Apple Unveils New iPod, Contacts Software

Apple CEO Steve Jobs today announced the first upgrade to the company's iPod portable music device, with double the storage capacity of last year's introductory model. Boasting a 10GB hard drive, the new iPod also features software for storing up to 1,000 contacts on the device - a move which demonstrates Apple has been listening to its customers. Many iPod owners were already storing information such as contacts by using the ID3 tags attached to empty MP3 files.

"With the new 10GB iPod, you can listen to your music continuously on six round-trip flights between San Francisco and Tokyo and never hear the same song twice," said Jobs during his keynote address at Macworld Tokyo. "Plus, now you can store your contact lists inside your iPod, too."

Software developer Matthew Bardram has already extended the new feature even further with a freeware application he wrote called PodNotes. PodNotes adds the ability to store custom notes with iPod's new vCard files that normally hold just contact information. Bardram suggests the software can be used to store notes to self, lyrics, e-mails, computer settings, and anything else up to 1100 characters in length.

The new iPod will retail for $499 USD and include optional engraving for an added price. To the dismay of many would-be customers Apple has not dropped the price of the 5GB iPod model since its inception, continuing to sell the device for $399 USD. Current iPod owners can download the version 1.1 software update at Apple's Web site.