Apple Special Event--New iPods, Movies and Games from iTunes Music Store and iTV

At yesterday's Apple Special Event in San Francisco, CEO Steve Jobs introduced new iPods across the line with new earbud headphones. The new iPods with video got brighter screens, longer battery life (80GB model music to 20 hrs and video to 6.5 hrs; 30GB model music to 14 hrs and video to 3.5 hrs), searchable software, a larger hard drive to 80GB and lower prices by $50 to $249 for the 30GB model and $349 for the 80GB model.

The new iPod nanos (image courtesy of Apple) are very similar to the original iPod mini with a metal case and colors but are much smaller and slimmer and the battery lasts up to 24 hours with music. They come in 2GB, 4GB and 8GB capacities for $149 to $249. The $149 2GB model comes in silver, the $199 4GB model comes in silver, pink, blue and green, and the most expensive $249 8GB model comes in...you guessed it...black!

The new iPod shuffle (image courtesy of Apple) is like one-third of a nano with a clip but with no video screen and mechanical clicker controls instead of a click wheel. Battery life is up to 12 hrs and it comes in silver with a capacity of 1GB for $79.

Apple is now selling movies downloads for $12.99 as a pre-order or within a week after it comes out, $14.99 later from the iTunes Store (iTS, no longer iTunes Music Store). Older movies go for $9.99. Apple has signed up Disney, Pixar, Touchstone and Miramax so far. The downloads will be available as movies are released on DVD. All videos will move to a resolution of 640x480 (i.e. up to 480 for a 4:3 aspect movie, less for a 16:9 aspect). Initial movies include "Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl," "Shakespeare in Love," "The Princess Diaries," "The Incredibles," "National Treasure," "Toy Story," "The Rock” and "The Rookie."

New to the iTS are video games like "Tetris," "Mahjong" and "Mini Golf from Electronic Arts Inc.; "Pac-Man" from Namco Networks America Inc.; "Cubis 2" from FreshGames, LLC; "Bejeweled" and "Zuma" from PopCap Games, Inc.; and "Texas Hold'em" and "Vortex" from Apple. The games are $4.99 each.

Finally, the highlights of all regular season NFL football games are available from the iTS for $1.99 each the day after the game is played.

Steve Jobs also presented a work in progress code-named iTV (see CNet's photos), a departure from the usual Apple protocol of not talking about future products. The iTV looks like a one-third height Mac mini. It connects to a flat panel TV and accepts video streamed by WiFi from a Mac. It will sell for $299 and be available in the first quarter of 2007.

Here is a QuickTime movie of the special event. [Bill Fox and Dana Baggett]