MacRumors

As with all Apple events, there's a lot of information to process on the new releases. We ask readers try to consolidate general discussion about the announcements in the appropriate news stories: New iPod Nanos and Classic, New iPod Touch, iPhone 2.1 Firmware Coming Friday, iTunes 8.

We've also consolidated a few additional notes of interest from today's announcements:

Software Updates

- iTunes 8 is available for download, including the new Visualizer which is an improved version of Magnetosphere. Atlchris has posted a video of the new visualizer. [Discuss here]
- Quicktime, Front Row updates available in Mac OS X Software Update to support iTunes 8.

iPod Touch

- iPod Touch impression: Engadget: "the speaker doesn't sound like complete trash despite not even having any speaker holes, and the thing is crazy thin."
- iPod Touch impression: Gizmodo: "most noticeable thing about the second-gen iPod touch is just how thin it feels in your hand."
- The pay version of the iPod 2.1 firmware is available for those who still have iPods with version 1.x firmware. If youve already upgraded to the iPhone 2.0 Software Update for iPod touch, the 2.1 update is free.
- The Free 2.0->2.1 upgrade for iPod Touch owners is starting to appear, but users have been unsuccessful in downloading the new update.
- Apple has posted a new guided tour video for the new iPod Touch and shows off the Genius Playlist feature. (via TUAW)

iPod Nano

- iPod Nano impression: Gizmodo: fast and responsive, click-wheel less "grippy", responsive accelerometer, feels small, click-wheel orientation remains same when nano is turned.
- iPod Nano comparison photos showing its size next to the old iPods.
- YouTube video and screenshots from iLounge showing off the new Nano interface.

Other

- The new iPods are not eligible for the Back to School promotion which ends on September 15th.
- iPod Shuffles have been refreshed with new colors, but the same storage capacities.
- Apple also introduced new $79 in-ear headphones

General questions and other discussion can be directed to our dedicated forums: iPhone, iPod Touch, iPod and iTunes, and App Store.

Alongside the other announcements, Apple announced that the iPhone 2.1 firmware will be released this Friday as a free update. The much anticipated version upgrade will address many of the issues that have been plaguing iPhone users. Changes include:

- Significantly better battery life
- Fewer call drops
- Bug fixes
- Faster backups to iTunes
- No App crashes

The iPhone 2.1 firmware will presumably support the same Genius playlist features described in the new iPod Touches. (Nike+iPod support will be unlikely without a hardware add-on since it uses specialized hardware to communicate with the transmitter.)

No mention of background push notifications were made, however, which were originally planned for a September release.

As expected, Apple revealed iTunes 8 today during their "Let's Rock" media event. iTunes 8 offers a number of new features including:

- Support for High Definition TV shows
- $1.99 for Standard Definition episodes
- $2.99 for High Definition episodes
- Genius playlists: automatically find similar songs in your collection
- Available today

Apple also announced that NBC has returned to iTunes, so popular shows such as Heroes and The Office will be available.

iTunes is available at http://www.apple.com/itunes/. Clicking on the download link will download iTunes 8 (though it's still labeled as iTunes 7.7). iTunes 8 requires QuickTime 7.5.5 which was also released today.

Update: The new visualizer is available as "iTunes Visualizer".

Apple released the new iPod Touch today at their media event. The new iPod Touch matches up with the rumors, now sporting a curved back but retaining the same storage capacities. Features include:

- 2.1 Firmware
- Built-in speaker, volume controls
- Genius playlist
- Nike+iPod support
- Battery: 36 hours for music, 6 hours for video.
- $229 for 8GB, $299 for 16GB, $399 for 32GB

Apple also appears to be positioning the iPod Touch as a gaming device with a new ad that shows off a number of games and calls it the "funnest iPod ever". Phil Schiller also demonstrated a number of games on stage, including Spore Origins, Real Soccer 2009 and Need for Speed: Undercover.

Spore Origins was released for the iPhone and iPod Touch just yesterday, and a first look gameplay video of Real Soccer 2009 has been posted to TouchArcade.com.

The 2.1 upgrade will be available for free for current iPod Touch owners with Firmware 2.0.

The new iPod Touches should appear at http://www.apple.com/ipodtouch/ later today.

Updates: Hands on iPod Touch photos

Apple announced the new iPod nanos today at their media event. The nano matches up with the circulating rumors of a taller, colorful design.

- Thinnest iPod ever
- Enhanced user interface
- Accelerometer to detect tilt
- Shake iPod to shuffle
- Genius playlist built in
- Aluminum with curved glass
- Battery: 24 hours for music. 4 hours for video.
- $149 for 8GB. $199 for 16GB.
- 9 Colors: silver, purple, blue, green, yellow, orange, red, pink, black

The 8GB should be available today, while the 16GB should be available by next week.

Apple also quietly updated the iPod Classic and iPod Shuffle:

- The iPod classic would now only come in a 120GB model, replacing the 160GB and 80GB models that are currently available.
- The iPod shuffles have been revamped with new colors but the same price and storage.

The new iPod nanos should appear at http://www.apple.com/ipodnano/.

Updates: Hands on iPod nano photos. Extensive gallery of photos.

Apple's Let's Rock event kicks off shortly. Live coverage will be provided at the following links:

- Gizmodo
- Engadget
- ArsTechnica
- Macworld
- Fortune
- Slashgear
- AlleyInsider
- iLounge

MacRumorsLive.com will return for Macworld San Francisco 2009 in January.

Some last minute notes and links:

- Apple Stores are down
- New Interface? for the iPod Nano
- New Nanos to have accelerometer? "One of those people described a function by which the iPod's 'shuffle' function is invoked when a user physically shakes the player."

We'll post major updates here at MacRumors.com.

- Our forums will remain open for ongoing discussion.
- SMS updates will be provided through Twitter.com/MacRumors (instructions).
- Visit TouchArcade.com for iPhone and iPod touch gaming news and reviews.

Notes and Highlights

- Jobs takes stage. "reports of my death are greatly exaggerated". New for iTunes: HD TV shows. $1.99 for SD. $2.99 for HD.
- NBC returns to iTunes: Office, Monk, Heroes etc... both HD and SD. iTunes 8 today: HD TV shows, accessibility, genius playlist, grid view.
- Genius: create playlists from songs in your library that go great together. Also personal recs from iTunes Store. Optional and private.
- iTunes 8 avail today. Free download. Moving on to iPod. 120GB Classic to replace 80GB and 160GB. New Nano. Similar to leaked images.
- Nano: thinnest ipod ever. enhanced interface. accelerometer. genius playlist within nano. aluminum w/ curved glass. shake ipod to shuffle.
- battery: 24hr music, 4hr video. environmentally safer. 8 colors. $149/8GB. $199/16GB. new $29 headphones w/ volume, next button, microphone.
- iPodTouch: Thinner, Stainless steel, Volume controls + speaker. genius playlist. Nike+iPod receiver built in. Demoing app store again. Including Spore Origins, Real Soccer 2009, and Need for Speed. (Gameplay video of Real Soccer 2009 available on TouchArcade)
- iPodTouch: battery 36hrs/music, 6hrs/video. 8GB/$229. 16GB/$299. 32GB/$399. 2.1 upgrade. free to iPodtouch 2.0 owners. "funnest iPod ever"
- iPhone 2.1 Upgrade: This friday. significantly better battery, fewer call drops, bug fixes, faster backups to itunes, no app crashes. Free.
- That seems to be it.

Last minute tidbits reveal a few more details about Apple's plans for later today. According to our sources, Apple will indeed be refreshing their entire iPod line at the media event.

Specifically, iPod Nanos are expected to be size-bumped from the current 4GB/8GB sizes up to 8GB/16GB models. As well, Apple will be introducing 9 different colors for each Nano (up from the current 6 colors). The additional colors are expected to be Purple, Yellow and Orange.

Sizes on the 2nd generation iPod Touch, however, will remain unchanged with 8GB, 16GB and 32GB options. Without size bumps, it's still unclear what other changes are in store for the iPod Touch.

Apple will be holding their media event Tuesday, September 9th at 10 a.m. Pacific, 1 p.m. Eastern.

Apple will be holding their "Let's Rock" media event on Tuesday, September 9th at 10 a.m. Pacific, 1 p.m. Eastern. With almost daily rumors over the past week about what could be expected, this roundup will recap the most likely announcements and speculation about the event.

iPod Nano

Rumors of the "tall" iPod originated with a report from iLounge in late July. That news initially generated some skepticism since Apple had just abandoned the tall iPod Nano design in favor of a shorter/fatter design of the current iPod Nano.

A later report by Digg's Kevin Rose confirmed the design, ultimately bringing us to an actual photograph of what appears to be the new iPod Nano in its packaging. MacNN claims to have verified the photo as authentic.

iPod Touch

Rose's report also claimed that the iPod Touch would see "small cosmetic changes" alongside iPod Touch 2.1 firmware and "large" price drops.

A diagram of the new iPod Touch provided by iLounge fits this description. The new iPod Touch shares the same curved design as the iPhone 3G and also appears to include external volume controls which are absent on the current iPod Touch.

In addition, firmware hints have suggested that the new iPod Touch will see added functionality. We've speculated that the iPod Touch could get features to bring it more in line with the iPhone. If true, this could include one or more of the following features currently found only on the iPhone: GPS, external speaker, microphone, and camera.

iTunes 8.0

iTunes 8 is expected to arrive with improvements such as Grid View, Genius Playlist, a new Visualizer and possibly support for HD Television Shows.

Despite some early doubts, multiple sources are now expecting iTunes 8 to arrive at tomorrow's event.

iPhone Firmware 2.1

If the iPod Touch arrives with Firmware 2.1, the iPhone's update won't be far behind. The only official feature that has been promised for the 2.1 Firmware is background push-notifications. This push-notification service allows applications to process notifications in the background while they are not actively running on the iPhone. Applications such as a Chat client will be able to notify users that a new instant message has arrived at any time.

MacBooks Will Have to Wait

It should be painfully obvious by now to those waiting for new MacBook and MacBook Pro updates that we are unlikely to see any Mac news at tomorrow's event. AppleInsider had first suggested that Apple may stagger these announcements over the next couple of months.

And since that time we've similarly heard that resellers have been essentially told that Apple notebook updates are unlikely before October.

One More Thing...

We've heard that Apple is actively urging the media to cover the event claiming it will be a "big deal". While companies always want media to cover their events, this particular practice seems to be atypical for Apple. Regardless, there is always hope for additional "surprise" announcements. Here's a list of some other possibilities:

- Rainbow colored iPods - We've heard little of this since the original report by 9to5Mac, but iLounge has felt it to be unlikely.
- GPS / Turn by turn - Apple's Greg Joswiak described the implementation of turn-by-turn GPS to be complicated but that he had confidence that developers would deliver such a product. We had heard that Apple had been working with 3rd party developers and that such a solution may arrive alongside the 2.1 firmware.
- Analysts are still discussing Steve Jobs' health and expect that tomorrow's appearance should reassure investors.
- Ars has suggested that Apple has held back some secret features in iPhone 2.1.
- Tablet Mac - We've heard very little about the rumored Tablet Mac or Apple PDA from earlier this year. While we feel confident that these products are in Apple's labs, it's not clear when they'll see the light of day.

Coverage

We will provide coverage of the announcements and links to live updates. Also available is a Spoiler Free page for those who want to watch the delayed video stream without knowledge of the announcements.

Finally, there's our Twitter account that is only used for these live announcements which will send out SMS messages. (sign up by Phone here). Other Twitter options include twitter.com/MacRumorsRSS for MacRumors story updates and twitter.com/ArnoldKim for Arn's tweets.

Kevin Rose has posted a diagram of what he believes iTunes 8 will look like. He diagrams an iPhoto-like grid-view that allows users to view album art. Albums will reportedly be "directly playable" when you hover over the album. Rose is the founder of Digg and also has been the source of many of the rumors leading up to tomorrow's event.

Rose also recaps his previous rumors, which include:

- New design for the iPod Nano
- iPod price reductions
- 2.1 software on iPod Touch
- iTunes 8.0: New audio visualization, Genius playlist, Genius sidebar, Grid view

Apple's "Let's Rock" media event will take place on Tuesday, September 9th at 10 a.m. Pacific, 1 p.m. Eastern. We will provide updates and links to live coverage.

As of yesterday, Best Buy is offering the iPhone 3G at Best Buy Mobile stores.

While the launch is lacking the fanfare of the original AT&T and Apple iPhone 3G launch, we've heard reports that Best Buy had extra staff in some locations in anticipation of heightened store traffic.

Best Buy's distribution of the iPhone 3G had been rumored. Still outstanding from the original rumor published by The Boy Genius Report is whether Radio Shack will distribute the phone.

Andrew Mager has posted (via iPhoneSavior) an image from outside the Yerba Buena Center in San Francisco where Apple will hold its "Let's Rock" media event on September 9th, 2008.

The large multi-story banner shows one of Apple's iPod silhouette ads clearly suggesting a major iPod-related event. Persistent rumors have predicted that Apple will introduce a tall iPod Nano, a new iPod Touch, as well as iTunes 8. There are also suggestions that Apple could introduce the 2.1 iPhone firmware with some previously unannounced features.

A few last minute tidbits:

- We've heard a few more reports of Apple telling reporters that this event will be a "big deal" and urging them to come. While it's hard to read too much into this sort of hype, it does not appear to be typical practice for Apple.
- DaringFireball suggests that there will be iPhone news at the event.
- While we won't be providing live web coverage, we will offer links to all available coverage as well as SMS updates via Twitter.
- The event will take place on September 9th, 2008 at 10 a.m. Pacific, 1 p.m. Eastern.

Despite having some initial doubts, Arstechnica now believes that Kevin Rose was correct and that iTunes 8 will be arriving on September 9th alongside the expected iPod updates.

Also expected is the iPhone 2.1 firmware which had been also reported with the original rumor.

One new tidbit, however, is that Ars was told that there are parts of the iPhone 2.1 firmware "that were specifically removed from developer seeds in order to keep them secret from the world." If true, that means there may be some surprise features that will be announced on September 9th.

Developers may note that Apple has ceased delivery of iPhone 2.1 firmware betas over the past few weeks, which is consistent with it having been declared Gold Master in anticipation of the upcoming release.

Apple is holding a special media event to announce their new products on Tuesday, September 9th.