Apple on Tuesday announced two updates to its iPod line, including a nano with swipe features and a revamped iPod touch.
The new iPod touch will incorporate iOS 5, which Apple's Phil Schiller said is a "tremendous upgrade" for the device. That includes access to iMessage, Apple's version of BlackBerry Messenger.
Apple's iMessage "brings the functionality of iPhone messaging to your iPod touch, so you can easily send text messages, photos, videos and contact information to an individual or group on other iOS 5 devices," Apple said.
The new iPod touch also works with iCloud, which will be released on October 12 along with iOS 5. When content changes on one device, all your other devices are updated automatically and wirelessly.
The new iPod touch is available now in black and white. The 8GB will sell for $199, the 32GB will retail for $299, and you can buy the 64GB for $399.
The new nano includes a redesigned interface with larger icons and multi-touch capabilities. There are also 16 new digital clock faces, and Schiller promised updated fitness features. "Right out of the box, you can go for a run and upload all of the data about your run into Nike Plus Web site," he said. "With the new iPod nano we have updated some watch faces so that people can use them with the new wave of watch band cases."
The 8GB nano will be $129, while the 16GB will retail for $149. Both are available today in seven colors, including silver, graphite, blue, green, orange, pink, and (PRODUCT) RED.
Cook said today that the iPod now has 78 percent market share and has revolutionized the industry. Apple has sold 300 million iPods in the last decade, and 45 million from July 2010 to June 2011, he said. Apple's iTunes now has 20 million songs, and users have downloaded 16 billion.
Today's announcements come on the eve of the iPod's 10th birthday, and Apple held today's event in the Town Hall room on its campus, where the music player made its original debut. In recent weeks, there have been various news stories predicting the death of the iPod, particularly the the iPod Classic, in favor of a solely touch-based iPod lineup.
But Apple said today that its holiday lineup will still include the iPod shuffle for $49 and a 160GB iPod classic for $249.
Back when it made its debut in 2001, PCMag said it was the "world's coolest—and dare we say best—MP3 player." Since that first iPod, Apple has unveiled the Mini, the shuffle, the nano, and iPod touch, also rolling the music player into its iPhone smartphone when that device debuted in 2007.
According to recent analysis by Fortune magazine, iPod sales hit their peak during the 2008 holiday season—from around 22.7 million iPods sold at the end of that year to an expected 8.39 million iPods sold within the third quarter of 2011. But given Apple's shift to the iPhone and iPad, both of which bundle the iPod software and been selling steadily, the dip is not that shocking.
For more from today's Apple event, see the slideshow below.