Apple launches fresh market offensive with new iPods

Tech News

By Stevie Smith Sep 6, 2007, 16:30 GMT

As with almost all Apple-related specualtion spat out periodically by the perpetually churning rumour mill, Steve Jobs duly delivered – and then some – on the waves of chatter swirling around the Internet prior to Apple’s special unveiling, which was held yesterday in San Francisco.More pointedly, the Apple CEO gleefully addressed the invited media by whipping the covers of expectation from a selection of iPhone and iPod special offers and new arrivals as California-based Apple clearly positions itself ahead of the traditional high turnover created by the Christmas period.Specifically, Jobs announced that the innovative iPhone smartphone, which was officially launched to much hype and fanfare on Jun 29, will be reduced in price by one third across the United States in an effort to further increase the consumer coverage attributed of the already well-received handheld device.However, it wasn’t all good news on the iPhone front – especially from the point of view of existing iPhone owners who opted for the cheaper 4GB model at launch. While the upper-tier 8GB version of the iPhone will receive the sizeable price drop, bringing it down from $599 USD to $399 USD, the 4GB $499 USD model is to be abandoned by Apple, which may aggrieve those that selected the cheaper option in June.Despite recent estimates by market researcher iSuppli, which placed the iPhone in line to hit around 700,000 units sales by the close of September, Apple has offered that its initial target of 1 million remains in sight, reports the Financial Times.Apple addicts looking for news of potentially fresh entrants into the iPod music player range were not disappointed by the event, with Jobs announcing the new iPod Touch, which will essentially exist as a version of the iPhone, complete with Wi-Fi Internet capabilities and a Web browser, but without the core telephone feature.Thanks to its lack of telephonic function and not needing to wait for international carrier deals prior to its availability, the new iPod Touch is expected to be released globally before the end of the month, with an 8GB model selling for $299 USD, and a 16GB model selling for $399 USD.Apple also announced a somewhat radical re-design to its most popular iPod player, the iPod Nano. Set to arrive in $149 USD 4GB and $199 USD 8GB versions, the new Nano will offer users the advantages of a more angular aesthetic, a wider display screen, a new interface system, video playback, and a host of new colours too.Finally, along with a new Wi-Fi version of the iTunes Store, Apple also revealed that iPhone users will be able to create their own ringtones via iTunes content, with prices set at $0.99 USD plus any incurred song charge.

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PomaikaiSep 6th, 2007 - 18:10:44

Lets just hope the new ipod classics are more reliable than the older hard drive based ipods. Just do a search for Ipod Hard Drive or Ipod battery low problems and see how many issues people are having.

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