Apple unveils new iPod touch with with FaceTime, AR support at $199 after four long years
The new-generation iPod is essentially an iPhone without the call feature.
By PTI | Updated:
Agencies
iPod touch has always made it ideal for enjoying games, music
SAN FRANCISCO: Apple on Tuesday introduced its first new iPod model in four years, highlighting music and games as it continued to make a priority of serving up digital content.
The new-generation iPod touch, essentially an iPhone without the phone calls, was available in more than two dozen countries at Apple's online shop starting at USD 199.
"We're making the most affordable iOS device even better with performance that is twice as fast as before, Group FaceTime and augmented reality," said Apple vice president of product marketing Greg Joswiak.
The iPod touch evolved from the original iPod digital music player first launched by Apple in 2001. "The ultra-thin and lightweight design of iPod touch has always made it ideal for enjoying games, music and so much more wherever you go."
The iPod touch evolved from the original iPod digital music player first launched by Apple in 2001.
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The iPod touch became popular with people, particularly parents of internet-coveting children, who wanted mobile devices for getting online without the cost of telecommunications services.
The mobile devices can connect to the internet using Wi-Fi hotspots.
The new iPod touch has an ultra-thin and lightweight design. Apple earlier this year unveiled streaming video plans along with news and game subscription offerings as part of an effort to shift its focus to digital content and services to break free of its reliance on iPhone sales.
An Apple TV+ service, an on-demand, ad-free subscription service, will launch this year in 100 countries, the company said.
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Apple News+ was launched in the US and Canada in English and French and will be available later this year in Britain and Australia, the company said.
Separately, the company said it was launching a new game subscription service called Apple Arcade later this year with at least 100 titles at launch.
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Apple Gets Serious About Services, Unveils TV+, Card, Arcade At Special Event
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By Karan Bajaj
Apple has typically held special events for hardware. Which is why a dedicated event for services was a surprise. Of the many services that were announced, only Apple Arcade and TV+ are expected to go global at launch. Karan Bajaj decodes some of the news from the event.
Image: Reuters
By Karan BajajApple has typically held special events for hardware. Which is why a dedicated event for services was a surprise. Of the many services that were announced, only Apple Arcade and TV+ are..
Read More
TV+ is the name for Apple’s upcoming video streaming service (think of it like a Netflix competitor) and this is what most rumours were talking about before the official announcement. This subscription will work with the new Apple TV app which will not only be available for Apple devices (iOS, Apple TV, Mac) but also for other platforms like Roku, Amazon Fire TV and smart TV platforms from Samsung, LG and Sony.
The video streaming service will feature a number of exclusive shows and various celebrities came on stage at the announcement event including Oprah Winfrey, Steven Spielberg, J. J Abraham, M. Night Shyamalan and Jason Momoa. Just like Apple Arcade, the TV+ service can be shared using Family Sharing with up to 6 other people in the family. Once again, no further details of the subscription fees were announced by Apple but the service will launch in 100+ countries (including India) from fall 2019.
In the US, Apple is giving users the option to subscribe to TV channels like HBO and Showtime and watch them from within the Apple TV app. Users pay only for the channels they want to watch. These channels and Apple TV App will be available from May 2019 but it seems unlikely that India will get this feature in the first wave. If at all, Apple may decide on content partnerships with existing players in India like Eros Now, Zee5, Hungama and others.
Image: AFP
TV+ is the name for Apple’s upcoming video streaming service (think of it like a Netflix competitor) and this is what most rumours were talking about before the official announcement. This subscripti..
Read More
This was the first service that Apple announced. Apple card is a digital credit card for your iPhone that works via Apple Pay, backed by Mastercard and Goldman Sachs. You can apply for and receive a digital card within minutes — it appears in your Wallet app. You can also apply for a fancy physical Titanium card to use in stores that don’t support Apple Pay. All your expenses show up in the app with details of location, time and amount in a clean and easy to understand format. The card also gives you a cashback of 2% on every purchase (3% on purchases from the App Store or Apple Stores). However, Apple Card will only be available in the US.
Image: AFP
This was the first service that Apple announced. Apple card is a digital credit card for your iPhone that works via Apple Pay, backed by Mastercard and Goldman Sachs. You can apply for and receive a ..
Read More
Apple already offers a News app which is not available for Indian users. News+ is an upgrade to this service and has several handy features including offline downloads and access to over 300 newspapers and magazines. While the News app is available for free, the News+ service is paid — you pay US$ 9.99/month for these additional features with Family Sharing enabled.
A single subscription can be shared with up to 6 family members at no extra cost. You still retain all the feature of the News app. The app learns from your reading habits and shows you relevant content of your interest the more you use it — Apple was quick to point out that this intelligence is all on your local device. They don’t know what you read and also won’t allow advertisers to track you. All news is curated by human editors and you can also set the app to autodownload the latest issue of your favorite magazine as it gets added to the catalogue. However there is no announcement for an India launch and we don’t think Apple has any plans for it either.
Image: AFP
Apple already offers a News app which is not available for Indian users. News+ is an upgrade to this service and has several handy features including offline downloads and access to over 300 newspape..
Read More
Arcade is the name of Apple’s gaming subscription service. First and foremost, Arcade is attempting to unify gaming across all iOS devices (iPads, iPhones), Apple TV as well as Macs. While the rest of the world looks toward cloud gaming (like Google Stadia), Apple is taking a different approach. You pay a subscription fee per month/year to get access to curated games that are already available on the App Store plus Apple exclusive game titles (over 100 titles confirmed for now). You can download these games from the App Store to any device and enjoy game continuity (start playing on one device and resume on another). There will be no ads, no in-app purchases and no catch.
Apple also lets you share the subscription with up to 6 family members. Further details regarding the subscription amount was not announced but Apple did say that it would launch in 150+ countries this fall. This means we can expect Arcade to be ready when the new iPhone launches in September/October 2019.
Image: AFP
Arcade is the name of Apple’s gaming subscription service. First and foremost, Arcade is attempting to unify gaming across all iOS devices (iPads, iPhones), Apple TV as well as Macs. While the rest o..
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