Apple 2010 Music Event

Apple Music event has come and gone with many new shiny products available in the apple store right now.  From the iPod Shuffle, to the Apple TV, to iTunes, there is many new devices that is in the Apple Store right now.

One of the new products is the Apple TV. It is only 1/4 the size of the original Apple TV but the device is streaming only, so you can store videos on the device. The Apple TV has an internal power supply, Apple A4 processor,  HDMI jack, 802.11n wi-fi, and priced at $99. The Apple TV will receive video content in the way of streaming from the iTunes Store or videos from a computer on the same network. To go with the Apple TV, Apple is offering $0.99 rentals from ABC and Fox, first full run HD (720p only) movies for $4.99 the same day the movie is released to DVD, and also offering full Netflix streaming support, previously only on Apple TV boxes that was hacked to run Boxee or XBMC. The interface is basically the same as the previous Apple TV. Possibly the Apple TV is going to the market as being a competitor to other set top boxes like Roku Box.

Another product is the new iPod Touch. The new iPod Touch is even thinner than the previous generation with a Retina Display (326ppi on a 3.5 in LED screen), the same Apple A4 processor as the iPhone 4, gyroscope, internal microphone, and dual cameras in the front and back and can record 720p video with its back camera and standard VGA quality video on its front camera. It is a major upgrade to the 3rd gen iPod touch and is considered the iPhone 4 without the phone or the contract. The device has a longer run time with the ability to play music for 40 hours.

Another product is the iPod Shuffle. Unlike the previous version, the new iPod shuffle goes back to buttons of the device (removed in the previous model).  The device can support Genius mixes, playlists, voiceover, it has a 15 hour battery life, has 2 GB of storage, and it is in 5 colors ( blue, pink, black, green and yellow). The price for the device is just under $50.

The next product is the iPod Nano. The size of the of the new iPod Nano is just slightly bigger than a oversized stamp (1.54 in diagonal). The device has basically no buttons (except for the volume button and having a multitouch screen) and no camera. It has FM radio, Nike+ support, and a pedometer. The device is just slightly bigger than the iPod shuffle which can be clipped to a article of clothing. One of the noticeable difference is that it has a revamped OS firmware, and can now handle photo. Now the iPod nano is basically an enhanced iPod shuffle.

The event is not just new devices, Steve Jobs unveiled new services and OS for the portable devices.

Future iOS devices will get new streaming music and video services with AirPlay. AirPlay (previously named AirPlay) streams video, audio, and photos over iTunes to devices or from devices to devices. Also the services allows wireless printing (which Steve demoed in Pages). The service is suggested to come out in November to iOS devices.

Another thing is that the next version of iTunes (iTunes 10) will have a new music social network called Ping that acts like twitter. Users have the ability to follow and be followed and the user can either share the info to anyone or be protected. Users can post videos, photos, comments, opinions, or songs on other users songs, videos, etc. The service lives inside itunes and available as an app for the iPhone, iPod Touch, and iPad.  The service will build the user’s custom song and alubm charts, populated by what the user and what his friends are listening to the most. Steve said “The idea behind Ping is to introduce you to music you might not have heard of before.” Steve said that iTunes 10 is available to be download as of now, but it seems that it is currently still showing that the download page for iTunes 9.2.1.

The last thing Apple unveiled is a new version of iOS 4 (version 4.1). The iOS 4.1 update will add HDR photo capture, fix iPhone 3G performance problems, and add Game Center Support. Apple also fixed the proximity sensor in the iPhone 4 with the iOS 4.1 update. The iOS 4.1 update will be available next week.

Although there were new devices rolling out, the original iPod did not get a update. Looks like the end of the device that changed it all.