The news everyone already knows but hasn't posted yet...

[DD]

Three new iPods, all quite killer players actually.

iPod Nano... bigger screen, video, coverflow
iPod Classic... available in up to 160gb () and 40 hours battery life ()
iPod Touch... like an iPhone but without the phone Available in 16gb (flash). Wifi and iTunes store, etc...

Its all here...
http://www.apple.com/


I may be a convert - 160gb and 40 hours playback is just too good to be true for me. Only problem is all my music is in OGG

On the other hand, I'm quite appauled at the UK pricing. For example, its $399 for the 16gb Touch which means it should be around £200 in the UK, however standard UK price inflation means its £200 for the 8gb. Huh

[BBD]

Interesting, though I haven't had a chance to really look at the offerings..... But 80GB @ $249 and Apple lossless--

[Step666]

Originally Posted by BBD

But 80GB @ $249 and Apple lossless--

Or the 160GB version for $349...

It's all a bit of an anti-climax really, given how good the predictions have been this time round. It's kind of like 'Yeah, and? We've known about this for weeks now, so what's the big deal?'.

[andrewmel]

Have been wondering which HD size would be next. I started this with a H320, then to a 60Gb iPod, I guess 160 is close enough to tripling

a

[musichound]

The 160GB is simply too large for my collection. I find it impossible to full 80GB. The interface does look a bit nicer and it's good to know Apple is still making large capacity players.

[saints]

They sure make eye candy players, shame about their limitations and software needed (h264 video etc on itouch)

[Invader Bugs]

Well, seeing as iriver H10 20gb is now slowly dieing, with battery charges lasting only a day or two, and it's now full, I think...dare I say....I'm upgrading to the 80gb Classic. Unless anyone has some suggestions.

[Jenny]

Clearly, I live under a rock since I had no idea, and so it was all a nice surprise to me. Well, except for the Nanos - the proportions look all wrong and I don't like the new colours they've brought in.

[mixin]

I don't see why everyone should know seeing as they only announced it yesterday

I'm liking the idea of the 160GB but am curious as to why the Touch, which is gonna primarily be a video player with that huge screen, is only 16gb and not HDD based.

[nsx_23]

I think I just might get the nano classic in black.......to add to my collection of 5 MP3 players...........

[Judge]

Goodbye Archos 605 160GB, hello iPod Classic 160GB.

[DD]

Originally Posted by mixin

I don't see why everyone should know seeing as they only announced it yesterday

I'm liking the idea of the 160GB but am curious as to why the Touch, which is gonna primarily be a video player with that huge screen, is only 16gb and not HDD based.

Well, usually when there's an iPod announcement everyone knows straight away and get sick of duplicate threads saying 'omgz, new ipodz wow'

And because it makes it easier to fit into the slim form factor (8mm thick), its what they used in the iPhone, etc...

[saints]

Love em or hate em, Apple dropped the price of the iphone by $200 but will give all the owners that paid the full price a $100 gift certificate, now thats good PR

[Step666]

Good PR but it doesn't help the people who bought it too much - it's only a gift certificate, not a rebate.
Then again, the sort of people who will have rushed out and bought the iPhone will be the sort of people who would probably end up spending the $100 with Apple anyway.

[DD]

Originally Posted by saints

Love em or hate em, Apple dropped the price of the iphone by $200 but will give all the owners that paid the full price a $100 gift certificate, now thats good PR

Yea, saw that on engadget when it first popped up an hour ago.
Some are saying its a publicity stunt, but I think Steve is a genuinely good guy and I really like the open letters he puts out on the website because its a bit of a personal touch having a message straight from the top (in the same way his keynote speeches are always quite entertaining, as opposed to the usual corporate business-plan mumbo-jumbo).

*hands up if you were sat on engadget of gizmodo refreshing their live-blogs every 10 seconds for the start to end *
I found some of my friends who aren't even into geeky stuff that much were sat on the engadget one!

The Starbucks thing was a bit wierd, but if they've been working on it for 2 years then it probably explains why he did that fake prank-call thing to Starbucks at the iPhone announcement. I don't know why they make it out to be such a special feature, but obviously they felt it was worth 2 years of R&D! Personally I think the Touch would make a good coffee-mat

Early-adopters for the iPhone accepted the risk that all early-adopters take and really they shouldn't expect any money, but they're getting it. I like.

[Step666]

The open letters will have been written by a PR person and the vouchers have nothing to do with being Steve being a good person.
It's just a very clever business move to try and stop people getting too pissed off with Apple.

They've dropped the 8GB iPhone to $400. IIRC, it only costs $300 to manufacture doesn't it? So all that means is they're gouging less.
Apple will still be getting their $200/phone off of AT&T, their slice of the contract and now sales will probably see an up-turn.

They should hang on to those gift vouchers, they'll need 'em in 6 months when they have to pay, what is it, $80 to get the battery replaced?
And then a further $30 or so to rent a spare iPhone whilst it's away...



Apple doesn't care about their customers, just about money.
If you need any more proof, how about the adverts they had on Google earlier:

[Courtesy of SearchEngineLand]

Who's the company commiserating with the early adopters? Nokia.
Who's the one basically pointing and laughing? Apple.

[shadesbass]

I agree with Jenny - the new nano looks really ugly IMHO.
The touch just appears to be a cut down version of the iPhone and the main difference between the "classic" and older HD iPods is the size of the hard drive. The introduction of a 160GB DAP is great, don't get me wrong, but I don't feel that a huge leap in innovation has been made in this latest batch of products, certainly not relative to their previous offerings. Although some people have argued the lack of innovation in all their products for a long time...

I'll bet the iPhone costs a lot less than $300 to manufacture. I'd guess it's more like 20-25% of the retail price in the quantity that they are manufactured.

[DD]

Not trying to spark another iPod vs iRiver battle, but innovation is the key here.

You'll see I just posted an IC in the B/S/T forum for my Clix.
I'll probably get slated for this but looking at this new range I think I'd be happy to go to an iPod now, even one without Rockbox and all the functionality that I'd like.

Yes the clix was innovative when it was out, but iriver haven't bought out anything amazing since (ok, the Clix2 wasn't much of an improvement) and it just seems things are stagnating.

I've blinked my eyes and been on holiday for a few weeks and now Apple now have a 16gb flash player where you can browse your music by flicking your finger though a virtual wheel of cover art. No-one else can offer that at the moment, simple as that.

[Haku]

So long as 2nd hand H140's pop up on eBay and replacement batteries/drives can be had then I don't really care about slimmer sleeker new toys from Apple & other companies over the next several years, especially when my H140 survived during an impromptu superman impression on my bike a few days ago (concrete is quite unforgiving)

I have yet to see another mp3 player that grabs my attention span for longer than it takes to read it's specs.

[BBD]

Originally Posted by Haku

...especially when my H140 survived during an impromptu superman impression on my bike a few days ago (concrete is quite unforgiving)

Yikes! Hope you're OK.... (BTW, ya dinna break the road, didja? )

I have yet to see another mp3 player that grabs my attention span for longer than it takes to read it's specs.

Exactly. Performance and value are the only standards if I'm to spend my $$. While I like the fact the classic is all metal now, it still has relatively limited codec support and no custom EQ. The touch-pod doesn't interest me at all.....

I really need to compare the ipod classic to the Archos 605, spec-to-spec. 40 hours (reported) of audio playback vs. 17, for starters.... 2.5 in screen vs. 4.3 in., which helps explain the battery disparity somewhat....

(Best Buy sells both and I'm returning my crippled H320 this Sun. to have it either repaired or replaced, as per another thread....)