Apple Steals Spotlight from Fashion Week

Photo: Courtesy of Apple.

Perhaps the folks at Apple missed the spotlight after the iPhone hype died down, but on the first day of Fashion Week, the company announced some big news!

The iPod got a massive makeover. If you missed out on iPhone mania because you are locked into your mobile plan until 2010, here's your chance to get a piece of the action.

Taking a page from the iPhone, the new iPod Touch uses the same touchscreen technology to browse music, photos and video. It offers a 3.5" widescreen display, wi-fi capabilities and measures just 8mm thin. With wi-fi comes the Safari internet browser, YouTube videos, Google Search, Yahoo! oneSearch, and the ability to wirelessly download music from the iTunes Store. Basically, it does just much of what you can do on an iPhone, just without any phone capabilities.

Also announced today, Apple signed an exclusive agreement with Starbucks Coffee Company to allow people to access the iTunes Store at no charge over the company's wi-fi system. When entering the store, the iPod touch will recognize the store's wi-fi system and tell you which song is playing and allow you to buy and download it immediately from iTunes.

That's not all! If you've been pinching your pennies for the iPhone, Apple is cutting the price of the 8 gigabyte model by $200 for the holidays. They are also phasing out the 4 gigabyte model.

8 gigabyte iPod Touch, $299
16 gigabyte iPod Touch, $399

Available at Apple.com