iTunes 7 and new iPods released. And iTV!

As predicted, Apple released new iPods and iTunes 7. Of particular interest is the fact that the iPod can now display 640x480 H.264 at 1.5 Mbps. It's not quite the 720x480 at 2.0 Mbps I had hoped, but it is still a major step forward and sufficient for years to come. Close enough. However, I would consider avoiding installing iTunes 7 for now, since many people are reporting that it has serious memory leak issues, with iTunes sometimes eating up as much as half a GB of memory. On the other hand, the new CoverFlow feature (programmed by none other than Catfish at Ars) is very nice, as are other features such as the ability to classify media by type. The new GUI may be an acquired taste, but we'd better get used to it, since we'll probably be seeing much more of it in OS X 10.5 Leopard.

The new iPod shuffle has undergone quite the form factor change. It's sooo tiny, despite having a 1 GB capacity. The iPod nanos got a memory capacity upgrade, as well as colours similar to the previous iPod mini, although it's rather odd though that the 8 GB version only comes in black. In addition, both the shuffle and nano are now made of metal.

The predictions of a new set top media box also proved accurate. Apple previewed a device codenamed iTV for our living rooms. This device comes with HDMI and component outputs, and can play back video from the internet or a computer with iTunes over a wired or wireless network. It will not be released until 2007 however.


Now all we need is that iPod phone...