Apple Let’s Rock Event - SlashGear Summary
As expected, Apple’s Let’s Rock event this morning was decidedly focused on music, with updates to iTunes, the iPod nano and the iPod touch taking center stage. Most significant change comes in the freshly-slimmed iPod nano: it’s the thinnest iPod to date, despite the 8GB and new 16GB sizes, with a curved metal and glass casing and new, longer display. Inside, Apple have borrowed the accelerometer technology from the iPhone and iPod touch to bring slick transitions from portrait to landscape mode. More details about thenew iPod nano here.You can find more details, video, plus the full Live Blog transcript, after the cut
The iPod touch has also lost some weight, with a new, iPhone 3G styled profile only using a stainless steel back rather than the cellphone’s plastic. Storage remains the same – 8GB, 16GB or 32GB – but the PMP gets hardware volume controls, a built-in speaker, and integrated Nike+ receiver. More details about thenew iPod touch here.
TheiPod classicgot a minor tweak, too. Gone are the 80GB and 160GB versions, replaced with a single 120GB model that coincidentally matches Microsoft’s latestHDD-based Zunein capacity and, at $249, price.
iTunes v8 introduces high-definition TV shows, including content from the freshly re-woo’d NBC, and priced at $2.99 each. It also brings a new intelligent playlist system called Genius, which can analyse your current track and suggest both similar music from your library and from the iTunes store. Genius playlists have been added to both the iPod nano and touch, too. More details aboutiTunes v8 here.
Finally, Apple announced firmware v2.1 for the iPhone and iPod Touch. Intended to speed up iPhone 3G backups, clear out some of the bugs and reduce the number of dropped calls, it’ll be available on Friday. On the iPod touch, meanwhile, it offers all of the new software features from the updated model (such as Genius). If you’re currently running v2.0 on your iPod touch, the update will be free; if not, you’ll need to pay $9.95. More detailshere.
We’ll have hands-on photos, video and feedback on the new iPod ranges very soon, so keep reading SlashGear!
