Apple adds buttons to new third-generation iPod shuffle
Apple's new fourth-generation iPod shuffle is a marriage of the last two generations, bringing back physical buttons to the company's smallest media player.
The new iPod shuffle will sell for just $49 and comes in five different colors. Like the previous generations, it has a clip so it can be worn.
It looks like the second-generation device, but retains the voiceover capabilities of the third-generation.
"People clearly missed the buttons," Jobs said.
The new wearable iPod shuffle has an all-aluminum enclosure with a built-in clip and comes in five colors: silver, blue, green, orange and pink. With nearly 50 percent more battery life, the new iPod shuffle features over 15 hours of music playback on a single battery charge and offers 2GB of storage for just $49.
"We?re making the iPod shuffle even better by combining clickable buttons and VoiceOver technology, so users can find and enjoy their music without ever looking at their iPod shuffle," Jobs said in a press release. "With its all-aluminum enclosure and built-in clip the new iPod shuffle is a great workout companion, and at just $49 it's a great entry-level iPod that almost everyone can afford."
The new VoiceOver button on top of iPod shuffle allows users to hear the name of the currently playing song and to switch between songs, playlists or Genius Mixes. VoiceOver speaks 25 different languages and even alerts users when their battery needs charging.
The new iPod shuffle now supports Genius Mixes, the iTunes feature that automatically creates mixes from songs in a user?s music library that go great together. Genius Mixes allow users to to rediscover music they already have, but may not have listened to recently.
Features:
Beautiful and Wearable: It?s small, it?s colorful, and it lets you take hundreds of songs with you everywhere.
Buttons: The big, clickable control pad gives you an easy way to play your music.
It Talks to You: Press the new VoiceOver button to hear the song title, playlist name, or battery status.
Multiple Playlists: Sync different playlists and Genius Mixes and have the perfect music for every mood.
Technical Specifications
Size and weight:
Height: 1.14 inches (29.0 mm)
Width: 1.24 inch (31.6 mm)
Depth: 0.34 inch (8.7 mm) including clip
True volume: 0.35 cu. inch (5668 cu. mm) including clip
Weight: 0.44 ounce (12.5 grams)
External controls:
3-way switch (Shuffle, Play in Order, Off )
VoiceOver button
Control pad
Input and output: 3.5-mm stereo headphone jack for audio and for USB charging
Environmental requirements:
Operating temperature: 32° to 95° F (0° to 35° C)
Non-operating temperature: -4° to 113° F (-20° to 45° C)
Relative humidity: 5% to 95% non-condensing
Maximum operating altitude: 10,000 feet (3000 m)
Capacity:
2GB flash drive
Stores data via USB flash drive
Battery and power:
Up to 15 hours of audio playback
80% charged in 2 hours; fully charged in about 3 hours
Built-in rechargeable lithium-ion battery
Charging via USB to computer system or power adapter (sold separately)
Headphones:
Earphones
Frequency response: 20Hz to 20,000Hz
Impedance: 32 ohms
Audio:
Skip-free playback
Frequency response: 20Hz to 20,000Hz
AAC (8 to 320 Kbps), Protected AAC (from iTunes Store), MP3 (8 to 320 Kbps), MP3 VBR, Audible (formats 2, 3, 4, Audible Enhanced Audio, AAX, and AAX+), Apple Lossless, AIFF, and WAV
Environmental Status Report:
iPod shuffle embodies Apple?s continuing environmental progress. It is designed with the following features to reduce environmental impact:
Brominated flame retardant-free
PVC-free
Highly recyclable aluminum enclosure
Smaller, more compact packaging (60% smaller, 53% lighter)
The new iPod shuffle will sell for just $49 and comes in five different colors. Like the previous generations, it has a clip so it can be worn.
It looks like the second-generation device, but retains the voiceover capabilities of the third-generation.
"People clearly missed the buttons," Jobs said.
The new wearable iPod shuffle has an all-aluminum enclosure with a built-in clip and comes in five colors: silver, blue, green, orange and pink. With nearly 50 percent more battery life, the new iPod shuffle features over 15 hours of music playback on a single battery charge and offers 2GB of storage for just $49.
"We?re making the iPod shuffle even better by combining clickable buttons and VoiceOver technology, so users can find and enjoy their music without ever looking at their iPod shuffle," Jobs said in a press release. "With its all-aluminum enclosure and built-in clip the new iPod shuffle is a great workout companion, and at just $49 it's a great entry-level iPod that almost everyone can afford."
The new VoiceOver button on top of iPod shuffle allows users to hear the name of the currently playing song and to switch between songs, playlists or Genius Mixes. VoiceOver speaks 25 different languages and even alerts users when their battery needs charging.
The new iPod shuffle now supports Genius Mixes, the iTunes feature that automatically creates mixes from songs in a user?s music library that go great together. Genius Mixes allow users to to rediscover music they already have, but may not have listened to recently.
Features:
Beautiful and Wearable: It?s small, it?s colorful, and it lets you take hundreds of songs with you everywhere.
Buttons: The big, clickable control pad gives you an easy way to play your music.
It Talks to You: Press the new VoiceOver button to hear the song title, playlist name, or battery status.
Multiple Playlists: Sync different playlists and Genius Mixes and have the perfect music for every mood.
Technical Specifications
Size and weight:
Height: 1.14 inches (29.0 mm)
Width: 1.24 inch (31.6 mm)
Depth: 0.34 inch (8.7 mm) including clip
True volume: 0.35 cu. inch (5668 cu. mm) including clip
Weight: 0.44 ounce (12.5 grams)
External controls:
3-way switch (Shuffle, Play in Order, Off )
VoiceOver button
Control pad
Input and output: 3.5-mm stereo headphone jack for audio and for USB charging
Environmental requirements:
Operating temperature: 32° to 95° F (0° to 35° C)
Non-operating temperature: -4° to 113° F (-20° to 45° C)
Relative humidity: 5% to 95% non-condensing
Maximum operating altitude: 10,000 feet (3000 m)
Capacity:
2GB flash drive
Stores data via USB flash drive
Battery and power:
Up to 15 hours of audio playback
80% charged in 2 hours; fully charged in about 3 hours
Built-in rechargeable lithium-ion battery
Charging via USB to computer system or power adapter (sold separately)
Headphones:
Earphones
Frequency response: 20Hz to 20,000Hz
Impedance: 32 ohms
Audio:
Skip-free playback
Frequency response: 20Hz to 20,000Hz
AAC (8 to 320 Kbps), Protected AAC (from iTunes Store), MP3 (8 to 320 Kbps), MP3 VBR, Audible (formats 2, 3, 4, Audible Enhanced Audio, AAX, and AAX+), Apple Lossless, AIFF, and WAV
Environmental Status Report:
iPod shuffle embodies Apple?s continuing environmental progress. It is designed with the following features to reduce environmental impact:
Brominated flame retardant-free
PVC-free
Highly recyclable aluminum enclosure
Smaller, more compact packaging (60% smaller, 53% lighter)
Comments
He didn't even acknowledge the 3rd gen iPod Nano... LOL!
Now the new iPod Touch and the Death of the Click Wheel - There's Something To Talk About.
Apple's new third-generation iPod shuffle is a marriage of the last two generations, bringing back physical buttons to the company's smallest media player.
That would be "Apple's new fourth-generation iPod shuffle". The third gen shuffle had no buttons and was smaller than the 2nd gen shuffle.
That would be 'Apple's new fourth-generation iPod shuffle". The third gen shuffle had no buttons and was smaller than the 2nd gen shuffle.
I think everyone is just pretending the buttonless model never existed. It's best that way.
I think everyone is just pretending the buttonless model never existed. It's best that way.
I think everyone is just pretending the buttonless model never existed. It's best that way.
Well it was mainly developed and released while Steve was getting a new liver, I think. So, not surprised. Steve came back, and was like, you wha...??
I don't know how they managed to ship a player with no buttons, but I couldn't believe that some people actually defended it, insisting that it was somehow an improvement. Well, here you go, even Jobs himself is finally admitting they dropped the ball on that one.
And I have a fatty nano and love it, despite all the whining about looks, it seems like it sold just fine. The new nano definitely has some cool factor, but the tiny screen size seems like a downgrade for anyone who looks at photos or video (and yeah, I do watch video on mine), especially for the price. Does it do video output?
It's great that they brought back the click wheel. I think this is the best design for a shuffle they've had. They even borrowed it for the nano now.
It's not a 'click wheel', it's merely a static representation of one that doesn't rotate, and the new Nano is 100% touch for navigation.
Note: the same as the 2nd gen iPod Shuffle.
It's not a 'click wheel', it's merely a static representation of one that doesn't rotate, and the new Nano is 100% touch for navigation.
Note: the same as the 2nd gen iPod Shuffle.
And the first for that matter, other than the buttonless version, the shuffle has always had the same controls.
It's great that they brought back the click wheel. I think this is the best design for a shuffle they've had. They even borrowed it for the nano now.
Completely agree. Only thing I'd like to see added in the future is FM radio. As for now, I'm sold!
A very suave move.
as the same earbud-remotecontrol also controls the iphone or the ipod touch, the shuffle gave you the illusion to have such a device in your pocket. you could also swap the device but the remote control stayed the same. i like this concept - it does make sense.
people said that the 3g shuffle didn't have buttons. it's simply not true. the remote control is a very clever way to operate the shuffle. it may sound difficult to only use one button, but it was very easy to get used to:
click click = next song
click click click = previous song
click hold = fast forward
click click hold = reverse play
hold = say title
hold and wait even longer: select playlist (up / down = volume up / down).
this code works with nearly every device from apple and you can operate it very easily!
the new shuffle is a step back, because you need to grab the device itself again to control it. also gone is the remote control on the earbuds, another step back.
I was starting to think I should have bought several of the 2nd gen Shuffles when they were still available. I tried the third gen controls at several stores and conferences, never felt right to me - a step back in customer usability IMO.
So, very happy the matchbook size and shape is back with control buttons.
If they could add nike+ to this device just for tracking purposes, I don't think it could get any better. It just makes sense since it is the perfect pmp for the gym. After owning about every level of iPod there is, my second gen shuffle is by far my favorite. I even ran it through the wash with my clothes and it still works. But I did order the new one just because I couldn't resist. I just hope it's as durable as my current one.
Nike+ is basically a wireless signal that is sent to the iPod, which acts like a pedometer, there's no actual tracking function. AFAIK, the pedometer (Nike+) function still works on the nano and touch.
Then buy them! The darn thing is $49 silly!
The control built into the headphone idea was a big loser. Glad to see this design back.
I don't quite think so. the volume and clicking to pause/start/advance songs is great. Use it all the time with my iPhone. Great for the shuffle too. You don't have to remember where you clipped the little thing hehe.