Tuesday, September 12, 2006
Breaking News: Apple Updates iPods and iTunes Music Store
Posted by Jeremy Charette in "NEWS" @ 11:20 AM
At a press conference today, Apple announced several new products and services. The iPod has been updated with a screen that's 60% brighter, battery life has been increased from 2 hours to 3.5 hours during video playback, and the 60 GB model has been upgraded to 80 GB. The iPod is now $50 less expensive, at $249 and $349. Despite rumors of a full-screen iPod Video, the outside appearance of the iPod is unchanged. The Nano gets double capacities (2GB, 4GB, and 8 GB), and an aluminum case (to counter customer complaints about the easily scratched front panel. The Shuffle has been decreased in size, has an aluminum case, only comes in 1GB capacity now, and is priced at $79.
On the software side, video on iTMS is seeing some improvements. All video will now be 640x480, rather than the current 320x240 pixel resolution. iTunes is now capable of gapless playback. iTunes also has some improvements in the user interface, and will auto-populate your album art if it's missing. In addition, the use of multiple computers is being made much easier, as iTunes will automatically back-fill one computer with content from another when you dock your iPod.
Lastly, full length movies are now available for download. New releases are $12.99 for pre-order and for the first week of release, then go up to $14.99. Audio is Dolby Surround. Purchased videos can be shared between authorized computers, but cannot be burned to a disc.
These are all admirable incremental improvements, but there's nothing revolutionary here. Where is the full-screen iPod? Or the iPhone? If Apple truly wants to stay ahead of the pack, they're going to need to continue their breakneck pace of innovation. This series of announcements only seems to stem the tide of competition.
On the software side, video on iTMS is seeing some improvements. All video will now be 640x480, rather than the current 320x240 pixel resolution. iTunes is now capable of gapless playback. iTunes also has some improvements in the user interface, and will auto-populate your album art if it's missing. In addition, the use of multiple computers is being made much easier, as iTunes will automatically back-fill one computer with content from another when you dock your iPod.
Lastly, full length movies are now available for download. New releases are $12.99 for pre-order and for the first week of release, then go up to $14.99. Audio is Dolby Surround. Purchased videos can be shared between authorized computers, but cannot be burned to a disc.
These are all admirable incremental improvements, but there's nothing revolutionary here. Where is the full-screen iPod? Or the iPhone? If Apple truly wants to stay ahead of the pack, they're going to need to continue their breakneck pace of innovation. This series of announcements only seems to stem the tide of competition.
