New iPods, iTunes and Jobs...Thin Is In

Steve Jobs unveiled "the thinnest nano we've ever made" while looking as thin as he's ever been. The Apple Chairman (shall we call him the Core?) recently battled pancreatic cancer and was rumored to have died recently.

Borrowing a line from Mark Twain, Jobs appeared on stage in San Francisco today with a message screen behind him reading "The reports of my death are greatly exaggerated."

Jobs may be alive but Wall Street threw some dirt on Apple's stock price - down $6.13, or 3.9 percent, to $151.79 in afternoon trading.

The announcements (which many Internet sites correctly predicted):

• Two new nanos - longer, sleeker, thinner than previous models with a bigger screen and almost oval-shaped. Like the iPhone and iPod Touch these come with an accelerometer allowing for portrait or landscape viewing with a twist of the wrist. An 8GB model (which holds approximately 2,000 songs) will retail for $149 and a 16GB (approximately 4,000 songs) will be priced at $199.
  


• Three new models of the iPod Touch which is much like an iPhone except that it doesn't make calls. An 8GB version of the new model will sell for $229; a 16GB Touch will be $299 and a 32GB model will be $399. Interesting to note that the biggest capacity a current iPhone has is 16GB.


• A new version of iTunes. Lucky number 8 can be downloaded now with a new look and a new feature or two. The most notable being a Musical Genius. No, they didn't squueze Stevie Wonder or David Byrne in there. Play a song, click the Genius button, and iTunes creates a playlist of other songs from your library that sound similar. In a classic upsell move the Genius also suggests similar songs you can download from iTunes. HD videos can now be had for $2.99. Those can be viewed on iPods and also streamed to TV sets. Apple also buried the hatchet with NBC so its network shows can be downloaded.
  


• More new iPhone software and it better be good. It's no secret that I am not nearly in love with my 3G as I was with my 1st gen iPhone. Slow, buggy, too many resets. An update to the new iPhone software is coming within a few days that supposedly fixes dropped calls, long sync times and other glitches. It's free to iPhone and Touch owners who currently are using version 2.o.

Bottom line from today's announcements...thin is in. Just look at Jobs.

Apple Slices Song Price

Cool weather just blew through Houston so moods should be upbeat locally. Wall Street is expecting good moods later today as Apple will release its quarterly report detailing its busy summer. iPhones, new iPods, price cuts, predictions and more. They are waiting to announce things after the closing bell but I expect a little surge in the stock price.

Price cuts? DRM-free songs which debuted on iTunes a few months ago at $1.29 per were just lowered to the 99 cent price point, matching all other songs offered on the popular service. Good news but I still think Apple and other download sites need to offer tiered pricing on songs. No reason I need to pay the same price for a hot new Kanye West song and a 1977 B-side release.

Amazon's music site offers top songs for 89 cents with others going for 99 cents. Get prepped for a possible music download pricing war. Companies like Apple and Amazon can only offer prices so low without going belly up since most of the money goes directly to the RIAA, music labels, artists and more. The few pennies left over goes to the download sites. Profits are all in the volume, baby.

An Apple A Day

I don't yap much about Apple (other than canonizing the iPhone a few months back). But since my son just got a MacBook and I will be the keynote speaker at the November Houston Area Apple Users Group (Gawd hep me!!), I might as well get better versed with the 8 percenters.

iPhone news...I have yet to hack my phone and don't plan to since I don't feel like playing the cat-and-mouse game with Apple and AT&T of "will it work/will it not work." So relief is on the way for do-gooders like me. Apple will allow third-party companies to develop applications on the iPhone and new iPod touch units. Don't hold your breath until February, though.

The new Mac OS X operating system goes on sale October 26. Code named "Leonard," the operating system is set to cost $129 for a single-user license and $199 for a five-user "Family Pack" license. I doubt there will be lines around the corner a la the iPhone launch but still those die-hard Maccies (or is it Maccabees? And if it is will the next version be code named "Judah?") will be flowing into stores next week. Leopard alledgedly has 300 new features in comparison to the current version.

Check out Apple's ubiquitous countdown clock on the Apple home page.

UPDATE: New iPods Coming

I rarely visit the Apple web site but I happened to check their online store this morning to see if they carried an iPod accessory I was looking for. The online store appears to be down at the moment, perhaps in anticipation of a whole new line of products to be introduced this afternoon.

If rumors and blog speculation hold true, Apple will announce a touch-screen iPod with a 3.5-inch display at a San Fran media event. Other rumors suggest that iPods will have some sort of wireless capability (imagine that, a wireless way to download songs to a mobile device).

In related news from Microsoft that they say is unrelated (whatever), the Zune price is dropping $50 to $199. Microsoft says the cut is "part of the normal product lifecycle, something we've had on the books for months." Wonder why it took them so long to discount the popular Xbox???

Microsoft continues to chip away at Apple news today by stating that a mobile phone based on it's Zune digital media player 'is not an unreasonable move'. I'd like to go on the record now stating that I may turn my car into a spaceship. I think they are as many Zune players in the market as I have cars.

I did just provide NewsRadio 740 KTRH with comments on Google's rumored mobile phone. The "GPhone" could possibly offer free wireless service in exchange for listening or watching advertisements. If any company is in the position of bringing a deal like this to market it is Google. They have extensive relationships with the advertising and mobile communities plus have pockets so deep Bill Gates may ask to borrow lunch money. No confirmed plans or date of the GPhone.

UPDATE: Wi-Fi, Starbuck, Ringtones, iPod Touch, oh my.....

UP-UP-DATE...I wish I could sell these things. My inbox is overloaded with questions about the new iPods; it would be simple to link to my online store and sell them. But since I haven't touched or heard them for myself yet all you get is conjecture...

iPod Touch - Looks like an iPhone. Feels like an iPhone. No phone. I hate to say I told you so but harken back to my first full review of the iPhone on July 1 (paragraph 10 to be specific).

"This is an iPod"

And now the Apple designers took the sleek touch-screen design of the iPhone and removed the phone. Since I'm not a fanboy of stuff like this I'll let you read the early thoughts from TechCrunch. It ain't "sliced bread."

iPod Nano - Squattier but it had to be to add a 2-inch display for video. Apple says its thinner than the current Nano and has a 65% brighter screen with higher resolution. 4GB and 8GB starting at $149.

iPod Classic - Roll out an older model with a few improvements, slap on the word "Classic" and you've got a must-have product. Maybe. Thinner, all-metal design and it can hold up to 160GB (as every model should).

Apple said it is cutting the price of the 8GB iPhone by $200. That's a hefty 33% off the initial price two months ago. Sorry for all you early adopters (including me) but at least we made a lot of friends and got a lot of looks in July, huh? The 4GB model won't exist as it shouldn't have even been made in the first place.

iPhoners wanting personalized ringtones finally get their wish. $1.98 gets you a song download and a 30-second snippet of that song to use a ringtone. You can have up to 30 different ringers.

A new Wi-Fi iTunes Music store will be released where users can download songs to the iPod Touch. Music will be synced to iTunes when connected to a computer. Better news - and a long time coming - this service will be coming to the iPhone in about a month.

Steve Jobs touted a new relationship with Starbucks. In the iTunes music store, when you get near a specially-equipped Starbucks a special feature will launch letting you see what song is playing at the shop and a one-touch button to buy it. Who the hell cares what song is playing at Starbucks?? And what about us who don't drink coffee? Big deal.

Your turn. Thoughts???