Apple Announces the iPod Nano and iTunes Phone

iPod Nano

Today, Apple announced the iPod nano, the replacement for the iPod mini. The iPod nano comes in 2GB ($199) and 4GB ($249) sizes in your choice of white or black. The iPod nano comes in a MUCH smaller form factor than any iPod to date. Apple's currently marketing the nano with the following phrase, "1000 songs. Impossibly small. iPod nano".

The specs are as follows

- 1000 song capability
- A Bright LCD color display that can support up to 25,000 photos
- A 14 hour battery life (rechargeable)
- Apple Click Wheel navigation
- 1.5 ounces
- 80% smaller in volume than the original iPod
- 1/2 the thickness of the iPod mini
- Support for the dock connector
- Flash based memory instead of a hard drive
- New graphical clock, stopwatch, games, lap timer, screen lock

The iPod nano should continue Apple's run in the market for digital music and it should continue to fuel the "iPod Halo Effect" that has brought so many Switchers to Mac and OS X.

Motorola Rokr E1 - iTunes Phone

Apple and Motorola announced the iTunes-capable, a phone that has been speculated for over a year. The Rokr E1 is the first mobile phone with iTunes built-in. It will allow music enthusiasts to transfer up to 100 iTunes based songs from a Mac or PC to the phone.

Cingular is the exclusive carrier for the phone in the U.S. The phone is available for $249.99 with a 2 year contract.

With the release of the phone, Apple is demonstrating that they want iTunes to be ubiquitous. I expect the phone to expose more people to Apple products for the first time specifically, iTunes. This in turn should lead to more people purchasing a Mac for the first time as we may see a "Mobile Halo Effect" or "Mobo Effect" (yes, I just coined the phrase) in the near future.

Today was a great day for Apple as it demonstrated to the market that it intends to keep it's position as the market leader for digital music and digital music players.

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