Tonight, I liveblogged the Apple product launch, which took place in California with a live satellite broadcast to London. For details on the individual products, check our stories on the iPod Touch, new iPod Nanos, and the iPod Classic - as well as our overview of the UK prices for all these models. See below for the liveblog itself, as it happened.
1916 - And it's over! Stay tuned, whilst I upload some photos of these brilliant new products from Apple I took from the live broadcast. Apparently the new products announced tonight are all on show in the next room, so I'll try and fight my way through the masses to get you a video if I can. Thanks for reading, everyone!
1913 - I think it's safe to say that this is Apple's most exciting product launch yet - there's a plethora of goodies on the cards for the next few weeks, it'll be great to get hands on with them, particularly the iPod Touch. Ok, I think the night is winding down - he welcomes KT Tunstall on stage who performs, err...um...well, I guess that new Safari browser on the iPod will come in handy here, as admittedly I have no idea and could easily Google the lyrics.
1908 - Thank goodness, Schultz jumps off stage and Jobs gets back on. As lovely as he was, he was no Steve Jobs, and I think he put a few people to sleep for a while there! Jobs runs through a round-up of all the prices, again, I'll repeat them - the iPod Shuffle will be $79, Nano will be $149 and $199, iPod classic will be $249 and $349, iPod Touch $299 and $399, and the iPhone is $499 and $599.
Steve announces that they're on track to sell their millionth iPhone by the end of the year. He says that the 8GB model will be the only model they'll sell from now on - and they're going to lower the price to $399. Jesus jiminy cricket, I don't think I've ever heard such enthusiastic clapping and cheering. To recap, that's their largest capacity model, for $100 less than their lowest capacity model was selling for. More, for less. Amazing.
1903 - There'll be free access to the iTunes WiFi music store whilst in Starbucks stores, according to Schultz. He says that the idea for this collaboration sprang from people asking constantly what song was playing in store. They have 58,000 WiFi enabled stores, so obviously it will take some time to roll this out. 600 stores from 2nd of October will have this function.
1901 - Schultz starts to ramble on with Starbucks statistics, saying they open seven new stores every day, etc etc. People actually start leaving the BBC Studios - not sure if this is because they oppose Starbuck's trading ethics, or have perhaps a Microsoft keynote speech to get to!
1857 - Here's one for those fair-trade coffee fans amongst us, hopefully it won't deter too many people from Apple. They're collaborating with Starbucks, so when you walk into a Starbucks store, a widget will appear on your iPod/iPhone, which will show you the last 10 songs that particular store has played. If you happen to enjoy the song that's playing, you can download it via iTunes. He demos how it works, and jokes that they've built a Starbucks store right behind the stage. Paul McCartney's latest Dance Tonight is used as an example - of course, this is going to fuel rumours about that Yellow Submarine iPod - and he shows how easy it is to preview it on the iPod. He welcomes on stage Howard Schultz, the president and founder of everybody's favourite coffee chain.
1853 - As much as I'm enjoying this event, I'm wishing it would hurry up and finish, my laptop battery is dangerously low! He shows off how easy it is searching for a song, previewing it for a few seconds, and then downloads it - Bob Dylan's Like A Rolling Stone. Wi-Fi is faster than 3G, so he says that downloading the song will take a second. He makes another huge announcement next, that Wi-Fi downloads will be available on the iPhone from next month. A simple software download will allow you to download songs to your iPhone, and then it will of course synch back up with your computer.
1848 - But wait, there's more. He points that there's one empty space for a widget on the iPod Touch - he announces it as the iTunes Wi-Fi Music Store. This is so much better than the rumours about an iTunes kiosk chain! There'll be a top ten list of albums and songs sold, all you need to do is tap it, and you can preview it with the tap of your finger. A simple press of a button on the store downloads it for you, and when you connect it to your computer next, it synchs back up with iTunes. You can search for any song name, any album name, any artist name, and buy them instantly. Just noticed the button is purple, nice touch. Pun not intended - honest! It takes only a few seconds to download a song, and he goes to a downloads playlist on the iPod, and then it plays instantly, bringing up the album artwork too. He uses John Lennon's Imagine as an example.
1844 - 'We've built Wi-Fi in, and made it USABLE', he boasts. This is the first touch product which Apple is going to ship outside the US, and the screen brings up all the countries - looks like most of the major Western ones, plus - China? Did I see China there? Awesome. It'll have built in Google and Yahoo search, making it easy for settling arguments in the pub. We all have 'em, we all search for the answers on our mobiles, don't be bashful. $299! for 8GB of storage, and for 16GB it's $399. Now the disappointment hits - the largest capacity is only 16GB. I won't even be able to fit all my Cure albums on! Nooooo!
1838 - They're going to add a Safari web browser to the iPod Touch, so you can browse the internet...on your iPod. This sounds suspiciously familiar - why would anyone want this new iPod, when you can get all this, plus more, on the iPhone? Two similar products, I don't get it. Still, it'll suck a heck of a lot of people in, me included no doubt. Oh dear god. There's built in YouTube. Every Apple fanboy is dying a happy death right now. This product has everything. The demo he shows us is of the New York Times. You can view the webpages portrait-wise or on its side, as widescreen. The service is fast - broadband fast. Googling for Bob Dylan takes under a second, and scrolling down the page, and left and right, looks dead easy. He logs onto Facebook, and shows us his 'personal' account. Somehow I have doubts Mr. Steve Jobs has a Facebook account.
1836 - Flipping through photos on the new iPod Touch looks the same as on the iPhone, except it obviously lacks the four-directional touch feature the phone has. Using your finger, you can flip through the photos with ease. There's a built in antenna, which will give all iPod Touchs Wi-Fi. He says that other people have tried this, and failed. People in the audience laugh- we all know who he's referring to.
1834 - Jobs runs through a demo of the new iPod Touch, using Beck's latest album. Man's got taste! He points his finger at a Bob Dylan album artwork, and suddenly it pops up, and starts to play, full screen. 'This is a revelation in how to enjoy your music', he claims. He previews Wild Hogs, a film with John Travolta, and it looks great wide-screen. I can just see where everyone's next paycheck will be going...
1830 - Ooh oooh! Thar Intarwebs were right! There's a brand new iPod - the iPod Touch. It's 8mm thin, and has the same size as the previous iPods. It looks like the iPhone - brilliant, he just said he thinks it's one of the seven wonders of the world. I can't get over how similar it looks to the iPhone - five buttons across the bottom, is completely touch screen, and the album artwork takes up the full screen. The Photoshop mock-ups on the net were all correct, it looks so familiar. 3.5inch widescreen display, when you turn it sideways, you can of course view videos in widescreen. Flip through your photo library, album artwork, it's got it all by the looks of things. Bet it chews through hours on the battery though...
1826 - He touches upon the new iPod, and says it'll have a new name - the iPod Classic. There goes all the rumours saying it'll be called the iPod Touch, guess they mightve had some troubles with HTC! The new iPod Classic will start at 80GB of storage, and is thinner than the previous model. Audio is 30 hours, video is seven hours. The new User Interface, including Cover Flow, will be available on these new models. Ooh, a new one - 160GB!!! He's hit the ball out of the ballpark - wow. This model, which is far smaller than the original iPod, will be able to store 40,000 tracks. 80GB is going to sell for $249, 160GB will be $349. ZOMGZ YOU GUYZ - They're available from today. Get in!!
1822 - Jobs says the battery life on the Nano will be 24 hours of audio playback, and five of video playback. He keeps on mentioning the colour choice, and I must say - they're brilliant. 4GB and 8GB versions available. 4GB available in just silver, for $149, and the 8GB model will be available in all colours, for $199. Hmm, I wonder what the UK prices will be - bet it'll match dollar for pound, grr. They'll be in stores in the US this weekend. The new Nano will work with the Nike plus kit, the shoes will link up to the Nano to help you run faster etc. He then shows us the new video for the Nano, and it's fun, simple and clean, like all their ads in the past. I'm sold - it's a great shape, looks so much better shorter and fatter than long and lean like its predecessor.
1818 - He shows us the UI - the screen seems to be split into two, with the menu on the left, and an example of what you're going to see on the right. So, when hovering over a video, he can see a preview of it on the right. Same goes with songs, you see the album artwork on the right. He shows us a brief snipped of the Daily Show with Jon Stewart, the interview with the actor who played the PC in the Mac Vs. PC ads. Oh, I love Jobs's sense of humour.
1813 - The Nano is the most popular portable music player according to Jobs. He claims that people are jonesing for a video-capable Nano, that people have iPod-envy and are wanting games too. A new Nano will be released shortly, and wow, he has one on stage. It's identical to the mock-up the whole internet has been seeing the last few weeks, that Engadget and Gizmodo have been showing off. It's shorter, fatter, and comes in black, red, silver, blue and green.
The red one is the Product Red version, so I imagine certain proceeds will go towards the cause. 320x240 screen, 204 pixels per inch - it's exactly the same as the iPod Video, they haven't shrunk the screen at all. Album artwork, video content, photos, the UI is amazing. Cover Flow will be available, so you can browse your music catalogue by the cover sleeves.
They're also including three games bundled in, the one he shows us is called Vortex, and is an arty shooter type game, admittedly it looks brilliant on the colourific screen. Sudoku will also be available, and looks great - so colourful. Ambient Japanese music is played when he's showing the game, not sure if you'll be able to listen to music at the same time as playing the games.
1812 - Moving on - to what everyone's been waiting for. Jobs announces that every item in the iPod line will be updated, so that's the Shuffle, Nano and big mother, iPod. There'll be a Product Red Shuffle, which will help fight diseases in Africa. Same 1GB of storage, $79, and shipping now.
1808 - Jobs runs through a brief demo of how to create your own ringtone, using Arethe Franklin's Respect, which Jobs says he'll assign to his wife's contact card on the iPhone for when she rings. He samples it on iTunes, choosing which segment of the song he wants for the ringtone, and it automatically downloads. He shows us some more he created the other day, including Love Shack by the B-52s, a Gorillaz track, Green Day - gosh, who knew the Apple man was a 16 year old boy? There's over half a million participating songs, and they're turning the function on next week. You must first download the new version of iTunes, of course.
1805 - Not content with just giving people ringtones to purchase, they're allowing people to create their own ringtones. Competitors' prices are around $2.50, but iTunes' ringtones will be 99 cents. On iTunes, when you search for a song to download, a little bell will be shown next to it, showing whether that song is compatible to download and mess around with to your taste.
1801 - The man is on stage! And surprise surprise, he's sporting a dashing ensemble of a black turtleneck and jeans combo. Bless. He just announced that we're gouing to be discussing music, and launches into a prompt discussion about iTunes, and says they've distributed over 6 million copies of the program. iTunes is the number one online music store in every single one of the 21 countries it operates in. They've got over 6 million songs in every store in every country, and have become the number three music store in the US. 32% of the music released in the US last year was only released online - not even on CD. He announces a new version of iTunes for tonight, and....the first 'product' announcement is ringtones!
1753 - I'm sitting in the BBC Television Studios in West London, alongside approximately 200 other media-types and assorted Apple hanger-ons. Currently, Pascal Cagni, Head of Marketing for Apple UK and Europe is telling us about the last several months of Apple announcements, including of course, the event which will go down in history, the iPhone launch. Just a couple more minutes until the live broadcast will commence, and Steve Jobs will take stage via the satellite link-up. Wey-hey! Stay tuned, Apple-ites. Apologies if any stray typos make it into my report, I'm live-blogging in a pitch black room, wishing I had a laptop with glow-in-the-dark keys. D'oh.
Today's other Apple posts
Apple debuts iPod Touch with touchscreen, Wi-Fi, Safari and YouTube
Apple unveils new iPod Nano with widescreen video and games
Apple introduces iPod Classic: up to 160GB and 40 hours battery life
New iPod models: UK pricing confirmed
iPhone price cut to $399 in the US, but no UK launch news
Apple and Starbucks: a match made in iPod / iPhone heaven?
Apple launches iPhone custom ringtones and iTunes 7.4
Tech Digest's Liveblog of the Apple launch
Shiny Shiny's Liveblog of the Apple launch
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