ZTProductions

Walk into the Apple store nearest you and without doubt you will find crowds. Are they gawking over the iPhone? Not anymore they’re not. Mr. Jobs and company have of course unleashed the latest myriad of iPod products. We’ve got a little bit of everything spawning from last weeks “And the beat goes on” event. From some newly colored shuffles to an added touch. The details are everywhere, and as always I try not to tell you what you’ve already been told a million times about the iPod shuffle, Nano “Fatty”, iPod classic, and the iPod touch. But, I will remind you that, these new products were not the only things that came out of the event. New services also came with the new pods. Updated iTunes lately? Noticed that ringtones tab when you plug in your iPhone? Well if not, go do a double take. The first of the new iTunes changes is the ability to add custom ringtones to your iPhone (for the iPhone owners who haven’t already found a way to do so for free like I have). For 99 cents extra you can select a portion of a limited choice of songs that you would like to have play everytime your wife calls to ask if you’re going to pick up dinner. Personally I have not tried the new service but from what I’ve heard, it’s nice, it’s reasonable considering the price of other ringtone services, and easy to use. However, not all iTunes songs can be made into ringtones. But even bigger news came at the conference, the news of an iTunes store accessible on your iPhone or iPod touch via WiFi (it’s about time…etc…). According to Steve Jobs, by the end of the month the service will be available. And there’s also been a partnership with Apple and Starbucks (no surprise that the two trendy companies did so). Now, when your enjoying your vanilla latte and reading a more popular blog then my own on your iPhone and you hear a song wafting through the familiar coffee shop atmosphere, you can access the iTunes store and purchase that song from the Starbucks radio playlist. Not groundbreaking, but neat none the less.

So what about the iPods? Well the shuffle just got a new paint job. The iPod classic, resembling a birthchild of the Nano touchwheel mixed with an iPod video comes in an 80GB ($249) and a 160GB ($349) flavors. That’s more episodes of Lost and the Office (well not anymore for the latter, thanks a lot NBC) then is healthy. Then there’s the iPod Nano “Fatty”, which really will just be known as the Nano (3rd gen). The Nano is compact, square, and plays video. The Nano and classic both have coverflow as we have come to love in iTunes and even more so on the iPhone. I can’t imagine that it will be as fun using the touch wheel, and early reports say the coverflow is a bit choppy, can’t beat the original. It’s a nice looking little device, but watching movies on that tiny little screen can’t be comfortable. But on top of it all comes the iPod Touch, a gutted iPhone with some flare. The new device is thinner then the iPhone and obviously does not have the phone features. But it is the same iPod that we love on the iPhone and it even has Safari, Youtube and WiFi. It comes in 8GB for $299 and 16GB for $399. The slightly smaller and more angular cousin to the iPhone is looking good, and when it releases in the near future it will no doubt create a buzz.

So how do my fellow iPhone owner (and lovers) feel about all of this. Does the touch take away from the allure of the iPhone. Sure we can make calls, text, and do so much more on our Apple phone, but will seeing more and more of these devices take a way from it all? Not to mention the price cuts on the iPhone which I mentioned in my previous post. How do you feel about it all?