News Archive for 08/09/09

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iPod touch 2.1 update released ahead of Jobs' promise

09/09, 8:55pm

iPod touch update early

Although Steve Jobs announced that the iPhone and iPod touch 2.1 software update would be released on Friday, iPod users can already download the update from iTunes. He claimed the new version fixes a lot of bugs, improves app function, enhances security, and makes the sync function faster. A "Genius" function can be used to find similar songs in a library and play them together. Multiple calendars and push functions for Microsoft Exchange are now supported.

UBS: New iPods a 'necessary' move to hold dominance

09/09, 4:55pm

UBS on new iPods

Apple's fresh iPod-related announcements -- including iTunes 8, along with new Nanos, Touches and Classics -- were a "necessary and appropriate strategy," according to UBS analyst Maynard Um. Rather than pushing any special innovation, Um suggests that the changes were needed to maintain Apple's controlling position in the media player world, where it is faced with competition such as Microsoft's new Zunes.

App Store passes 100M downloads in first two months

09/09, 4:15pm

App Store exceeds 100M

iPhone and iPod touch users have already downloaded over 100 million apps from the iTunes App Store, which has reached the milestone in its first two months of existence, according to Apple. The store is said to have amassed over 3,000 individual titles, with only 10 percent exceeding $10 in cost, and more than 600 being distributed for free.

Apple, NBC making concessions in return to iTunes

09/09, 3:55pm

Apple/NBC iTunes deal

Both NBC and Apple have made concessions in the former's return to the US iTunes Store, observers note. The first of these may be variable pricing, such as a higher cost for HD versions of TV shows. Apple is charging $2.99 per HD episode, instead of the standard rate of $1.99; it is not known if this was the result of pressure from NBC however, as Apple has long charged $1 more for HD movie rentals on an Apple TV. What is known is that back-catalog shows -- such as Miami Vice and The A-Team -- are being priced at 99 cents, whereas Apple's original deal with NBC would have called for the regular rate.

iPod shuffle gets new colors, same features

09/09, 2:15pm

iPod shuffle Sept 2008

Amidst its other high-profile announcements, Apple today quietly refreshed the iPod shuffle with new colors. The update swaps out the pale colors from before with five colors largely similar to the early 2007 models in bright blue, green, red, and pink; the red iPod remains a (PRODUCT) RED variant that delivers some of the purchase price to charity and is exclusive to Apple's own online and retail stores.

Second-gen iPod touch brings new shape, Nike+

09/09, 2:05pm

Second-gen iPod touch

Apple has confirmed rumors by revealing the existence of a second-generation iPod touch, bringing with it several enhancements. Central is a revised casing, which uses a contoured profile similar in shape to the iPhone 3G, but with stainless steel replacing plastic. Other similarities with the iPhone include new volume buttons, allowing blind adjustment, and a speaker, from which owners can hear both music and system sounds.

iTunes 8 brings HD TV shows, Genius lists; NBC back

09/09, 1:40pm

iTunes 8 announced

Apple has announced the release of iTunes 8, the latest version of its music software for Macs and PCs. Features in the new software include "Genius" playlists, which automatically match songs thought to go together. iTunes can also recommend tracks to buy via a sidebar, and recommendations will be based on anonymous uploads of user data, meant to gradually improve the accuracy of what shoppers are offered in the future.

Apple introduces 4G iPod nano, 120GB classic

09/09, 1:35pm

iPod nano 4G and classic

Apple today introduced the anticipated fourth-generation iPod nano. The model is said to combine the best of the second-generation player's shape with the large screen and video playback of the third-generation model but is even thinner and adds an enhanced, accelerometer-driven interface that rotates the on-screen interface; this improves the use of Cover Flow and even photo browsing, Apple says. Users can even shake the player to shuffle tracks similar to SanDisk's Sansa Shaker.