Sep 9 2008
Apple’s ”Let’s Rock” event is all about iTunes and iPod…as it should be
At today’s “Let’s Rock” event at the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts in San Francisco, Apple’s Steve Jobs took the stage to announce new upgrades to iTunes and the iPod line.
iTunes 8 includes the new Genius feature, which lets you automatically create playlists from songs in your music library that go great together. Genius helps users to rediscover favorite songs in their existing music library and suggests related music on the iTunes Store they might want to add to their music collection. iTunes 8 also adds new ways of viewing your music and video libraries, and introduces television programs in high definition for sale on the iTunes Store.
It’s also interesting to note that Apple has wooed NBC back to the iTunes Store.
The new fourth generation iPod nano has a sleek new design with a curved aluminum and glass enclosure, in nine vivid colors. The new iPod nano incorporates the Genius technology from iTunes to automatically create playlists from songs in your music library that
go well together. The new nano also features an improved user interface, a high resolution portrait display and a built-in
accelerometer that automatically switches to Cover Flow when rotated and automatically goes into Shuffle mode when lightly shaken (I so don’t get this feature). The new iPod nano gives users up to 24 hours of music playback or four hours of video
playback and is available worldwide immediately in an 8GB model for USD$149 and a 16GB model for USD$199. Both models come in silver, purple, blue, green, orange, yellow, pink, (PRODUCT) RED and black.
The second generation iPod touch (which is NOT to be called an iTouch–EVER!) features a thin contoured metal design, a 3.5 inch widescreen glass display, 802.11 b/g Wi-Fi wireless networking, volume control buttons, a crappy built-in speaker, a built-in accelerometer and other advanced sensors, and Apple’s Multi-Touch user interface.
The new iPod touch also works with the new iTunes 8 Genius feature mentioned above. It also features built-in Nike + iPod support. Users simply place the optional Nike + iPod sensor (USD$19) in their Nike + shoe to seamlessly connect with the new iPod touch to track miles run or sync with the latest generation gym equipment.
The new iPod touch is available immediately for a suggested price of USD$229 for the 8GB model, USD$299 for the 16GB and USD$399 for the 32 GB model. Both the nano and the touch can be purchased through the Apple Store, Apple’s retail stores and Apple Authorized Resellers.
Note:
Apple today unveiled