Cool Music Shiznit: Apple’s New iPod Shuffle Has A Voice
By Morelli
The new version of the iPod Shuffle has been presented by Apple. It’s touted as the world’s smallest music player at just 45.2mm high, 17.5mm wide and 7.8mm deep, which is the size of an average key. The new device features Apple’s new voice technology, called VoiceOver, which tells you what song and artist you’re listening to.
VoiceOver might seem like a superfluous factor when considering a purchase, but since the player has no display, and can hold up to 1000 songs with 4GB of memory, the feature can help you keep track of what music you have on the iPod.
The iPod Shuffle supports multiple playlists, and VoiceOver also announces which playlist is playing. With this technology, Apple is striving towards a hands free system, and with 14 different languages, even Spanish and French songs get pronounced correctly.
With many music platforms suggesting music for listeners, it’s entirely possible that future versions of this technology could analyze a music library, and recommend similar songs. The new iPod Shuffle can be ordered now at the Apple web site and will ship in less than a week, setting you back $79. I’m interested in seeing what kind of software updates VoiceOver will get in the coming months. Maybe they’ll have the “voice” tell you a band’s updates, or synchronize it with a Twitter account.
How human will the VoiceOver sound? What additional information could it tell us while we’re listening to our iPod?
Tuesday, April 14, 2009 3:33PM
[...] of price, the higher the potential profit.” So, apple is making more money than with the iPod Nano, which cost $147 to make, or about 49% of its retail [...]