Here’s what you need to know for now:
ROKR is real. The phone is available from Cingular in the US. It has a dedicated ‘music’ button, iconography courtesy of iTunes, and can store up to 100 - yep, just 100 - songs.
The iPod nano is incredibly small, not much larger than an iPod shuffle. It stores up to 1,000 songs in Flash memory, works with Mac OS X and Windows XP, and claims a 14 hour battery life.
The iPod mini is history. The new nano is, depending on your viewpoint, a tiny little normal iPod, or a larger iPod shuffle with a screen. Without a doubt, it has teh wow.
Version 5.0 of iTunes is available for download. The toolbar is changed, sporting a new search box and a cleaner look.
My instant opinions: ROKR’s song limit will turn people away. They will much prefer to spend their money on one of those gorgeous-looking iPod nanos.
The invite to today’s press event said: “1000 songs in your pocket changed the world. Here we go again.” Frankly, I don’t think the ROKR is as big an announcement as the original iPod. It’s certainly nice to have a phone that talks to iTunes Music Store, but with a 100 song limit people are still going to be carrying around an iPod with them - which kinda defeats the object of trying to merge the two devices in the first place.
Mmmmmmm nano
Rokr
Actually, I will probably get the phone. But only because I need a new one anyway.
"1000 songs in your pocket changed the world. Here we go again."
I think Apple meant "here we go again: 1000 songs in your pocket".
Which, translated, means: "We're exactly where we were in 2001, except now it's even smaller!"
Woo!
Still, let's face it. 1984: Mac. 2001: iPod. We're not due another world-shaker until 2018.