iPod Classic, Meet iPod Touch
With typical Steve Jobs flair, Apple introduced on Wednesday an entirely new player called the iPod Touch, while relegating its current high-end iPod to "Classic" status.
The Classic model is much like today's iPod, except with more hard drive space. It's thinner than today's 5.5-generation iPod, but comes in sizes of 80GB and 160GB. Pricing for the two models will stay the same as they are currently, at $249 and $349 USD respectively.
However, for most the biggest news of the day is the iPod Touch. Much like the rumors stated, the Touch looks very much like the iPhone, yet is thinner -- obviously due to the fact that there is no need for all the phone hardware.
It will be the first touch-based product with wireless to ship worldwide, Jobs said.
iPod Touch will also be the first model to include Wi-Fi, for which Apple has also decided to equip the device with Safari. Thus, in an area with wireless connectivity, a user could surf the Web while listening to music.
The user interface is the same as Apple's phone, meaning much of the features in the iPhone would make it over to the Touch, including YouTube connectivity.
Like the iPhone, the Touch would also include a sensor to detect when it's held horizontally, allowing for the viewing of videos in landscape mode. The display measures 3.5 inches across, Jobs said.
"We think its one of the seven wonders of the world," he told attendees.
"No doubt this was a huge launch for Apple this morning and leaves them with a product line that's going to be hard for Apple's competitors to match," remarked JupiterResearch analyst Michael Gartenberg. "I believe Apple once again met and exceeded increasingly high expectations. It now has a very deep and complete product line for going into the holiday season, at amazing price points and feature sets that will drive different customers into different purchase funnels."
The iPod touch will ship in "a few weeks" at a retail price of $299 USD for the 8GB version and $399 USD for the 16GB model.
"Apple is NOT preaching to the choir here," added Gartenberg, "they're looking to get a whole new customer into the house of worship and that's exactly what's likely to happen this holiday season."