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Apple unveils new iPods, $99 Apple TV and music social network
Above, the new iPod Nano. Photo by Paul Sakuma, Associated Press.
Steve Jobs of Apple today introduced a new line of iPods, calling it the biggest shakeup of Apple’s venerable music player line yet. He also brought out a new smaller, rent-based Apple TV box.
“Every year we try to improve iPods, make them even better for our users. This year, we’ve gone wild,” he said.
Jobs, who says the company has sold 275 million iPods, unveiled redesigned iPod Shuffles, iPod Nanos and a new iPod Touch that has features similar to those on the iPhone 4. All the new iPods will be in stores starting next week.
The iPod Touch now has a front-facing camera that can use FaceTime video chat, a rear HD-video-recording camera and the Retina Display that means crisper text and higher resolution apps on its display. It’s also thinner. It will sell for $229, $299 and $399 for 8-gigabyte, 32-gigabyte and 64-gigabyte models.
The Nano is now a much smaller, square device now with a multitouch screen. It loses video recording capabilities, but now has a more app-like look similar to the iPhone and iPod Touch. It will cost $149 and $179 for 8-gigabyte and 16-gigabyte. It also now has a clip on the back and no buttons on the front.
The iPod Shuffle goes back to a previous design. It is back to a square shape with physical buttons on the front. It’ll start at $49. This one seems like a bit of a design retreat after Apple’s most recent Shuffle refresh.
The Apple TV project, which Jobs has called a “Hobby” of Apple’s, has been redesigned into a small, black, silent box. It’s a quarter the size of the previous Apple TV. While Apple TV has allowed for movie rentals in the past, Apple is trying to shift customers completely away from buying movies and TV, and toward renting them instead on the device. FOX and ABC are the first TV partners that will offer 99-cent HD-quality TV shows for Apple TV.
Netflix, YouTube, Flickr and Mobile Me content will be available to stream through Apple TV. The price of the new model will be $99 and will be out in about four weeks, he said.
Above, the new $99 Apple TV. Photo by Paul Sakuma, Associated Press.
Jobs also introduced “Ping,” a new social network for music that will be incorporated into iTunes. He described it as, “Facebook and Twitter meet iTunes.” It will allow users of iTunes 10 to share their playlists, favorite songs and concert information. Jobs spoke to Lady Gaga via video chat to introduce the feature. Ping will also appear in iTunes on the iPhone and iPod Touch.
iTunes 10 has a simplified interface and a new icon that ditches the CD in its logo. It’s out today, he said.
Earlier in the presentation, Jobs touted the App Store’s progress. It had had 6.5 billion download so far from 250,000 apps. 25,000 of those apps, he said, are for the iPad. The iPad debuted in April.
Jobs said that bug fixes in the new iOS 4.1 will address Bluetooth issues, proximity sensor problems and performance issues on the iPhone 3G that emerged with the last major OS update.
He also introduced HDR photography, which will allow the phone to take photos at multiple exposures and combine them into one high-range image. He also showed off Game Center, similar to Xbox Live. It’s a way for gamers to connect with other games, participate in leaderboards and compare achievements. This new iOS release will be out next week, Jobs said.
For the iPad, a major release for later this week will introduce wireless printing from the device as well a way to stream video, audio and photos, called AirPlay, from the iPad to other devices. The 4.2 update enabling it will be out in November.
Jobs, late in the presentation, showed off the ability to stream from an iPad to an Apple TV and to use it like a remote control. He said you’ll be able to stream photos, music and other content from any iOS 4.2 device via AirPlay.
The keynote ended with a solo performance by Coldplay’s Chris Martin, whose daughter is named, incidentally, Apple.
(This post updated with Apple TV and iPod Nano photos, more information from the Apple presentation, 1:15 p.m. Post updated at 5 p.m. to clear up wording in the paragraph about Apple TV rentals that makes it sound as if Apple TV didn’t used to rent TV shows, per a reader’s suggestion.)
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Apple introducing SOMETHING musical Wednesday at noon
In about an hour, Apple is holding what it’s calling a “Keynote” to introduce what could be a new line of iPods, a streaming music/video service, TV show rentals or perhaps even a major refresh to its Apple TV products.
The company will live stream the event, unusual for Apple, on its Web site. It will apparently only be available to Mac users with the latest OS Snow Leopard, or users of iPads, iPhones or iPod Touches. The broadcast starts at noon CDT.
Other things we might see: a new Apple TV box with Netflix streaming or possibly 99-cent TV show rentals.
Wilder rumors: an hardware-updated, antenna-fixed iPhone and a smaller version of the iPad.
I’ll be watching along and following Engadget’s typically solid live blog and will post the news soon after it’s announced.
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Stories before bed on the iPad
On a Saturday morning in April, I stood in line at a Best Buy in San Marcos to buy an Apple iPad. We planned to use it as a replacement for my wife’s aging, slow laptop and for me to test out apps and games for my work as a tech reporter.
After I came home and set up the device, it wasn’t long before our daughter Lilly, who just turned 3, grabbed the tablet and wouldn’t let go. I may have stacked the deck in favor of gadget-love-at-first-sight; the Netflix app I’d just downloaded was streaming the movie “The Adventures of Elmo in Grouchland.”
Since then, the three of us have all gotten good use from the first of what I think will be a big wave of touch-screen, tablet-sized computers many of us will use at home. But one surprising place the new technology has been a big hit in my family in bed, for story time.
Lilly loves her board books, whether it’s “Goodnight Moon,” her box of Disney Princess books or pretty much anything by Eric Carle. But one way of breaking the routine a bit once or twice a week has been to try out some of the interactive books available on the iPad.
There are literally thousands of apps aimed at kids in Apple’s App Store, but I’ve found their quality and prices to vary wildly. Sometimes, a free or 99-cent app makes you feel like you got exactly what you paid for.
The better ones we’ve found that Lilly responded to best offer not only stories with text read aloud and gorgeous, full-color images, games and some form of interactivity.
The “Wheels on the Bus HD” app, for instance, is a bargain at $1.99. It features a series of scenes on a school bus and a song that can be played in different languages and with different instruments. You can also record your own version of “The Wheels on the Bus” and play it over the colorful story pages. Each page has animations that can be activated by touch. For instance, the raindrops on the bus windshield can be cleared by moving the wipers.
It’s brilliantly designed, but also very short. Even with all the language options, it’s a quick experience that didn’t last us more than 15 minutes.
Along the same lines is “Yertle the Turtle” by Dr. Seuss ($3.99). Expertly narrated, the book can read to you with automatic page turning or kept quiet if you want to read the pages yourself.
One great feature is that practically every object in the book can be pressed and a word associated with it pops up and is spoken aloud. Click on the sky and “CLOUD” or “SKY” are spoken with the word growing and floating toward you. It’s a great tool for kids learning to read, but we found Lilly wasn’t particularly enthralled by the story of the turtle king.
The most labor-intensive of the apps we tried for iPad was also the most rewarding. “A Story Before Bed” isn’t a book so much as a platform for creating your own personalized bookshelf. In order to use it, you’ll need to put the iPad aside and log on to the company’s Web site. Using a webcam, you can record yourself reading one of more than 150 books. Once the video is recorded, you can access it from the Web site, the iPad and some smart phones.
It took us about 15 minutes to record a copy of “Cinderella.” Lilly lay on the bed next to me as I read to my laptop screen. It took a few more minutes to download the book to the iPad, but once it was there, we were thrilled. The video of Lilly and I reading together appeared in a small window. Pages of the book turned along with our reading. Lilly’s favorite feature? The ability to get rid of Daddy by simply pressing a finger on the small video window.
Not only do we have a digital copy of “Cinderella” to browse, but we also have a great video of Lilly and I reading together to view later. It seems like a great idea for parents, military personnel or grandparents who don’t get a chance to read to the kids regularly. The app is free but each book recording costs about $6.99 to record or $29.99 for a year of unlimited recording. A copy of “Itsy Bitsy Spider” is available to try out for free.
By far Lilly’s favorite of the bunch was Disney’s “The Princess and the Frog Read-Along” app, one of several iPad digital books the company publishes based on movies including the “Toy Story” series.
“Princess and the Frog” includes a storybook version of the movie including film clips, songs with lyrics, games, painting and puzzles. You can record your own read-along audio. At $8.99, it’s pricier than many iPad apps, but also packs a lot of entertainment into one package. Lilly quickly got hooked on the jigsaw puzzles; three are included with the app and they can be set to Easy, Normal or Hard difficulties.
We’re not ready to get rid of Lilly’s paper books and go completely digital for story time. But we do recognize that by the time she’s in middle and high school, she’ll probably be doing more reading on phone, tablet or computer screens than she will be via printed textbooks. It doesn’t hurt for her to be exposed to more interactive ways of reading and to develop a love and enthusiasm for words, music and art, no matter the format.
(This piece will run as a Raising Austin column in Saturday’s American-Statesman.)
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New ‘Metroid’ and ‘Guilty Party’ on Wii among top new video games this week
New video game releases this week:
“Metroid: Other M” — The background of beloved video game heroine Samus Aran is explored in this collaboration between Nintendo and the Team Ninja game studio, a shooter that takes place between the events in “Super Metroid” and “Metroid Fusion.” The new game is a shooter that allows you to switch between a third- and first-person perspective as you explore a huge space facility. It promises frenzied action, puzzle solving and more drama than in the typical “Metroid” game. Rated T for Teen. $50, for Nintendo Wii.
“Guilty Party” — This family-friendly detective game is a bit like “Clue” mixed with the popular “Nancy Drew” PC games. Up to four players can play competitively or cooperatively to solve a series of mysteries. Players can gather clues, question suspects and engage in mini games that include lock picking and flashlight sleuthing. Best of all, the mysteries can be played through more than once: the ending isn’t always the same. Rated E for Everyone. $40, for Nintendo Wii.
Also out this week: “Dead Rising 2: Case Zero” (downloadable for Xbox 360), “Valkyria Chronicles II” (Sony PSP), “Castle Crashers” (downloadable for PlayStation 3), “Ace Combat: Joint Assault” (PSP), “Brunswick Zone Cosmic Bowling” (Wii), “Serious Sam HD: The First Encounter” (Windows PC), “Camp Rock Final Jam” (Nintendo DS), “Zenses: Zen Garden” (DS), “Prison Tycoon: Alcatraz” (PC), “Auditorium” (PS3), “Sam & Max: The Devil”s Playhouse Episode 5: The City that Dares Not Sleep” (downloadable for Xbox 360, PS3 and PC).
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Xbox Live pricing going up, Nintendo DSi prices going down
Good news/bad news, gamers!
Starting Nov. 1, the price of an Xbox Live subscription will rise, whether you purchase it month-to-month or yearly.
According to Microsoft Xbox evangelist Major Nelson (Larry Hryb), prices for Xbox Live Gold subscriptions will go up $10 a year, to $59.99. Monthly subscriptions go up from $7.99 to $9.99 and a three-month subscription will cost $24.99, up from the previous $19.99.
Nelson said it’s the first price increase since the service launched in 2002 and that members who want to avoid the price increase can lock in their current rate now. Luckily, game blogs have been posting online deals where you can get a one-year subscription card for about $40 from several stores. The timing seems a bit odd — it’ll be right before Microsoft Kinect and a line of new Windows 7 phones launch. Is Microsoft trying to make all its customers broke by Christmas?
In less financially painful news, Nintendo is actually lowering the price on its popular DSi portable consoles. Starting Sept. 12, the DSi console drops $20 to $149.99 and the larger DSi XL drops to $169.99. The DS Lite, which lacks the cameras that are on the DSi models, stays at $129.99.
Lowering prices or raising them… I wonder which of these strategies will be more popular among gamers and holiday shoppers!
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The summer smart phone roundup
Photo by Rodolfo Gonzalez/AMERICAN-STATESMAN
In Saturday’s American-Statesman, a roundup I put together of the summer’s hottest smart phone releases runs in the Life & Arts section.
To recap, here’s some of the reviews we’ve run of some of the phones in the roundup as well as links to other write-ups for the ones we haven’t had a chance yet to review ourselves.
- My impressions of the Sprint HTC EVO 4G.
- My review of Apple’s iPhone 4 (on AT&T).
- A mini-review of Verizon’s Motorola Droid X.
- Walt Mossberg on Dell’s Streak mini tablet (on AT&T).
- Engadget reviews the T-Mobile Samsung Vibrant.
- Crackberry’s lengthy review of the BlackBerry Torch (on AT&T).
Got questions? Post them in the comments and I’ll do my best to answer them.
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Surprising no one, SXSW Panel Picker deadline extended to Sunday
Voters have two more days to pick panels in the South by Southwest Panel Picker (including those submitted for SXSW Interactive). In a blog post, the festival says it will close up voting at 11:59 p.m. Sunday night (give or take two days).
Two more days to pimp those panels!
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Mini-review: Time Warner Cable’s IntelliGo 3G/4G Mobile Hotspot
Photo courtesy Time Warner Cable
Over the last year, companies including Clear, Verizon and now Time Warner have been giving customers the option of cutting the cord on their home Internet connection. Wireless hotspot devices like the Verizon Mi-Fi have the speed and advantages of a USB Internet device you’d plug into a laptop, but is compatible with many more devices. Plus, since it’s Wi-Fi, an advantage to going this route is you can get mobile Internet service on several devices at the same time, say a laptop, a smart phone and a tablet PC.
They vary in price and service cost, but typically cost about $40-$60 a month depending on a data plan (how much you download) and options like whether it runs on a 3G network, a 4G coverage area (faster but limited in range to mostly big cities) or 4G and 3G combined (which gives you the most flexibility, but typically costs more).
Time Warner’s entry into the increasingly crowded field is the IntelliGo, a coaster-shaped 3G/4G hybrid device that’s about as thick as a deck of cards. It’s made by Sierra Wireless and has a far superior battery life to the MiFi I tested last year. Up to five devices at a time can connect to it. It also has a microSD slot that allows you to share files from a memory card with the devices connecting to the IntelliGo.
Unfortunately, I had inconsistent experiences while testing it out. When the IntelliGo connected to Austin’s 4G network, it offered fast speed. The device has a small, monochrome screen that tells you how much battery life is left, the wireless password to use to connect to it and whether it’s connected to a 3G or 4G network. It’s great for troubleshooting, but several times when I supposedly had a solid 3G connection, the device inexplicably stopped responding to a variety of devices including an Apple iPad, several laptops and smart phones.
The only remedy for me was to reboot the IntelliGo, which takes a few minutes. Once rebooted, the device worked normally, but sometimes only for another 10 or 15 minutes before stalling again. One thing that might have been responsible is I did a lot of my testing in New Braunfels, where I live. The IntelliGo, however, said on its display that it had a solid 3G connection, so I’m not sure if the problems were with the coverage area or the device itself.
The IntelliGo costs about $50 with a two-year contract and after rebate and service is $50 a month. If you decide to try it out, I’d spend a day or two taking it to all the local locations you might use it and make sure it works consistently with your Wi-Fi devices before commit to keeping it. As long as you’re within 30 days of purchasing it, Time Warner should accept a return if you change your mind and find it doesn’t work consistently.
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Lines that are probably in that Facebook movie
Since I saw the trailer for the movie, “The Social Network” (embedded below) due out in October, I’ve been a little obsessed with how Hollywood heavy hitters like screenwriter Aaron Sorkin and genius director David Fincher are going to tackle the origin story of Facebook.
Will they portray Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg as a cocky Harvard geek who got in over his head? Or a visionary Millennial with slightly sociopathic tendencies who cunningly bended the Internet to his whims?
Either way, we know that young people sitting at computers on film rarely makes for compelling drama. Instead, we’re sure to get lots of high-decibel dialog between the characters. Here’s a list of exchanges I absolutely expect will make it into the film:
- “Privacy?! (Expletive) privacy!”
- “Do you have a girlfriend?” “No. I have a website.”
- “Users are freaking out! What do we say?” “We tell them we’re sorry. Then we push twice as hard.”
- “It’s called a Poke.” “Poke? Who the Hell wants to Poke someone on the Net?” “Um, only EVERYBODY?”
- “Say goodnight, MySpace.”
- “We are gonna rule the world. Do you hear me, Sean? RULE. THE. WORLD.”
- “$900 million?! Who do you think we are? Friendster? NO DEAL, JERRY.”
- “You stole our idea!” “I didn’t steal your idea. I had a BETTER idea that fixed all your mistakes.”
- “We need more servers.” “OK, Mark. How many?” “Um… 10,000, maybe?” “Are you kidding?” “Make it 20,000.”
- “Take it down? Do you have ANY IDEA how the Internet works?!”
- “LET them sue us. We’ve got more money than God and more lawyers than we’ve got engineers.”
Got your own lines? Post them in the comments.
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The Linkdown for Thursday, Aug. 26
The Linkdown has a story comparing some of the summer’s new smart phones in the newspaper (you know, that thing they print on paper?) on Saturday. Check it out. We’ll link to it here with a supplemental blog entry before then.
Oh yeah, links! Here’s what you should be aware of today:
- Target is now accepting trade-ins of video games and electronics like iPods in exchange for store gift cards.
- Netflix for iPhone/iPod Touch has finally arrived. The app is free if you already have a Netflix subscription. On an iPhone 4 over Wi-Fi video streamed fast and looked great when I tried it today.
- Brian Reynolds of rapidly growing social games company Zynga will be a keynote speaker at Austin Game Developers Conference Online in October.
- Upcoming tech-related events: the HelpAttack! launch party Friday.Austin Blog-A-Thon on Saturday, Social Media Breakfast on Monday, Austin High Tech Happy Hour on Sept. 9, #BATHH Austin on Sept. 16, Yelp Open Party on Sept. 23.
- “Hello Kitty Online” has launched!
- The popular online game “Wizard 101,” which has a major presence in Austin, will be released in Europe later this year.
- $4.99 iPhone app foils a Dallas burglary in progress.
- iTunes U downloads have topped 300 million. Speaking of Apple, they will probably announce new iPods or a streaming music service on Wednesday.
- In case you missed it: my story from Sunday’s paper about e-textbooks, my There’s a Creator for That feature on “Mountain Bike Trails” and my NPR All Tech Considered segment from Monday on tech and seniors.
- “Star Wars: Clone Wars Adventures” public beta has opened.
- Dell ups its offer for 3Par, says it got accepted after H-P crashed the party.
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Austin Blog-A-Thon a go for Saturday
Back in 2007, a flurry of news stories was starting to ask — as social media began to take off — whether blogging was dead (or at least dying).
We answered with a story about the state of blogging in Austin which ran before that year’s South by Southwest (the year, incidentally, that Twitter began to take hold). Since then, Twitter and Facebook have had astronomical growth, but blogging has, if anything, flourished here. Food bloggers, mom bloggers, tech bloggers and bloggers who write about fashion, live music and other Austin-centric topics still find an audience and use social media to promote their writing.
Austin Blog-A-Thon 2010 (or #BlogathonATX) runs from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. at Conjunctured Coworking, 1309 E. 7th Street. While the event itself is sold out, there still seem to be a handful of tickets left for a 6-9 p.m. happy hour where Gina Chavez will perform.
Several volunteer experts will be offering advice on blog how-tos. There’ll be two rooms for writing, a room for setup and tech issues and a room for discussion. A group #BlogathonATX blog on Posterous is already highlighting what some of the participants are working on or will be doing on Saturday.
Based on the event selling out so quickly, I’d imagine this will be a regular event in Austin. Looking forward to seeing some of the blog work that comes out of this.
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‘Mafia II’ and ‘Grease’ bring ’50s vibe to video game releases this week
Video game releases this week:
“Grease: The Game” — Yes, it’s based on the movie and yes it’s got 16 songs from the famous film. While the Wii version emphasizes singing and party play for up to 8 players, the Nintendo DS version is all about dance competitions and allows you to take a photo of yourself to use in the game with the DSi camera. Is the one that you want? Depends on how big a “Grease” fan you are. Rated E-10+ for Everyone 10 and Older. $30-$40, for Nintendo DS and Nintendo Wii.
“Mafia II” — It’s been a long wait for a sequel to the 2002 game “Mafia: The City of Lost Heaven,” but the new game benefits from the latest technology with a game engine that seamlessly links outdoor and interior environments without load times. It’s a mob drama with vehicular gunfights, hand-to-hand combat and a story from the original writing team of the previous game. Rated M for Mature. $50-$80 for Standard or Collector’s Edition, for Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and Windows PCs.
Also out this week: “Gunblade NY and LA Machineguns Arcade Hits Pack” (Nintendo Wii), “Reel Deal Casino Valley of the Kings” (PC), “Ivy the Kiwi?” (DS, Wii), “Martian Panic” (Wii), “Harvest Moon: Grand Bazaar” (DS), “Elemental: War of Magic” (PC), “NHL 2K11” (Wii), “Dreamworks 2-in-1 Party Pack” (DS), “A320 Jetliner” (PC), “Little Bears” (DS), “Riding Academy 2” (DS), “Shank” (Downloadable for Xbox 360), “Worms Reloaded” (PC).
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Not to mention the fact that Amazon has just dropped the price of CBS and Fox shows to 99 cents (matching Apple) but get this: the price at Amazon is to own, not rent like Apple TV. Apple TV has a tough road ahead, not because of Roku dropping its prices,
... read the full comment by Jojo | Comment on Apple unveils new iPods, $99 Apple TV and music social network Read Apple unveils new iPods, $99 Apple TV and music social network
There are several platforms that compete in the marketplace with Roku and Apple TV. They each have their strong points and appeal to separate protions of the user demographic. On my Tivo I can dowbnload certain premium TV series and tons of movies from
... read the full comment by Will | Comment on Apple unveils new iPods, $99 Apple TV and music social network Read Apple unveils new iPods, $99 Apple TV and music social network
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