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Apple Intros Smaller iPod, Partners with Motorola
(By Tom Krazit)
After months of frenzied speculation, Apple Computer Inc. unveiled an ultra-thin iPod about half the size of its iPod mini as well as a mobile phone built by Motorola Inc. that features the iTunes music player software.
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Apples new iPod nano will feature 4G bytes of capacity for US$249 in a device that is thinner than a #2 pencil, said Steve Jobs, Apples chief executive officer at a jam-packed media event at San Franciscos Moscone Center.
The iPod nano is 80 percent smaller than Apples original iPod and 62 percent smaller than the iPod mini, Jobs said. It weighs 1.5 ounces (42 grams) and comes with a color screen. The device is available in some stores as of Wednesday, and stores around the world expected to have the device by the end of the week, he said.
The Cupertino, California company also unveiled the Motorola Rokr (pronounced rocker). This is a GSM/GPRS (Global System for Mobile Communications/General Packet Radio Service) phone that features a button that allows direct access to the iTunes player. Cingular Wireless LLC will be the exclusive North American carrier for the phone, which is expected to be available in stores this weekend, Jobs said.
Rokr users need a USB (Universal Serial Bus) cable to get songs from their PC or Mac to the phone. The phone shows up like an iPod in the iTunes music player allowing songs to be dragged to the phones icon from an iTunes playlist, Jobs said.
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