Apple Keynote Address; Next Gen iPods Announced

Steve Jobs hosted a keynote event today to reveal the next half year's plan for Apple. Next gen products where revealed for the iPod line including a new smaller shuffle. In addition a new piece of hardware was revealed that would allow playing computer content on your TV, perfect for iTunes 7.0 that will start selling Disney movies.

iPod with video 5.5G - drop in price, 60% brighter screen, increase in drive size, and improved battery life, price is $249 for 30GB and $349 for 80GB. Hands-on

iPod software update - Gapless playback for songs, search function, and improved games (available to buy for $4.99)

iPod Nano - battery life increased to 24 hours, four new colors (blue, pink, green, and silver), little thinner, 40% brighter display, and 3 models. $149 for 2GB, $199 for 4GB, and $249 for 8GB. Hands-on

iPod Shuffle 2G - completely redesigned, tiny with clip, silver color, $79 for 1GB, available in October. Hands-on

iTunes 7.0 - view switch to see album art, free album cover art, NFL games for $1.99 game and $24.99 a season, increased resolution of video to 640x480, and better iPod management.

Movies on iTunes - 75+ movies from companies owned by Disney, pre-orders and first week new releases are $12.99, after $14.99, with older movies at $9.99, in 640x480 resolution

iTV - coming in 2007, allows digital content on your computer (from iTunes library) to be played on TV using wireless network, price is $299. Hands-on

Apple announced a slew of products, most of them just minor improvements to existing products. Now the iPod range is from $79-$349. The iTunes update, especially the free album covers, has my interest. A concern is since the download is dependent on having an iTunes account, does that mean that Apple is able to collect information on what songs you already own (and therefore tell the MPAA what they think you might not own?). Basically I have concerns on the potential abuse of that feature by the powers that be.

As for the movie offerings, I say pass. You are basically getting charged the amount of a DVD for the "privilege" of being able to download it and play on your iPod. Much like the PSP movie format, the price doesn't offset the sacrifices being made in going the iTunes route to get your movie. Buying the slick iTV, which has my interest, doesn't offset this sacrifice. At least with a DVD, you don't have to pay $300 to get a device to allow it to play on your TV.

For me, the product that I am most interested in is the iTV. I like the idea of not having to use wires to play the media content on my computer to my TV. However, before ordering the device I am going to let other guinea pig it for me as I having a feeling there are many limitations to what it can and cannot do. For instance, I doubt it will just play any format of content. I think it will be limited to what iTunes can handle such as .mp3, .mp4, .mov and so forth. Considering the plethora of formats out there, I find that to be a limitation, others may not. In addition, what are the minimum standards does the TV have to have? Just the correct inputs? HDTv? An HD converter box? Can any and all TVs work with it? Again, I doubt it, probably only current gen flat panels will work. If that’s the case, if you can afford a flat panel then getting the iTV should be an automatic purchase. The final concern is how will the new 640x480 resolution and the old resolution play on the TV? Will it translate effortless or will it get that blurry quality from blowing up the pixels to large? The question then becomes, what image quality is being sacrificed for the convenience of putting it on your TV. Hopefully these concerns will be addressed when the iTV comes out in '07.