Paul and Ringo weren’t on hand at Apple’s music event Wednesday, but Apple CEO Steve Jobs was there to introduce a new lineup of iPods. Apple rolled out the world’s smallest music player — and the first music player to talk to you — the new iPod shuffle, priced at $59 with 2GB of storage. Consumers can also opt for a 4GB shuffle for $79.
At the other end of the spectrum, Apple launched the new iPod nano, complete with a video camera, microphone and speaker. That means music fans can shoot video, view it on their nano, and upload it to YouTube.
“iPod nano is the world’s most popular music player with over 100 million sold,” said Jobs. “And now we’ve added a video camera to its incredibly thin design, without any additional cost to the user.”
Taking a page from the Microsoft Zune playbook, the new nano also features a built-in FM radio with live pause and iTunes tagging, as well as a built-in pedometer. Live pause lets iPod nano users pause and resume playing FM radio shows. iTunes Tagging lets users tag, preview and purchase songs they like when they sync with iTunes. An 8GB nano sells for $149 and a 16GB model for $179.
Touchy, Feely iPods
Apple also rolled out a new iPod touch lineup with a starting price of $199. The iPod touch is similar to an iPhone without the calling capabilities. It offers a multi-touch user interface, a 3.5-inch widescreen glass display, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and a built-in accelerometer and speaker.
“At just $199 the iPod touch is the most affordable gateway to Apple’s revolutionary App Store with more than 75,000 applications that you can wirelessly download right into your iPod touch,” said Philip Schiller, Apple’s senior vice president of worldwide product marketing. “You get a great iPod, a…