The new iPod Shuffle is outrageously small. The third-generation Shuffle, a slim aluminum rectangle less than 2 inches long, exactly 1.8" (45mm) x .7" (17mm) x .3" (7.62mm) in size, takes up about half as much space as the previous version even as it doubles music storage space to 4 gigabytes. To achieve such a tiny form, Apple had to remove most of the buttons from the body of the $79 device and build them into the headphone cord instead.
VoiceOver gives the Shuffle the ability for it to speak song titles, artist names, and playlist categories in any of 14 languages. If a song is in Spanish, Chinese or any one of the 14 languages, the software figures this out and speaks in the appropriate language.
The new iTunes VoiceOver Kit generates the voice, which will also differ by the operating system on which iTunes is installed. When the feature is selected, the computerized voice says the name of the track and the artist. It also warns when the Shuffle's battery is low, or can be used to rifle off all of the playlists on the device.
Here how it works. When you tap a button on the headphones, the voice speaks the title and artist as the music plays. When you hold down the headphone button, the device reads a list of your playlists, and you can pick one by tapping again.
It's not possible to scroll through all of the songs on the device to jump right to one favorite, unless you know it's at the start of a certain playlist.
The new Shuffle, which comes in silver or black aluminum with a shiny stainless steel clip, is set to go on sale today. Joswiak said Apple's own earphones will be the only option for early buyers, but that other companies plan to make compatible headphones as well as adapters for regular headphones.
Still, the trade-off for a sub-$100 Shuffle always has been the lack of a screen to visually navigate the music stored on the device. The first-generation Shuffle, which launched in 2005, could hold about 240 songs, arguably not enough to warrant a screen.
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