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The verdict on Apple’s new iPods and Ping
Steve Jobs unveils Apple’s first foray into social networking with Ping at annual music event
Apple went to back to work on September 1, using its annual autumn music announcement to unveil revamped versions of its iPod touch, iPod nano and iPod shuffle music players plus a redesign of the Apple TV set-top box. Apple CEO Steve Jobs also used the San Francisco event - now in its sixth year - to launch the company's expansion into social media with its new service, Ping.
The First Post takes a look at the latest offerings from Apple's music line, and gives the verdict from tech experts and bloggers:
PINGWhat is it?
Apple's first foray into social networking, Ping will come as part of the iTunes 10 update. Users, or 'Pingers', can follow musicians, friends and others to see what music they are buying and what concerts they are attending.
What they're saying
Jonny Evans, Computerworld: "Is Ping any good? Sure, it is nice and easy to find artists to follow. Yes, you can find your way to your friends as they slowly enable the service, you can post about purchases you make from within iTunes, and can recommend/like/follow any album, song or artist you find for sale within the service. But that's all it does... what limits Ping is its lack of personality."
THE NEW IPODSOn the outside, the new iPod touch may still look like the old iPhone 3GS - albeit noticeably slimmer - but, inside, it has adopted many of the iPhone 4's features. The revamped music player will now come with front- and back-facing cameras and Apple's FaceTime video conferencing technology. It will also offer the same high-resolution Retina Display phone screen, just like the iPhone 4. Available from next week, the iPod touch comes with 8GB, 32GB, or 64GB memory capacities.
The other iPod products - the nano and the shuffle - have been radically redesigned. Significantly smaller and lighter, the new iPod nano (above) now sports a tiny touch-screen. But gone is the video camera introduced last year, as well as the ability to play videos. The new nano comes in seven colours and in two models - the 8GB and the 16GB.
Meanwhile, the shuffle has also been revamped - with a redesigned circular playback control. It now offers 15 hours of battery life and comes in five different colours.
Rik Myslewski, The Register: "'Ooops' wasn't how Jobs introduced the fourth-generation iPod shuffle on Wednesday, but it might well have been... Wednesday's fourth-generation iPod shuffle looks remarkably like the second-generation model - albeit a wee bit less wide."
APPLE TVSteve Jobs admitted yesterday that Apple TV has "never been a huge hit" despite high sales of the device. He hopes to change that with a new version of the set-top box which is smaller and cheaper ($99 - down from $229) than its predecessor. Content such as films and TV shows will now only be available to rent, rather than to buy.
Katy Huberty, analyst, Morgan Stanley: "More affordable Apple TV device ($99 vs. $299) + content (cheaper TV and movie rentals + Netflix integration) could move this category from early adopter to more mainstream uptake."
iOS 4.1 and 4.2The latest version of iOS - Apple's mobile operating system for the iPhone, iPod touch and iPad - will be released next week. The iOS 4.1 update will include a new multi-gaming service called Game Center, allowing users to play games with others.
The iOS 4.2 - which launches in November - will allow users to print wirelessly, providing iPad owners with a welcome new feature.
Sam Biddle, Gizmodo.com: "Although the molasses-slow experience many iPhone 3G users ran into when they upgraded to iOS4 should be at least improved, we're also glad to see that embarrassing cheek-dialing might be a thing of the past for iPhone 4 owners: Apple is finally tackling that faulty proximity sensor." ·
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Comments
Ping is a ridiculous, pointless white elephant that nobody will use; key fails include lack of integration with existing online social networks and it only tracks music downloaded from iTunes; most music in people's MP3 libraries was not bought from iTunes. Someone wrote it's like working out someone's taste in food from analysing the food they order in motorway service stations. What about the music ripped from your own CDs? What about music from LastFM, Pandora or Spotify? Apple know people are increasingly streaming their music instead of buying it. Why on earth did they bother with such a crippled product as Ping? I'm really cross about it; for the same effort they could have brought decent web/cloud features to the iPad/iPhone workflow. It comes across as a cynical effort to bolster iTunes against the competition from streaming services by jumping on the "social network" bandwagon four years too late. The revamped Apple TV was really exciting, though; the best thing about it is you can stream images and video from your iPhone or computer directly to it and view that content on your TV, without mucking about with uploading the stuff to the web or burning a DVD. That convenience alone makes it worth £99 for me.