Apple unveils redesigned iPod shuffle with speech technology - Page 2

At the gym my headphones go down the back of my neck, not the front, due to sweat and they get in the way- so this is totally worthless to me, not to mention that I know what I want to hear in the gym- the music. I don't want voices speaking to me- that's why I wear headphones.

Its about appealing/reaching the masses, not the 100 AI whiners on here!!!!! Watch the stock, one more reason to go long, plus all the refresh of products this summer.

They did the raise the price by $10, but they doubled the capacity, added new SW features (not just VoiceOver) and included more expensive headphones.

Albeit the cost of flash has fallen and the controls are probably cheaper to include on the commodity headphones than on the player itself.

As for VoiceOVer being a dumb tech, for my use of the iPod Shuffleand I think for many othersthe display is pointless as the device is clipped on our shirts or trousers well out of visual range to read a small display, much less a single line display. Despite the obvious the difference in sound quality I prefer the Shuffle over the Nano because of the size and because I don't want to alter my visual focus when working out/jogging. The only cavet was the awkward way to change tracks when it was clipped to my shirt sleeve. This now solves all those issues.

One step forward, twelve steps back- like Paula Abdul.

Or you could have just clipped it to your pants like everbody else.

This is a clever and pretty cool update imo, but it is clearly a design update for the sake of updating. The low cost iPod line needs frequent updates to stay relevant and the voice over feature is primarily a gimmick - apart from the ability to select playlists. On previous shuffles there was no way to work with playlists in a meaningful way.

As far as cable controls and third party buds go - I am sure this was not really a major consideration. My guess is that 99% (at least) of all shuffle owners go with Apple buds. For the rest of us there are several previous Shuffle iterations that work just fine.

Its about appealing/reaching the masses, not the 100 AI whiners on here!!!!! Watch the stock, one more reason to go long, plus all the refresh of products this summer.

Ha! Brilliant

Bass could be better, but besides that they are pretty good. Comfortable, too, though waterboarding would be comfortable compared to using Apple's default headphones for an hour.


That is my one cavet. I use Sony in-ear phones with my 2G Shuffle. They are made to go behind the neck, have different length cables to remove extraneous wires and are segmented so you can plug them into the device clipped to my shirt sleeve without further unneeded wires. I expect Sony is probably working on a pair for about $50 right now.

Yeah the voices in my head are enough... I kid, I kid...

No, but it is clippier.




(I know that was lame)

Who cares? Apple Design is all about reducing everything to its most basic form. Soon the iPod Shuffle will be nothing but a transparent cube the size of a tooth. Boom!

Apple should just get full telepathy direct from Cupertino all over the world working already. That way they don't actually have to make *any* hardware. Just focus on the virtual voice, touch, sound, software, etc.... AppleInsiders will still whine..." What? You mean the're only offering 200 terabit/sec songs on iTunes PsyStore through Psyport (get it? Psychic+Airport)? Apple sucks I'm buying a PsyZune! I wanted 50,000 terabits/sec dammit! The audio quality is lousy! And it makes my ears sweat. And I have to blink my eyes *twice* to initiate the download instead of once...! Apple, you've lost my business!

BTW no iTunes 8.1 download yet. Will 8.1 make my iTunes snappier?

From what I've read, they will still sell the 2G design. I'm definitely happy about that, as it was the best gym/jogging MP3 player I've ever found. Small, light, and the controls on the unit make it convenient. I always have the cable running inside my shirt so it isn't flopping around while running, with the shuffle clipped to the bottom of my shirt. The controls on the headphones will be annoying, nit just because you need to play hide and seek to change songs (I have a short attention span when jogging), but because it will add some weight (not much, but every bit counts) to the cord, which could be annoying.

In other words, Apple drags their heels with updating their desktops, but then give us an update no one was asking for. Point?

Speech thing is... pointless. But it's not that big a deal.

I'm more annoyed that the clip doesn't match on the charcoal body.

How in the hell does Apple think they can force people to buy their cheap crappy headphones? They can't possible expect to be able to cut off the entire audio headphone industry can they?

Apple's desktop customers, in large part, aren't buying Macs based on specs.
Apple's iPod customers, overwhelmingly, do buy iPods based on fashion and design.

There's no reason for Jobs not to have approved the design. He began his leave of absence less than two months a go; the design must have been finalized by then, or it wouldn't now be ready to ship. The device's design also seems perfectly consistent with his fondness for minimalism.

How the heck does this thing connect to a computer? It is narrower than Apple's standard iPod connector? Have they finally moved to a standard USB connector?

Oh, and I am another that will not be upgrading until a pass-through is available. I connect my iPod to my car stereo's, AUX port through a 3.5 jack. With this new control scheme there is no way for me to do this. No matter how great the earbuds are they cannot connect to a 3.5 jack in my car.

You can use these, correct?

http://www.apple.com/ipod/inearheadphones/

This is *really* minimalistic. Might have been nicer, IMHO, with the Apple logo (subtly) on the front instead of the clip side.

Strangely desirable, exactly.
I like that there's a Black one now - I'm more of a black and silver kind of guy

The clip is 1000000xs better IMO
and the simple design fits well with the other iPods, I think - Like a scaled down nano.

I only wish there was a apple logo on the front (maybe a metal one like the iPhone)
That would have been sexier.

edit: Damn you ninja'd me

Hey I just posted that! Great minds think alike.

That's incorrect. My first generation iPhone which used they same 3 ring headphone adapter could connect to my AUX port in my car with the help of a dynex adapter for $10. So I bet that same adapter would work here.

I don't understand all the negative nellies bitching about the fact that you can't use non-Apple headphones with the new shuffle.

In the first case you probably can, it just won't have any volume and track controls as those are patented by Apple. Secondly, any headphones you can get that aren't Apple headphones, especially those that are of the same quality or higher, are going to cost you double the cost of the player itself.

What the heck are you buying the cheapest, lowest capacity player on the market for if you are some kind of audiophile that is too good to wear standard earbuds? Are you serious? And why should Apple twist themselves double trying to make such a tiny tiny fragment of an already tiny market segment happy?

Yes ,but it will make your ATV stall.

Really guys your either blind or idiots for not mentioning that the gal doing the tour is a real babe. Plus she was pluked out of an Apple store someplace, as such she should be complemented on the excellent effort.

As to the new shuffle negatives first:

1.
The specs say the max operating temperature is 95 degs F. That is pretty low and worst the storage temperature isn't much higher. Seems a bit odd and I have to wonder if the battery is a factor.

2.
I really wish they would implement a standard USB port. I have to say though that it ought to be cheap to make the current cord on the after market.

As to the positives I'm impressed so:

1.
4GB is nice.

2.
The enhanced controls are really nice. In fact this feature is likely to make the shuffle a hot seller. I'm not worried about the controls being on the cord, if Apple is smart they will make this feature easy to adopt by the secondary market.

3.
The size is impressive. Apple has really mastered this activity specific device. That is a device focused on music and more so on active people. It is an ideal companion for the gym or track or canoe or bike or you get the idea.


I hope Apple has built these in large numbers as they will likely sell well. Yes even at the rape us in the ass prices. It is really nice of Apple to produce a cheaper unit and then raise the price.

Yeah I know "it has double the capacity", you can try that excuse but I'm not buying it. Everything about this device tells me it is cheaper than the previous model to produce. On the otherhand we are starting to see why Apple has locked up so much flash production for the next couple of months. We should be expecting more announcements.


Dave

Umm... the poster meant, even if you had a headphone out to aux in cable that fit perfectly, there's no controls on the iPod Shuffle so how would you choose songs, etc?

Um the 3rd party headphone manufacturers have to make new headphones because right now if you plug in a 3rd party headphone into it how the heck would you select the track? There's no buttons on the Shuffle...!

I really don't get why on a Macintosh the Voice Over speech ain't so bad, but the Windows version is DIFFERENT??, and a tad more electronic.

I would think the technology would be embedded in the shuffle itself unless apple is using the computer to generate the audio for each song when it syncs???!?!

That griffin adapter is only $10, and if it works with the iPhone (2G) I'm sure it'll fit fine with the new shuffle

It uses the computer's built in text-to-speech function (like the Nano uses)
PCs have a female, Mac has a male (I guess)

It simply converts the text into tiny audio files, and attaches them to each song like a tag. It actually even uses up a small bit of your capacity, too, but I'm sure they took that into consideration...
On the Nano, its optional. IDK if its option on the shuffle, too, but it seems important with the ability to have multiple playlists

Yeah. Good point. You smart person, you. It depends on the computer to generate the voice synth. Makes sense because I was wondering how would you shove all that voice synth tech into that tiny Shuffle. The voice library for all languages, etc will reside in iTunes 8.1 not the Shuffle.

Agreed. So much bitching... about an iPod Shuffle??

I mean seriously, you guys are never happy.

The whole point of the shuffle is to have it as small and unobtrusive as possible. So be it that Apple has moved the controls to the earbuds. I'm sure 3rd parties will catch on soon.

If someone had shown you this tech even just 5 years ago, you'd have been "BS that small thing can store and play 1000+ songs!" rather then worrying about if it supports your precious high-end earbuds or not.

Um why are you people not getting it? Even if you use this griffin adapter, with the 3rd party headphone, how do you choose a song? There are NO controls on the Shuffle itself.

Since the 2G Shuffle arrived Apple has been using the 3.5mm headphone jack to not only play your audio, but to sync and charge the device.

Yeah, 1000+ songs is passe. If that thing had a 100 720p HD movies then we'd be impressed! (or not... "it's only 1TB, pffft")

Unnnecessary update
-unless the sound quality has been improved.

Um, because the adapter has playback controls, just not a volume controls

works the same way as the remote headphones (w/o VC)

have you ever used the remote headphones? or the iPhone headphones? Do you need a large play/pause button? I'd like to keep my device in my pocket so people don't know that I'm carrying a $600 iPhone

You miss the point. These adapters have no volume controls. Only a single button that I suppose might work as a play/pause button, but what good is that without the ability to skip tracks and change the volume?