Apple unveils new wireless iPod Touch

The Telegraph ^ | 05/09/2007 | Ben Farmer

[martin_fierro]

Apple unveils new wireless iPod Touch

By Ben Farmer Last Updated: 7:53pm BST 05/09/2007

A new generation of iPod player with an extra wide screen and wireless internet connection has been unveiled by Apple.

Apple boss Steve Jobs unveils the next generation iPods Steve Jobs unveils the next generation iPod

The newest incarnation of the iconic MP3 player will allow users to surf the web, store photos, watch internet videos and download music directly to the device.

The new "iPod Touch", features a 3.5-inch, touch-screen display on which light finger touches allow the user to scroll through menus, and use two fingers to resize pictures.

The wireless internet access and the Safari web browser, including the Google and Yahoo search engines, offers access to the popular YouTube video-sharing website.

The iPod touch will be available in the UK later this month. An 8GB memory version capable of holding up to 1,750 songs will cost £199 and the 16GB model holding 3,500 songs will cost £269. advertisement

It comes in bright colours and is a much squarer shape than previous generations of the gadget.

Speaking from his company’s headquarters in San Francisco, California, Steve Jobs, chief executive and founder of Apple joked that his company’s new iPod was "one of the seven wonders of the world".

"This is the revolution in how to enjoy your music," he said.

The device was unveiled in a launch broadcast live from California to eager Apple enthusiasts and journalists around the world. Every new announcement was met with whoops and cheers.

Mr Jobs also unveiled the new iPod Nano, which features a 2.5-inch screen for watching movies and playing built-in games. "It’s incredibly tiny. It’s incredibly thin," he said.

The Nano features a 320-by-240-pixel screen with 24 hours of audio playback. "We think it’s really, really beautiful," Mr Jobs said.

The company also plans to release the sleek iPhone in the UK before Christmas priced somewhere between £300 and £400.

The eagerly awaited launch of the new iPod touch comes a year after Apple last updated the iPod range and the latest models mark the sixth generation of the hugely popular music player.

Since it was first launched in November 2001 it has become an iconic symbol of the digital world and more than 110 million have been sold across the globe.

The portable music player transformed the fortunes of Apple and helped lead a music industry revolution which has seen a collapse in sales of tapes and CDs.

iPod sales accounted for 29 per cent of the company’s £2.7billion revenue in the last quarter while its iTunes store is the world’s most popular online digital media shop and has sold more than three billion songs.

The huge sums of money at stake have seen other manufacturers and retailers including Microsoft aggressively trying to muscle in on the market but Apple is hoping the new models will help maintain its dominance.

The company controls more than two-thirds of the MP3 player market but sales have begun to slip as the market reaches saturation.

Michael Gartenberg of market research firm Gartner said: "Competitors seem to always be chasing the last generation of Apple products. It makes it very difficult for competitors to make a dent against Apple in this space."

[Sunnyflorida]

I’m wondering why WiFi music store is WiFi and not just completely wireless and if the store will download my Rush 24/7 daily podcasts. Anyone know?

[af_vet_rr]

Looks like the Markets weren’t impressed today. AAPL down 7.40 or 5%...

This happens everytime - I think what happens, is that the stock rises a lot on the expectations and rumors, such that by the time the event happens, those who were going to buy have already done so.

[Sunnyflorida]

Buy on the rumor and sell on the news.

[BunnySlippers]

This one. In black. With the black wheel:

[RayChuang88]

Pity that Apple wasn’t able to make the iPod Touch combined with an 80 or 120 GB hard disk drive. That would have been the “killer” iPod everyone wanted.

[Mr. Blonde]

Looks like I’m sticking with the classic. No sense in spending that much money on something that doesn’t come close to holding all my music. Oh well. The classic is still pretty nice and I like the all metal enclosure.

[ken21]

great.

[Lawgvr1955]

I just bought 2 30gig Ipods on Sunday. If I’d of waited four days, I could have bought 2 80 gig Ipods for the same price. Can’t win for losing.

[RS]

Look kind like this ?



Comes with 4G, Internet Radio and a micro SD slot for expansion.

[SunkenCiv]

“Buy on mystery, sell on history.” — one of Paul Kangas’ fave quotes

[Terpfen]

No sense in spending that much money on something that doesn’t come close to holding all my music.

Why would you want it to hold every single song, especially considering how the iPod's UI is designed?

[Mr. Blonde]

My music taste is pretty schizophrenic for one. When I finish listening to Girl Talk and move to The Black Keys I need to hold as much of my collection as possible. Who knows what I might be in the mood for next.

And the other thing is when one of the big uses for the iPod Touch is video I will be holding even less music maybe even a lot less depending on how much video I'm carrying.

[tubebender]

You can take my gardening advice to the bank but proceed with caution when I start predicting stock trends...

[tubebender]

Did I tell you AAPL will be up $5.00 at the next close... <:)

[BunnySlippers]

Nuh-huh ...

[Terpfen]

When I finish listening to Girl Talk and move to The Black Keys I need to hold as much of my collection as possible.

Not necessarily. You can just load the highlights of those bands and still be fine. I have 70GB of music, but fill around 800MB on my iPod Nano, podcasts included.

And the other thing is when one of the big uses for the iPod Touch is video I will be holding even less music maybe even a lot less depending on how much video I'm carrying.

I haven't heard any complaints about storage space on the video-displaying iPhone, so I don't see much of a problem with a 16GB iPod Touch.

[Obadiah]

Pity that Apple wasn’t able to make the iPod Touch combined with an 80 or 120 GB hard disk drive.

That IS what everyone wanted and was hoping for!

[RayChuang88]

I think the problem was that if you had to run the big full-screen display, Wi-Fi circuitry and a 80 to 160 GB hard drive it would have required too big a battery to comfortably carry around. It would have ended something like the Archos 605 WiFi, a big player that is much bigger than the iPod Touch and weighs around half a pound in weight.

[zeugma]

My music taste is pretty schizophrenic for one. When I finish listening to Girl Talk and move to The Black Keys I need to hold as much of my collection as possible. Who knows what I might be in the mood for next.

That's one reason I like my Sansa player. It takes SD cards, so I can have several with different mixes. That said, one of those 80GB iPods would suit me fine. :-) 

[RS]

Since Apple excutives are saying the iphone price cut was planned “long ago”, one has to wonder if the have already planed to discontinue the new 8G ipod and drop the price on the 16G
- they still have time ( 68+ days ) to make that happen before Christmas.

... or come out with a 16G iphone at $449