New iPod Shuffle does the talking

 

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By Reuters

Posted on 12 Mar 2009 at 08:26

Apple has launched a new version of the iPod Shuffle that tells the user what song is playing.

The new 4GB gadget costs £59, is half the size of the previous Shuffle, and carries up to 1,000 songs - twice as many as the last generation of the device.

All of the controls on the new Shuffle have been moved from the device to the earphone cord. The new VoiceOver feature announces songs and playlists to users in 14 different languages.

The voice function is particularly useful on the Shuffle, which does not have a display.

Needham & Co analyst Charles Wolf says the new Shuffle design was appealing and called the voice function a "nice a little gimmick. It shows that Apple intends to keep that piece of the portfolio going. Its going to continue to innovate, upgrade the sub-$100 device."

"It won't necessarily stimulate sales, but it clearly will keep sales of the Shuffle going forward," he adds.

The VoiceOver feature works by synchronising with iTunes, which installs a voice kit on the user's computer. VoiceOver can also tell a user how much battery life remains.

"You previously couldn't have multiple playlists on the iPod Shuffle because you couldn't really switch between them as there was no way to know how you would switch," says Greg Joswiak, Apple vice president of iPod marketing. "So now instead of seeing, you get to hear."

Although Apple doesn't break down Shuffle sales, Needham's Wolf estimated some 7.5 million units were sold in the December quarter, it's biggest-selling quarter. Apple sold 22.7 million iPod units overall in the period.

The third generation of iPod Shuffle is smaller than an AA battery. It comes in two colours, silver and black.

The refreshed Shuffle comes just a week after the company updated its line of Mac desktop computers.