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Posted on 09/07/2005 6:53:37 PM PDT by martin_fierro
Apple's New Play: iTunes Phone, Tiny iPod
Patrick Seitz 2 hours, 46 minutes ago
With the Christmas shopping season near, Apple Computer on Wednesday introduced a new line of iPod music players -- including its first music phone -- that it hopes will top many holiday wish lists.
At a press event in San Francisco, Apple (NasdaqNM:AAPL - News) Chief Executive Steve Jobs unveiled a super slim device called the iPod Nano, which will replace the iPod Mini.
He also showed off the much-anticipated iTunes phone, a joint effort with Motorola (NYSE:MOT - News) and Cingular Wireless.
"It's critical for Apple to maintain an aggressive iPod road map moving forward in order for it to continue to possess the leading market share in the digital music space," said Tim Deal, an analyst with Technology Business Research. (See related stories, this page.)
In particular, Apple saw the competitive threat posed by cell phones with music playback features already on the market, Deal says.
The iPod Nano is an evolution of the iPod Mini. The Nano uses flash memory instead of the Mini's small hard-disk drive. It can hold up to 1,000 songs, and its color screen can display photos. It's half as thick and one-third the size of the Mini.
"IPod Nano is the biggest revolution since the original iPod," Jobs said in a statement. "IPod Nano is a full-featured iPod in an impossibly small size, and it's going to change the rules for the entire portable music market."
By switching to flash memory, Apple was able to make the device much smaller and greatly improve the battery life.
The Nano is thinner than a standard No. 2 pencil and weighs just 1.5 ounces. Its rechargeable battery lasts 14 hours.
The Nano also features a clock, stopwatch and games. And it has a screen lock feature that lets no one except the user access content.
The iPod Nano is available in 2 gigabyte and 4 GB models for $199 and $249, respectively. Apple also is selling a bunch of new accessories including docks, headphones, arm bands and slip cases.
The Motorola Rokr iTunes phone will be available Thursday. It will sell for $249 with a two-year commitment to Cingular service.
The iTunes phone holds only about 100 songs. But it includes nifty features, such as automatically pausing the music when you get a call.
Users can easily switch from phone to music and back again with the push of a dedicated music key. The iTunes software on the Rokr phone features simple menus, navigation and playback. It has a color display for viewing album art or photos. Users can listen to music while text messaging friends or taking photos with the built-in camera.
The iTunes phone "points to an entirely new direction for Apple," said Peter Rojas, editor in chief of Engadget, a Web magazine devoted to consumer electronics. "It's important because cell phones are absorbing so much of the functionality of other devices."
Apple was forced to come out with a music phone because of the realities of the market, Rojas says.
"Apple realizes that if you don't cannibalize your own business somebody else will," he said.
Apple sells millions of iPods every year, but the cell phone industry sells hundreds of millions of handsets, Rojas says.
Many casual music listeners might not be interested in getting an iPod, but they might like a cell phone that doubles as a music player, he says.
For kids and the young at heart, Apple unveiled a special edition Harry Potter iPod. The device is engraved with the crest of the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry from the popular book series.
Apple also said the entire Harry Potter audiobook series is available for download exclusively on the iTunes Music Store.
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wedding present ping
FIRST I HAVE TO GET AN INVITATION
j/k < |:)~
But seriesly, I like the Treo phones better. With a 2 GB SD Card they can play .mp3s -- and surf the web/send e-mail & photos.
I'm beginning to think links and pings to threads that contain anything interesting to Mac users should come with something analogous to barf alerts.
Anti-Mac people (as opposed to garden variety PC users) are as vicious and ignorant as anything that comes from DU.
I'd get a Treo, but I'm not gay...
Sorry, I couldn't resist injecting some sarcasm ;o>
I hope this thread is not indicative of the success or failure of the pod phone...
lol
Damn Sprint! Why don't they ever get the cool phones?
Apple announces iPod Cell Phone...PING!
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