iPod Shuffle
The Shuffle as we knew it no longer exists. It has been replaced by another Shuffle that is half the size of the original, has a built-in clip on the back, is encased in aluminum, and comes with a dock. The standard battery life is 12 hours on a single charge and it's pretty swanky at only an inch in length. The only thing I don't like is that you no longer can connect to your computer via the USB plug in. You must use the included dock. And I just bought a Shuffle for working out. Meh, I still dig mine. I'd lose this one.

iPod Nano
The new Nano is even thinner than it once was, if you can believe that. It is now available in 2, 4, and 8 GB models; has a 40% brighter screen; and comes in green, silver, black, blue, and a reddish color. Even better, it's also now aluminum like the old iPod Mini. The only problem is that not all colors are available in all sizes. Oh, and the new packaging is bitchin'.

iPod Video
A new 80GB model is now available, replacing the 60GB, and prices on the 30GB have dropped about $50. Also cool is that some models have a 3.5-6.5 hour battery life for video. Yikes. Disney movies are now available with more studios expected to jump on the bandwagon soon. You can also purchase video games including Pac-Man, Bejeweled, Mah-Jongg, Vortex, Tetris, and Texas Hold' Em, among others, for $4.99 to play on your Pod. Very friggin' cool. The games are compatible with ALL fifth generation iPods in existence. Not sure if they'll work on the new Nanos, but I would suspect so.

Search
But even cooler is that they are going to launch a search functionality for iPod firmware so you can just do letter searches for albums, song titles, artists, and genres. This is going to be so nice. I hope this update comes as part of a firmware upgrade and is not just available on new releases.

Seamless Playback
One of the things that drives me nuts is trying to listen to live tracks on my iPod. There is always a gap in between songs that just breaks up the natural flow of the music. Well, seamless playback is now being offered for both audio and video. I'm hoping that this is something else that will be incorporated with an iPod firmware or iTunes software update and that we don't have to re-rip our stuff.

Video Quality
Up to now, the videos that we purchased on iTunes were in 320x240 resolution. That is now getting a bump to 640x480 making them infinitely more watchable on bigger screens. Not exactly DVD quality here, but it should now be more watchable on a computer or lesser quality TV. Now if only we can get free upgrades on the videos we have already purchased. That would be really nice and public oriented of them. And with the new download manager, you can watch videos you purchase as they are downloading instead of waiting til it's all over.

Earbuds
The earbuds have also been redesigned. They are quite sleeker and they appear to be one solid piece now. I only hope they improved the bass response.

Album Art
Free album art is now available for people who have an account in good standing with the iTunes Store (no longer just the iTunes Music Store). This goes for ANY music in your library. I don't know if it will just automatically look it up or what. But this is pretty sweet considering how much time I spend using my Amazon CD Art Lookup widget when I rip new CDs to iTunes.

iTV
Of course, not all of it was iPod related. They also announced iTV (working name only) which is a halfsize Mac Mini meant to be a media center and connect to your home network wirelessly and connects either directly to your TV or to your stereo receiver through one of any number of outlets. It can be used for music, movies, TV, podcasts, etc.

This is some pretty damn cool swag!

(photos courtesy of TUAW and Engadget)