Apple iPod press event, September 9th – live blog

It may only be rock and roll, but we like it, too. I think we’ll also like what we see out of Apple’s press event from San Francisco today, provided you don’t have unrealistic expectations. The announcements begin at 10:00 a.m. PDT (1:00 p.m. EDT). We’ll be running our live blog of the event as the announcements happen, and will update this page with more speculation and last minute rumors as they surface, so bookmark this page or just stick around until then.

Live blog entries will update every 20 seconds.

at 6:20 Kirk Hiner said:

That'll do it, then. If you've been in here with us, head back to the home page for in-depth articles and images already posted. Plenty more to come, so check back. Thanks for joining us.

at 6:18 Kirk Hiner said:

Regarding Norah, my guess is that the first 28 bands they approached were all busy playing The Beatles: Rock Band today.

at 6:18 Bill Stiteler said:

I think Norah Jones showed off a tablet, but I was kinda drowsy.

at 6:18 Kirk Hiner said:

Just checked, though. v8.2.1 is still the current version.

at 6:17 Kirk Hiner said:

iTunes will be fun to play with though.

at 6:17 Kirk Hiner said:

Bring on the hate mail about now iTablet or iPad or iNet or what have you.

at 6:17 Bill Stiteler said:

So, except for the nano, we saw a minor bump. This was the Snow Leopard of iPod events.

at 6:16 Bill Stiteler said:

And we're done.

at 6:16 Kirk Hiner said:

And the whole thing is done.

at 6:15 Kirk Hiner said:

Wait...what? Oh. Is she done?

at 6:15 Bill Stiteler said:

That it?

at 6:11 Bill Stiteler said:

I think Steve has confused "rocking" with "gently swaying."

at 6:11 Bill Stiteler said:

I'll wake you up before Norah Jones goes.

at 6:09 Kirk Hiner said:

Wake me up when Norah Jones is over.

at 6:09 Kirk Hiner said:

I believe so.

at 6:08 Bill Stiteler said:

That pretty much wrap it up on the hardware size?

at 6:08 Bill Stiteler said:

And the iPod nano becomes some sort of hideous multimedia Frankenstein.

at 6:07 Bill Stiteler said:

Bigger iPods.

at 6:07 Bill Stiteler said:

So, bigger, faster, cheaper iPod touch.

at 6:07 Bill Stiteler said:

Let's throw the horns for Norah Jones.

at 6:06 Kirk Hiner said:

Norah Jones? So much for rock and roll.

at 6:06 Bill Stiteler said:

Steve's talking about how eco-friendly the new iPods are.

at 6:06 Kirk Hiner said:

It will soon enough. Gotta move those nanos, first.

at 6:05 Bill Stiteler said:

There's goign to be a lot of awkward conversations at the Apple store about why the touch doesn't shoot video.

at 6:04 Bill Stiteler said:

Rainbow of colors.

at 6:04 Kirk Hiner said:

Nano's are available today at $149 for 8GB and $179 for 16GB.

at 6:03 Bill Stiteler said:

Wow. I have to say I think that's a terrible idea. But what do I know?

at 6:03 Kirk Hiner said:

And the announcement of a pedometer means...yes. Sync to Nike+. Does anyone use that?

at 6:02 Bill Stiteler said:

Nano is getting FM Radio? I refuse to believe that.

at 6:02 Kirk Hiner said:

The nano will get that Genius thing, and hey, FM radio. That's okay by me.

at 6:01 Kirk Hiner said:

One click sending to YouTube. Great. YouTube is going to be a mess.

at 6:01 Bill Stiteler said:

The iPod nano: perfect for perverts.

at 6:01 Kirk Hiner said:

That's it exactly.

at 6:01 Bill Stiteler said:

Probably because the nano won't cannibalize iPhone sales.

at 6:00 Bill Stiteler said:

The nano but not the touch. Oooh, that's goign to make some people angry.

at 6:00 Kirk Hiner said:

Let's see if Jobs can explain why the nano needs a video camera, a microphone and a speaker, because I don't get it.

at 6:00 Bill Stiteler said:

Cameras are being added to iPod nanos.

at 5:59 Kirk Hiner said:

Video camera on the nano.

at 5:58 Kirk Hiner said:

One more thing. Forget the shuffle. One more thing?

at 5:58 Bill Stiteler said:

iPod shuffle special edition. Ooooookay.

at 5:58 Bill Stiteler said:

$59 for 2GB iPod shuffle.

at 5:57 Kirk Hiner said:

New colors, so that means consumers have, too.

at 5:56 Bill Stiteler said:

iPod shuffle getting an expanded line of headphones with buttons. I'd forgotten this existed.

at 5:56 Kirk Hiner said:

Another shuffle update? Didn't this just get its own press event earlier this year?

at 5:56 Bill Stiteler said:

That's it? No camera for the iPod touch? I guess so, we're moving on to the classic and shuffle.

at 5:55 Kirk Hiner said:

iPod classic update is academic. 160GB for $249.

at 5:54 Bill Stiteler said:

Ah, wait, only the 32 and 64 versions will be faster, and run Open GL/ES

at 5:53 Bill Stiteler said:

iPod touch is faster, can now run Open GL.

at 5:53 Bill Stiteler said:

Whoa: the new middle iPod touch is now 32 GB for $299 and 64 GB for $399.

at 5:52 Bill Stiteler said:

Yep: new price for 8GB is $199

at 5:52 Bill Stiteler said:

I think we're getting a price cut...

at 5:51 Kirk Hiner said:

it's available today...just in time for the season kickoff. I'm praying Chris Collinsworth is not listed as a "feature."

at 5:51 Bill Stiteler said:

Phil's back.

at 5:50 Kirk Hiner said:

It has the Call Your Shot function from the Wii version, but done with your finger.

at 5:49 Kirk Hiner said:

Benefit, easier to download Brett Favre every year as he comes out of retirement.

at 5:48 Bill Stiteler said:

The graphics are... unexciting.

at 5:48 Kirk Hiner said:

There's a Madden-like game already there, but yeah. Big announcement.

at 5:47 Bill Stiteler said:

Madden NFL 2010 coming to iPod. That's pretty huge.

at 5:47 Kirk Hiner said:

here comes EA.

at 5:47 Bill Stiteler said:

Multiplayer over bluetooth and wifi.

at 5:46 Bill Stiteler said:

Another Space Marine game. Boy, somebody's going to be embarrassed when they find out there's no water in space.

at 5:46 Kirk Hiner said:

Oh, wait. I mean Green Day. Forgot where we are.

at 5:46 Kirk Hiner said:

And you can listen to your own music while playing. Nothing like killing aliens while listening to Enya.

at 5:45 Bill Stiteler said:

Demoing an FPS. "Nova."

at 5:45 Kirk Hiner said:

Case in point? Nova. It's a first person shooter with 12 levels. Looks pretty sweet. But will it be easy to control? No.

at 5:45 Bill Stiteler said:

Gameloft up next. Apple is once again hammering the games for iPod touch.

at 5:44 Bill Stiteler said:

After you're done, you can save the song you've created and share it.

at 5:44 Kirk Hiner said:

Hey, Gameloft. They've got great stuff.

at 5:44 Kirk Hiner said:

i rode the music once. Best weekend of my life.

at 5:43 Bill Stiteler said:

New game: Riddim Ribbon. You "ride" the music."

at 5:42 Bill Stiteler said:

Tapulous' goal was to get 1 million users, which they got in three weeks. Amazing.

at 5:41 Bill Stiteler said:

Tapulous comes to the stage.

at 5:41 Bill Stiteler said:

AC looks like Prince of Persia.

at 5:40 Bill Stiteler said:

Am I the only person who hates using tilt as an interface?

at 5:39 Bill Stiteler said:

Ubisoft is showing off an iPod sequel to Assassin's Creed

at 5:38 Bill Stiteler said:

Oh god, Developers. This is always death.

at 5:38 Kirk Hiner said:

Uh oh. Developer talk. Everyone go get a bite to eat.

at 5:37 Bill Stiteler said:

Zing!

at 5:37 Bill Stiteler said:

21k entertainment apps in the App Store. But how many of them are derivative?

at 5:37 Kirk Hiner said:

Remember when the PC argument was that it had many more applications than the Mac?

at 5:36 Bill Stiteler said:

Match the blocks and make them disappear, yes. Final Fantasy, no.

at 5:36 Kirk Hiner said:

And he's using numbers to make that point. Bad, Phil, bad.

at 5:36 Bill Stiteler said:

Trash talking the expense of DS and PSP games: true, but I've yet to find an iPod game that gives an RPG story of appreciable length.

at 5:35 Bill Stiteler said:

Phil's talking about the touch as a gaming machine, saying the DS and PSP don't stack up.

at 5:34 Bill Stiteler said:

Those of you who had "a dig at Dell" on their cards, check that off now.

at 5:34 Kirk Hiner said:

Of course, they're probably the closing band, now.

at 5:34 Kirk Hiner said:

Green Day will be decidedly less cool if Apple doesn't shut up about them.

at 5:32 Bill Stiteler said:

Thank you, Phil, we know what an iPod touch does.

at 5:32 Bill Stiteler said:

Phil's talking about why the iPod touch is so great. Like, for playing Green Day!

at 5:31 Kirk Hiner said:

Microsoft has an MP3 player?

at 5:30 Bill Stiteler said:

20 million iPod touches sold. iPods touch?

at 5:30 Bill Stiteler said:

Nice little bitchy pie chart with Microsoft at the top with 1.1%.

at 5:29 Bill Stiteler said:

220 million iPods sold.

at 5:29 Kirk Hiner said:

220 million iPods sold. Five of those have been mine.

at 5:29 Bill Stiteler said:

iPods now. They have almost 74% of the market

at 5:28 Bill Stiteler said:

Wow, what an amazing breakthrough feature that was on DVD a decade ago!

at 5:28 Kirk Hiner said:

And, as we mentioned earlier, iTunes 9 will be available for download today.

at 5:28 Bill Stiteler said:

and iTunes movies are getting special features, too.

at 5:27 Kirk Hiner said:

But this is some pretty fantastic stuff if you're seriously into the band and their music.

at 5:27 Bill Stiteler said:

I prefer 8 Tracks.

at 5:26 Kirk Hiner said:

I still prefer a physical CD package, by the way.

at 5:26 Bill Stiteler said:

In addition to traditional LP features: liner notes, pictures, you can also get interviews and videos.

at 5:25 Kirk Hiner said:

Interface is quit "DVD menu-like." We'll have images up soon.

at 5:24 Kirk Hiner said:

Too many dragons and vampire backgrounds on MySpace for Apple to feel comfortable.

at 5:24 Bill Stiteler said:

And that's iTunes 9.

at 5:24 Bill Stiteler said:

There's those social media features: add songs to Twitter and Facebook. No Myspace? buuuuuuuuuurn.

at 5:23 Kirk Hiner said:

Via iTunes, you can post to Twitter and Facebook info on the songs in which you're interested.

at 5:23 Bill Stiteler said:

You can also gift music or add it to a want list.

at 5:23 Bill Stiteler said:

You can now preview albums without opening a new page: it album window floats above the page you're on.

at 5:22 Kirk Hiner said:

Here's the new store design.

at 5:22 Kirk Hiner said:

Yeah, shared libraries are automatically updated. Apple is all about sharing.

at 5:21 Bill Stiteler said:

You can also set it up to automatically transfer new purchases.

at 5:21 Bill Stiteler said:

Jeff Robin is showing how to transfer files between authorized computers

at 5:20 Bill Stiteler said:

Interesting: you can even share apps between computers?

at 5:19 Bill Stiteler said:

Looks like you can rearrange several apps at once.

at 5:18 Bill Stiteler said:

Demoing the app arrangement feature.

at 5:18 Bill Stiteler said:

Apple, having destroyed the album, decided to save it.

at 5:17 Bill Stiteler said:

I imagine you have to buy the whole album to get the iTunes LP info.

at 5:17 Kirk Hiner said:

Steve's offstage, Jeff Robins is on. More on iTunes 9.

at 5:17 Bill Stiteler said:

They should get John Cusak to present that.

at 5:17 Kirk Hiner said:

Liner notes, videos, lyrics...will KISS's "Love Gun" album come with the love gun?

at 5:16 Kirk Hiner said:

Chronology of albums. I've been looking for that for quite some time, actually. Nice.

at 5:15 Bill Stiteler said:

Here comes iTunes LP

at 5:15 Kirk Hiner said:

iTunes 9 will bring us a new interface. We'll see how that turns out soon enough.

at 5:15 Bill Stiteler said:

I assume the five computer limit applies to Apple purchased files.

at 5:15 Bill Stiteler said:

Also improved: synching music/movies between computers.

at 5:15 Kirk Hiner said:

You can also now manage your songs, movies, etc. amongst give authorized "home" computers.

at 5:14 Bill Stiteler said:

App management gets a new screen where you can drag and drop apps

at 5:13 Kirk Hiner said:

App management on the iPhone via iTunes. And there was much rejoicing.

at 5:13 Kirk Hiner said:

But it's endless, Bill. ENDLESS!

at 5:13 Bill Stiteler said:

Ah, okay: Genius Mix doesn't have a song limit.

at 5:12 Bill Stiteler said:

Supposedly it puts songs together that it thinks will go well. Isn't that what Genius does?

at 5:12 Kirk Hiner said:

Syncing is being improved.

at 5:12 Bill Stiteler said:

I'm not sure how Genius Mixes is different from Genius.

at 5:11 Kirk Hiner said:

Genius Mixes = smarter genius?

at 5:11 Bill Stiteler said:

New Genius feature: Genius Mixes

at 5:11 Bill Stiteler said:

I'll have to spend some time today digging up the predictions for the Apple store in its first year.

at 5:10 Bill Stiteler said:

8.5 billion songs served.

at 5:09 Bill Stiteler said:

iTunes 9 comes out today

at 5:08 Bill Stiteler said:

30k ringtones availalble. 3.1 is free, and available today.

at 5:08 Kirk Hiner said:

Steve looks good, by the way.

at 5:08 Bill Stiteler said:

$1.29 for Ringtones

at 5:07 Bill Stiteler said:

For just music, or music and apps?

at 5:06 Kirk Hiner said:

iPhone 3.1 will include Genius technology.

at 5:06 Bill Stiteler said:

That's over 100 iFarts per person.

at 5:06 Bill Stiteler said:

75k apps

at 5:05 Kirk Hiner said:

1.8 billion app downloads.

at 5:05 Bill Stiteler said:

30 million iPhones sold in two years.

at 5:05 Kirk Hiner said:

Ooooooooohhhhhh.

at 5:04 Bill Stiteler said:

First up, the iLiver. (too soon?)

at 5:04 Kirk Hiner said:

Steve thanks Apple community. You're welcome.

at 5:03 Bill Stiteler said:

And that's the event! Thank you, everyone!

at 5:03 Bill Stiteler said:

"Are you ready to rock... to Sarah McLachlan???" Suddenly got very quiet.

at 5:02 Kirk Hiner said:

Big face pop for Mr. Jobs.

at 5:02 Bill Stiteler said:

Holy Guacamole.

at 5:02 Kirk Hiner said:

Welcome back, Steve.

at 5:01 Bill Stiteler said:

Here we go.

at 5:01 Kirk Hiner said:

Well, provided the speakers can find the stage. Rock Cleveland!

at 5:00 Bill Stiteler said:

Stones now. I think we're about to start.

at 5:00 Kirk Hiner said:

Who are Oxo?

at 5:00 Bill Stiteler said:

Even Oxo doesn't remember Oxo, Kirk.

at 4:59 Kirk Hiner said:

And real rock events aren't held at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Trust me on this.

at 4:59 Bill Stiteler said:

Hendrix should really release some new stuff. He's been coasting on the 60s for like, forever.

at 4:59 Kirk Hiner said:

It won't truly be rock until we hear some Oxo.

at 4:58 Bill Stiteler said:

They should have had this event at the Rock 'n' roll Hall of Fame. Just sayin'.

at 4:57 Bill Stiteler said:

Hendrix now. No Miley Cyrus? I thought this was supposed to rock.

at 4:55 Kirk Hiner said:

So, I guess the iPod equivalent to that would be a headphone jack?

at 4:55 Bill Stiteler said:

New update: iPods can now beep! Market share up 10%!

at 4:55 Bill Stiteler said:

Last time we had one of these events, we got cut 'n' past, mms and search.

at 4:55 Kirk Hiner said:

Well, speaking of Chrome. Eric Schmidt from Google is in attendance.

at 4:52 Kirk Hiner said:

Updates Mail with a more "Pine"-like interface!

at 4:52 Bill Stiteler said:

Exclusive! Apple discontinues Safari, throws their support back behind Netscape Navigator!

at 4:51 Kirk Hiner said:

If not, it'll be the end of Apple. Just ask every tech blog out there.

at 4:51 Bill Stiteler said:

So they're going to announce a netbook, right? That runs on Chrome OS?

at 4:50 Bill Stiteler said:

You can tell Steve isn't here because John Meyer is like, the rockinest d00d evah.

at 4:50 Bill Stiteler said:

People are filing in now.

at 4:50 Kirk Hiner said:

The music choice, Green Day IS a bit more rock and roll than, say, Coldplay or Tony Bennett, so I guess we're off to a good start.

at 4:46 Kirk Hiner said:

What did people do to pass time at these things before the iPhone was widely available?

at 4:45 Kirk Hiner said:

Well, Styx and Stones...

at 4:42 Bill Stiteler said:

And yet, Apple is scheduling a music-themed press conference on the day the remastered Beatles albums are coming out, but using the Stones. ouch.

at 4:39 Kirk Hiner said:

Note to PR firms. Sending out a press release the day of an Apple press conference is a good way to guarantee your announcement will get buried. I'm just sayin...

at 4:20 Kirk Hiner said:

Less than an hour out, now. Apple store's been down a while.

at 2:03 Bill Stiteler said:

Given how they're emphasizing "It's Only Rock 'n' Roll" we'll probably see something about their new album setup, but I think the tablet is unlikely.

at 2:02 Bill Stiteler said:

iPod touch with a camera would be a game changer, because if you add the headphone mic and skype, you've got a WiFi iPhone.

at 2:01 Bill Stiteler said:

My prediction: Beatles won't happen today, but we will see them around Christmas.

at 12:27 Kirk Hiner said:

If you want to get yesterday's iPods at this morning's prices, head on over to the Apple store (before they shut it down). Prices have been slashed pretty much across the board.

at 12:22 Kirk Hiner said:

I suppose it's wrong of me to be more excited about the possibility of the Beatles catalog in iTunes than about an Apple TV update or an iPad, but I really don't want to have to buy "Beatles for Sale" again just to get the "Every Little Thing" remaster.