AfterDawn: News

The new Apple iPod Shuffle talks to you

Apple has unveiled the latest update to their iPod Shuffle line, a player under half the size of its already tiny predecessor, but with double the storage capacity, 4GB.

To help save space, Apple has moved the volume and control buttons to the headphones themselves, leaving nothing on the actual hardware unit but a logo.



More interestingly, Apple has added VoiceOver, a new "synthesized-speech feature", that will tell users who the artist of the current song is, as well as the title of the track and any playlists you may have available.

The device is available now, for $79 USD.





Written by: Andre Yoskowitz @ 11 Mar 2009 18:29

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• 16 comments

• dragnandy

  what type of consumers are they trying to aim for? its not the tech crowd because obviously, those ipod headphones always sound like junk. its also not the younger crowd because, lets face it, those ipod headphones arent sturdy at all. and once it breaks? what are u going to do then? how much will replacing those headphones cost you? knowing apple, atleast $20.
  
  the only way i see this going is if they sell headphone replacements at a cheap price and if they end up building it with high quality. i admit that the shuffle does look nice. =P

  11.3.2009 18:36 #1

• Ragnarok8

  I agree, having all the commands on the headphones is a really bad idea from the consumer's point of view. I like the looks and new features but honestly doubt its worth the potential trouble.

  11.3.2009 20:13 #2

• jookycola

  Honestly what's the point when you can have a better mp3 player that close in size to the current shuffle and has a screen so you can see the info. It's a lame gimmick. I'm kinda over Apple and their over priced B.S.. It just sucks that no other companies are embracing other mp3 players when it comes to accessories.

  11.3.2009 20:37 #3

• Hyasuma

  i personally think that this thing looks sweet, but 79 dollars for 1000 songs? thats it? i can buy a mp3 player for like 50 bucks can put up to 2000 songs, and it has a screen. The headphone is neat idea, but i want to say the headphone suck, they fall out every time i try to use them for sports activities, it dont even sound that good, and the WHITE headphones they always have gets nasty looking, gray and dirty. Now they think to use a control all on a headphone? headphone itself is crap, now you can't use any other type of headphone unless they can think about having the control can be detached from head phones.
  
  To me, the sleek design is cool, but it cost too much, the headset is crap. you got to do better than this Apple. Change the damn headset

  12.3.2009 00:14 #4

• pensfan12

  Oh i see what they have done there.
  
  They make you use their headphones.
  
  And once they break you have to buy another set of Apple headphones.
  
  $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$

  12.3.2009 00:58 #5

• dreamer2

  I have sansa clip, and its working really good, has good battery life and cheap.

  12.3.2009 01:41 #6

• redux79

  Moving all controls to a cheap proprietary piece of plastic on the headset... seems like a giant leap in the wrong direction.

  12.3.2009 03:44 #7

• lxhotboy

  I looked at apple's ipod lineup when i was trying to find my wife a mp3 player. Are these things made of gold or something? They are seriously overpriced. There is no reason to actually purchase one at the high prices unless someone just wants an Apple. You can find players just as good if not better with more storage space if you search. I cant beleive people buy this things.

  12.3.2009 04:57 #8

• Vr0cK

  hmmm...so this ipod is pretty much useless without Apple's own headphones. People who buy this better have a spare of the same headphones.

  12.3.2009 08:16 #9

• lubricant

  i say "boo" to that. it sounds like their revenue will grow more from selling new headphones, than the players themselves.

  12.3.2009 21:48 #10

• sailow

  fail

  12.3.2009 22:49 #11

• 20TONS

  Mp3 players are just way too small these days. I think the reason they do this is so you lose the whole damn thing and have to purchase another one. What's up with the no display? I'll never own an Apple product until they remove all that DRM crap and allow me to use any computer I wish to upload music.

  13.3.2009 02:12 #12

• lawndog

  great anouther attempt at cornering a market. Apple is trying to go after the headphone industry now?!?!?!

  13.3.2009 21:31 #13

• c.trigger

  at that size why don't they just build them into some good head phones ?
  PS i copyright that edited by ddp right now !

  14.3.2009 02:11 #14

• c.trigger

  Originally posted by c.trigger: at that size why don't they just build them into some good head phones ?
  PS i copyright that right now !

  14.3.2009 05:36 #15

• voyager

  Good Price but headphones with all the controls is a problem.

  14.3.2009 07:49 #16