Let’s Rock with Cult of Mac

Via our Twitter stream, we ran ongoing commentary on Apple’s Let’s Rock shenanigans. Below is a (somewhat) edited tweet-style stream-of-consciousness from the event.

iTunes store

• 8.5m+ songs, 125k+ podcasts, 30k+ TV shows, 3000+ apps
• New today: HD TV shows, and NBC has returned
• SD shows: $1.99. HD: $2.99

iTunes 8

• Grid view, as per the rumors. Can set by artist and scrub across them like a photo album in iPhoto
• Genius “Automatically makes playlists from songs in your library that go great together—with just one click”.
• Genius information sent anonymously. Click a button to get a playlist. Restrict by track number.
• Available today

iPod sales and iPod classic

• Zzzzingg! Jobs dissed everyone else’s player market share. iPod: 73.4%. Microsoft: 2.6%.
• iPod Classic: 80 GB upped to 120 GB. 160 GB discontinued.

New iPod nano

• Form factor as per rumors: skinny, tall, like the gen-2 nano, really thin.
• Push-hold center button for Genius playlist creation.
• Voice recording from attached mics.
• New UI.
• Photos/vids in landscape mode.
• Accelerometer. Rotate 90 degrees to get Cover Flow, like with the iPhone.
• Shake to shuffle.
• Battery: 24 hours for music and four hours for video.
• $199 for 16 GB, $149 for 8GB. Bright rainbow colors in addition to aluminium.

Accessories

• New accessories: headphones and armbands, a mic for voice recording, and in-ear headphones.

iPod touch revamp, iPhone and App Store

• Thinner, with integrated volume control and speaker.
• Genius playlist creation.
• Built-in Nike+iPod – just add a shoe transmitter.
• App Store: 100 million downloads in 60 days. Available in 62 countries.
• Spore Origins, Real Soccer 2009 and Need For Speed: Undercover demoed.
• iPod touch battery life: 36 hours for music, six for video.
• New prices: 8 GB: $229, 16 GB: $299, 32GB: $399.
• New firmware, free to 2.0 owners.
• “Funnest iPod ever” strapline for the new ad.
• iPhone owners to get 2.1 bug-fix—better battery life, less crashing, fewer gremlins, speedier back-ups. Free on Friday.

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