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Apple Updates iPod Line Up [UPDATED]

Tuesday, September 12th, 2006 at 1:35 PM - by

Apple announced updates to its iPod, iPod nano and iPod shuffle products at the "It's Showtime" media event on Tuesday. The company also introduced downloadable iPod video games, gapless song playback, and redesigned earbud headphones.

iPod
The revamped fifth-generation iPod features a 60 percent brighter display and up to 20 hours battery life. Video playback time is much better now, too. Instead of two hours playback time, the new iPod lasts for up to three and a half hours.


The new (still 5G) iPod.
The iPod is still available in white or black, and sports a 2.5-inch display. The 30GB model is priced at US$249, and the 80GB model - which replaced the 60GB version - is $349. Both are available now.

iPod nano
The iPod nano got a major overhaul today and a display that's 40 percent brighter than before. Its thinner body is wrapped in aluminum, just like the iPod mini it replaced. Instead of black or white, like the original nano, the new models are available in a range of anodized colors including silver, blue, green, pink, and black.


The new iPod nano.

The dock and earbud connectors are still on the bottom, and the Hold switch is on the top. They also sport up to 24 hours of run time, and recharge to 80 percent capacity in 90 minutes.

Like the revamped fifth-generation iPod, it also includes the new earbuds.

The 2GB model is available in silver, and costs $149. The 4GB model is available in all of the colors except black. It costs $199. A new 8GB model is also available in black for $249. All are available now.

iPod shuffle
The new second generation iPod shuffle received a new look today, and a substantially smaller case. It sheds the familiar white plastic case for a new aluminum skin, and is about the same size as the iPod radio remote.


The super-small iPod shuffle.

It weighs in at half an ounce, and is only 1.62 inches long. A built-in clip on the back lets you attach it to your clothes, belt or bag. This iPod is so small that there is barely enough space on the surface for the control wheel.

Battery life for this model comes in at 12 hours. It comes in a 1GB capacity for $79, and will be available in October.

Thanks to iLounge for providing some of the initial information for this article.

[This article has been updated with additional information about Apple's new iPod line up.]

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Engine Joe said:

member since 29 Jun 2004 with 413 posts, unranked, send him a message or view his profile

Tue Sep 12, 2006 3:23 pm

To TMO Editors - Apple's website still refers to the new iPods as 5th Gen. They're not 6th Gen.

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Engine Joe said:

member since 29 Jun 2004 with 413 posts, unranked, send him a message or view his profile

Tue Sep 12, 2006 3:55 pm

I should have added a cite - look at any of the iPod games in the iTunes Store - it says games are only compatible with 5G iPods. Thus, the ones released today are still part of the 5th Gen.

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gslusher said:

member since 13 Nov 2002 with 2088 posts, unranked, send him a message or view his profile

Tue Sep 12, 2006 5:41 pm

Re the new Nano: "Its thinner body ..." Yep. It's exactly 0.01 inches thinner--0.26 vs 0.27 inch.

Also, while you changed the text from 6th Gen to 5th Gen, the caption of the image still says 6th Gen.

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stuartea said:

member since 08 Aug 2005 with 327 posts, unranked, send him a message or view his profile

Tue Sep 12, 2006 5:43 pm

Watching BBC's Newsnight programme, in the introduction the chap comes on and says about the new iPods "Will they be enough to save Apple"

Perplexed, save Apple from what?

They're going on about Microsoft Zune and Mobile phones and how they're going to be iPod Killing devices and how it's to do with fashion and be cool.

The BBC always manage to find a negative way of presenting Apple.

They're talking about eMusic and how they're going to kill iTunes.

Apparently the Pippets are the best band because they don't care about DRM. They're playing Apple as the big bully drm man.

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drjason said:

member since 28 Aug 2004 with 37 posts, unranked, send him a message or view his profile

Tue Sep 12, 2006 6:14 pm

Anybody notice that there is no difference between the regular and educational pricing on the new iPods?

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Bryan said:

member since 11 Jun 2001 with 7340 posts, TMO Staff, send him a message or view his profile

Tue Sep 12, 2006 6:40 pm

Thanks for the editing notes. The story was corrected accordingly.

Bryan

Editor

iPO

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mjkphoto said:

member since 01 Nov 2004 with 47 posts, unranked, send him a message or view his profile

Tue Sep 12, 2006 8:29 pm

The new iPod Shuffle is pretty cool. I wonder what kind of "case" someone will come up with for this one? The 2nd Gen Shuffle is inovative. But the rest of the "It's Showtime" event and product announcements are rather boring.

The iPod "mini" returns under a new name. I guess too many Nano's cracked. The iPod "cottage industry" must be busy, busy, busy trying to keep up.

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gslusher said:

member since 13 Nov 2002 with 2088 posts, unranked, send him a message or view his profile

Wed Sep 13, 2006 3:45 am

mjkphoto wrote:
The iPod "mini" returns under a new name. I guess too many Nano's cracked. The iPod "cottage industry" must be busy, busy, busy trying to keep up.

Despite Jobs' contention that the new Nanos are "thinner," they're "thinner" by exactly 0.01"--one hundreth of an inch.

Old (from MacTracker): 3.5"H x 1.6"W x 0.27"D

New (from Apple's site): 3.5"H x 1.6"W x 0.26"D

0.01" is about the thickness of 2 sheets of 24 lb bond paper.

The only other difference in shape is that they're rounded off on the left and right edges. They'll probably fit most current Nano cases. Their dock connector and headphone jack are in the same place, so most accessories should fit pretty easily.

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gslusher said:

member since 13 Nov 2002 with 2088 posts, unranked, send him a message or view his profile

Wed Sep 13, 2006 5:11 am

Warning: It seems that the new Search function is not available on "old" 5G iPods, according to discussions on the Apple support forum. I can't find it on mine, either. We can hope that there will be an additional iPod software update to add that function. The hovering letters (first letter of the name) in fast scrolls work, but they don't show up right away. In scrolling through a long list of songs (maybe 3000), the letters didn't start until after I got to about "C." I don't know just what triggers the letters.

Gapless playback SEEMS to work on my "old" 5G iPod. However, it's hard to tell, as it seems to apply to all songs, not just those in the same album.

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apex said:

member since 23 Jun 2001 with 63 posts, unranked, send him a message or view his profile

Thu Sep 14, 2006 4:14 am

There was a sneak preview of the new Shuffle. On August 6th the pilot episode of Three Moons Over Milford aired. (This episode is a freebie on iTunes by the way.) If you view it you can see that at the beginning of the episode Elizabeth McGovern is using one while going for a jog. If you view the show in Quicktime you can pause and see a pretty good shot of it.

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