Hasta La Gadget!

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 »

Today at its iPhone launch event, Apple announced yet another piece of hardware: the fifth-generation iPod touch. As rumored, it has a 4-inch display, the same 326 ppi panel used on the new iPhone 5. As you might have guessed, this is also the thinnest iPod touch to date, measuring in at 6.1mm and weighing 88 grams (3.1 ounces). On the inside, it packs an A5 chip promising seven times the graphics performance of the last-gen model. The battery is rated for 40 hours of music playback, or eight hours of video — a slight improvement over the last-generation touch.

The rear camera has also gotten an upgrade: it’s now built on a 5-megapixel sensor, paired with a backside-illuminated f/2.4 lens. It also now shoots 1080p video, and Apple has also added image stabilization. And yes, it supports the same panorama shooting feature as the iPhone 5. The front camera, meanwhile, is 720p and supports FaceTime (over WiFi only, of course — no 4G models here).

If that image stabilization feature doesn’t do it for you, there’s also a protruding button on the back, to which you can attach a wrist strap — you know, so that if the shakes get really bad you at least won’t drop the thing. Perhaps the biggest news, though, is that the new iPod touch has Siri built in, making it the first non-iPhone device from Apple to get this feature. Finally, it comes loaded with iO6 and if you don’t know what that entails, well, we’ve got your feature summary right here.

The iPod touch will be available in two flavors: a 32GB model ($299) and a 64GB number ($399). It will be sold in five colors: “raw aluminum,” black, blue, yellow and red, and a (PRODUCT) RED version will also be available. Three hundred bucks too pricey for your next PMP? The last-generation touch will remain on the market, with the 16GB one going for $199 and the 32GB version selling for $249.

Check out our liveblog of Apple’s event to get the latest news as it happens!

Continue reading Apple announces fifth-generation iPod touch: 4-inch screen, 6.1mm thick, Siri included, starts at $299

Filed under: Portable Audio/Video

Apple announces fifth-generation iPod touch: 4-inch screen, 6.1mm thick, Siri included, starts at $299 originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 12 Sep 2012 14:20:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |   | Email this | Comments

The Apple Store is down, our liveblog is up, and the Apple event that’ll almost certainly be bringing on the iPhone 5 is less than an hour away! We’ve got several portals for you to jump in on the big Apple action for everything from software to various bits of hardware, starting with our liveblog portal at http://live.slashgear.com/. Next you’ll want to jump straight into our Apple portal for big news stories right as they’re announced straight from Apple!

If you’re so hungry for information that you’re going to burst right this second, you’re not alone! Have a peek at our pre-event round-ups of both hardware and software to keep your mouth from cracking apart with teeth grinding. In the Software rundown we’ve got all the information you can handle on iOS 6, the mobile operating system that the iPhone 5 will be running right out of the gate. For the Hardware wrap-up you’ll be seeing everything from the iPhone 5 to the iPod touch to the iPad mini – that more than likely being a device we’ll see later this year.

Stay tuned to our iOS 6 tag portal if you’re interested specifically in the software aspects throughout the day, and hit the iPhone 5 tag portal if you’re only interested in that device. We’ve got photos coming in as they’re taken in the live portal and we’re ready to stay on the case as it cracks all day long!

Starting times by region:
08:00AM – Hawaii
10:00AM – Pacific
11:00AM – Mountain
12:00PM NOON – Central
01:00PM – Eastern
02:00PM – São Paulo
06:00PM – London
07:00PM – Paris
09:00PM – Moscow
02:00AM – Tokyo (September 13th)
03:00AM – Australia (September 13th)

Check the short timeline below for additional last-minute leaks as well – and keep your scorecards handy!

iPhone 5 event liveblog starts in 1hr here on SlashGear! is written by Chris Burns & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

Apple offered a hint of the name in its invitation to today’s event, but it looks like a slip-up on its own website may have now let the cat of the bag. Searching for “iphone-5” brings up a number of results for (as yet nonexistent) pages related to a device that seems to clearly be called the “iPhone 5.” What’s more, as 9 to 5 Mac notes, there are also references to a “new iPod touch with Retina Display” and a new iPod nano, as well as a similar indication that iTunes 11 is set to be released today.

Update: 9 to 5 Mac has also turned up another search result that would seem to confirm the presence of LTE in the new iPhone.

Filed under: Cellphones, Handhelds, Software, Mobile

Apple search results turn up iPhone 5 name and LTE connectivity, indications of new iPod touch, iPod nano and iTunes 11 originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 12 Sep 2012 10:09:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink 9 to 5 Mac, The Verge  |  Apple  | Email this | Comments