iPod Mini, Shuffle to Get Updates

By Nate Mook | Published September 2, 2005, 3:16 PM

Apple enthusiast site ThinkSecret on Friday reported that Apple is planning to make significant changes to its iPod Mini line and introduce larger iPod Shuffles in the coming weeks. The announcements are expected at Apple Expo Paris on September 20.

Apple has scheduled a press event next Wednesday, however it is widely expected that the Cupertino company will use the event to announce the oft-delayed Motorola iTunes phone.

Motorola has announced an event for press later that night in New York City.

The iPod Mini is expected to move completely to Flash memory, and be available in sizes of 4GB, 6GB and 8GB. Apple will use flash chips from Samsung, and recently purchased up to 40 percent of the company's inventory, according to analyst firm iSuppli.

Samsung in June announced that it had developed a new line of Flash memory that will not only allow manufacturers to shrink devices even further, but also provide up to 8GB of space on a single chip.

According to reports, Apple will use dual flash chips to attain the 6GB and 8GB capacities.

A color screen will be added to the player along with a reduction in size of up to 25 percent, ThinkSecret says. Due to the smaller size, the screen will also shrink, although it is expected to have a higher resolution than previous models.

Pricing of the new iPod Mini models is not clear at this time.

Apple is expected to add a new option to its iPod Shuffle lineup at 2GB. Pricing on the smaller models could be lowered as a result, with the 512MB Shuffle dropping to as low as $69 USD, the 1GB at $99 USD, and the 2GB somewhere between $129 and $149 USD.

Comments

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What about the 4 GB ipod mini? is that price going down to at least $170? That would be nice because i have been waiting for good prices, and i believe that 170 is a good price for an ipod mini (and if the package would include a dock/charger), though 160 or 150 would be better!

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iPod forever

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Great news if you're looking for a lower priced ipod...$69 for a 512k shuffle is awesome.

Got 2 4gig ipod minis already...might see more in the future

altechorama.blogspot.com

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Sounds great to me. 2 gigs of songs on a shuffle for 129.99 is awesome. And a smaller ipod mini would just be wonderfull.

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Is this information confirmed?

I guess that this will not be confirmed until the expo. Let's wait and see ;)

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Steve Jobs does it again. The only Apples in my home are the kind you eat.

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Isn't this what happened the last time someone got sued...?

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EXPLAIN

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I think he's referring to the incident where that French site/mag was sued by Apple for releasing info/pics before the products they concerned were officially announced.. I think that's the general gist of what happened anyway.

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Oh, I thought he was referring to Creative going after Apple for the whole menu patent bruhaha. It kinda works when you think about it...when was the last time you knew of a company getting sued for something and releasing major updates to their market-stealing product before addressing the suit presented to them. But you're comment makes sense too. Hasn't ThinkSecret gotten into trouble before for this?

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