Apple Unveils New, and Smaller, Multimedia Gadgets

The calendar may say "back to school," but retailers are already saying "Ho-ho-ho."

KYW tech reporter Bob Bicknell reports that Apple Computers offered up its latest creations today, and this crop of gadgets was all about music, movies, and TV.

Apple CEO Steve Jobs showed off his company's smaller, thinner media devices in California, with the biggest changes coming in the now-half-sized iPod Nano, which now sports a small touchscreen, and a thinner iPod Touch, which features the same high-resolution screen and front-facing camera as the iPhone, allowing video chats between the devices over Wi-Fi.

Jobs also showed off a new, sandwich-sized, $99 Apple TV (photo above), which will stream rented movies and 99-cent TV shows from iTunes but not store them like the previous model did.  And he officially announced "Ping," which he described as "a social network that's all about music."

Ping will let users share favorite songs and follow artists and friends.  The aim, Jobs says, is to learn more about music, which you will then presumably buy from Apple (already the world's largest music retailer).

The new version of iTunes enabling Ping is available now at apple.com.

(Photo provided)