Apple has updated its iconic iPod digital jukebox. No huge surprises, but the new model has addressed the ongoing battery issue - it now gives up to 12 hours play, but it's still not user-replaceable. The increase (from eight hours) is apparently due to improved power management rather than installing a bigger, heavier battery. In fact, the new device is also (slightly) thinner than its predecessor and it incorporates the touch-sensitive click-wheel first glimpsed on the iPod mini which dispenses with the need for the earlier iPod control buttons.
Perhaps the most significant change is that the 20GB iPod has now dropped around £80 off the asking price to £219 (40GB goes from £399 to £299). Perhaps Apple is beginning to feel the pinch from the increasing competition in portable MP3 land, but it seems that having a portable digital option in your audio arsenal is becoming a more attractive option by the day.
