Early this morning, as the Apple Store went down, a certain forum member with the alias Mr. X posted on the MacRumors forum that Apple was all set to introduce an new 4GB Shuffles, even posting the new model numbers. As it turns out, Mr. X was incredibly correct in his update.
Apple, today, introduced an all new iPod Shuffle model with a completely redesigned form-factor. These new iPod Shuffles are comparatively smaller in size than their previous generation brothers. Made out of anodized aluminum, the Shuffle has now taken a vertical form-factor, similar to the iPod Nano. Surprisingly, the front of the device has been left pale and bland, compared to the back that has a shiny clip with the Apple logo on it.
The new iPod Shuffle comes in only one capacity of 4GB, can hold upto 1000 songs and comes in black and silver colors. In a bold move, Apple has now eliminated all physical control buttons on the Shuffle, moving them to the earphone cord. The only physical button that now exists on the Shuffle is for the options to control continuous playback, shuffle or turning the iPod off.
The earphone cable now carries the iPod controls, with only 3 click areas – two for volume increase/decrease and the third in the center for play/pause etc.
New Feature
Apple has also added an interesting feature to these new Shuffles, that make the iPods speak to you, which is bound to please John Gruber. Dubbed as “VoiceOver”, the feature speaks out your song titles, artists and playlist names. Using the VoiceOver feature, the new Shuffle allows you to pick a choose between different playlists. This feature, it seems, is not entirely new, and already exists in the iPod Nanos.
The new iPods are set to ship in 3-5 business days for $79, although the previous generation iPod Shuffles continue to be on sale.
Update: Indian price is set at Rs. 4900, with a general availability within 3 weeks.
{ 9 comments… read them below or add one }
Good Apple. The shuffle is perfect for working out or light music listening duty.
Bad Smoking Apples.
You succumbed to blatant advertising in your RSS feed. Tacky. I view RSS as an invitation to view your main webpage which of course has advertising. By removing my focus from the feed and placing it on making a buck you’ve breached the trust between you and your readers. Unsubscribed….sadly.
This was likely done because the headphones are probably the part with the largest markup and Apple wasn’t making the ones everybody was using. Now you’ll have to buy crappy Apple earbud headphones, or expensive licensed third party headphones.
Apple needs to learn, ear buds are AWFUL.
This looks sweet and I’d consider buying it if I didn’t already own an iPhone.
Also, where were all the rumor starters for this little gem? With all of the rumors for the mythical iTablet, iPhone Nano and the Mac Netbook I guess the idea of a revamped iPod would’ve seemed boring & uninteresting.
Imagine yourself 230kms away from an apple store and your headphones getting clipped while you are working out . # frustration for many days + bigger hole in the pocket + you get crappy headphones nonetheless .
@Vandit: The shuffle is not your ‘journey iPod’. It’s meant for during your exercise, or just sitting outside in the lawn. Second, headphones getting clipped? That usually doesn’t happen. Even if it does, it’s not an everyday occurance. Third, Apple is working with third party headphone makers to support the new inline controls.
No, I’m going to have to go with Vandit on this one- wires get tangled, pulled, and wrecked. It’s especially common with kids, many of whom will be getting these for price reasons. I’m completely unimpressed by this shuffle- it has the aesthetic of a cut bit of aluminium trim from the hardware store, and with no on-body controls, is a demonstrably less practical and durable design.
And one more thing I wanted to clear myself with.
Does the new shuffle have the next/prev song buttons or even the function (I mean through the speakover and that kind of nonsense)??
Ok so now apple has an ipod for “sitting ” and then one for while you are in the train/bus/car (#nano as it gets quite shaky and would disturb the ipod touch functions) and one while you are out of the train/bus/car travelling(#touch). What do they expect ?? carry a bag full of music players ??
Wow that baby looks smoking hot…. I mean Hannah in iPod Shuffle Guided Tour video
Gosh why isn’t there a HD version of Guided Tour ?
Looking good, but am not impressed with the inbuilt voice over feature. I wonder how it will pronounce our Hindi and other multilingual songs( would make a mockery of it actually!). And still more surprising is that Apple still doesnt include our national language as a part of its global languages which are inbuilt into the macs in general. Very very surprising. Maybe they dont like the fact that Bollywood is going global! Who knows?