Apple finally announces 2G shuffle retail availability

Us and Brad, we were on to Apple's game, since Brad let us know on Sunday that his 2G iPod shuffle pre-order was due for delivery on November 3rd; but now Apple has gone official with the November 3rd date for "worldwide availability." We're sure you know exactly what this new shuffle will be packing when it drops on Friday, but we'll run it down one more time for old time's sake: 1GB of flash, 240 songs, $79, 12 hours of battery life, all packed into half a cubic inch in volume. We suppose we'll know on Friday if Her Matchbook-ness was really worth the wait.

[Barry Gitarts @ Oct 31st 2006 11:29AM]

Does anyone know what SOC chipset they are using in this new IPOD? Is it sigmatel, portalplayer or samsung?

[kaedosan @ Oct 31st 2006 11:33AM]

I'm confused. Is it 1GB or 2GB?

[A5-14 @ Oct 31st 2006 11:41AM]

1 Gb. 2nd generation.

I assume this will only appeal to Apple/Itunes fans as Sandisk beats the Shuffle and the Nano on features and price (discounts) with its C200 and E200 series.

Not much Apple can do though, as it wants shuffle users to move up to higher-end products.

[chris @ Oct 31st 2006 3:35PM]

It's what Paul Miller does. He prides himself on writing the most confusing headlines he can because if it only makes sense to him, that's all that matters. :)

I think he finally stopped using "drops" to mean "released" though.

[Ih8Wires @ Oct 31st 2006 11:35AM]

Can Apple PLEASE make these wireless already?!?! At this rate, the friggin mp3 player will soon be small enough to fit in the headphone plug itself. Hey Steve! It's called "Bluetooth"! I know you know what it is. What the hell is taking you so long???

-Ih8wires

[Vertigo @ Oct 31st 2006 11:46AM]

It's taking so long because Apple has no need to add it, they have no real competition so they have no drive to innovate any longer. People are going to buy their new version, not for the features, but for the brand. Until that changes, don't expect much from them, the only time they'll add new features is when competion does and I only know of one player coming to the US that is going to have BlueTooth in the next few months.

[tekdroid @ Oct 31st 2006 1:32PM]

bluetooth doesn't have the bandwidth for high-quality stereo, last I checked. Not to mention introduces cost/size/power consumption constraints to a product like this, selling at this price.

[M. Rod Von Hugenstein @ Oct 31st 2006 2:41PM]

Two things,

If they added bluetooth people would be complaining about the sound quality.

Second, do you really think they could keep the battery that small, and have a bluetooth radio in there?

C'mon, the shuffle is made for a very specific person, it is obviously not you, so move on. Everything can not do everything for everyone.

[Kiteless @ Oct 31st 2006 11:43AM]

If my parents where a bit more tech savvy I would buy one of these for each of them. I think Apple did a great job with this new version of the shuffle. I will admit, I will miss the built in USB port.

- Kiteless
5.0 Gen 30gig iPod
White MacBook 2Ghz

[Johannes Vinke @ Oct 31st 2006 11:47AM]

I'm getting mine in 2 days, it was shipped to me today, I got a confirmation mail from the Apple Webshop (Netherlands)

[jonsedar @ Oct 31st 2006 11:49AM]

hurrah!

10am Friday Regent St, London. Can't wait!

My old Cowon U2 is just about on it's way out, so this is great timing.

[Mystic @ Oct 31st 2006 11:52AM]

This is perfect for me. I rarely plug my shuffle in except to charge it. I have a bunch of workout songs and that's it. That's all I need.

And for all the Apple haters that just love to make their "this sucks" comments, there's a reason the first shuffle had better sound quality than the other ipods. It's because they don't try to fit wireless, FM, lcd screens, harddrives, etc on their. If you don't like it then don't get it, but your complaining only tells me you're jealous.

[Joshua Ochs @ Oct 31st 2006 11:56AM]

Bluetooth requires space and power, people. In something that small do you REALLY think there's room for a Bluetooth transciever? The new shuffle is already as small as (or smaller!) than USB Bluetooth dongles, and it still has to do everything a Shuffle does. Had they kept the old form factor - maybe. Meanwhile, it would be yet another thing to power - haven't you noticed how much faster your cell phone drains batteries when Bluetooth is enabled?

And finally, I want to see a show of hands of how many people actually own Bluetooth headsets, or even know one person who does. I'm sure we'll get a handful of posters - the total market that gives a crap about it.

[John Stracke @ Oct 31st 2006 2:56PM]

Do you mean stereo Bluetooth? Then no. But, yeah, I have a Bluetooth headset for my phone, and I see lots of people wearing them around here (Cambridge, MA). It's convenient; when I get a call, I can answer it without digging the phone out of my pocket. Arguably, it's also polite, since it means the caller doesn't have to wait as long, and bystanders don't have to listen to my ringtone as long.

But, really, I wouldn't see the point of a Bluetooth iPod Shuffle. Better would be to make the next generation small enough to wear on your ear.

[ollpal @ Oct 31st 2006 12:04PM]

Sweet, I think I'll get one of these as my old runningpartner, a no-name flash mp3-player recently crashed on me. It's perfect size to lug around with :-)

[Ari @ Oct 31st 2006 12:05PM]

My FedEx tracker says:

Estimated delivery Nov 1, 2006 10:30 AM...

[abramdevonshire @ Oct 31st 2006 12:27PM]

Mine might be here tomorrow.

[z @ Oct 31st 2006 12:31PM]

same thing here in Switzerland, for tomorrow

[mortysalt @ Oct 31st 2006 12:35PM]

Hand RAISED. I admit that I own an H3 bluetooth headset, the real question is why?... that I don't know... I've used it 5 times with my phone all indoors and never in the sight of another being. I feel like I'm wearing jewelery or something on my ear. I will admit it that I do use it every once in a while with my 24" imac to listen to movies when I don't want to disturb others in the room. I do use bluetooth all the time to update my phones contacts and calendar with bluetooth Isync but other than that you are right, probably within 2 years we'll have better wireless stuff but right now, it's just a gimmick.

[Ih8Wires @ Oct 31st 2006 12:47PM]

Putting the current feasibility (with respect to the shuffle particularly) and availability/ownership of wireless bluetooth headphones aside, in a few years anyone walking around with those wired white (or any other color) headphones will look like they are from the stone age. Don't tell me they can't put a bluetooth transmitter in the regular ipod or nano today. It is not rocket science and could be easily done. So my 20hrs of battery life in my nano becomes 10 hours. Boohoo. I'd buy it immediately.

Wireless portable audio will be the norm. Too bad the previous poster who noted lack of competition will make this take longer is right. But it will happen, just not soon enough in my opinion. Especially when this shuffle looks especially retarded with a headphone wire considering it's diminutive size.

-Ih8Wires

[Patrick Quinn-Graham @ Oct 31st 2006 1:00PM]

FedEx says mine is arriving Nov 2, 12pm - faster than the non-expedited shipping I (didn't) pay for.

(Literally didn't pay - thanks to the Aperture rebate my Shuffle & other things were free)

[Joe @ Oct 31st 2006 1:15PM]

What is up with these stupid delivery updates???

Person A: "I'm getting mine at 5:30pm on Saturday, what about you?"
Person B: "Oh, lucky! I'm getting mine Saturday at 5:31pm!"

How do these add in any way to an intelligent discussion of this post?

No one cares!!!

[Arnold @ Oct 31st 2006 2:22PM]

With a fast enough processor the audio can be re-encoded pretty well. On my desktop a2dp sounds as good as a wired headphones, on my phone (8125) is sound like an mp3 encoded in the lowest possible bitrate. Some songs work but I like metal so a lot of my songs sound like crap. I think once you can make a fast processor small cheap and fast enough stero bluetooth will work. And bluetooth modules are so small that you could put one in almost any thing. You just need the battery to back it up.

[Ih8wires @ Oct 31st 2006 3:21PM]

1. People will complain about sound quality: Is this is an argument against bluetooth in mp3 players??? If so, I assume the color television would not have come about because the first iterations were black & white only and people complaining they are not in color would have killed the idea.

2. I agree the shuffle is not the ideal candidate for a bluetooth radio. But what about the tons of other players out there??? There are phones smaller than some mp3 players that have bluetooth. Bluetooth is not voodoo. It's a freaking radio for christ's sake. It can be done and will be. Just not soon enough for me.

-Ih8wires

[keith waddington @ Oct 31st 2006 9:17PM]

What i like about a lot of posts here, especially concerning Apple, is how so many people have a superior understanding of the electronics business, have inside info on Apple, and have business skills way beyond Steve Jobs.

And they manage all this from their mums back bedroom and hold down a job a the local burger joint.

It reflects badly upon me, but I consider it all great entertainment.

So tell me, what else are Apple doing wrong?

waddo
http://www.waddo.net/

[Eric Cotton @ Nov 1st 2006 10:13AM]

The FedEx guy just dropped off my Shuffle. Everything is as expected, though I noticed that the headphones are the old ones, not the new ones shipping with the newest 5G ipods. Not a big deal.

[Fishd @ Nov 1st 2006 11:37AM]

Mine just arrived, this thing is TINY!

Loading it up now.

[Neil @ Nov 1st 2006 11:38AM]

Just had mine delivered. Very impressive for something so small :-)

[JSF digi_click @ Nov 1st 2006 12:43PM]

Got mine this morning (11AM GMT) and I only ordered it last week :D

Haven't had too much time to play with it coz I'm at work :(
But I have a few gripes:
1. No EQ setting - have to set them to individual songs in iTunes (and who does that?)
2. Clip/spring strength is a little weak. It's be easy to snatch off someone.
3a. Old, stock apple headphones - not too much of a problem as I'll be using my Shure's, or any other headphones.
3b. Headphone cord is way too long if your gonna clip it on your lappel or breast pocket. Why do most people insist on having their white headphone cord dangling all over the place?
4. Proprietary connector/dock. Another one would cost �19, that's 35% the cost of the shuffle w/dock.
5. iTunes (for Win) - never liked it. I've been using http://www.mlipod.com for all my iPod needs. Maybe there'll be some (third party) support in WMP11 ;)

Other than that its pretty bloody sweet!!

P.S. "Take back the Night"

[donkeymon @ Nov 1st 2006 4:35PM]

I've already got mine. It shipped yesterday and came today! It's very small. The only thing I don't like about it is that it uses a separate dock instead of the built-in plug of the previous version. Then again, the iPod and the dock together are smaller than the previous version!

[Prophit5 @ Nov 3rd 2006 12:14PM]

Mine arrived yesterday morning via FedEx.. straight from China.

[Josh @ Nov 13th 2006 11:01AM]

i pre-ordered the shuffle the day after it was announced in the UK with free engraving and i got an email today on teh 31st saying that it has been dispatched and will get to me by/or before the 2nd of november, i'll post some pics if they're not on by then