Apple rolls out smaller, talking iPod Shuffle

SAN FRANCISCO -- Apple today announced a tiny new iPod Shuffle with a "Voice Over" feature that identifies tracks out loud.

The $79 Shuffle holds up to 1,000 songs (four gigabytes) and is about the size of a tie clip — the smallest iPod yet. Like previous Shuffles, it does not have a screen.

All of the new Shuffle's controls are located on the cord of the earphone. You press a button on the cord to play, pause, adjust volume and hear the name of the song or artist. The earphones are new, and ship with the player.

The music player features an aluminum design with a steel clip that makes it wearable, just as you can wear current iPod Shuffles.

"Imagine your music player talking to you, telling you your song titles, artists and playlist names," said Greg Joswiak, Apple vice president of iPod and iPhone Product Marketing.

Apple says the new player is now shipping. It comes in silver or black. The battery lasts about 10 hours on a charge, Apple says. The speak aloud feature is available in 14 languages.

It's not clear whether the new players replace Apple's existing Shuffle lineup — a 1GB, $49 player and a 2GB, $69 version. Some of these older models were still available on Apple's website Wednesday morning.

"Apple always seems to want to push the envelope when it comes to innovation and design," says Tim Bajarin, principle analyst at Creative Strategies.

The new earphone-based controls were inspired by the earbuds on Apple's iPhone, he says, which you can use to take a phone call, hang up and perform some other actions.

Bajarin says the $79 pricetag for a 4GB player is "very consumer friendly" even in a soft economy.

One of the tenets of the tech industry is that you "innovate your way out of recession," he says.