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Another Keynote, not a brilliant one but still fairly fun. Shame about the lack of a “One more Thing”- I’d have liked to have seen a new Apple TV or an updated Cinema Display but I guess we’ll have to wait until February. For a wrap up of everything new:

• iTunes 8 with a the new Genius function, a pretty nice Grid layout and a new Visualisation.
• A new multicoloured iPod Nano, with a new interface and an accelerometer, among other things.
• A literally shiny new iPod Touch. Not much more than a new body but the in-built speaker and volume buttons on the side are nice additions. Cheaper too.
• Some new headphones with Play/Pause/Volume Control etc.
• 2.1 update for the iPhone, coming on on Friday. (I’m seriously waiting for this.

Let’s do these in order.

First off, iTunes 8 actually seems a fair amount faster than the old one for loading up the App and playlists etc. Gotta mention that as it’s one of the main things people want but they never really mention anywhere! Last thing I want is an App that so bogged down with random stuff that it takes an age to load. V8 seems faster while still having the new Genius function and the new Album artwork view…or I might just be saying complete crap and it’s slower on some other machines. Wait and see and I’m sure the tech blogs will tell you.

Anywho, the Genius function seems partly a very useful way of finding similar artists in your own library, and partly a way of getting you to buy more stuff off the iTunes Music Store. The latter I’m sure I won’t be using very often so the extra screen space will be used well, but the Genius playlist function is really neat. Just select a song or artist, hit the Genius button in the bottom right and it’ll go and list a load of similar tracks from your library. It gave a few errors every so often when it couldn’t find an equivalent track but then considering some of the music in my library include lots of Japanese artists it doesn’t really surprise me.

I personally love the new iPod Nano. I never got on with the old one, thought it was too fat and too small to hold in the hand or warrant having the video features. Seriously, I’ve never seen anyone with one watch a video while out and about. I think the larger size and the bigger screen (Oh, same as the old one. Whatever.) will be well received.

The tweaked interface looks really nice as well, much more like the Touch or iPhone for the Currently Playing screen. Swish. If I’m honest, the first thing I thought when hearing about the 9 (yeah, nine!) different colours is that it’s going to be a nightmare getting them all into the display case in the John Lewis where I work…bit nerdy I know, but I am liking the freedom it’ll give people. Just need to wait until it hits the mainstream and you’ll be able to look down an Underground train and make a rainbow.

Check it out. It’s so shiiiiiiiny. Shame about big black blob where the WiFi component is but I can see lots of fashion-conscious people buying one and using it as their mirror when out and about. (Incidentally, my colleagues at work have taken to using the mirrored back of the Zeppelin for their personal grooming quite frequently…) I like how they’ve kept the buttons from the iPhone on the side, it’s a dead useful feature on my iPhone which would seriously miss if using a Touch. Also has a speaker which according to Engadget sounds pretty good for something with no speaker holes. Otherwise it seems that it’s got the same screen as the old one while still being even thinner. Nice.

As for the other two things, new headphones are pretty cool. Nice to have the play controls without having to get the unit out although I’m bit sad about the price. Hope to see it included in with the iPods soon enough. As for the iPhone update, it can’t come soon enough. Just a few annoying bugs with mine which have been enough for me to whine about it.

Well that’s enough from me, sure you can make up your own minds when they’re out in stores tomorrow.