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.

Music News: Apple Announcement, Beatles Rock Band, and Beatles CDs Remastered

It turns out that 9/09/09 is a big day in the world of music: The long-awaited Beatles Rock Band game comes out today, Beatles remastered CDs are now on sale, and Apple is holding its usual early September announcement, with speculation on products ranging from new iPods (probable, since prices of current iPods have dropped) to the launch of an Apple tablet computer (not so likely) to the very-long-awaited appearance of the Beatles on iTunes (coming, but not yet).

Mac Observer will blog Apple's "Rock and Roll" event live at 1 p.m. today (you can also follow the news live on other sites such as The Apple Blog). The online Apple Store is down, as is the case before new product announcements. Some of the wags on Mac Observer dig through the rumors and anti-rumors regarding today's Apple presentation.

Amazon.com lists a range of options for The Beatles Rock Band game, from software for Xbox 360, Playstation, and Nintendo Wii to limited-edition bundles, controllers, and other add-ons.

You can buy the Beatles remastered CDs here. And if you're a real completist or just need to bring your Beatles collection up to speed in a hurry, you can buy The Beatles Stereo Box Set for $180. A mono box set is available for $230.

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.