Apple Discusses New iPod Nano, Touch and Shuffle

Apple made a splash yesterday with their iPod/iTunes centric press conference in San Francisco. The big takeaways: a new iPod Nano (with a video camera), an update to iTunes, a bigger iPod Touch and a firmware update for the iPhone/iPod Touch. Oh, and a prettier/cheaper iPod Shuffle. Lots to cover, certainly. Lets look at the iPod stuff first.

New iPod Nano

Probably the biggest announcement was the addition of a video camera to the iPod Nano. Greg Joswiak, the VP of iPod and iPhone Product Marketing, explained to MTV News why they made the addition:

"[We're] taking advantage of this craze that's going on with spontaneous video. It's changed the way people enjoy content. People have had to rely on pocket video cameras to do this sorta thing, and those cost 149 dollars for a four gig. Now we're able to build that capability into an iPod Nano that costs 149 dollars for eight gigs."

The new video camera exports 640x480 VGA videos, which look like this. Note the nifty filters, which all come packed on the iPod and don't actually require any post-processing.

Other big additions to the iPod Nano include a radio (which allows a DVR-like pausing feature so you can pause live radio for 15 minutes and then skip ahead when you're ready to listen again) and a pedometer for joggers/mall walkers.

Bigger/Faster iPod Touch

iPod Touch improvements were also made, as Apple announced the addition of a larger 64GB version for $399, while bringing the smaller sized Touches down (8GB for $199, 32GB for $299). The processor on the iPod Touches was also brought up to the level of the 3GS, which should result in dramatically decreased load times for games and other apps.

Rumors had it that the Touch would also get a camera, like its Nano cousin, but no such luck. Joswiak commented on the lack of a camera on the Touch, saying that it was a matter of keeping the price lowe.

"The big story on the Touch was how to get the price down to $199 [on the 8GB model]. For us that was the absolutely magic price point. The iPod Mini started at $249, but when we brought it down to $199 our sales literally doubled. That's a magic price point for customers."

More Colors for iPod Shuffle

The iPod Shuffle remains the same, from a feature-set perspective, but Apple did introduce new colors (pink, green and blue to the already black and silver models). There's also an Apple Store exclusive chrome model, if you're trying to impress someone important.

Lastly, the iPod Classic was bumped up to 160GB, but will still cost the same $250.

Tags apple, ipod, itunes