Apple Keynote goes Ping! New iPods, new iTunes, new Apple TV
Wednesday, September 1st, 2010Exciting times from California this evening. Well, maybe. Well, probably. Sort of. Here’s the rundown of what Lord Jobs decreed moments ago:
iOS 4.1 will be released next week for iPhone and iPod Touch, to include:
• fixes to previous bugs, including a promised solution for long-suffering iPhone 3G users. Thank. Christ.
• the ability to take HDR photos – it automatically creates mosaics of photos taken at different exposures to produce images with more detail
• new Games Center functionality that’ll allow gamers to connect through apps, including shared gameplay and scoreboards
iOS4.2 will be released later in November for iPad, iPhone and iPod Touch including iOS 4 improvements like multitasking, as well as wireless printing

The iPod range has been overhauled, from Shuffle to the iPod Touch:
• the new iPod Shuffle is based on the squarer second generation, but dinkier, and includes playlists and 15 hours battery time, and will be $49 for 2 GB.
• the iPod Nano loses the circular track-wheel, to be replaced with a multi-touch screen; it’s something of a comedy device – it’s almost too small to hold. The iPod Nano is $99 for 8 GB.
•the new iPod Touch will include Retina Display, both a front and rear camera, including FaceTime and HD video capability, and costs from $229 for the 8GB version
And then we were onto iTunes. Yes, it kept on coming and the audience took any excuse to holler like a pack of sycophantic banshees. iTunes 10 will include Ping, a new social network for iTunes users, allowing users to connect to friends and generate newsfeeds of music and events. “It’s not Facebook, it’s not Twitter.” Actually, yes it is, Steve. It’s Facebook.
Finally, onto Apple TV – a new teeny tiny box for rented tv shows and movies, costing just 99¢ per show to rent for 48 hours. No word yet on what shows will be available in the UK, except to say that there will be content available in this country. It’ll cost $99.

Recent media coverage would have you believe that Apple are screwed. The reality is, of course, nothing of the sort. And it won’t stop, either; the iPhone 4 press conference made the front page of The Sun – incontrovertible proof that however piss-poor you care to think Apple’s products are, the mainstream is beginning to lap them up.
It’s not entirely unexpected. If you’re going to address the world’s tech media and claim that not only does your product suffer design issues, but then go on to state the rest of the industry has issues too, somebody is going to bite.
Well, that was a little different. Apple CEO Steve Jobs took to the stage this afternoon to explain the End of Days seemingly bought about by the iPhone 4’s reception issues, and threw in a rare Q&A for the hell of it.








Sweet muscular Jesus, it’s true! There’s a new Apple product on the way later today and in our typically ramshackle fashion, without having a clue what Steve Jobs is going to announce, Bitterwallet is going to give it away to you – the avid reader of this mighty organ.
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