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.

iPhone Ringtones on iTunes

Apple now lets you create ringtones from any tune you purchase from the iTunes Store. You have to pay an additional 99 cents (for a total of $1.98 -- the original 99 cent tune purchase plus the 99 cent ringtone purchase), but then you get a custom ringtone from that tune you can import onto your iPhone. Check it out from within the latest version of the iTunes software.

iTunes 7.1

iPodpedia isn't even to the printer yet and already there's been an update to the technology. Apple has just released version 7.1 of the iTunes software, avaialble for free downloading from Apple's site. (Or just select Help > Check for Updates from iTunes.) iTunes 7.1 offer mainly bug fixes and compatibility (more or less) with Windows Vista, but also adds one cool new feature -- the ability to view cover flow album art full-screen. There's a new full-screen button next to the cover flow slider; click it and the cover flow fills your entire screen. (Makes you want to update your art to higher-resolution versions, if nothing else...)