No that's not a cheesy allusion to an altered saying in the V for Vendetta movie, alright well maybe it is, but today will be the day that Apple releases its first touch-screen iPod. That is, assuming you take Think Secret's latest post verbatim. Apple scheduled a media event to be held later today (10AM PDT) and they will without a doubt be announcing some changes in the iPod product line.
The rumors paint a pretty picture of the new iPod as having an iPhone-like physique with a 1.8-inch hard drive offering capacities up to 120GB with the possibility of some new-fangled wireless capabilities. As long as the potential wireless feature in the new iPod trumps the Microsoft Zune's amazing wireless feature dubbed "share a song with a friend and they can only play it three times because DRM is great!", I don't think Apple will receive any consumer backlash.
However, I have always been a Nano person (4GB 1G, 4GB 2G) as have others in my family (sisters: 2GB 1G white, 2GB 1G black) so the thought of a hi-res display with CoverFlow and much larger capacities for the new Nano strikes my fancy:
Apple's new iPod nano, meanwhile, will gain much of the same functionality as Apple's current 5.5G iPod, including video playback and a higher resolution 320x240 pixel display. The nano will remain Flash-based, with capacities expected to top out at 12GB or 16GB, in keeping with rival product offerings.
Stay tuned to this post as I will be updating it as news comes from Cupertino.
Update: Wow, the media event earlier today was more impressive than I could have ever imagined, here are the highlights from it.
First off, the iPod Shuffle sports new colors. The iPod Nano sports a wider yet shorter body (hence the nickname "fatty") and has a larger 2-inch screen with the ability to use CoverFlow and play videos. Wrapping up, Steve Jobs stated that the new iPod Nano has a 24 hour audio playback and 5 hours video playback battery life. The 4GB Nano has a price point of 149 while the 8GB version goes for 199.
The regular iPod is now called the iPod classic to help differentiate it from the others. The iPod classic looks like the last generation but with a full metal body with a thinner model boasting an 80GB hard drive for 249 and a slightly thicker model for 349 toting a whopping 160GB hard drive. Battery life for the iPod classic tips the scales at 40 hours for audio and 7 hours for video.
Next up, the iPod touch! It's just 8mm thin and looks the same as the iPhone minus a chrome ring on the exterior. It has all the same iPod features of the iPhone and it even includes Wi-Fi support, mobile Safari and the YouTube application. This is huge. The iPod touch comes in 8GB (299) and 16GB (399) versions, with battery life around 22 hours for audio playback and 5 hours for video playback.
The "one more thing" feature is the iTunes Wi-Fi Music Store, an application on the iPod touch and now available on the iPhone.
You can search for anything in the entire iTunes store. You can search for any artist, any song name, any album name, preview it, and if you love it go buy it. This is the new itunes WiFi music store.
Wrapping up the media event, Steve Jobs announced that the 8GB iPhone now retails for 399 and talked about a special Starbucks partnership. iPod touch and iPhone users receive free access to Starbucks Wi-Fi to access the iTunes Wi-Fi Music Store, where they can browse through currently or recently played songs in the physical Starbucks store, purchasing them on the fly if they so please. No word on whether this free Starbucks Wi-Fi can also be used for mobile Safari and not just the iTunes Wi-Fi Music Store.
Pictures from Engadget below:
What are your thoughts? Which iPod will you be buying next?