Wednesday's Apple Event: Biggest Applause for Jobs' Return

You'd think the guy had been missing for some time or something. Wednesday's Apple event, which was billed as the typical annual music-focus Apple event, covered a lot more than just that, as well as re-introducing a certain CEO to the audience.

After a lengthy standing ovation as Steve Jobs came onstage, he said the following:

"I'm very happy to be here today with you all. As some of you know, about five months ago I had a liver transplant. I now have the liver of a mid-20s person who died in a car crash and was generous enough to donate their organs. I am alive because of their generosity. I hope we can all be that generous. I'd like to thank everyone in the Apple community for their concern. It means a lot. I'd like to thank Tim Cook, and everyone at Apple who rose to the occasion. Thank you guys."

Among the changes in iPhone OS 3.1:

Genius Recommendations for Apps - Get recommendations for apps you might like based on apps you’ve already downloaded.

Genius Mixes - Have iTunes create up to 12 playlists based on what’s already in your library. You don’t even have to choose a sample song.

Download Ringtones Wirelessly - Choose from thousands of iPhone ringtones on the iTunes Store and buy them with a tap.

Organize Apps in iTunes - Use iTunes on your computer to drag apps onto virtual Home screens, then sync them to your iPhone.

Additionally, iPhone OS 3.1 also includes these features and updates:

• Improved syncing for music, movies, TV shows, podcasts, and photos
• iTunes U content organization
• Redeem iTunes Gift Cards, codes, and certificates in the App Store
• Display available iTunes account credits in the App Store and iTunes Store
• Save video from Mail and MMS into Camera Roll
• Option to "Save as new clip" when trimming a video on iPhone 3GS
• Better iPhone 3G Wi-Fi performance when Bluetooth is turned on
• Remotely lock iPhone with a passcode via MobileMe
• Use Voice Control on iPhone 3GS with Bluetooth headsets
• Paste phone numbers into the keypad
• Option to use Home button to turn on accessibility features on iPhone 3GS
• Warn when visiting fraudulent websites in Safari (anti-phishing)
• Improved Exchange calendar syncing and invitation handling
• Fixes issue that cause some app icons to display incorrectly

iPhone OS 3.1 is free for all 3.0 users (including iPod touch users).

Besides that, Apple released iTunes 9.0, which includes the following:

• iTunes LP. This is "Cocktail," the interactive album form that includes lyrics, liner notes, video, photos and "more." It is hoped by the music industry that iTunes LP will re-invigorate album sales.
• iTunes Extras. Similar to DVD extras, but with iTunes.
  
• Improved store navigation, including persistent navigation menu.
• Full window iTunes store. For times when that sidebar is just too much.
• Previews from anywhere in the store -- don't have to drill down to preview.
• Genius Mixes. Like having a “Genius” DJ that automatically generates up to 12 endless mixes of songs from your iTunes library that go great together.
• App management, which allows you to set your home screens on the iPhone and iPod touch in iTunes. Much simpler than doing it on the device.
  
• Home Sharing, which lets you easily transfer music, movies and TV shows among up to five authorized computers in your home.
• You can send items in the iTunes Store as gifts, add them to a wishlist, and publish them to Facebook and Twitter

How about some hardware updates? Cue the iPod touch. The 8GB model drops to $199. There is now a 64GB model ($399), and it and the 32GB model ($299) contain under the hood changes: these models are 50 percent faster, and add support for Open GL | ES version 2.0. Sorry guys, no camera.

How about the iPod classic? Rumor was Apple might dump this old favorite, but that's not the case. Instead, capacity is being upped to 160GB, with the same size, and the same price, $249.

iPod shuffle? Apple said, responding to criticism about requiring on-cord controls to use it, that they're working with headphone makers to include the integrated shuffle control. New colors for the shuffle are black, silver, pink, green, and blue, with the 2GB model now $59 and the 4GB model still $79. There's also a new iPod shuffle special edition, $99 for 4GB, made of polished stainless steel.

The iPod nano, as expected, gets a video camera on the back. This will place it in competition with the Flip's video recorders, which Jobs held up as an example of an endangered species, er, sorry, as a portable video recorder that's caught on.

Additional changes: a larger 2.2-inch display, a built-in FM radio with live pause (meaning Tivo-like functionality) and iTunes Tagging. iTunes Tagging allows users to tag a song the like on FM, and then preview and purchase that song when they sync to iTunes. Additionally, the iPod nano now has a built-in pedometer.

Pricing: the 8GB model for $149 and a 16GB model for $179, and nine colors including silver, black, purple, blue, green, orange, yellow, (PRODUCT) RED and pink.
That's it guys, but isn't it enough? I certainly wasn't expecting the iPhone OS 3.1 today, so that's like bonus coverage. Definitely an Apple event full of great announcements, albeit mostly (with the exception of the iPhone OS 3.l) music-related.

Oh, and no Beatles on iTunes. Sob!