Apple today introduced the new iPod which features a 60 percent brighter and more vibrant 2.5-inch color display perfect for watching TV shows and now Hollywood movies right in the palm of your hand. The new iPod features seamless integration with iTunes 7 and the iTunes Store (http://www.itunes.com) which now includes over 75 Hollywood movies, 220 television shows and popular video games designed specifically for the fifth generation iPod. The new iPod is available in a 30GB model at the new low price of $249 and an 80GB model, which holds up to 20,000 songs or 100 hours of video, for $349.
“The world’s best digital music player has evolved into the world’s most popular portable video player too,” said Steve Jobs, Apple’s CEO, in the press release. “The new iPod’s brighter and more vibrant display and longer battery life make it perfect for watching Hollywood movies and TV shows right in the palm of your hand.”
The new iPod features Apple’s patented Click Wheel for precise, one-handed navigation, and is seamlessly integrated with iTunes 7, which now features gapless playback for enjoying albums the way they were intended to be listened to. iPod’s new Search and Quick Scroll feature makes it even easier for music fans to find exactly what they are looking for and Apple’s patent pending Auto-Sync technology automatically downloads digital music, podcasts, photos, audiobooks, movies, music videos and popular TV shows onto the iPod and keeps them up-to-date whenever the iPod is plugged into a Mac or Windows computer.
With its high-resolution color display, iPod allows users to view album art and photo slideshows while playing music, or watch video and play games in full color. Popular video games designed specifically for the fifth generation iPod include: “Bejeweled,” “Cubis 2,” “Mahjong,” “Mini Golf,” “Pac-Man,” “Tetris,” “Texas Hold’em,” “Vortex” and “Zuma,” and are available for purchase on the iTunes Store.
The 30GB model features up to 14 hours of battery life for music playback and up to three and a half hours of video playback, and the 80GB model fea- tures up to 20 hours of battery life for music playback and six and a half hours of video playback. The new iPod features brightness control allowing users to easily change the brightness.
The new iPod models are available worldwide through the Apple Store(R) (http://www.apple.com), Apple’s retail stores and Apple Authorized Resellers. The new 30GB iPod model in white or black is available for $249 (US), and the new 80GB model in white or black is available for $349 (US). All iPod models include redesigned earbud headphones providing superior comfort, fit and sound qual- ity, and a USB 2.0 cable.
Optional accessories for the new iPod include: Universal Dock for $39 (US), Apple Remote for $29, Apple iPod AV cable for $19, the iPod Camera Connector for $29 and a new incredibly compact iPod USB power adapter for $29 which at almost half the size of the previous USB power adapter, is perfect for charging your iPod while traveling.
iPod requires a Mac with a USB 2.0 port and Mac OS(R) X version 10.3.9 or later and iTunes 7.0 or later; or a Windows PC with a USB 2.0 port and Windows 2000 (Service Pack 4), Windows XP Home or Professional (Service Pack 2) and iTunes 7.0 or later. Internet access is required and a broadband connection is recommended.
See the new Apple iPod here.
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I just installed iTunes 7 and noticed under the “Customize” option a greyed-out option to update an iPhone.
I am currently allowing ITMS to update all of my album art! Frickin’ sweeeet!
Anyone seen a software update yet for the existing 5th gen iPods? Curious to see if they will add that new search function to existing units….
Couldn’t get iTunes7 from Software Update nor at Apple’s download page, so of course, it’s available at Apple’s iTunes page. And, just like G4Dualie said, there’s a grayed out iPhone driver, in the Customize window, as you install it.
Steve looked healthy and was wearing a brown shirt!
Also, you need Quicktime 7.1.3 for the movie Coverflow to work, and it’s available at the Quicktime website.
I don’t know about the rest of you but I really like the new layout of iTunes 7. The brushed metal look is much more subdued, so it’s easier on the eyes. It has a new set of icons on the left-side and the index has been modified for easier navigation.
The View button on the top panel is a nice feature too. Choosing the Cover Browser feature is like using a fancy CD jukebox. As you scroll through your song choices, the cover art scrolls from right to left and uses the same reflected look that iWeb uses for photographs.
Because this stuff just works… Apple has the freedom to provide incremental changes such as those discussed above.
A 2.5″ screen is not quite the optimal showplace for a 2 or 3 hour movie – even if it only weighs a bit more than a burger. I don’t care if it has near half-again the screen real estate as my 3G and many-many extra-bright pixels, even the rumored full-panel screen (4″ ‘cinema’) would have been small – barely large enough to share with someone you like.
That kvetch aside, they (and their specs) look good. Zune, here’s a chair … please bend over …
So, can I rip a movies from my DVD’s into iTunes and watch them on my new iPod, (the way I can with music) or can I only watch what I download from ITMS?
I’m very excited about the upgraded service and iPod hardware, and of course, movies.
I’m also very disappointed about these things:
– No wide(r) screen iPod
– No way to burn iTunes downloaded, playable video, onto DVD of CD.
– No new name (instead of iTunes)
I bet this stuff (minus the name change) gets added between now and Christmas.
Leaving now for Apple Retail Store down the street. I’ll let you know what I find there – including behind the scene info from store mgr – a personal friend. I’ll have intel on iPhone and wide screen.
That’s not an iPhone option on the installer. It’s “iTunes Phone Driver.” Subtle, yet huge, difference (google ROKR).
Underwelmed of England.
This is not the 6G iPod we’ve been waiting for – just the usual Apple – performance bump nothing-ness.
Nano has reverted to a slim version of the old stlye mini.
Shuffle – how small do you want this to go?
Film downloads not a flexible as original DVD, Mac the ripper, DVD2one and instant handbrake.
Jobs will have to get the industry to come up with something more ground-breaking than this.
Didn’t you get it?
AUTOMATIC ARTWORK DOWNLOAD!!!
Will this and other offerings stop the drop in iPod sales????
So it’s AAPL + DIS vs. the rest of Hollywood + M$ now, isn’t it? I wonder who’s gonna win that war…
“Steve looked healthy and was wearing a brown shirt!”
Brown: It’s the new black.
Yeah, was anyone else particularly underwhelmed?
The new iPod is the same as the old iPod–an extra 20GB of storage on the high end and a brighter backlight. Oh! And games! That’s what we waited 10 months for? Tetris?!
Apple’s movie store is pretty much the same as Amazon with prices all over the place and no DVD burning.
iPod nano and shuffle got new cases. The nano got more memory.
I’ll grant you, I’m feeling a bit of the “Where’s my flying car?” But, I’m looking at what Microsoft claims will be in the Zune (I’ll admit, we’ll see) and what Apple just delivered and I have to ask, “Who’s the innovator?”
So are these movies only designed for the ipod. I mean are they in HD ??? so I can watch them on my computer and be crystal clear. At 1.5gig or so thats not likely oh well back to mac the ripper.
Just back from Apple Retail Store. Report:
First, no new iPods of any kind in store. The kids in t-shirt uniforms didn’t know when they would get them. Sample of banter: the now obsolete models will be reduced in price to match prices on new ones. What? Oh, maybe that’s only for the floor demos. What? One kid said the new iPods would be 60 gig and 80 gig, doing away with the 30 gigs. When I told him, no, the new models would be 30 gig and 80 gig, he said I was wrong until I showed him on the MacPro running behind him. He said, ‘oh’. Another kid expressed disappointment in no wide screen, said he doubted there would be much customer interest in a simply repackaged iPod, no matter how bright the screen.
Second, store manager not in. Thus, I have no intel on iPhone and wide screen iPod. Sorry.
“Yeah, was anyone else particularly underwhelmed?”
I’m JUST now calming down and able to focus on working again. Kinda… I am typing here aren’t I
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So anybody see these available at any retail outlets? The Austin Apple store doesn’t have them in stock yet… I’m looking for an 80 gig one. CompUSA, Fry’s etc? Anyone see them in stores?
Charlie
http://www.TierraGPS.com
Truth asked “So it’s AAPL + DIS vs. the rest of Hollywood + M$ now, isn’t it? I wonder who’s gonna win that war…”?
I’d say APPL+DIS. Apple controls the digital distribution market and their share increases each day. People who are hooked on iTunes will be more comfortable trying their downloads than Unbox or Zune or any other also-ran from Microsoft. Napster practically gave away every song in the catalog with their subscription model and yet people stuck with iPods. Take a quick look at the box-office to see who has the films people are watching. Cars, Pirates of the Caribbean, Chronicles of Narnia, Invinceable, etc. They have owned the movie business as of this year. Not even counting the success of ABC and ESPN.
I’d say once Disney sells their one-millionth movie through iTunes before year-end, it won’t be “the rest of Hollywood” with Microsoft. It may take them some time to swallow their pride and agree to Steve Job’s pricing structure, but just as earlier this year with the record companies, no one walks away from success. Apple with have ten-fold the content by 2008.
I like how the iTunes movies are the same prices as DVDs, only lower quality and with DRM. What a great idea!
Excuse me for being underwhelmed. A few minor iPod upgrades, but still no wide screen or “true” video model. Woefully overpriced movies. The only innovation is the coming iTV.
One can’t claim Apple misled us into thinking we’d see specific items, but they did imply we’d see some i-popping stuff. Those expecting an Apple-class phone, video ipod, TV, media settop box, et. al. are surely disappointed.
I consider the 80GB iPod really good value.
Mr.Peaboy: “I’m also very disappointed about these things: No wide(r) screen iPod”
Look, Apple would do whatever large screen if it could. The point is that with even that small 2.5″ 320×240 iPod can run video only for like 3.5 hours (30GB model) at best 6.5 hours (80GB model).
5″ 640×480 screen would eat four times more energy what would make usability of iPod truly pathetic. If to add to four-times more heavy screen a battery that would compensate four-time higher power consumption, then weight of iPod would end up in like 250-300g or 10 ounces.
So no, technology does not let Apple to do a handheld device with four-times bigger screen. This disappointing fact has nothing to do with Apple, Jobs, whatever.
Good explanation, DenisRS
Assuming, of course, that you know for sure your deductions are correct – it’s beyond me. Seems like we live in a time when things that were never possible, suddenly are.
Anyway, maybe iTV is the wide screen iPod and what we saw today is the iPod of now and the future.
Sorry for all you who can’t wait to watch a $14.95 movie on a 4in screen.