Prior to Apple's Rock n' Roll event, there were many rumors spurring up on what was to be unveiled at Apple's annual iPod event. Lots of rumors and speculation pointed to iPods with cameras, iTunes 9, and and even some Apple TV action.
We did get some of those things, but not even close to all of them. The headlining announcement today was the new iPod Nano, which featured the same body design as the previous generation, but with a vertically bigger screen, polished (glossy) aluminum finish, VoiceOver capabilities (similar to the voice feature on the current iPod Shuffle), FM Radio, mic and speaker, video camera (a Flip replacement to Apple) and a pedometer. All of this will run you the same $149 for an 8GB and $179 16GB.
They also announced a "sorta" new iPod Touch. They have added Open Gl 2.0, meaning that this iPod is at the least as fast as the iPhone 3GS. In addition to the power boost, they changed the Touch's tier chart a little bit. There are now three Touch models: the 8GB, the 32GB, and the 64GB. And to sweeten the deal, Apple priced these models $199, $299, and $399 respectively. Also, iPhone OS 3.1 is out and available for $4.95 (free with devices with the 3.0 firmware). What's funny is that Apple (and lots of consumers) sees the iPod Touch as a mini computer, or a device that can go on the internet, and use a bunch of apps, similar to a real desktop experience.
The iPod Shuffle also had an upgrade. You can now get more color variety: pink, green, blue, silver and black. $59 for 2GB and $79 for 4GB. Oh, and there is a special Apple Store exclusive Polished Stainless Steel version of the 4GB Shuffle that will go for $99
Its also worth noting that the iPod Classic got a capacity increase in space. Now the iPod Classic features a 160GB hard drive and will have the same thin-ness and price ($249).
In addition to the iPod announcements, iTunes also got upgraded from 8 to 9. iTunes 9 featured a lot of new features including a simple new look, store enhancements, Twitter/Facebook intergration, improved syncing (customize syncs down to the artist and genre), arrange your iPod Touch/iPhone home screens in iTunes, interactivity within media (similar in concept to bonus features in DVDs) and sharing between home computers (5 activated computers on 1 account).
Overall, this event was great. Its nice to see all the updated products and software, as well as some price drops, although I am disappointing that the iPod Touch did not get GPS, or better yet a camera. I really was not surprised that there was no announcements on the Apple TV. Before closing, I just want to mention that Mr. Steve Jobs was in house. Upon entering, he was welcomed by a standing O, and of course he deserves it. I would just like to say "Thanks Steve for all you have done in this tech world today."
Anywayz, just keep a look out on our Youtube channel, becuase we may upload some videos on things like the 3.1 iPhone firmware and iTunes 9, so keep a look out for that...
