Saturday, October 27, 2007

The New Wide-Screen iPod Touch

Each year there is a gadget that everyone simply must have in order to survive. This year look for Apple to attempt to fill that coveted spot with the new iPod Touch media player. Like its scroll wheel namesake, the iPod Touch will hold all of your music and movie files, but the most incredible improvement is not what is included on the player. Instead the most impressive addition is something that is missing entirely. Gone is the classic iPod scroll wheel and in is the cool glass touch screen of its iPhone cousin.
Touch Screen iPod Provides Wide Screen Wow!

With the loss of the click wheel Apple has opened the door to wide screen media content on the new iPod Touch. Able to play your favorite YouTube videos via its built in Wi-Fi capabilities, users can switch from vertical to widescreen mode simply by rotating the Touch to its side. The iPod senses the change in orientation and flips the image to make best use of the 3.5 inch display. Users will be able to flip through their music collection visually by looking at images of their CD collection in a jukebox style layout. Add to this that the new iPod Touch is supposed to have a battery life as high as 22 hours with normal use and one wonders when the lines will begin to form outside the local Apple store. Many existing iPod accessories should also work with the new iPod Touch, but specifics are not yet available.
Wireless Internet and Free iTunes While Dining at Starbuck's:

As mentioned, the new iPod Touch includes built in Wi-Fi capabilities to allow you to wirelessly surf the Internet while within range of a Wi-Fi signal. In an attempt to bolster their appeal even more, Apple has partnered with Starbucks to provide free access to their Wi-Fi music store while wait to order your morning latte. When not in line at Starbucks you can still view web sites wirelessly using Apple's own Safari browser. No word yet as to whether or not the problems that Apple had with their iPhone and certain aspects of Internet use have been fixed or not, but regardless of any minor quirks the device might have, the new capabilities of this next generation iPod make it one of the most attractive media players on the market today.
Release Date and Pricing For The New iPod Touch:

Set to be released in late September 2007 (exact date not available as yet), the 8gb iPod Touch model is slated for sale at $299. Users can double that capacity to 16gb for an extra hundred dollars. Within hours of the official Apple press release major retailers such as Best Buy were already posting photos and information but no order links as yet. One can almost anticipate a shortage of this new must-have media player as soon as it hits the store shelves. Will it live up to the hype? We'll have to wait and see.


http://ipod.suite101.com/article.cfm/the_new_widescreen_ipod_touch

Apple Shakes iPod Tree

Apple today made several announcements which will impact the iPod family. Effective immediately the new basic iPod line, which combines the best of the iPod and the image friendly iPod photo, will feature two white models, each with color LCDs. Also on Apple’s radar are shuffle price drops, new iTunes software and greater support of podcasts.

New iPods

The new 20GB ($299) and 60GB ($399) models, which look like the iPod photo, replace all existing iPod and iPod photo units. The former will hold approximately 5,000 songs and the latter 15,000. As for photos, the 20GB can support 20,000, with the 60GB up around 25,000. Like the iPod photo, the simplified line supports the ability to directly import photos from a digital camera with the optional iPod Camera Connector. Users, as before, will be able to combine music and photos into multimedia slideshows which can be viewed on the iPod or displayed on a larger screen through a connector cable.

All other features of the new iPod, such as the click wheel and playlists support, remain the same as the previous models.

Podcasting

The software used to support the iPod also got a facelift.
iTunes, now at version 4.9, exposes podcasting to more of the mainstream iPod audience. Podcasting, for those who don’t know, is a form of Internet radio in which listeners can subscribe and automatically download special audio files (usually free) from a single source (i.e. ABC News, Adam Curry, BBC, Clear Channel, The Dawn and Drew Show, Disney, Engadget, ESPN, Newsweek and NPR member stations, just to name a few). Think of it as downloading daily segments of your favorite radio talk show. Instead of listening to them on the radio or streaming them, iTunes (and software like it) pulls the segment off of the Internet and makes it available for you to listen to on your computer or iPod. In the case of iTunes, the software features a special directory built into it which allows you to subscribe to one of 3,000 free podcasts, which are downloaded automatically and auto-synchronized with your player., just like your music.

To better manage podcasts on your iPod, Apple has also released iPod Updater 2005-06-26. This new update for the player (which is already available on the new iPods listed above – existing iPod owners (all click wheel and mini models) will need to download it here) adds a Podcast menu to the existing directory structure. From this new menu, users will be able to bookmark within a single podcast and also display color podcast work.

"Apple is taking Podcasting mainstream by building it right into iTunes," said Steve Jobs, Apple's CEO. "Podcasting is the next generation of radio, and users can now subscribe to over 3,000 free Podcasts and have each new episode automatically delivered over the Internet to their computer and iPod."

Price Drops

Apple also announced they were dropping prices on other models in the iPod line up. A new version of the iPod U2 Special Edition features a color screen and is priced at $329. The 1GB shuffle meanwhile drops to $129, while the 512MB unit stays at $99. Prices on the mini remain unchanged.



http://portables.about.com/od/mp3players/a/newipod.htm