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
“…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.”
————–
Doubtful, Apple need to clearly differentiate the iPod touch from the iPhone, and they have done that well.
Mail, maps, sms and phone are all communication apps… It makes best sense for Apple to only bundle those apps on their communication device, the iPhone… Not on an iPod.
Like Grifterus, I’m not used to complaining about anything Apple . . . but DANG. I wanted an iPod Touch with at least 100 GB of storage, not 16. That is, I wanted a serious upgrade to my current 80GB videoPod. Looks like that’s just not in the cards, maybe ever. (Flash vs. hard drive)
Have to try to talk myself into the 160 “Classic” now, I guess.
Again, DANG.
“If that’s the case, why couldn’t they fit the 30gb hard drive into the iPod touch using the same magic?”
I think the reason for this is combining the hdd w/ the big screen would kill the battery life.
“…but DANG. I wanted an iPod Touch with at least 100 GB of storage, not 16.”
——————–
Well even if a 100gb flash chip existed (which it doesn’t,) the chip alone would cost more than a MacPro.
GOODBYE WHITE PLASTIC!!! The end of an era. iPod’s no longer have white plastic. iMac’s – forget it, it’s all about aluminum now. All we have left is the MacBook.
WHITE is clinical.
I didn’t like it much… but ok.
HEY – is there a SD slot on the iPodtouch?
And now that the iPhone is lower in price… hmmmm why buy the iPodtouch? I get the iPhone…. hurray! Xmas is early – so good for us all.
Please, Please Apple let us replace our own batteries.
Please, Please add a SD card slot to all iPODs.
Man… it would be sweeter then pie.
howie
Me will have to wait for gen2 unfortunately. I need more than 16 gig space for my songs. I could go for a pod classic but now that looks so retro.
I’ve waited for 2 years – I can wait some more. I wonder if I can get a cheap iPod video on ebay for the interim?
i don’t want the new shuffle… because i already have one
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i don’t want the new nano, because it does not have enough storage, or a large screen,
i don’t want the iPod classic, because, the screen is too small for video
i don’t want the iPod touch, because it does not have the storage space, no Skype/iChat/mail.
i want the “new” iPhone, i liked the old one, and the new price is good.
i would like to have:
an iPod Touch with a hard drive + full internet + maps
OR
a 16 GB iPhone + GPS.
i’m not impressed by the new products at all, they made a big mistake.
One thing is troubling me – There’s no mention of OS X being used on the new iPod Touch. Mr Jobs usually crows loudly about things like this. No OS X could mean difficulty for hackers in adding the obviously missing apps, like a mail client and instant messaging.
Since the ipod touch is not a phone, it would have been nice for Apple to place the camera on the front of the iPod touch so you can do video conferencing (skype). iChat would be nice too.
Other than that…I think I will buy one or two….
If iPodTouch has Safari to browse with…
will I not be able to see my emails in the browser
while I am near a wifi transmitter.
Come-on… Apple will let it be so… I know it.
All new products are very nice. Love the NANO best.
Brau sez:
If Apple didn’t use OS X in this iPod, this means that Apple has developed TWO ENTIRELY DIFFERENT OS’ES for two nearly identical products.
Ge, I think I could probably use Occams frying pan to sort out this conundrum, who needs a razor…
i can’t find any mention of a microphone on the iPod Touch!!!!
no skype, no VOIP without that….
Time to buy a ZUNE…. hahahahaha
they sell for 30 bucks cos they are not in demand. Run out now and get 10… and man enjoy them cos they are really really a waist. I bought one and took it back in 30 minutes. True.
And I am a Windows user… using iTunes and iPod… these Apple devices, well, THEY ROCK man!!!! Yup, the Apple device s looks and sound so much better. And these new babies are sweeter then ever.
And well the ZunePhoney ain’t here yet… but come on… MS going to sell it for 299.99? Will it be a multi-touch screen – hmmmm. Will it have a HDrive… ok… let it. Dinosaurisous….
dan
“If Apple didn’t use OS X in this iPod, this means that Apple has developed TWO ENTIRELY DIFFERENT OS’ES for two nearly identical products.”
Yes, that’s right, they could indeed. None of the previous iPods run OS X. They have a specially designed OS. There’s no reason why Apple couldn’t limit the iPod Touch by not using OS X. Steve bragged loud about having OS X on the iPhone and TV. Not a word on the Touch. Time will tell.
Looks really cool. Like other people I wish it had a couple of things. More storage would be nice, mail, chat, VOIP. Just as is it is an amazing upgrade though.
I noticed something–you can’t buy movies, TV shows, or games from the built in iTunes store, just music. Anyone know why? Seems like they would want to sell as much of everything as possible.
1. No mail? No widgets? Puhleez… it’s an “iPod” designed primarily for music and video into which they’ve tossed in touch controls, coverflow, wi-fi and Safari. It’s more than you can get from any other manufacturer.
2. 16 gigs may not hold your entire library, but having used my 8 gig iPhone exclusively for two months I can say that it is not a hardship. I suggest you look into Smart Folders in iTunes. You can set up a special iPod/iPhone Smart Folder that can constantly modify the music being loaded into the iPod each time it’s docked. The collection always stays fresh and your massive library gets rotated through the smaller device automatically.
mail, widgets and maps should have been included. There are some people that would love the iPhone but just don’t want the AT&T;network. In our area, it’s not good.. But, I’d still be willing to pay for the other options.
What would also be a great hacker addition, would be a skype application and then have a dock connector device that is a headphone with microphone.. Then we can get phone calls on it too.
“i’m not impressed by the new products at all, they made a big mistake.”
I have a feeling their “big mistake” is going to result in yet another stellar holiday sales season regardless of your reviews.
@ boogle
The iPod touch has a USB port in it. Or use Brian’s idea of the headphone port for the microphone.
It appears that there is no mic or camera on the iPod touch? I searched the apple site but could not find anything.
Can anyone confirm if the iPod Touch has a mic and video camera built in?
I would like to use it for video chats among other things….
Thanks
A quick look at Apple’s website reveals no mention of the iPod Touch using OS X as its OS. The tech specs of the iPhone clearly state OS X as its OS, and since there was no mention of it at the press release, I don’t think the new iPod runs on OS X. My 2 cents on this issue.
Santa is coming… be a good boy
There is no camera on the iPod touch.
There is no microphone on the iPod touch.
Nor is there a vacuum attachment, satellite dish, dishwasher, emergency road flare, breathalyzer or mass spectrometer. Third party manufacturers will come up with those for attachment through the 10-pin connector at the bottom of it.
It is an iPod-nothing more, nothing less.
It is meant for you to use as a portable media device with some light web surfing, not as the swiss army knife of portable computing devices.
MDN Magic word: Land, as in “I am the landstander, I stand on land”
Some interesting points of view from zune users here (Seriously)
http://www.zunescene.com/forums/index.php?board=1.0