[aliceblue]

Anyone else following this? (there must be! :-P) But basically what's been announced is:

- New iPod: $249 for 30GB and $349 for 80GB! w/ 3.5 hrs video playback, (6.5 on 80GB); 60% brighter screen + brightness control; new headphones (buds?); new software w/ some new games; "instant search" feature right on iPod

- New Nano: COLORS! $149 2GB ipod in aluminum only; $199 4GB in green, silver, blue, pink; $249 8GB in black only; same new software features; 24h battery life

- New Shuffle: smaller, size of iPod radio remote (awww!); metal body, 1GB (only model); clippable (!); shipping in October

- iTunes 7: Sleeker design, better interface! Library has its own section now w/ separate libraries for all forms of media
. Store has own section
. Playlists have own section
. New viewing options: list view (normal), album view (with album art & titles), AND you can now browse albums by cover art only (Cover Flow View) - iTunes store will provide missing cover art automatically (and free) if you have account - this is like flipping thru virtual cd rack
. TV shows now encoded in 640x480 up from 320x240
. Can now sync between multiple computers w/ an iPod, as long as all use same account
. Can now update iPod directly in iTunes, do not need to access 'Preferences' menu (probably a bigger deal for windows users since it's more of a pain to do it there)
. Movies in Store; most titles $9.99 (new releases $12.99 pre-order and first week, but $14.99 after), from Walt Disney, Pixar, Touchstone, Miramax (all Disney-owned); 75 titles today, more every week & month; same encoding as TV shows w/ near-dvd quality and 30-min download time; Dolby surround quality for audio; available from Store same day as dvd release; parental controls w/ MPAA ratings

- iTV: (tentative name) 1/2 size of Mac Mini, works w/ Apple remote; built-in power supply, USB, Ethernet, 802.11 "wireless component video", optical audio and HDMI ports, plus old RCA stereo audio ports; allows access to Apple trailers and iTunes selected content from internet; very close to DVD quality

So, yeah! Exciting, no? Thanks to MacRumors and iLounge for live coverage of the event and allowing me to have a pretty geeky afternoon.

[brokenjago]

No 4 GB iPod nano in black, only 8.

[wilsonng]

That's pretty intense.... getting to encode in h.264, 1.5 mbps, at 640x480. Now that's more like it!

[iREZ]

also the 60gb isnt for 250 its the 30 thats going for that much....when i first read this on macrumors as it was being updated live i almost crapped my pants.

[aliceblue]

Ooh, thanks for the corrections on those, guys...yeah, I thought that was ridiculously cheap as well earlier but I think I was too excited about everything to really process it.

Anyone else having any trouble with the store not actually automatically updating album artwork though? :-/

[webmonkie]

The 80gb ipod the best product that apple announce today.

[brokenjago]

Originally Posted by aliceblue

Anyone else having any trouble with the store not actually automatically updating album artwork though? :-/

Yes, I'm having that problem. It's not finding arkwork for some reaaaallly obvious things (System of a Down by System of a Down for instance,) and sometimes I have to click on "Get Artwork" like 4 times before it actually does. it. Lame.