New iPods

Apple just announced their new iPod lineup for the fall of 2008. It includes yet another new redesign for the iPod Nano ($149+), this time with the old taller/thinner design and the newer widescreen display. Colors are brighter than last season's more muted offerings. There's also a new thinner iPod Touch ($229+)and a new thinner 120GB iPod Classic ($249). 

Also updated is the iTunes softwware. iTunes 8 has a new "Genius" feature that builds playlists based on songs/artists that you like -- something third-party apps have been doing for some time now. The Genius feature is built into the new Nanos and Touches; the Nano also has a "shake" feature that switches to a new playlist when you physically shake the thing.

Nice updates, but nothing earth shaking -- a little underwhelming, actually. Still, it's always nice to have new models for Christmas buying season.

New iPod Models

Just in time for the holiday gift-giving season, a totally revampted iPod lineup. Here's what's available:

• iPod touch, more or less an iPhone without the phone. The touch has the iPhone's form factor, touch screen, Cover Flow navigation, Wi-Fi capability, and web browser, but at a fraction of the price. Two models are available: 8GB for $299 and 16GB for $399. Memory is flash-based, of course, and the touch plays both music and videos.
• iPod classic, more or less the current iPod Video but with a thinner case, more storage capacity, and a lower price. The 80GB model runs $249, and the double-capacity 160GB model runs $349. Both are available in black or silver.
• iPod nano, completely revamped for this generation. The new nano is shorter and wider than the older model, with a 320 x 240 pixel display. The display is perfect for viewing videos, which the new nano (unlike the old) lets you do. Both the nano and the Classic come with a new Cover Flow interface, which works well on the larger screen. It's available in 4GB ($149) and 8GB ($199) versions; the smaller one is silver only, the larger one comes in silver, blue, green, black, and red.
• iPod shuffle, essentially unchanged from the previous model except for new color choices: silver, turquoise, red, green, and blue, all priced at $79.

I expect the new iPod touch to be the big seller, along wth the revamped nano; the classic will continue to appeal to those with extra-large music collections (up to 40,000 tracks for the larger model).

100 Million iPods

Apple just announced that it has hit the 100 million mark in terms of iPod sales. Other numbers: 2.5 billion songs, 50 million TV shows, and 1.3 million movies sold through the iTunes Store.