new iPods + iTunes 8 download

Today, at their Lets Rock event, Apple unveiled their latest lineup of iPods. The news wasn’t totally unexpected as images of the 4th Generation iPod Nano had already been leaked on the Internet. And Apple was due to make an announcement today, which came a couple of hours after when Microsoft had unveiled their plans for the new Zune.

The new iPod nano-chromatic comes in 9 different colors with aluminium and glass finishing. It also features a built in voice recorder and an accelerometer which responds to motion. The best bit however was its price; the 8GB version retails at $149 while the 16GB variant goes for only $199.

This wasn’t the only surprise from the show, as Apple unexpectedly uncovered their next generation iPod Touch, declaring it the funnest iPod ever. The 2nd generation iPod Touch features a “stunningly thin, contoured stainless steel design” along with multi-touch input and (my favorite) support for full 3D games. The built in accelerometer can be used to as an input to games. It was also introduced at a lower price (due to lower capacity model) than the previous generations, with 8GB retailing at $229, 16GB for $299 and the 32GB model for $399.

As always, a new iPod also means a new iTunes. This edition of the Apple media player brings a grid based Library navigation made popular by Windows Media Player 11. Much like the default player for Windows, selecting Albums in Grid View, iTunes will displays your entire music library using cover art. Select Artists, Genres, or Composers and iTunes automatically creates groups of albums based on your selection in stacks.

Another new feature introduced is rather a Genius one. It works on the recommendation principles, and tags. Genius can generate a playlist on the fly, based on the music you are playing, or even show a side bar with related music from iTunes. You can download iTunes 8 here (direct link). If you are wondering how the new Zune 16 compares to the new iPods then Redmond Pie did a nice job. Dont forget to leave your comments below.