Apple today introduced the new iPod touch featuring Apple’s revolutionary multi-touch user interface that enables users to find and enjoy all of their music, videos and more on its gorgeous widescreen display with just the touch of a finger. First introduced on iPhone, the multi-touch interface uses pioneering new software to present the perfect user interface for each application. The iPod touch also includes Wi-Fi wireless networking, the first on any iPod, and three amazing applications that use it-Safari, the most advanced browser on any mobile device, lets users wirelessly view web pages just as they look on their computer, and features Google Search or Yahoo! oneSearch; Apple’s YouTube application lets users wirelessly watch over 10 million free videos from the Internet’s most popular video website; and the new iTunes Wi-Fi Music Store lets users wirelessly browse, preview and buy songs and albums from the most popular online music store in the world. The iPod touch is just 8mm thin, and is priced starting at just $299.
“The iPod touch is a landmark iPod, ushering in a whole new generation of features based on its revolutionary multi-touch interface and built-in Wi-Fi wireless networking,” said Steve Jobs, Apple’s CEO, in the press release. “People are going to be amazed at how thin it is and how much it does.”
With its gorgeous 3.5-inch widescreen display, iPod touch is perfect for watching movies and TV shows, as well as viewing photos and album art. iPod touch has a built-in accelerometer that automatically senses when you rotate it into its landscape position. When you’re in music, it automatically switches to Cover Flow so you can browse your music collection by album cover artwork with just a flick of a finger. When in Photos, it automatically displays the photo in its landscape aspect ratio; and when in Safari it displays the web page horizontally. iPod touch also has a built-in ambient light sensor that automatically adjusts the display’s brightness. iPod touch features up to 22 hours of audio playback and up to five hours of video playback.
The iTunes Wi-Fi Music Store lets you browse the iTunes Top Ten lists of songs and albums overall or by genre, check out new releases and “What’s Hot,” or search for your favorite songs, albums or artists. You can preview any song for free, then purchase and download the ones you like directly onto your iPod touch over Wi-Fi. The music you download will be automatically uploaded into your iTunes library the next time you sync your iPod touch with your computer.
With Safari, the most advanced web browser ever on a portable device, you can see web pages the way they were meant to be seen, with the ability to zoom into any webpage with a tap of your finger. The Safari web browser includes built-in Google Search and Yahoo! oneSearch so you can quickly and easily find information you need. iPod touch also includes Apple’s YouTube application that allows you to access, browse and search for millions of free YouTube videos over Wi-Fi.
Apple today also announced an exclusive agreement with Starbucks that allows you to access the iTunes Wi-Fi Music Store for free in participating US Starbucks stores starting next month. When you enter a participating Starbucks location, your iPod touch, iPhone, or Mac or PC running iTunes will automatically recognize the iTunes Wi-Fi Music Store. You can see what song is currently playing or has recently played in the store, and immediately preview, buy and download it over Wi-Fi.
The iPod is the world’s most popular family of digital music players with over 100 million sold. Today, Apple released its most exciting iPod lineup ever with the iPod shuffle in five new colors; iPod classic holding up to 40,000 songs; the incredible all new iPod nano with video playback; and the breakthrough iPod touch with a revolutionary multi-touch user interface. iPod owners can choose from a vast ecosystem of accessories with over 4,000 products made specifically for the iPod including cases, fitness accessories, speaker systems and iPod connectivity in over 70 percent of US automobiles.
The new iPod touch is scheduled to be available later this month. The 8GB iPod touch model is $299 (US) and the 16GB iPod model is $399 (US). iPod touch requires a Mac with a USB 2.0 port, Mac OS X 10.4.10 or later and iTunes 7.4; or a Windows PC with a USB 2.0 port and Windows Vista or Windows XP Home or Professional (Service Pack 2) or later and iTunes 7.4. Internet access is required and a broadband connection is recommended, fees may apply. The iTunes Store is not available in all countries.
* Battery life and number of charge cycles vary by use and settings. See http://www.apple.com/batteries for more information. Music capacity is based on four minutes per song and 128-Kbps AAC encoding; photo capacity is based on iPod-viewable photos transferred from iTunes; and video capacity is based on H.264 1.5-Mbps video at 640-by-480 resolution.
Related articles:
Apple lowers 8GB iPhone price to $399 for holiday season; iPhone sales on track – September 05, 2007
Apple unveils iTunes Wi-Fi Music Store; iTunes custom ringtone maker – September 05, 2007
Apple and Starbucks announce music partnership; wirelessly find and buy music at Starbucks – September 05, 2007
Apple introduces new iPod classic; 160GB model holds up to 40,000 songs in your pocket – September 05, 2007
Apple introduces all new iPod nano with enhanced UI, now plays video – September 05, 2007
No maps or weather widgets? Useless.
Today, Apple sounded the death knell for the cellphone industry. The first major WiFi computer-phone will reach the market at the end of the month. Great day for Jajah and Skype.
Shame its just 8GB and 16GB… why not put a hardrive in thoses puppies…. nevermind… it will be fun to use for 5mins anyway…
This is exactly the product I’ve been waiting for. Couldn’t care less about weather and widgets since Safari is built-in. Get that info from whatever web site you like.
PS: How many days after the first sale will it be before the first class-action lawsuit is filed because the battery is not user-replaceable? The under-over is 7 days.
Looks AMAZING!
Appears to be a lot of astroturfers on here today. Microsoft must be writing a lot of cheques!
Time to go buy a Zune!
In the words of Tenacious D, “Fsck Yeah!”
Yaaaaa Hooooo!!!!!!!!!
The iPod classic 80gb is thinner than the 5.5G 30gb, according to MacNN.
If that’s the case, why couldn’t they fit the 30gb hard drive into the iPod touch using the same magic?
It might not have been devastatingly thin but it still would’ve been a pretty svelte PMP.
Hackers: Ready….Set….Go!
It will not be long until that screen becomes filled with widgets!
The iPod Touch looks pretty nice. However, given that it has wi-fi access, I would have loved for Apple to include the iPhone’s e-mail application. I guess I could settle for Gmail’s web interface, but a full-fledged phone-less iPhone would’ve been exactly what I wanted.
But is it brown?
Can it squirt?
No, it cannot.
Apple may copy Microsoft’s innovations all they want, but still they can’t get it right like the brilliant people from Redmond.
Your Potential. Our Passion.™
The proportions of the nano still look odd to me – everything else looks fantastic (natch).
what is needed is a GPS receiver + maps … could sell maps of countries vie iTunes or whatever, bigger harddrive,
I agree that a e-mail would be nice even if you had to press a send receive button if yahoo wasn’t going to push the service. Maps would also be a good touch, but I know that they didn’t include these features to differentiate the iPhone by more than just the phone concept. However, I still don’t understand why a 16 gb iPhone isn’t availble for 499?????
Michael, you’re an idiot.
To repeat:
The Zune now has Wi-Fi in it’s limited release “Butthole Surfers” edition.
BTW, ALL the Zunes are limited editions……
Just what I was hoping for!!!
I have a 30 GB Gen. 5 ipod that I recently filled up with music. I can’t fit any more music on it. I encode at 256 AAC for most tracks, but all around I just have a lot of music.
Was looking forward to the ipod touch, but I am pretty disappointed in the small hard drive space. Looks like I’ll be getting an 80 gb ipod classic. Definitely disappointed when I saw the small hard drive size. I just don’t want to spend the extra money to hold LESS music…
Oh well, can’t please everyone…
with the addition of the itunes wifi store, i smell a revolution coming… just think, anywhere there’s wifi, you can shop millions of songs. goodbye cd stores…
michael! bookmark weatherchannel.com and google maps in the safari browser!
i was kinda hoping the touch ipod would be hard drive based, but seeing as i never use more than 10 or 11 GB on my 30gb 5g ipod, i don’t foresee the downgrade in storage space outweighing the massively amazing upgrade in functionality. i imagine the battery life on a widescreen, hd-based ipod with wifi wouldn’t have been so great, so there’s the tradeoff for now.
i can’t remember the last time i was this excited about a new apple product. probably when the imac g5 came out. this ipod is gonna be huge.
mw: party, as in i’m totally gonna party when i buy my 6g ipod!
Fantastic. This is the product everyone wants except for the (again) obvious omission of iChat and other communication apps. Go hackers!
So why no maps.
Only thing is 16 Gb, without a SD slot upgrade path is a VERY price.
What you’re paying for is the larger screen – is it glass?, and the interface, plus wifi.
It is COOL… but I’d buy the IPodMini… far more fun… far more useful to me. Better price.
VERY nice, i just wish it had mail.
…good thing i have a .mac address and getting mail on safari will be a snap.
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now i just have to subtly drool over it for a month till my wife can get the hint for our anniversary! 😀
I’m not used to bitch at Apple, and I think I’ll criticize something for the first time:
Although the iPod Touch is an amazing device and almost (I say ALMOST) what a lot of us were asking for (an iPhone without the phone), there is one vital aplication missing:
Mail
I was really looking forward to see an email client. I know most people wil say “well, use a web client”, but a lot of us use POP/IMAP and no web interface.
The god news is, it’s a software update, and if people start asking for Mail on the iPod Touch, most likely, it will be a reality.
Other than that, what else can I say? I WANT ONE!
Apparently I’m not alone about including Mail on the iPod Touch.