, Apple announced the entire iPod lineup was receiving a facelift.

Apple introduced the all new iPod Nano, bringing video playback, an enhanced user interface , and a new design to the popular music player. The new iPod nano features a larger two-inch display with 204 pixels per inch, which lets users watch their videos in the same resolution of the video iPod.

The new iPod Nano also includes three games, and additional games can be purchased from iTunes. iPod nano has up to 24 hours of audio playback or five hours of video playback on a charge, and features a new all-metal design made with anodized aluminum and polished stainless steel and comes in five new colors: silver, black, blue, green and a red special edition. Available today, the 4GB iPod nano comes in silver for just $149 (US) and the 8GB model is available in silver, black, blue, green and red special edition for just $199 (US).

Also new is the iPod Touch - featuring a multi-touch user interface that enables users to find all of their music, videos and more on its widescreen display with just the touch of a finger. First introduced on iPhone, the multi-touch interface uses new software to present the perfect user interface for each application. The iPod touch also includes Wi-Fi wireless networking, the first on any iPod, and three applications that use it: Safari, a web browser , lets users wirelessly view web pages just as they look on their computer, and features Google Search or Yahoo! Search; Apple's YouTube application lets users watch free videos from the popular video website; and the new iTunes Wi-Fi Music Store lets users wirelessly browse, preview and buy songs and albums.

The iPod touch is 8 mm thick. The new iPod touch will start shipping in late September. The 8GB iPod touch model is $299 (US) and the 16GB iPod model is $399 (US).

Rounding out the new iPods is the new iPod classic, featuring 80GB or 160GB of storage that holds up to 40,000 songs or 200 hours of video. Now in its sixth generation, the new iPod classic features an enhanced user interface featuring Cover Flow and a new all-metal enclosure. The iPod classic also comes with 3 iPod games and more can be purchased at the iTunes store. iPod classic is priced at just $249 for the 80GB model and $349 for the 160GB model and is available immediately at all Apple stores.

In a separate announcement, Starbucks and Apple debuted a partnership where iPod Touch users will get a message on their device whenever they are within range of a Starbucks hotspot, and will be able to access the iTunes WiFi Music Store free of charge.