Although Apple hasn’t announced any radically new video iPod, as some suspected it would, the entire iPod line has been refreshed with new features. The larger, video-capable iPod now has a battery that plays video for 6.5 hours, comes in 30GB ($249) or 80GB ($349) capacities, and has a screen that’s 60% brighter than the previous model.
As for the Nano, it’ll come in five colors, adding color back into the iPod line after the discontinuation of the iPod Mini. The new iPod Nano will come in a 2GB ($149, aluminum chassis only), 4GB ($199, in blue, pink, green, silver, or black), or 8GB ($249, black only) capacity.
Finally, the Shuffle’s back, also with an aluminum chassis, in a 1GB capacity for $79. Jobs called it the world’s smallest MP3 player, which doesn’t sound right, considering that players the length and width (if not depth) of a postage stamp have been around for years.
All of the new iPods will offer gapless playback, so now I will have something to tell all of the people who email me asking for advice on a gapless MP3 player (the Rio Karma used to offer gapless playback, but was discontinued years ago). You can also now buy games for the iPod such as Pac-man from iTunes for $5 a pop. The iPod charger’s size has also been reduced, and the included earbuds have been improved. People who care about sound quality tend not to use the earbuds that come with their MP3 player, but at least people who don’t replace them will benefit from this.
That appears to be it for the iPods, although this doesn’t rule out the possibility of a networked home video device still to be announced.
Update: Although my speculation about the possibility of Apple announcing a music subscription service was off, I was right (above) about the networked video product. Near the end of the keynote, Jobs announced a product that will be available in Q1 of next year that will allow you to watch iTunes-purchased movies on the TV in your living room using a Wi-Fi connection. Jobs called it the “iTV,” but said that name was not final.
So who’s waiting for an 80GB ipod? Me.
i hated them at first…now i just want one really bad.
