Cloud based data management

Apple CEO Steve Jobs put on his mouse ears today and did his thang as the head of a computer consumer electronics company.

First off, Jobs, at a San Francisco event, showed off three new iPods.

Starting today, customers can secure new 2GB, 4GB and 8GB versions of the iPod Nano. Apple has started making these slim iPods with multi-colored aluminum cases. "The all-new iPod nano gives music fans more of what they love in their iPods - twice the storage capacity at the same price, an incredible 24 hour battery life and a gorgeous aluminum design in five brilliant colors," Jobs said.

Who ever imagined that the iPod would see battery improvements and color additions on the same day?

Apple also talked up a fatter 80GB video iPod that is now, er, 60 per cent brighter than old models. Yay! It will also be able to play game such as Pac-Man and Tetris. You'll find a 30GB version of the new iPod as well starting at $249, while the bulkier box costs $349.

Last and least, Apple issued a 1GB version of the Shuffle for $79. We're told it's the smallest MP3 player on the planet.

To back up the hardware, Apple has shipped iTunes Version 7. Thanks to a deal with pal Disney, customers can now buy movies from Disney and other studios for between $13 and $15 on the same day they are available on DVD.

Apple also talked up a type of media appliance that it plans to sell in the first quarter of 2007. The box is called iTV and has wireless and wired networking, some USB ports and audio/video ports. It's meant to hook into a TV or home theater system and transfer content between computers and TVs.

As expected, a flurry of stories have started to appear charging that the iPod has become too popular for its own good. Customers have started to get sick of the boring device that breaks with ease and has miserable battery life. Still, it's paying plenty of bills for Apple at the moment, and the company is not about to pull back on hawking the device.®

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