Jobs announces new iPods

[Gargoyle]

Apple CEO Steve Jobs has announced the eagerly-anticipated changed to the iPod product line.

Engadget is blogging live from his keynote speech, but their site is getting slammed pretty hard right now, so here are the important iPod details:


Regular-sized iPod's screen will be 60% brighter
Regular-sized iPod's battery life has been increased from 4 to 6.5 hours
Earphones have been "improved," and will come standard
Gapless playback has been added so that songs flow from one song to the next
Better alphabetical searching
Playable games on iPods, such as Zuma, Texas Hold 'Em, Tetris. Download from iTunes store for $4.99.
30GB iPod: $249
80GB iPod: $349


All new iPod Nano - made out of aluminum
Nano is available in colors!
2GB Nano (available in aluminum only): $149
4GB Nano, available in colors: $199
8GB Nano (available in black only): $249
Nano has a 40% brighter display and 24 hour battery life


New iPods and iPod Nanos are available today


Redesigned Shuffle is small, square, and aluminum
$79 gets you a 1GB Shuffle with dock and earbuds
Can order today, will ship starting in October


http://www.short-media.com/images/newsimages/2006/September/dsc_0888.jpg

For more information on iTunes 7 and new downloadable movies and TV shows, check Engadget's coverage in the linked article.

Source: Engadget (http://www.engadget.com/2006/09/12/live-from-the-steve-jobs-keynote-its-showtime/)

[airbornflght]

Nice, I love the 80GB, I want one so bad, but the horrors of the battery life that I have heard lead me to be skeptical

[Kwitko]

I really hope that gapless output comes as a firmware update for current iPods.

[airbornflght]

I really hope that gapless output comes as a firmware update for current iPods.


What? but that wouldnt require people to buy the new ipods, which would mess up apples business plan. I bet you that there is going to be some "hardware incompatibility" that will make the gap less output impossible on older ipods.

[V|P]

Nano has a 40% brighter display and 24 hour battery life
Didn't they say that the first Nanos were suppose to have a battery life of 12 hours? Mine lasts close to 8, so I'm thinking when they say 24, they mean closer to 15-18 hours.

[airbornflght]

they probably test the battery life with the back light on a minimal amount of time.

that 80GB ipod is really tempting for me, but I want to wait and see if creative has any tricks up its sleeve.

[Kwitko]

What? but that wouldnt require people to buy the new ipods, which would mess up apples business plan. I bet you that there is going to be some "hardware incompatibility" that will make the gap less output impossible on older ipods.

Yeah, probably. Stupid Apple. :shakehead

[Private_Snoball]

they probably test the battery life with the back light on a minimal amount of time.

that 80GB ipod is really tempting for me, but I want to wait and see if creative has any tricks up its sleeve.

I don't think creative is going to touch 80GB for a bit, it seems like overkill atm since the 60GB Vision:M and 60GB ipod aren't exactly flying off the shelves. 30 GB seems to be the sweet spot for size and affordability right now. Maybe 60 will be the killer by Holiday but I doubt too many people will see the need for 80GB.

[Gargoyle]

That's true. I could maybe use a 60 or 80GB if I had a lot of movies on it, but that's overkill for music. I have something like 30-40GB of music, but a lot of it is pretty old, and it'd just be too much to navigate through on a portable player.

Given that I usually only listen to a few new albums at any given time plus a few old standbys, the 8gb Nano would probably be plenty for me. Although I still would prefer something that plays other formats (WMA, OGG).

[CyrixInstead]

Zuma! Gives me a reason to finally buy one just there!!!!

~Cyrix

[Thrax]

I really hope that gapless output comes as a firmware update for current iPods.

http://www.dailytech.com/article.aspx?newsid=4143

[Kwitko]

Yup, ran it this morning. Didn't get a chance to test it, however. New iTunes interface adds a few nice touches. I'm sure they updated the DRM scheme, gonna have to find out later.