Today, Apple released the new and improved iPod family, including revisions to all current models, as well as the long-awaited iPod touch. The iPod touch is essentially an iPhone without phone functionality, a type of device which many rumormongers and “industry analysts” have been predicting for some time.

The iPod Shuffle has received a color update, and will now be available in red in support of the Global Fund’s Product (RED) campaign to fight aids.

 

The iPod with Video has been renamed the “iPod Classic,” having received an external redesign and capacity increase (to 80 and 160gb flavors). The Classic also sports a new interface which integrates CoverFlow, among other new features. The interface update is long overdue, and will hopefully be available for current fifth-generation iPods, although this is just a pipedream at this point.

The new iPod Nano also sports a redesigned interface, and now also has video-playback capabilities. It will come in one color, silver, at 4gb and in an entire suite of colors at 8gb.

The iPod touch is priced starting at $300 and comes in 8gb and 16gb capacities. For music junkies such as myself, this will be the reason we won’t buy an iPod touch. I have around 19gb of music on my computer - certainly far too much for the touch.

However the iPod touch also sports built-in Wi-Fi capabilities, allowing users to browse the internet, with applications specially designated for Facebook and YouTube. The wireless capabilities of the touch also make way for the iTunes Wi-Fi store, which enables users to download songs right to their iPod touches.

Apple also announced a partnership with Starbucks. iPod touch owners will now be able to access the last ten songs currently played at a Starbucks location and purchase them for download, on location. Starbucks has made no announcement as to whether an apple-flavored beverage will be released to accompany the new partnership, however I’d like to be the first to take credit for the idea.

As for the iPhone, Apple announced an iTunes update that will allow users to make ringtones for the phone from any song in their iTunes library, including copyright-protected songs purchased in the iTunes Music Store

Apple’s announcement event today certainly made waves in the digital audio player industry, but many (real, paid) journalists agree that the released products are a bit short of expectations.

At any rate Apple’s iPod beast is showing no signs of slowing down. This generation of iPods will likely be no different.

The new devices are on sale now at Apple’s online store, and should be in retail stores by this weekend.

Catch all the official details at Apple’s iPod site.

Sources: CrunchGear, Engadget, Gizmodo.

The rare, final recorded session of John Lennon and Paul McCartney playing together, entitled A Toot and a Snore, is available for download courtesy of music blog, Licorice Pizza.  The blog’s article also has an excerpt from Wikipedia explaining the historical significance of the recording.  Get the ten tracks now before they’re gone.

Available Here.

Chiodos, the emo rock outfit from Michigan, are gaining much popularity and critical praise, having made the cover of Alternative Press and being selected as a “Critic’s Choice” new CD by The New York Times’ Kelefa Sanneh.  Their latest album, Bone Palace Ballet is due tomorrow, September fourth.

If you’re looking for under-the-radar, gray-area-of-the-legal-world MP3 files, check out SkreemR, the new kid on the block for finding MP3s through Google and other searches.  SkreemR features an interface more streamlined and user-friendly than Exploseek.But remember, I didn’t tell you nothin’.

When I look at what posts on this site are being read the most, why is my year-old review of Paramore’s “All We Know Is Falling,” always at the top of the list?  It is the main generator of traffic to my site, and it’s an album from 2005.  Any ideas?  I write about other topics, too.

It seems that Comcast has only been trying to grapple with torrent seeding, meaning that downloading torrents will still work properly.  However this is still bad news for those trying to establish a positive rating for sites like Demonoid.  

Well today begins my official last week of work at my summer job, and I’m frankly thrilled about it. I made a playlist to celebrate.

This list is perfect for an iPod playlist or to burn to a CD. It also features a band called Forever The Sickest Kids, an electro-rock band from Dallas, Texas. I highly recommend their tracks; please support this great band! They currently have a five-song introductory EP, and are currently on tour after spending this summer with the Vans Warped Tour.

1. Eye Know
   De La Soul
2. Bittersweet
   Kanye West with John Mayer
3. Venice Queen
   Red Hot Chili Peppers
4. Modern Chemistry
   Motion City Soundtrack
5. Wow, I Can Get Sexual Too
   Say Anything
6. Zak and Sara
   Ben Folds Five
7. Montreal Calling
   Mobile
8. The New Black
   Every Time I Die
9. Becoming A Monster
   Self Against City
10. I’m Ready
    Jack’s Mannequin
11. Midnight
    Red Hot Chili Peppers
12. The Victory (Part 5)
    Joy In Tomorrow
13. Becky Starz
    Forever The Sickest Kids
14. Hallelujah
    Paramore
15. Rockin’ The Suburbs
    Ben Folds Five
16. Break It Out
    The Rocket Summer
17. Holiday From Real
    Jack’s Mannequin
18. Young and Aspiring
    Underoath
19. She’s A Lady
    Forever The Sickest Kids
20. Restraining Order Blues
    Spitalfield
21. Photobooth
    Death Cab For Cutie

The air of mystery surrounding Apple’s next iPod generation is diminishing by the day now, as leaked pictures and cease-and-desist orders are bringing more and more light to what the next iteration of the ubiquitous MP3 player will be.

During the past week tech blogs Gizmodo and CrunchGear have both received letters from Apple demanding that they remove pictures, which Apple claims are “intellectual property,” of what is believed to be the next iPod Nano. The pictures showed an iPod Nano that appeared as an iPod Video, but wider and shorter.

This picture surfaced on CrunchGear yesterday:

While the image is very likely a product of Photoshop, it bears striking resemblance to the images Gizmodo and CrunchGear pulled.

CrunchGear also cites rumors of touch-screen iPods - basically an iPhone without phone functionality.

Apple is planning a press event for September fifth; many believe this is when Apple will introduce the next iPod generations.

Sources:

1. “More Fat Nano™ Rumors: It’s Getting Interesting,” CrunchGear.com, 24 Aug., 2007.

With the popular ISP Comcast now attempting to thwart users of BitTorrent (an excellent way to get music, if I may say so), many users are now turning to Google to find the tracks they so desire.  There are several ways to use the ubiquitous search engine to find MP3s.

1. First, we have the most complex-looking, although often the most effective, method.  Simply type the following into your nearest Google search box:
   1. “band” last modified mp3 “index of” -html -htm -php -asp
   2. Next, you’ll want to type the name of the band you want where word “band” is, keeping the quotations intact.
   3. Google should return some open directories filled with MP3s.
   4. Its a complicated search string to remember, so I recommend bookmarking it for easy retrieval
2. The next method is similar to the first, although it’s a bit more eye-pleasing than “band” last modified…blah, blah, blah.
   1. Navigate your way to G2P.org, which uses virtually the same string as method #1.  The benefit of this method is that it provides a nice user interface.
3. The final method I will detail today is a site called Exploseek, which takes G2P a step further.
   1. All you have to do is go to Exploseek.com and type in the name of the band or song you’re looking for.  The site will then simultaneously search Google, Windows Live, Yahoo!, and other search engines.
   2. Again you will be provided with open directories of music.

Some final tips: these methods work equally well while searching for small and large artists alike, although you may have trouble finding some of the smallest or most obscure artists.  Also, be wary of the site e-mp3s.eu, which merely links you to sites that charge for music.  The link you click may look like a traditional open directory, but do not be fooled!

If you cannot find what you’re looking for through Google, try searching for MP3 blogs, which take the guesswork out of looking through dozens of open directories by doing the hard work for you and posting links to free MP3s online.  I recommend the blog “An Aquarian Exposed.“

Good luck in your hunt!

If you’re into cover songs, like a Spoon cover of Yo La Tengo’s “Decora,” click on over to Copy, Right?, a blog dedicated to uncovering the latest in the world of cover tracks.

Copy, Right?