The New Crack
September 5th, 2007
Being without power and on a slower cafe connection means I can’t really live blog this like I’d hoped, but so far:
- Ringtones for iPhones. New iTunes looks really sweet for editing ringtones. I wish they’d let me build a playlist with custom fades and such. Haven’t caught if that is possible. Would make for awesome mix cds.
- Complete iPod line refresh. New everything. More as it develops…
- New iPod Shuffle colors
- New Nanos with 2″ 320×240 screens! $149 for 4gb, $199 for 8gb. Available this weekend in Apple Stores.
- New full size iPods at 80gb for $249 and 160gb for $349. Shipping today, in stores this weekend.
- New touch interface iPods! Thinner than iPhone (8mm according to Ars). 3″ screen. WiFi! 802.11b/g. Looks like it has Safari, one of the best features of the iPhone. You Tube as well. 8gb for $299, 16gb for $399. Shipping in a few weeks.
- Wifi iTunes store! Lets you preview and buy (finallllllly). Will work with iPhones as well (later this month). Partnership with Starbucks that will automatically popup a new button and let you buy whatever track is currently playing in the Starbucks where you are. When I worked at a digital agency in SF, we wanted this kind of device integration back in the late 90s for clients.
- 8gb iPhone now $399! Ha. The price of being first to the game. Looks like they are dropping the 4gb as people are overwhelmingly buying the 8gb.
Sources:
Ars Technica
Gizmodo (link will likely change)
o
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September 5th, 2007 at 11:28 am
Crossing my fingers for iChat and a voice recorder
September 5th, 2007 at 11:33 am
iPod Touch.
Be still my heart…
September 5th, 2007 at 11:57 am
My iPhone had better at least get WiFi iTunes too…
September 5th, 2007 at 12:14 pm
engadget.com has some more info.
September 5th, 2007 at 12:14 pm
$399 iPhone… I think I just shat. I paid $600 for mine just 3 weeks ago.
September 5th, 2007 at 12:21 pm
Pete Dunn, it’s the price of being trendy. I’m sure Apple was seeing what sales would be like and they want to sell more. That price point is high, even though the iPhone is a spectacularly awesome device. The Maps app saved our asses a couple of times in LA when Google’s directions were dorked.
September 5th, 2007 at 12:27 pm
Well, there is a way to get free iPhone ringtones using the iTunes previews fairly easily, but it doesn’t include the custom fades you were talking about:
http://www.tuaw.com/2007/07/27/create-iphone-ringtones-from-itunes-previews/
Maybe a temporary appeasement? =P
September 5th, 2007 at 12:28 pm
and i have a new 80 gig ipod all shiny here.
fuckers.
September 5th, 2007 at 12:30 pm
Devon, the new iTunes looks like it gives you waveform level editing (FINALLY).
Jimbo, dude, TAKE IT BACK.
Pete, what is the return policy for the iPhone?? Can you take it back and then buy a new one?
September 5th, 2007 at 12:32 pm
Hmm.. very good question.
September 5th, 2007 at 12:37 pm
14-day return policy. Too bad for me but it’s a good suggestion for anyone who just bought one this week.
September 5th, 2007 at 12:43 pm
I am full of “want.”
Exactly what I had been waiting for. Though 16GB is a little on the small side. The addition of WiFi is crazy cool.
September 5th, 2007 at 12:51 pm
[shakes fist] DAMN YOU STEVE JOBS!
The good news? I have a buyer for my nano.
The bad news? I have to wait for the iPod touch.
September 5th, 2007 at 1:01 pm
Not to rain on anyone’s parade or anything, but the iTunes ringtone functionality seems a bit lame, if you ask me. It costs $2 to get a ringtone (or $1 if you already happen to have the song), and you can only use music from iTunes. iToner (http://www.ambrosiasw.com/utilities/iToner/) still seems like a better product Even if it doesn’t currently allow one to edit their audio, it can use any .mp3 or .aac. And, before I get accused of shilling for Ambrosia, I don’t work for them, though I have enjoyed their products for years, and moderate one of their game forums.
September 5th, 2007 at 1:02 pm
This is the reason I have become convinced to be a “late adopter” instead of the “early” one!
I am excited to see what’s going to continue to evolve with these appliances. It makes our family’s “year of no purchases” a little easier with a cool treat like one of these in sight for next year!!
September 5th, 2007 at 1:18 pm
I’m still betting that the $399 iPhone will somehow cost us Brits £400 instead of the proper $200 conversion…
Goddamit I already can’t live without an iPhone in this damn country, now they launch a whole new line of snazzy products??
September 5th, 2007 at 1:20 pm
doh I meant the £200 conversion…
September 5th, 2007 at 1:46 pm
minxlj - So you don’t have the iPhone yet. We don’t have it here in Canada either. BUT, you guys already have season 3 of Battlestar Galactica on DVD, and no sign of it here in North America!
September 5th, 2007 at 1:53 pm
Sorry, but “the price of being trendy” doesn’t cut it. Apple is screwing folks who bought iPhones, plain and simple. 99.9% of the reason for owning an iPhone is the crap that has nothing to do with telephony, and now anyone can get one (a) for $hundreds less, and (b) without 2 year contracts with AT&T/Cingular.
I can Apple doing this a year after the release of the iPhone, but two months? Folks, you need to stop fan-boying long enough to realize that pulling the rug out from under faithful customers after they’re contractually obligated to stay the course is severely unethical.
I like Apple as much as the next guy, but this just pisses me off.
And I don’t even own an iPhone.
September 5th, 2007 at 2:20 pm
Hey, I just realized there is no MAIL on the new iPod touch. Did anyone hear anything on that? NOT that that is a deal breaker, cuz i WILL be there ready to get my hands on one, but just curious if they mentioned it?
–Addicted
September 5th, 2007 at 2:21 pm
I’m Thinking. . .
This is the Apple response to the ability to unlock the darn things. Now (with a bit of effort) that they can be used on any network, they have to move units at any price.
September 5th, 2007 at 2:48 pm
i’m kinda bummed by today’s announcments as an early adopter of the iphone, since i paid more than others will have to now and the trend this seems to set that perhaps Apple pandering more to wall street than to users at large. yes a refresh was needed with ipods, but why not leave well enough be with iphone at least for a while.. i guess with x-mas season coming up, and with the stock at almost 52-week high, Jobs/co. figured they needed more but if you see the stock price today it seems people feel same way as i do - they are watering down their own edge and competing with themselves.
not so happy in apple town
aap
September 5th, 2007 at 3:34 pm
Mail client appears to be missing - otherwise if its possible to create or edit calender and address entries along with the ability to create notes and notices and sync them them with a mac/pc perfect!
Ian
September 5th, 2007 at 3:51 pm
Apple has been really aggressive with making sure that they release products that canibalize their own market share before someone else does. Microsoft just cut the price on the Zune today, and that may be a reaction to Apple price cutting, but it may have been in the pipe already, and Apple now looks like they’re driving the Zune’s pricing down.
They also tend to release new products and then price adjust them, either by adding features and keeping the pricing the same, or lowering the price. If they had have kept the 8Gb iPhone @ $599, it would have looked like a gouge compared to the 16Gb iPod Touch at $399 - as it sits now, their product/price grid matches exactly the standard “well - for only $50 more, you can have…”
I do sympathize completely - forking an extra $200 a few weeks ago would hurt me too, but at the end of the day, the company only gets to keep making products like these if they keep bringing in crazy amounts of money, and this is the smartest way to keep up the momentum.
If it makes you feel any better, in Canada we can’t get the iPhone at all yet, nor can we buy movies and TV shows from the iTunes Music Store. We can buy iTV’s though, just nothing substantial to watch on them.
September 5th, 2007 at 6:56 pm
I’m holding out for the iStun gun.
Or for Quicken to come out with an Iphone version or for my current contract to run out, whichever comes first.