Apple released a new iPod Shuffle today. It looks like they are stealing a move from Amazon's playbook and including text-to-speech.
• 4GB or 1,000 SongsThe worst part of this new design is that they have moved the controls of the device to the headphone. This means that you cannot use any other headphones you currently own. This means you cannot hook it up to a car stereo or home stereo through an audio cable. This means any replacement headphones will be more expensive, adding to the $79 cost of the unit. This means I would never buy one.
• Silver or black color options, stainless steel clip
• Controls have been moved to the earbud line
• "VoiceOver" Text to speech artist and track names
• 10 hours of playback
• The 1GB, 2nd gen iPod shuffle is still around for $50
2 comments:
These features actually make it perfect for car integration.
Right now if I want to see what is playing or change tracks I actually have to manipulate the iPod. Here, I could replace parts in my steering wheel to work with the iPod and have it all merge into one cable in my arm rest. I'd plug in my ipod and while I'm driving I can listen to music, hear what's playing, and change tracks and volume all from my steering wheel and using my factory stereo. (I've already built a circuit board and programmed a chip that allows me to play music from my ipod through my CD changer's connector. This would be the bee's knees though.)
I have a button on the back of my Jetta's steering wheel whose only function is to turn the LED's for the steering wheel's functions on or off (the lights on the steering wheel are on by default). So using that button to change tracks or speak to me, mimicking the middle button on the headphone cable, would hardly change the functionality of the car(most people don't even know that button is there).
It's ashame about the headphones being the only way to control the device, but I imagine there will be a workaround product released for use w/ car or home stereo.
As Chris says, the audio could be perfect for car use while driving.
But I think the Shuffle is not meant to be someone's primary audio device anyway...it's simply meant to be a compliment to another iPod, something you use when working out, walking about, riding the subway, etc.
I'd imagine most people who own a shuffle do not use it in the car, as a home audio source, etc; for many buyers it's probably their 3rd or 4th or 5th audio source, or some such. I'd have to assume Apple did their marketing surveys before releasing it in this configuration.
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