New iPods, New iTunes, New iPhone Software: "Let's Rock"

My focus on this event was a bit selfish: naturally with a name like "Let's Rock," the event was going to be music-focused, and thus iPod-ish. But I was hoping for a iPhone software update to fix my (and others') 3G issues.

Anyway, typical of Jobs, he walked out with his trademark black turtleneck and jeans. But he made sure to remind us (with a slide) that:

"The reports of my death are greatly exaggerated."

For all investors, that's good to know; however, Apple stock still took a tumble after the event (down $5 at noon PDT).

A summary of the event highlights, in order of appearance:

HD TV shows: HD shows will be $2.99, and they can be watched on a computer or Apple TV.

NBC will be coming back to iTunes. Yes, somehow Steve and Jeff Zucker made up.

New iTunes 8, available today. New browsing options, better accessibility and something called Genius. Yep, looks like Digg founder Kevin Rose was on the money. But what is Genius?

Well, it's what was reported: Genius is a new feature that lets you automatically make playlists from songs in your music library that "go great together - with just one click." Hit the Genius button on a certain song, and iTunes creates a playlist of similar genre songs.

As an example, Jobs used Bob Dylan's "Don't Think Twice, It's All Right." The Genius button pulled similar artists such as Paul Simon and Joan Baez into a playlist.

It's unclear if political like-mindedness plays a role in this grouping.

iPod Classic: the thick model is discontinued, and the 80 GB model gets a bump to 120 GB for the same $249.

iPod nano: Yep, Rose was on the money again, as the nano redesign matches what we were expecting. Not only is it sleek and slim, it adds the accelerometer of the iPhone and iPod Touch, enabling "Shake to Shuffle." And, for those who might want an excuse to carry this into their classroom, Apple has added a voice recording function.

Jobs calls the new nanos are "nano-chromatic." They encompass nine colors, including a (RED) version.

Battery life improves: 24 hours of music and 4 hours of video. Pricing: $149 for 8 GB, $199 for 16 GB. Available now.

iPod Touch: There had to be an iPod Touch revamp, what with the now-subsidized price of the iPhone, and there was one.

Thinner, the same display, but with integrated volume controls --- and a built-in speaker for "casual listening." Pricing is now $229 for the 8 GB, $299 for 16 GB and $399 for 32 GB. Cheaper than the old pricing, but not as cheap as some thought.

With the release of the new iPod Touch, also comes a new software version: 2.1. iPod Touch owners who paid to update to 2.0 get the update free; otherwise it's $9.99

What no iPhone update?! Nah, don't worry, there's an iPhone software update as well, also to 2.1, but that's not available until Friday. And according to Jobs, it addresses a number of issues and contains "lots of fixes": dropped calls, battery life, backing up to iTunes and app crashes.

You can bet I will jump on this ASAP on Friday and post about it, as I have been one of those with huge 3G issues.

Whew, that was the extent of the Apple event. Isn't that enough? No, for once there was no "one more thing."

For me, the iPhone 3G software update was expected, and primary. Is it going to fix things? Who knows? The 3G issue has been worldwide, so it's going to take some amount of time to get feedback and that's not going to go live until Friday.