Apple Chief Executive Steve Jobs launched a much thinner, curved iPod nano music player as well as the updated iTunes 8 software yesterday in San Francisco.

However, Apple's presentation had no major surprises since everyone was expectated the introduction of new computers as well as iPods.

Jobs introduced a curved aluminum and glass nano -- the best-selling iPod -- for $149 with 8 gigabytes of storage, $50 less than the predecessor model and a 16-gigabyte version for $199, capable of playing back 24 hours of music or four hours of video. The device will be available in nine colors.

The device is equipped with a 320?240 LCD display and supports reproduction of MPEG-4 AVC/H.264, MPEG-4 video and AAC, MP3, WAV, Apple Lossless, AIFF, and Audible audio formats.

Apple also said the new nano has a "shake to shuffle" feature that changes songs as the player itself is jiggled and that NBC, had rejoined online video and music store iTunes.

iPod nano works with iTunes so users can import, manage and then auto-sync their favorite content. The new iPod nano also works with the new iTunes 8 Genius feature, allowing customers to automatically create playlists while on-the-go with their iPod nano. Users can preview the playlist Genius creates, refresh the list to choose different songs and save Genius playlists to enjoy again later.

Using Apple?s Genius feature is easy?select any song, click the Genius button, and iTunes instantly creates a playlist of songs. Users can preview the playlist Genius creates, refresh the list to choose different songs and save Genius playlists to enjoy again later. They can even create Genius Playlists on-the-go with the new iPod classic, iPod touch, iPod nano and iPhone. The Genius sidebar appears right in iTunes and recommends music from the iTunes Store based on the songs you select.



When you turn on iTunes 8?s new Genius feature, information about your music library is anonymously sent to the iTunes Store, where it is combined with the anonymously-gathered knowledge from millions of other iTunes users and processed through Apple-developed algorithms. The Genius results are sent back to your computer to enable users to automatically create Genius playlists in iTunes and on your iPods, even when they are not connected to the Internet.

iTunes 8 for Mac and Windows includes the iTunes Store and is available as a free download from (www.itunes.com).

Jobs also showed off a thinner, $229 version of the Web-connected iPod Touch with rounded edges and 8 gigabytes of storage. At the high end, Apple is charging $399 for 32 gigabytes.

The second generation iPod touch featuring a thin contoured metal design, a 3.5-inch widescreen glass display, 802.11 b/g Wi-Fi wireless networking, integrated volume control buttons, a built-in speaker, a built-in accelerometer and other advanced sensors, and Apple?s Multi-Touch user interface. The device supports reproduction ofAAC (16-320kbps), MP3(16-320kbps), Audible, Apple Lossless, AIFF, and WAV. Video reproduction includes MPEG-4 AVC/H.264 and MPEG-4 Simple Profile, in a resolution of 640x480/30fps.

"iPod touch is the funnest iPod we?ve ever created," said Steve Jobs, Apple?s CEO. "Users can listen to millions of songs, watch thousands of Hollywood movies and now, thanks to the App Store, download and play hundreds of great games on their iPod touch."



iPod touch users can choose from game titles available on iTunes or directly through the App Store application on the iPod touch. The App Store works over Wi-Fi, enabling users to browse, purchase and wirelessly download applications directly onto their iPod touch and start using them instantly. iPod touch works with iTunes.

Apple Marketing chief Philip Schiller said video games have emerged as the first big category of applications on the iPhone and iPod Touch. He said 700 of the roughly 3,000 applications sold on Apple's AppStore were games, the largest software category.