The technology world has been abuzz with the prospect of a new and improved iPod family, and in a joint launch between London and Apple's headquarters in San Francisco Steve Jobs unveiled his vision for the future.
The iPod Touch was greeted with whoops and hollers by a typically enthusiastic US crowd of journos as Jobs demoed the super slim new 8mm model. Bestowed with a 3.5in wide touchscreen delivered in the same form factor as the iPhone, the Touch features 802.11b/g Wi-Fi connectivity with the Safari browser as well as the two-finger touch control interface debuted on the iPhone.
The main grumble we foresee is with capacity issues. Arriving in two sizes, the most capacious is the £269 16GB model capable of storing around 3,500 songs, with the smaller £199 8GB model roomy enough for around 1,750.
The Touch will offer many of the features carried over from the iPhone including CoverFlow, landscape mode, YouTube access and the ability to download songs straight to the player without the need for a computer via the new iTunes store simply by tapping the screen.
Apple has even announced a deal with Starbucks where Touch users can see which song is playing in store along with the previous ten played and download those they like, though this service isn't likely to roll out fully for around two years.
Battery life has been touted at 22 hours audio and five hours video playback, and both models are launched at the end of the month.
In order to combat those capacity issues, Jobs also announced the launch of a 160GB version of the iPod we know and love, now relabelled the iPod Classic and given a jazz-up, design-wise.
Delivering a claimed 30 hours audio and five hours video playback, US prices show the 80GB model to be $249 and that huge 160GB model $349. No UK prices yet.
In a busy old evening (or morning for those on the other side of the Atlantic), Apple CEO Steve Jobs also announced the launch of a new and improved iPod Nano, describing it as 'incredibly tiny, incredibly thin' (despite it actually being thicker than the previous Nano at 6.5mm).
Delivered with a metal casing, the new Nano is shorter and fatter (as AVReview previously reported) and comes with video playing capability, CoverFlow album art software and a larger, brighter two-inch 320x240 pixel display.
'We think it's really, really beautiful,' enthused Jobs to plenty of cheering and whooping from the US journo contingent (you'd think they didn't all know what was coming already - when clearly they did).
The new Nano also arrives with three games onboard - Vortex, iQuiz and Klondike - with the option to download more from iTunes for $4.99 each.
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Colours include dark red, bright blue, bright green, silver and black (no white), and battery life is a hopeful 24-hour audio playback and 5 hours for video.
The 4GB silver-only version retails Stateside for $149 and the all-colour 8GB model for $199. They should all be in shops here this very weekend.
www.apple.com
