So by now just about everyone’s heard about Apple’s diminutive new iPod shuffle. It’s sleek, it’s slim and its absolutely tiny. No bigger than your typical thumb drive, this is probably the first time I’m seeing a portable MP3 player that boasts a volume much less than that of a rolled-up set of earbuds. One of these will set you back by US$79 in the United States, while Singaporeans are charged S$128. Over in Malaysia, one of those will go for RM309. The new shuffle’s also received a bump up in the storage department; from 1GB on the second-generation shuffle to 4GB on the new one. What’s more, while the ‘old’ shuffle came in a cornucopia of colors, the new one only comes in black and silver.

I’ve had the pleasure of hanging on to one for the past 2 weeks or so, and here’s a quick review for your reading pleasure. Continue reading →

So yeah, a couple of hours ago, the Apple store went offline. Which obviously meant that something was up, usually a new product (or more) being added to the store. Lo and behold, Apple went and introduced a new iPod Shuffle. Cue outpouring of oohs and ahhs. Which is to be expected since, hey, you’ve got to admit it looks pretty damn good.

While the older Shuffle features a literal rainbow of colors, the new one only comes in silver and black. It’s been elongated a little, and the clip at the rear has been retained. You get 4GB of storage on it too. The best part about the iPod Shuffle is it’s totally minuscule size – it’s literally smaller than your thumb. What’s more, Apple’s introducing a new feature called VoiceOver, which is basically the Shuffle telling you the song title, as well as who’s the artist singing said song. Better yet, VoiceOver supports multiple languages, with the current count at 14. If you have a song with a Spanish title, the Shuffle will pronounce the title and artist name in, doh, Spanish.

So what’s the problem?

Take a closer look at the pic above. Notice that the primary playback controls are located along the bundled earbuds’ cable. This is significant because despite the hold and shuffle controls that are located on the Shuffle’s body, unless you use Apple’s bundled earbuds, you have literally no control over volume or playback. This also happens to give Apple an excuse to sell more third-party accessories with built-in controls, leaving users who already have perfectly serviceable third-party earbuds out in the cold.

Then again, for the asking price of US$79 in the US of A (S$128 here in Singapore, and RM309 over in Malaysia), its doubtful that anyone who buys iPod Shuffles would actually bother spending probably the equivalent amount of money on a half-decent pair of in-ear buds.

What’s also interesting is that the idea of shoving the remote control onto the earbud cables isn’t all that new; just about every Sony Walkman sold today has that feature as standard.

Not quite the smartest thing to do in times like these, but hey, Apple’s pretty much made a habit of taking the path less chosen.