Wednesday, September 05, 2007

iStruck, iMShocked, iPod iTouch



Thunderous applause today as Steve Jobs aka Steve Jobs, synomous with Apple, announced the line up at what was titled “and the beat goes on”

Honey, my iPod Touch is here!

Unleashed were the following

* iPod Shuffle

* iPod Nano

* iPod Classic

* Ipod Touch

* Wi-Fi iTunes

* Discontinued 4GB iPhone

* 8GB iPhone price reduction

* Partnership with StarBucks


So above were some of the things that interested me and I’m only commenting on those that did. First off, the iPhone Touch (video above) seems to be the much awaited for Video iPod. I noticed that it was still not called the “Video iPod” and I am tempted to think that Apple is yet to unveil that device. Remember the iPod with video some claimed was the video iPod?



iPod Touch Tech Specs
Price: 8GB $299; 16GB $399

Display
* 3.5-inch (diagonal) widescreen multi-touch display
* 480-by-320-pixel resolution at 163 pixels per inch

Audio
* Frequency response: 20Hz to 20,000Hz
* Audio formats supported: AAC (16 to 320 Kbps), Protected AAC (from iTunes Store), MP3 (16 to 320 Kbps), MP3 VBR, Audible (formats 2, 3, and 4), Apple Lossless, AIFF, and WAV

Video
* H.264 video, up to 1.5 Mbps, 640 by 480 pixels, 30 frames per second, Low-Complexity version of the H.264 Baseline Profile with AAC-LC audio up to 160 Kbps, 48kHz, stereo audio in .m4v, .mp4, and .mov file formats; H.264 video, up to 2.5 Mbps, 640 by 480 pixels, 30 frames per second, Baseline Profile up to Level 3.0 with AAC-LC audio up to 160 Kbps, 48kHz, stereo audio in .m4v, .mp4, and .mov file formats; MPEG-4 video, up to 2.5 Mbps, 640 by 480 pixels, 30 frames per second, Simple Profile with AAC-LC audio up to 160 Kbps, 48kHz, stereo audio in .m4v, .mp4, and .mov file formats

Wireless data
* Wi-Fi (802.11b/g)

Battery life:
Audio: 22 Hours; Video: 5 Hours


This is an amazing device as you might have well realized. It’s the iPhone but without the Phone. I won’t go into too much details about it as you can read from the tech specs (above) and see from the video what exactly it does and is.

One thing I notice missing was Google Maps from it. I don’t know if this was something Steve Jobs missed or if it’s something that’s going to be added in later. But it has everything else. The Starbucks partnership is a great deal. The ability to preview and download songs - up to the last ten - played at a particular Starbucks is a nice idea.

I take issue with Apple. I think they have too many very similar products. It makes it very hard for me to choose which product to get. Like, I really want to get an iPhone, but now the price has dropped to $399 for the 8GB model - the only model they will be making and selling from now (4GB are still being sold but discontinued....get yours while supplies last). That’s a similar price I would pay for the 16GB iPod Touch. Granted the Touch is not an iPhone and can’t make calls...but it does basically the very same things the iPhone does plus it’s twice the capacity. So which do I choose.

In addition the iPod Classic is similarly price but has a 160GB capacity - that’s 80 times the capacity of the iPhone..granted it does not do as much. I’m saying why can’t we get a 30GB Touch?



Now now, we all know it would be hard to sell the one over the other if the lesser of the devices had features that made it stand out over the better, but with those devices possession such simiilar features and with prices so close, makes the decision hard. At least for me. I think there should be distinguishing features that makes each one stand out over the other.

Apple stock went down at the end of the day after the keynote address. The stock to me is greatly undervalued, for several reasons. One is that, as announced, Apple’s iTunes is the number one in online downloads in 22 countries where it operates. The partnership struck with Starbucks which has “over 44,000 stores world wide and growing at rate of 7 stores a day” (ceo and founder of Starbucks Howard Schultz).

The iPhone has greatly increased the revenue base of Apple who is scheduled to ship 1M iPhones by the end of this month..and thus far the iPhone is only sold in the US. Deals are being struck in the UK and France for possible carriers of the iPhone which means that the customer base,, and hence sales of the iPhone will only increase, i.e. more money for Apple.

Plus, the iPod Touch, which is very much an iPhone without the phone functions, ships worldwide from the end of the month.

This means that for those customers who badly want and can’t get an iPhone can now get a Touch which does practically the same thing. With just these few things in mind, it’s clear that Apple Stock (at close of the day - Sept. 4 - was $136.74, down 5.15%) is clearly undervalued and will only go up.

Mark these words, analysts are going to raise their share price estimates of the company come end of the week.

I’ve been waiting a long time for an iPod with a screen this size and now that it has the touch technology I’m even more excited. I’m getting mine soon after it starts to ship.

Here is some information from the other iPod lines released today

iPod Nano
Price 4GB $149; 8GB $199


Overview
An anodized aluminum top and polished stainless steel back. Five eye-catching colors. A larger, brighter display with the most pixels per inch of any Apple display, ever. iPod nano stirs up visual effects from the outside in.

And it’ll wow you for hours. Play up to 5 hours of video or up to 24 hours of audio on a single charge.1 All that staying power and a wafer-thin, 6.5-mm profile makes iPod nano one small big attraction.

taken from Apple.com

iPod Classic
Price: 80GB $249; 160GB $349


Overview

With 80GB or 160GB of storage,1 iPod classic gives your music and video room to move. It also has plenty of energy (up to 40 hours of audio playback2), good looks (a sleek, all-metal design), and a great personality (a brand-new interface with Cover Flow). In other words, iPod classic makes an ideal companion. Why not get to know it better?

taken from Apple.Com

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