Apple's New Product Upgrades: New iPods, Apple TV Revamped, More

Unless you've been living under a rock (or are vacationing in a coastal area with limited Internet access, as I am), you've heard about Apple's product announcements at its Sept 1 shindig.

As usual for these Fall announcements, this one was heavy on the music-related products, and that means refreshes to the iPod line.

The iPod Touch has been revised, and now comes with FaceTime, the "retina display," HD video recording, and Game Center.

There is a new, smaller iPod Nano that returns the the squarish form factor and eliminates the clickwheel with a multitouch screen. The unit is said to be lighter and have longer battery life, and like the iPod Shuffle that it now resembles, it has a built-in clip for attaching to shirt, belt, etc. The new iPod Nano retains the previous version's pedometer and other features, but drops the video camera.

Speaking of the iPod Shuffle, it now contains a control panel for the first time.

Apple TV has been revised yet again, with a new focus on streaming content. Apple has signed up with ABC, Fox, and Netflix as initial partners in this new effort. Ninety-nine cent rentals are part of the new strategy.

Apple's New iPods and More

As expected, Apple did indeed introduce an array of new iPods at its "Let's Rock" event yesterday. I'll let iPod Observer tell you about all the various developments:


* NBC Comes Back to iTunes - in High Definition

* Apple Unveils Redesigned iPod nano with Accelerometer

* Apple Tries its Hand at In-ear Headphones Again

* Apple Revamps Sleeker iPod touch, Adds Speaker

* iPhone, iPod touch 2.1 Update Due Friday

Guess we'll have to wait a while longer for those new MacBooks.

Apple "Let's Rock": New iPod Nano and Touch, iTunes 8

The consensus for tomorrow's Apple "Let's Rock" media event on Sept. 9th is that we will see new iPod Nano and iPod Touch models, new iPhone firmware, and probably iTunes 8. Macrumors also suggests additional possible developments, saying that the afore-mentioned items would be welcomed but not are not worthy of the buildup Apple has sought to create for this event.

Among the possibilities Macrumors mentions are GPS/turn-by-turn features for the iPhone and "secret features" in iPhone 2.1 that haven't been revealed yet.

New iPods Expected at Apple Event Sept. 9th

New iPods are expected to be announced that the Apple Inc. event that's now been officially confirmed for next Tuesday, Sept. 9th. The invitation sent to the media as a silhouette of a man listening to an iPod jumping in the air, as in iPod ads, and has the slogan "Let's Rock" on the front.

Rumors have been flying around that new iPods were in the works from Apple, including a redesigned iPod Nano that ditches the new stubby format and returns to the longer format of the original Nano. Case designs shown on various Web sites have shown a video screen that is viewed when the iPod is held horizontally, rather than vertically.

So if all goes as planned, we'll all be able to listen to our tunes, podcasts, and audiobooks on brand new iPod models that have higher capacity and maybe even lower prices, if the rumors are correct.

New MacBook and MacBook Pro laptops have been rumored to be announced, but some observers have suggested that these might be announced later in September or even October.

From the Gramophone to the iPod

This article has an interesting look at the history of the gramophone, an early sound-reproducing machine and, of course, the device for which the Grammy awards are named. The article also ties the history of the gramophone and phonograph to the development of the iPod, and draws some interesting parallels between sound machines, then and now.

How does a gramophone differ from a phonograph? Well, that gets kind of murky: the terms haven't always referred to the same device, and different terms were used in the U.S. and in England.

The gramophone, with its distinctive large horn, is immortalized in the Grammy logo and the Grammy award itself. That horn was how sound was reproduced from the disc (or cylinder); this was before the invention of the loudspeaker, and specialized elements like woofers, subwoofers, midrange speakers, tweeters, and such.

It's been a long technological leap from wax and foil cylinders to LP records, cassette tapes (and 8-tracks!), CDs, and now iPods and podcasts. What's amazing is how much has been achieved in such a relatively brief amount of time.

Amazon.com Starts MP3 Store: Cheaper than iTunes

Amazon.com is the latest challenger to Apple's iTunes store, announcing that it has started its "Amazon MP3" service that sells songs and albums for less than iTunes... and without digital rights management (DRM) restrictions.

That means that the songs you download from Amazon can be copied and played on any music player, and copied as many times to as many devices as you want.

Single songs will sell for 89 cents and up; albums range from $5.99 to $8.99. On iTunes songs sell for 99 cents, with albums going for $9.99 and up. You can buy DRM-free songs from iTunes, but it'll cost you $1.29.

Amazon MP3 doesn't have nearly as large a selection as the iTunes store, however. Of the music mega-giants, Sony BMG and Warner Music are not offering any titles on Amazon's store; Universal and EMI are offering only certain titles.

The home page of Amazon MP3 lists the top-selling songs and albums, giving you an idea of the digital downloads that are available.

With its extensive market reach and marketing power, Amazon MP3 may become a true competitor for the iTunes Store.

Podcast News: New iPods, "Quick and Dirty" Podcasts

Apple Refreshes, Revamps iPods:
The big podcasting news this week was Apple Inc.'s announcement of new and rejiggered products in its market-leading iPod media player line. In brief:

* The Nano has been reconfigured into more of a square shape to accommodate the viewing of video, the first time that's been possible with that model.
* The traditional hard-drive iPod is now called iPod Classic, with a larger storage capacity (up to 160GB).
* A totally new iPod, the iPod Touch, combines the features and user interface of the new iPhone with iPod media playing functions. Basically, it's an iPhone without the phone. It's flash-based, which limits storage capacity (going only as high as 16GB).

If you're interested in buying an iPod, which should you get? Fortunately, there's a handy column on iPod Observer that explains the pros and cons of each option.

Publisher Seek Profits on "Quick and Dirty" Podcasts:
Publishers Weekly has noted that publisher Holtzbrinck has launched a network of downloadable audio clips called Quick and Dirty Tips, based on the ever-growing "Quick and Dirty" series of podcasts. (I've reviewed two of the Q&D podcasts here, those by Grammar Girl and Money Girl.)

PW notes that Holtzbrinck's move is the first time a publisher has tried to establish a money making podcast business. It says that the site, Quickanddirtytips.com, will get revenue from online ads and content licensing agreements. The arrangement arose because of the publisher's relationship with Mignon Fogarty, a.k.a. Grammar Girl, who has a book coming out with the publisher, "The Grammar Girl’s Quick and Dirty Tips to Clean Up Your Writing."

The Quick and Dirty site was launched this week with five other podcasters, PW says.

New iPod Risk: Be Still, My Beating Heart

Using an iPod can be hazardous to your health, and it can be life threatening for some people. There have long been reports that playing music too loud can permanently harm hearing, but recent studies have should that iPods can cause cardiac implantable pacemakers to malfunction by interfering with the electromagnetic equipment monitoring the heart, according to a study reported by CNN and other news outlets.

As the study reports, "Electrical interference was detected half of the time when the iPod was held just 2 inches from the patient's chest for 5 to 10 seconds." Apple's iPod was the only portable music player tested in the study. The study looked at 100 patients, whose mean age was 77. In some cases, the article noted, iPods caused interference when they were held as far as 18 inches from the chest. The iPods were found to interfere with the pacemaker's telemetry equipment, which caused the device to misread the heart's pacing and in one case caused the pacemaker to stop functioning altogether.

Of course, as one of the authors of the study notes, most people who use pacemakersare not iPod users, so it's not known how often this problem actually occurs in the real world.

Apple Introduces its Long-Awaited iPhone

The iPhone is finally here. Apple Computer chairman Steve Jobs announced the device, which combines the functions of a cell phone, widescreen music and video player, and Internet connection tool, in his keynote speech at the Macworld Expo on Tuesday morning, January 9th.

According to a live feed from Mac Observer at the Expo in San Francisco, Jobs hailed the iPhone as a "breakthrough Internet communications device" and then launched into its various features. The iPhone Jobs demonstrated is said to features a 3.5" touch screen that takes up most of the front of the device; Jobs said the screen has a resolution of 160 pixels per inch, which Macobserver.com said is the highest resolution screen yet shipped by Apple. Users will be able to dock the iPhone with their computers, like an iPod, but the new device will also sync with the user's contacts list, calendar, and other data.

Macobserver.com notes that the iPhone runs Apple's Mac OS X operating system, supports any IMAP or POP3 e-mail server, and will work with Microsoft Exchange and Yahoo! Mail. For Web browsing, the iPhone uses Apple's Safari Web browser, includes Google Maps, and has WiFi networking. At one point Jobs brought on stage Eric Schmidt, one of Google's co-founders, and Jerry Yang, co-founder of Yahoo!, and discussed how Apple worked closely with those companies to integrate their features into the iPhone.

The iPhone will cost $499 for a 4 GB model and $599 for an 8GB model. But, you'll have to shell out your money for it: the iPhone will not be available for purchase until June 2007. Apple has an exclusive multiyear agreement with Cingular to provide service for the iPhone.

A little matter that still needs to be ironed out: the trademark for "iPhone" is actually held by Cisco Systems, which uses it for its Linksys brand VOIP-based wireless phone, which was just introduced in mid-December. Apple is said to be in final talks to acquire the iPhone name.

Maybe Steve Jobs will just give Cisco CEO John Chambers a certificate good for a zillion song downloads in iTunes?

During his keynote Jobs also announced AppleTV, the company's device to stream TV and video content wirelessly.