As expected from rumours circulating last week, Apple has updated its iPod lineup bringing the Touch up to standard, making the Shuffle easier to use, and reinventing the Nano.
Apple’s changes to the iPod Touch bring the device more in line with what we’re seeing in the iPhone 4.
Technically, it’s little more than an iPhone 4 without the antenna and in a thinner and shinier case, but in case the specifics excite you, we’ll list them too.
Apple’s changes to the Touch include the introduction of Apple’s high resolution Retina screen first found in the iPhone 4, rear camera now supporting HD 720p video capture, front-facing camera for use with FaceTime, and the inclusion of the A4 processor used in both the iPad and iPhone 4.
We told you it was basically an iPhone 4 without an antenna. We meant it.
And much like how the iPhone has a few different capacities for you to choose from, so does the iPod Touch. This time around, you can grab an 8GB for $289, a 32GB for $378, or a 64GB for $499.
The Shuffle has even been brought back to an older design.
We’re not sure if this is Apple saying that the last design – buttonless and requiring specifically designed headphones – wasn’t a keeper for them (yet), but the new Shuffle is similar to the one from a couple of years ago.
Much like it was back then, the Shuffle is a thin aluminium music player that features simple controls on the front with a clip on the back. Only one model this time, a 2GB hitting a price tag of $69 locally.
Genius Mixes are now supported from iTunes allowing automatically created mixes to be created from a computer for playback on the Shuffle, and VoiceOver – Apple’s technology that tells you what you’re listening to – has been included with this version of the Shuffle.
But it’s where the Nano that things appear to be changing.
