Apple Announces iPod Photo; U2-Customized iPod (UPDATE)

October 25th, 2004 at 3:00 PM - Reports by Bryan Chaffin and Brad Gibson

SAN JOSE, Calif -- As anticipated, Apple Computer announced Tuesday the iPod Photo with a 2-inch color screen and the ability to output digital photos to a television. The new handheld device will come in a 40 gigabyte (GB) and 60GB model, at US$499 and $599, respectively.

iPod Photo, (photo below) holds up to 25,000 digital photos and displays them individually or as thumbnails on a 220 by 176 pixel TFT display. In addition to playing music files, album artwork can now be displayed on the color screen. Album artwork is displayed as a thumbnail next to the song title, and can also be viewed full screen.

The iPod Photo lets users combine music and photos to create slideshows on the iPod, and features an audio/video (A/V) out port to display slideshows on televisions and projectors.

The device has a battery life of up to 15 hours for music playback or up to 5 hours of photo slideshows. It can hold up to 25,00 photo images, depending on the size of images.

Apple also announced a special edition, black-colored U2 iPod (photo below) for $349. With its red click wheel, the new U2 iPod has a 20GB hard drive holding 5,000 songs, and it features the autographs of each U2 band member engraved on the back. It comes with an exclusive U2 poster and white iPod earbuds. It also includes an iTunes Music Store coupon for $50 off the purchase of iThe Complete U2i digital boxed set, which includes every U2 song, plus 25 rare and unreleased tracks, for a total of 400 tracks.

U2 fans not buying the special edition iPod will be able to purchase and download The Complete U2 beginning in late November for US$149.

The announcements were made at the California Theater, a classic theater in downtown San Jose. The event featured U2is Bono and The Edge, who appeared in person and played two live songs. The event was packed filled to capacity with press, music executives, and other VIP guests of Apple.

The iPod Photo is available today, the company said. The iPod U2 Special Edition will be available in mid-November.