Today’s Apple event was all about the iPod, with a little iPhone thrown in for good measure. (Nothing on Apple TV) Engadget and Ars Technica live-blogged the show. Here are the basics:
- New ringtone maker – pay another $.99 to make ringtones out of your iTunes songs
- New iPod Shuffle colors – pretty
- (P)hat new iPod Nano – wide screen for pretty video
- Cheaper 8GB iPhone – It’s gotta make the first movers feel good to see the 8GB model come down in price from $599 to $399. Be an early adopter, pay an extra $200.
- The revolutionary iPhone, er, iPod touch – Yup, it’s an iPod that works like the iPhone without the phone, but it’s got Wi-Fi built in and you can access the iTunes store wirelessly
- Wi-Fi and a dash of caffeine with your iPod – partnership with Starbucks so iPod Touch users can instantly tap in to whatever is playing over Starbucks’ speakers when they walk into a store and purchase the music if so desired.
Engadget is already calling the Starbucks feature weak, but I think I disagree. (How’s that for a strong statement?) Impulse music buying is still largely untapped. Sure you can bookmark songs with some services in order to buy them later, but we haven’t really seen an effective on-the-go version of this feature before. And this is music you can buy that you might never have discovered any other way. With the joy of personalized channels, I know my discovery of new music outside of my own set parameters is limited. Clearly the partnership with Starbucks is a first. Wonder how long before other partners jump on board.
Apple is selling the 8GB iPhone refurb for $349 (I think that will go down since the brandy-new one is now $399. Also, the magically disappearing 4GB iPhone has made its way to the clearance sectionfor $299.
I’m sad about the lack of bluetooth in these new i-offerings. Also, it will be hard to take advantage of the nice big touch screen with only 16 gb of storage for music and videos. Not bad though, *golf clap*
$299 seems like a good deal. Melissa’s been bugging me, saying at least one person in our household needs an iPhone. Wonder if she’s willing to give up her 1500 TMo minutes for $40 and switch to AT&T.
Maybe it’s better in person, but that new Nano seems pretty ugly. The iPhone without the phone is also a little odd in that the screen is pretty barren without many icons. Maybe they need a round scrolly interface like Front Row.
I’m not sure yet what to make of the Starbucks deal and functionality… As a Starbucks regular though, I can tell you there’s already way too many people hanging out and too few seats in most locations.
Much like my lust for a Tivo HD, and even though my birthday is at the end of October, I’ll wait for the next price drop/refurb release before I put my order in with my wife. Switching from T-Mobile to AT&T can’t be all that bad, could it?
Gee I wish there was a HDD based Touch iPod. Then I wouldn’t be so conflicted about what to get next. I currently have a 30GB iPod and was starting to feel its a bit small…
and Steve just put out an “open letter” stating that early adopters will be getting back $100 as credit toward the Apple Store. WTG Apple