Apple Unveils New iPod Touch Amid Media Frenzy

The bloggers at Apple's press conference in San Francisco today tapped madly at their keyboards to bring us a minute by minute account of Steve Jobs' revelations. The event is winding down now so it's time for the frenzied reportage and commentary to start. So what's the big news from Apple? Wi-Fi enabled iPods with touch screens like the iPhone. They will come with Safari and allow users to watch YouTube videos.

Also announced was a revamped iTunes that allows users to buy music wirelessly and a service that converts over 500,000 participating songs into ringtones for .99. Jobs suggested "Respect" for his wife and "Give Peace a Chance" for when NBC calls. Howard Schultz, founder and chairman of Starbucks was also on hand to announce a partnership between his company and Apple that allows customers to buy the songs they hear at their local coffee shop while in their local coffee shop.

Many other products were also tweaked and repriced. The 8 GB iPhone, for example, will drop from $599 to $399. (Which probably leaves the million or so people who bought the phone at the original price wondering if they can have their $200 back.) Those who had hoped for an announcement that the Beatles would be available via iTunes were disappointed. Watch out for more complete coverage of Apple's announcements as the media mayhem continues today.

(Image of Steve Jobs by whatcounts, CC 2.0)