Hasta La Gadget!

Apple made a historic and much-needed step forward today; it’s finally putting its old, terrible headphones to rest. The new ones, dubbed “EarPods” mark a bit of a shift, but still retain their iconic, white, hey-look-at-me-I’ve-got-an-iPhone-in-my-pocket color. Unlike the previous ‘phones, these guys are the in-ear type, and will hopefully sound and fit a little better than the good old-fashioned kind. They’ll be coming bundled with iPhone 5, the iPod Touch, and the iPod nano, and are also available separately starting now, and cost $29. More »

Yes, finally — finally — Apple’s years-long headphone debacle may finally be at an end, with the introduction this morning of redesigned earbuds. Their new name: “EarPods.” Like so many things from today’s Apple press conference, the new earphones look an awful lot like a leak we saw earlier this month. Apple says the new earphones feature, “a breakthrough design for a more natural fit and increased durability, and an incredible acoustic quality typically reserved for higher-end earphones.” As seen above, they feature a main and secondary grill on each “pod,” and the iPhone version has an inline remote / microphone built-in along the wire. The set looks starkly different from past Apple earphone offerings — no rubber, distinctly less visible metal, and an all-plastic outer shell.

Rather than create a plugged-up seal as most in-ear headphones do, the pods rest at the edge of your ear canal with the main grill directed straight into it. A port on the back of each bud helps airflow to enhance the midrange, while dual ports on the bottom of each stem helps the bass response. Overall, the intention is to maximize airflow for optimal sound quality. Apple claims the design results in, “overall audio quality [that’s] so impressive, they rival high-end headphones that cost hundreds of dollars more.” They’re available today for purchase as a standalone, and will ship with the new iPod Touch, Nano, and iPhone 5. A standalone set with an inline remote / mic will cost you the same $29 price point of its predecessor — and they’re already available at the source link below.

Joe Pollicino contributed to this report.

Filed under: Cellphones, Peripherals, Tablets, Mobile

Apple’s signature earbuds rebranded for iPhone 5 as ‘EarPods’ originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 12 Sep 2012 14:27:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Apple’s iPhone 5 is sure to get most of the attention today, but the Cupertino company’s press event also saw the unveiling of a drastically revamped iPod Touch meant (once again) to bring iOS to the masses.

First things first — let’s talk price. The new iPod Touch will launch in October, and will cost customers $299 for the 32GB model and $399 for the 64GB variant.

The list of tweaks and updates is an extensive one, but perhaps the most notable change here is the 4-inch display, bringing the device in line with the new, larger iPhone. As you would expect, there’s a new (but sort of old) processor in the mix as well — Apple’s A5 chipset replaces the aging A4 seen in its most immediate predecessor, and it brings it with some nifty features that hadn’t yet made their way to the Wi-Fi-only devices.

Apple’s Greg Joswiak also revealed that Siri has finally come to the iPod Touch, but didn’t elaborate much. In terms of design, Apple also took a page out of the iPod nano playbook by adding several new color options — grey, black, blue, green, and red — to what was otherwise a strictly black-and-white affair.

Of course, Apple sought to minimize the impact that the iPod Touch’s bigger display and that beefier processor could have. According to Joswiak, the new Touch has “improved” battery life, and is capable of playing back tunes and videos for 40 and 8 hours respectively. Also improved this time around is the Touch’s camera — it now has an improved 5-megapixel backlight-illuminated camera, and shares many of the same new features and processing functionality as that of the new iPhone. The front-facing iSight camera has gotten a boost too, with backside illumination and facial detection.

Apple has been very thoughtful about driving the down the size and weight of its newer devices, and the 5th gen iPod Touch is no exception. At 6.1mm thick and weighing in at a scant 88g, Joswiak pegs it as being the company’s thinnest and lightest yet. That’s quite an achievement, especially considering just how insubstantial the prior generation was in terms of feel.

This is a developing story, please refresh for updates.

Remember iPods? The things that switched Apple from a computer company to the electronics company, the most valuable in company in company history? There hasn’t been a new one in two years. Today, it’s back, upgraded, widescreen-ed, and super skinny. More »

The announcements just keep coming from the folks of Cupertino. After all the iPhone 5 fun Apple is now talking about iTunes, as they can’t leave that out. iTunes is hit or miss for many but today they’ve announced that the all new iTunes will be “dramatically simpler” for all users, not just those on mobile. It has a new streamlined user interface too.

Essentially it’s like cover flow but on steroids. iTunes has been completely revamped and the entire user interface is basically one giant grid. iTunes has seen a few rather small changes as of late, but today’s announcement is a major one. iOS, OSX, and Windows will all be seeing a completely new iTunes. Do I see iTunes widgets in OSX?I think I do!

Itunes will be completely redesigned. They’ve said more than once the user interface will be very simplified and dramatically different. They’ve improved performance across the grid too — which should make everyone happy. Then there’s previews while browsing. You’ll be able to continue to hear a preview before you purchase while you continue to browse your favorite artists.

The new tour info for artists looks wonderful too. Add in a little of iOS-like icons and you get a full calendar view of your favorite artists tour dates. Go Bruce Springsteen! We’ll continue to update once we hear more on the new iTunes, but Apple stated “late October” for the new and improved version. Stay tuned!

Apple overhauls iTunes to make it “dramatically simpler” is written by Cory Gunther & originally posted on SlashGear.
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