Shuffle

A special pink edition has been added to the spectrum of Shuffles announced by Apple earlier this month, though this time it's not just for fashion and marketing. Target is packaging the pastel music players with an iTunes gif card for no additional charge as part of a campaign to combat breast cancer.

AppleInsider says the retail chain will donate up to $25,000 of the proceeds to the Breast Cancer Research Foundation. Photos of the special bundle, which is available only at Target's brick-and-mortar stores, can be seen here.

As expected, today's Apple event at Moscone Center here in San Francisco was all about music--iPods to be exact, and lots of them. The least exciting of the bunch is the Shuffle, for which there is a simple color refresh, while the most dramatic is the new Nano, which is shorter and squatter than its predecessor and now supports video. On the full-size iPod side, the video version has been rechristened the Classic and comes with up to 160GB of space on board. And, last but not least, there's a phoneless iPhone, dubbed the Touch. Yep, that'… Read more

Today's Apple event in San Francisco offered plenty of iPod news to be excited about. In only the first few minutes, Steve Jobs announced that the whole iPod lineup--from the shuffle to the iPod--would get an upgrade. There had already been a ton of speculation about what Jobs would announce today, but as is usually the case, an Apple event almost always means a surprise.

First on the list of new hardware, the iPod Shuffle. Not much in the way of changes here, but the clip-on design comes in several new colors. It has 1GB of storage space and retails for $79.

There was a lot of speculation around the Mac rumor sites before this event about the new iPod Nano, with alleged leaked photos and feature lists. The real version is a bit different, having a 320?240 screen (204 ppi) and supports the same resolution as iPod videos. Coverflow is now offered for paging through your music and is controlled using the touch wheel on the bottom. A new graphical navigation system splits the screen down the middle with the familiar list navigation on the left side and a snippet of video, a picture, or song name and album art on the right side. It comes in both 4GB and 8GB models like the previous Nanos and sells for $149 and $199, respectively.… Read more

It has to be said that the least exciting of today's Apple announcements is the one regarding the new iPod Shuffle. The newest version of the tiny, clip-on flash player offers the same 1GB capacity, the same $79 price tag, and probably the same unimpressive sound quality. And yet, I'm kind of taken with the new array of colors. As expected, the Shuffle now comes in the (Product)RED variety, but Jobs has also traded out the bright, metallic paint jobs for more subtle, pastel--but still metallic--ones. You still get silver, along with three more cool, subdued shades: … Read more

There's a simple yet invariable rule for retail products: Whenever a well-designed creation comes on the market, it will be followed by a horribly overdone version from a competitor who doesn't know when to stop. (Or sometimes from the same manufacturer as the original.)

Case in point: While we certainly don't approve of gilding as a rule, the recently featured 18k Shuffle actually caught our fancy. Then today, we almost reflexively poked an eye out upon viewing an unfortunate little guy that not only was made of gold but also "caked with loads of glittery diamonds,&… Read more

A couple of months ago, I posted a Photoshop mockup of a new pair of "wireless" headphones for the second-generation iPod Shuffle that Arriva, a startup based in Colorado, was working on. The irony was that the headphones weren't wireless in the traditional sense (Bluetooth, IR, or RF), but they simply had a tiny Shuffle II integrated into the headphones at the back of your neck. It's a concept that Monster has also seized upon with its iFreePlay headphones, which houses a Shuffle dock in the left earpiece. … Read more

Pity the poor Shuffle. Even before all of Apple's music players took a back seat to the iPhone, the Shuffle had to endure the pomposity of its older sibling in 24k gold.

But the little guy is finally getting some revenge. According to BornRich, a German company called Xexoo has created a Shuffle cast in 18k gold for just $10,000, including 24-hour tech support. Before you rush out to take advantage of this bargain, be aware that the player is expecting--what else?--an upgrade. Instead of memory or other boring specs, though, the next version will have diamonds. … Read more

Swimman has created the only waterproof ipod. By using swimman's waterproof technology they have taken the new ipod shuffle and turned it to the ultimate all-environment accessory.

The shuffle is packaged in it's original packaging but swimman has added it's waterproofing technology and a set of waterproof headphones. This gives you the ability to take your music with you for an ocean swim or a few laps in the pool.

It is a neat idea but not exactly cheap, they take a basic shuffle for $79.00 add $100.00 for waterproofing and then add a waterproof … Read more

Lest we forget, Apple still makes a few products other than iPhone, and some of them are actually pretty good for things like listening to music. Until now, though, we just didn't recommend attaching the iPod to one's head as a public service.

Monster's "iFreePlay" seems to have gotten it right, in our opinion, by using the lightweight Shuffle to rescue its wearer from fashion victimization. The $60 headphones have an iDock built into their wraparound design for easy access as well as wireless liberation, according to Tech Digest. So if you've already purchased … Read more