Apple’s Showtime: iTunes 7, new iPod family, iTV

by Chris Saribay • 09/12/2006 at 11:08 AM

As widely expected, today Apple has made several announcements related to the up and coming iTunes Movie Store. Included in today’s announcements are iTunes 7, a new and improved iPod family and a product still under development named iTV.

iTunes 7

iTunes 7 delivers stunning new features such as the new album and Cover Flow views of music, TV shows and movies, enabling users to quickly find titles in their library as well as casually browse through and re-discover titles they already own. In addition, the iTunes Store (http://www.itunes.com) is now offering over 75 movies from Walt Disney Pictures, Pixar, Touchstone Pictures and Miramax Films, that customers can purchase and download to watch on their computers and iPods, and soon on their flat screen televisions with Apple’s upcoming iTV* player. Movies will become available on the iTunes Store the same day they are released on DVD, with new releases priced at $12.99 when pre-ordered and during their first week of availability, and $14.99 thereafter, and library titles available for just $9.99 every day.

“Here we go again! First music, then TV shows, and now movies,” said Steve Jobs, Apple’s CEO. “In less than one year we’ve grown from offering just five TV shows to offering over 220 TV shows, and we hope to do the same with movies. iTunes is selling over one million videos a week, and we hope to match this with movies in less than a year.”

The iTunes Movie Store currently offers titles from Disney owned and operated studios.

iTunes 7 is available today.

New iPod Family

1. iPod
The new iPod features a 60 percent brighter and more vibrant 2.5-inch color display perfect for watching TV shows and now Hollywood movies right in the palm of your hand. The new iPod features seamless integration with iTunes® 7 and the iTunes Store (http://www.itunes.com) which now includes over 75 Hollywood movies, 220 television shows and popular video games designed specifically for the fifth generation iPod. The new iPod is available in a 30GB model at the new low price of $249 and an 80GB model, which holds up to 20,000 songs or 100 hours of video, for $349.

2. iPod nano
Apple also introduced the all-new iPod nano with a new aluminum body, an incredible 24 hours of battery life and more than twice (2GB, 4GB, 8GB) the music capacity for the same price as the previous generation. The new iPod nano features Apple’s innovative Click Wheel and an even smaller, thinner and lighter design available in silver, pink, green, blue and black.

3. iPod shuffle
At nearly half the size of the original, the new iPod shuffle is just half a cubic inch in volume, weighs just half an ounce and features a stunning all-new aluminum design and a built-in clip which makes it the most wearable iPod ever. The new iPod shuffle contains one gigabyte of flash memory which holds up to 240 songs, and is more affordable than ever at just $79.

iTV* (under development)

While little information is currently available about iTV, Apple also announced it today at their media event. Purportedly, the device will be a conduit between a Mac and your TV- all in a slim package taking homage to the Mac mini.