Apple’s done it again.

This afternoon, Steve Jobs announced the 2007 iPod lineup. After spending fifteen minutes staring at the above picture, and a further twenty minutes absorbing the specs, you’ll probably come to the conclusion I did: “Holy @$#&%#! There’s no way any of Apple’s competitors can top this…or even come close to it.” I’m happy to say that I did a great job at predicting the new feature set. Let’s take a look at the new iPods, shall we?

iPod Nano

Yes, Apple really did release the “Fat Nano” we saw a few weeks ago. For $149 you get a 4GB model, and an 8GB for $199. As with all the other iPods with screens (basically all but the Shuffle, which didn’t receive any updates), OS X powers everything, and a new menu system has been implemented. If you like the iPhone’s “Coverflow” feature, you’ll be glad that all of the iPods have it now, though you use the ClickWheel instead of your finger. Oh, and it plays video too.

iPod Classic

The original iPod, now dubbed the “Classic,” is available in 80GB ($249) and 160GB ($349) versions. It’s pretty much the same as the Nano, but it has more storage and it’s bigger (so you have a bigger screen too).

iPod Touch

This is my new favorite iPod. Available in 8GB ($299) and 16GB ($399) the iPod Touch looks remarkably like the iPhone. It’s the “iPhone without the phone” we’ve all been waiting for. This touchscreen ‘Pod is Wi-Fi equipped, so you can surf the web with Safari, and download tracks off the iTunes Music Store wherever there’s a hotspot. It’s a little smaller than the iPhone (closer to the iPod Classic, actually), and it lacks a lot of the iPhone’s major features. However, don’t think of it as a stripped-down iPhone, but as the Ultimate iPod. This is one amazing product, everyone. Too bad it only gets 10 hours of battery life tops.

As I said earlier, this iPod is my favorite of the new lineup. I just wish it was a bit cheaper. $299 is a little steep for an 8GB digital music player, though if you think about what it can do…

iPhone

Ooh… Bad luck to you early adopters! Apple axed the 4GB model, and lowered the price of the 8GB one to $399 (down from $599). Remember: Don’t shoot the messenger!

This entry was posted on Wednesday, September 5th, 2007 at 6:11 pm by Matt and is filed under Apple, Features. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.