AAPL: Apple Introduces the New iPod

Apple® today introduced the new iPod®, the best digital music player and most popular portable video player in the world. The new iPod features a 60 percent brighter and more vibrant 2.5-inch color display perfect for watching TV shows and now Hollywood movies right in the palm of your hand. The new iPod features seamless integration with iTunes® 7 and the iTunes Store (www.itunes.com ) which now includes over 75 Hollywood movies, 220 television shows and popular video games designed specifically for the fifth generation iPod. The new iPod is available in a 30GB model at the new low price of $249 and an 80GB model, which holds up to 20,000 songs or 100 hours of video, for $349.

“The world’s best digital music player has evolved into the world’s most popular portable video player too,” said Steve Jobs, Apple’s CEO. “The new iPod’s brighter and more vibrant display and longer battery life make it perfect for watching Hollywood movies and TV shows right in the palm of your hand.”

The new iPod features Apple’s patented Click Wheel for precise, one-handed navigation, and is seamlessly integrated with iTunes 7 which now features gapless playback for enjoying albums the way they were intended to be listened to. iPod’s new Search and Quick Scroll feature makes it even easier for music fans to find exactly what they are looking for and Apple’s patent pending Auto-Sync technology automatically downloads digital music, podcasts, photos, audiobooks, movies, music videos and popular TV shows onto the iPod and keeps them up-to-date whenever the iPod is plugged into a Mac® or Windows computer.

With its stunning high-resolution color display, iPod allows users to view album art and photo slideshows while playing music, or watch video and play games in full color. Popular video games designed specifically for the fifth generation iPod include: “Bejeweled,” “Cubis 2,” “Mahjong,” “Mini Golf,” “Pac-Man,” “Tetris,” “Texas Hold’em,” “Vortex” and “Zuma,” and are available for purchase on the iTunes Store.

The 30GB model features up to 14 hours of battery life for music playback and up to three and a half hours of video playback, and the 80GB model features up to 20 hours of battery life for music playback and five and a half hours of video playback.* The new iPod features brightness control allowing users to easily change the brightness.

Pricing & Availability
The new iPod models are available worldwide through the Apple Store® (www.apple.com), Apple’s retail stores and Apple Authorized Resellers. The new 30GB iPod model in white or black is available for $249 (US), and the new 80GB model in white or black is available for $349 (US). All iPod models include redesigned earbud headphones providing superior comfort, fit and sound quality, and a USB 2.0 cable.

Optional accessories for the new iPod include: Universal Dock for $39 (US), Apple Remote for $29 (US), Apple iPod AV cable for $19 (US), the iPod Camera Connector for $29 (US) and a new incredibly compact iPod USB power adapter for $29 (US) which at almost half the size of the previous USB power adapter, is perfect for charging your iPod while traveling.

iPod requires a Mac with a USB 2.0 port and Mac OS® X version 10.3.9 or later and iTunes 7.0 or later; or a Windows PC with a USB 2.0 port and Windows 2000 (Service Pack 4), Windows XP Home or Professional (Service Pack 2) and iTunes 7.0 or later. Internet access is required and a broadband connection is recommended.

* Battery life and number of charge cycles vary by use and settings. See www.apple.com/batteries for more information. Music capacity is based on four minutes per song and 128-Kbps AAC encoding; actual capacity varies by content. Photo capacity is based on iPod-viewable photos transferred from iTunes. Video playback based on 640X480 iTunes video content.