Apple unveils new iPod line for holiday season
Posted: 10 September 2008 0947 hrs

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SAN FRANCISCO: Apple chief executive Steve Jobs on Tuesday unveiled new iPod models and iTunes stores upgrades for the coming holiday season as he brushed aside reports about his health.

Jobs kicked off a theatrical press event in downtown San Francisco by poking fun at persistent rumours about his health.

He flashed a famous Mark Twain quote, "The reports of my death are greatly exaggerated," on the screen as he stepped onstage.

"Enough said; the real topic of today is music," Jobs began.

Jobs had been the subject of considerable debate in recent weeks, after he appeared gaunt in June, sparked concerns about his medical condition.

New products announced by Jobs include high-definition television shows available on Apple's online iTunes store and a slim new iPod Nano model that upgrades the technology while returning the gum stick shape people preferred.

Jobs also showed off an upgraded iPod Touch model made slimmer than the original version and with a built-in speaker.

"We added a built-in speaker, which is really hard with something this thin," Jobs said. "It's for casual listening, not for audiophiles."

Jobs cited statistics showing iPods command nearly 74 per cent of the MP3 market and said that more than a hundred million applications for iPhones and iPod Touch models have been downloaded since the "App Store" opened 60 days ago.

The iPod lineup combines feature upgrades with price cuts of as much as US$100 on higher end models.

IPod Touch models with 32 gigabytes of memory are priced at US$399 while a 16-gigabyte version will sell for US$299 and an eight-gigabyte Touch for US$229.

He also addressed concerns about iPhone 3G performance problems by saying a free iPhone 2.1 update will be released on Friday to fix the troubles.

"It's a big update," Jobs said of the iPhone software release. "It fixes a lot of bugs. You will get fewer call drops ... You are not going to get some of the crashes and other things that we've seen."

"Apple is a force to be reckoned with," Gartner analyst Van Baker said while toying with iPods in a demonstration room after the presentation by Jobs.

"There was nothing earth-shattering, but it was very iterative. They have the market covered from the US$50 price point to the US$400 point."

Apple's ceaseless modifying of iPod models also makes them a moving target for competitors such as Microsoft, which has a fourth-place 2.5 per cent of the MP3 market with its Zune devices.

Apple incorporated motion-sensing "accelerometer" technology from its iPhones and iPod Touch models into the new Nano, which adjusts screens to how the devices are held and lets people shuffle music with "a shake."

"You just take your iPod, shake it and it's shuffled," Jobs said, flicking his wrist to demonstrate and his Nano jumping to a Dean Martin song.

"I didn't really want to tell you I had Dean Martin on my iPod," he added as he quickly shook the Nano anew to change songs.

Along with being the thinnest iPod that Apple has ever made, the device is made with toxin-free component and is primarily recyclable aluminum and glass, Jobs said, addressing concerns by critics of Apple's environmental record.

"We want to really be environmentally sensitive with these products," Jobs said.

Jobs touted iPod Touch as the best portable device for listening to music or watching videos.

"Now you can make a pretty good argument for it being the best portable device to play games on," Jobs said, noting that more than software for more than 700 games is available at the App Store.

The motion-sensing feature of iPod Touch allows the device itself to be used as a controller with tilting or twisting movements.

- AFP/yb