Apple Introduces New iPods - Second Take

Michael Gartenberg | September 04, 2007, 10:43 PM

No doubt this was a huge launch for Apple this morning and leaves them with a product line that's going to be hard for Apple's competitors to match. Let's break it down quickly. There's a lot here and I'll have more to say later on.

iPod Shuffle - Mostly unchanged in terms of form, capacity and price but now in lots of new colors, including red. For a product that's as much a fashion accessory as it is about a music player, this is a good move. Also keeps the entry point of getting into the iPod world at $79.

iPod Nano - Now in generation three, Apple added a whole slew of features, 8gb still tops out capacity but there's a 4gb model as well. New features are a totally re-vamped UI that now sports cover flow, the support of video and the addition of games. Old games purchased won't work on the new model but all new titles will also be backward compatible with the old 5G models. Price points are fantastic and the screen is amazing. Apple kept the resolution of the video iPod but boosted DPI so text and video are amazingly sharp on the small screen. Lots of color choices (and I personally love the new charcoal gray model). This one's going to fly off the shelves

iPod Classic - This the model that started it all nearly six years ago, now it comes in two sizes, starting at 80gb and going up to a whopping 160gb. Form is excellent, with new metal casings that feel and look great. Both are smaller than the older 30/80 models from last year they replace, screen is the same and looks excellent. Battery life is boosted as well. For those that want to take EVERYTHING with them, these are the models of choice.

iPod Touch - It wouldn't be an Apple Keynote without "one more thing..." In this case there were a few. First, for those looking for an iPhone without the phone, Apple has the device for you. The first iPod based on OS X, the touch looks a lot like an iPhone. It's the same thickness but feels lighter in the hand. Same great screen and multi touch features. Apple tossed in WiFi and to make logging into hotspots easier, there's a full Safari browser on board. Capacity is 8gb and 16gb coming in at $299 and $399 while the 4gb iPhone disappears and the 8gb model drops to $399.

iTunes Wireless Music Store - But there's more. Apple also introduced a new iTunes Music store available over WiFi. Songs (no video, podcast or game content... yet) can be directly downloaded to the Touch. There's also going to be a software update to allow the iPhone to connect as well. Searching was quick and easy and downloading fast and simple. Folks, this is the way this stuff is supposed to work. There's also a very cool feature tied to Starbucks. When you're sipping your latte, your iPhone, and iTunes on your computer can connect to the Starbucks WiFi network, see what song is currently playing in the store, access Starbucks content and of course, purchase a few tunes from the iTunes store. Most interesting partnership here, since the Starbucks WiFi connection is of course a T-Mobile Hotspot not an AT&T service. Most interesting. There's also lots of empty space on the home screen for the touch, I'd expect to see a lot more functionality added here, not to mention what the hackers will bring the table.

Bottom Line - I believe Apple once again met and exceeded increasingly high expectations. It now has a very deep and complete product line for going into the holiday season, at amazing price points and feature sets that will drive different customers into different purchase funnels. While Apple could easily have kept price points on some of these models higher, they wisely chose not to do so. This is not about a re-fresh of the products aimed at the existing market.

Apple is NOT preaching to the choir here, they're looking to get a whole new customer into the house of worship and that's exactly what's likely to happen this holiday season.