Apple launches 8GB (PRODUCT) RED iPod nano

We hear you, the war on AIDS in Africa is all well and good, but what's the point if you have to suffer with a paltry 4GB of storage? Well, Apple hears you too, and it just busted out an 8GB (PRODUCT) RED Special Edition iPod nano to appease your storage lust. The new version costs $249, just like its black 8GB counterpart, and Apple will be donating the same $10 of each sale to the Global Fund that it's currently forking over for 4GB versions. Not too bad for a bit of iPod hawterness you were planning on nabbing anyways, right?

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

[Rohit Kapur @ Nov 3rd 2006 10:04AM]

lol... "Bono wants your cash". Good 'un!

[Stephen Yuan @ Nov 3rd 2006 11:34AM]

Bono Wants your Cash

[steveg @ Nov 3rd 2006 10:10AM]

Shouldn't they scale up the donation with the cost of the product?

[Manuel @ Nov 3rd 2006 10:35AM]

@ steveg

or.. if u�re so worried 'bout donations , u can donate yourself the amount u consider fair ..... it is not apple�s obligation, its just a CHOICE they give us, the rest is up to you .

[zank @ Nov 3rd 2006 10:56AM]

Why dont you guys just skip buying yet another mp3 player to add to your already full stream of players and donate the full 250 to the fight on aids??? 10 bucks is a smlal small price to pay considering all the cool factor this buys off the suffering of third world nations

[Barry @ Nov 3rd 2006 10:32AM]

Nice

[prateeko @ Nov 3rd 2006 10:34AM]

NOOOOOOOOOOO!
I bought a Black on on launch day, but I would much rather have this color.

*SOB*

Oh, the humanity!
(pun intended)

[Edward Kappus @ Nov 3rd 2006 10:48AM]

I'm a little disappointed that Apple did not raise up the donated money from $10 to say...$15 or $20 for the 8GB version, after all, they are making more money.

[Rick Lyon @ Nov 3rd 2006 10:42AM]

LOL, I has to tell myself it doesn't really say Bono wants your cash, tho a good one. Looks real, lol.

[KAD @ Nov 3rd 2006 12:27PM]

I wouldn't exactly call it a CHOICE so much. The only choice they give us is to buy the thing or not. But if you want the red nano and don't want to donate or want to donate more/less then there is no choice given to us by Apple. It's our OWN CHOICE.

[Tommy Hunsaker @ Nov 3rd 2006 10:53AM]

Is (RED) the new Black?

[flex @ Nov 3rd 2006 10:56AM]

white scroll wheel is not a good look. scroll wheel on this bad boy should also be (RED), methinks.

[Bill Mullen @ Nov 3rd 2006 10:58AM]

Can I get it exclusively at Target? Looks like it. Looks like Target, 'cause their colors are red and white. You know, becuase it looks like a target... a big bullseye looking target. With red and white. Babyarm.

[DM @ Nov 3rd 2006 10:59AM]

Why can't just apple donate money right away rather than making another one with a different color just an excuse to donate money. It says " $10 goes to charity " , yeah right, like $10 dollars of your money is really going to charity.

Bono = attention whore. Apple = attention whore. Makes perfect sense though.

[GanzHimself @ Nov 3rd 2006 11:04AM]

This is the new hawtness. I've been looking for a reason to replace my 4th gen iPod with the new Nano.

[Manuel @ Nov 3rd 2006 11:16AM]

you�re right about the comment of better just donate the whole $250 , this is merely hype , this capitalism is sinking the world ... i dont think apple would broke if donated more to a global fund, but the real question is , if they are obligated to do charitable acts like this , or is just his two cents to genereate conscious ...

[Jr. @ Nov 3rd 2006 11:45AM]

All of you bitching about Apple's donation need to shut the fuck up. What have you donated lately? Did you do it because you're just an attention whore? How come you still have any money left to buy things for yourself after your donations? Capitalist pigs.

If you bothered to actually learn what (RED) is about, you'd see that it doesn't discourage companies from making a profit, and it actually encourages it. Consumers are going to buy iPods regardless...and if they happen to buy a red one, then some of the money goes to a charitable cause.

Bitch and moan, bitch and moan. Why are you spending time bitching and moaning on the Internet when you could be out performing charitable work? When you could be out putting forth a socialist agenda.

Your "holier than thou" and "superior" attitudes display the lack of depth at which you operate.

[JBo @ Nov 3rd 2006 4:05PM]

$10? Gee, thanks Apple. Such Philanthropists. $10 would feed one of your slave/workers in China for a month!

[tekdroid @ Nov 3rd 2006 11:22AM]

Apple, removable flash would be nice. Consider it.

Sandisk has.

(insert usual whine about embedded batteries and the possibility of bono collecting the millions of dumped ipods at the end of their useful life)

[Mrfreezie @ Nov 3rd 2006 11:27AM]

They should make this different from the 4gb version some how.. The good part about the black 8gb is that people see it and know that it's top of the line.. People see this 8gb version, they think it's the 4gb..

[Juaquin @ Nov 3rd 2006 4:43PM]

@MrFreezie

It's all about the image to you guys, isn't it? No wonder Apple can get you all to buy sub-par audio.

What happened to the important part here - the music?

Go buy that $850 2GB Flash drive while you're at it. THAT will definitely make up for your Nano's lack of coolness, when people see you flash (no pun intended) that sweet drive with those crystals in it. Now that's bling!

[mostafa @ Nov 3rd 2006 11:32AM]

The real question is... Can I write this off on my tax return?

[homer @ Nov 3rd 2006 11:42AM]

bill gates' philanthropy knockoff

[dLeet @ Nov 3rd 2006 11:50AM]

It's a consumerist society that we live in, and Bono knows it, hence creating the Product (RED) movement where he makes the company fork out the cash. It's how the (RED) brand works, not Apple's choice to donate it up front or not -- it's the system. Essentially Bono is taking the lance armstrong yellow bracelet idea and making it a bigger deal because it became instantaneously obvious that people would donate money if they could show other people that they are "considerate". It's people's concerns for their image that allows this brand designation to work. Call it capitalism if you want and know you're wrong... it's society's fault that this system works.
@Mrfreezie - you can just show them the 8GB designation on the back
@DM - It's how the system works, the money goes to a fund. Sure, some of it goes to overhead, no doubt, but thats how all charity organizations work. Doesn't matter if it's Bono's Global AIDS fund or American Red Cross. If you think you can do a better job without overhead, i welcome you to do so.
@Manuel & Zank - Yes, it's hype, but it gets people to donate money. What good has your rhetoric done? You can put people down all you want for not donating all $250 to charity but that doesn't get more people to donate, now does it. Lance Armstrong's yellow bracelet does, Product (RED) does.

[willyjsimmons @ Nov 3rd 2006 11:56AM]

The way the (PRODUCT) RED project works is:

Every 10 items sold = 1 yr. of AIDS meds.

10 phones.
10 tees.
10 ipods.
10 pairs of jeans.

etc.

That's how they determine what % of each product gets donated.

[tristanfey @ Nov 3rd 2006 1:17PM]

That doesn't make sense. You're saying every ten items equals one year of AIDS medications. Then looking at the iPod Nano that means: $100 = 1 year AIDS meds (10 [items] x $10). And you are saying it is always every ten items that gets a year of medications. $100 divided by 10 (items sold) is always going to be $10. With that method, there is no "determining" how much of a percentage of an items retail goes to the charity, as it is always going to be the same.

[DM @ Nov 3rd 2006 12:12PM]

Apple red ipod = $ 250 , Lance Armstrong's yellow band = a dollar. It's a no brainer folks.

[crsh @ Nov 3rd 2006 12:40PM]

"We hear you, the war on AIDS in Africa is all well and good, but what's the point if you have to suffer with a paltry 4GB of storage?"

Wow, that single sentence just outlined everything that's wrong with capitalism.

[Olivier @ Nov 3rd 2006 12:47PM]

If Bono is so serious about this he should stop buying hos $500 sunglasses and surrender half his net worth to the poor/sick etc..
When he gives $50,000 it hurst him less than when you $4 for a frappuccino at Starbucks. He also get tax back for his good gesture, you get nothing from your coffee (except a sugar rush).

All these celebrities need to stop running the grand life on one side, travelling in private jets, buying $20MM houses and claiming tax back on their donations, the real heroes are those working the charities day in and day out and choosing to donate their time for a low-pay job instead of a private job with more pay.

I donate a little, but I don't get any publicity for it, neither do I get tax back. I don't live in a mansion so pluh-hease lets stop the smoke getting up our arses.

[sean @ Nov 3rd 2006 1:56PM]

Bono doesn't get tax money back.
He's Irish. Ireland does not impose income taxes on artists.

[David Geracitano @ Nov 3rd 2006 3:16PM]

crsh the line:
"We hear you, the war on AIDS in Africa is all well and good, but what's the point if you have to suffer with a paltry 4GB of storage?"
was meant as sarcasm I'm sure...
labelexec, are you serious bro? You are an ignorant fool. Please take a vow of silence and get back to playing your XBOX. Stay there, quietly, wasting your life away. When it is finally over, the world will be a better place...

[tristanfey @ Nov 3rd 2006 1:30PM]

WOW. That comment is so ignorant I don't even know what to say.

[DM @ Nov 3rd 2006 1:23PM]

the idea of bono + ipod alone , stinks.

[cc @ Nov 3rd 2006 1:41PM]

labelexec, your comments are ignorant if not borderline racist... the fight against AIDS in Africa has made progress there. A lot of the focus of the fight is on empowering and educating women, which will eventually go a long way to reducing poverty over there as well as helping control overpopulation.

My wife and I are considering donating a couple hundred to an African charity this Christmas -- we're not rich by any means and there's tons of stuff we'd love to buy ourselves but when you see how poorly most of the people on this planet live, getting that new cell phone or MP3 player seems pretty stupid...

[labelexec @ Nov 3rd 2006 5:21PM]

My sister is a nurse that has spent a lot time in Africa helping these people out. They haven't learned anything. The politicians brainwash the people by saying that AIDS is a disease of the poor. As the only solution is if the West gave them more money, it will irradicate AIDS. Poverty and AIDS are two different things. Poverty and AIDS have no correlation whatsoever. That's the problem because they compare the 2 and make it complimentary to each other.

Poverty doesn't make you want to have sex recklessly. They have promiscuous sex which magnify the problem. NOT POVERTY!

No matter how much the West donates or you and I, the problem will never get better or go away because of the corrupted government in place.

They would rather trade in medical supplies and food for weapons any day.

[DM @ Nov 3rd 2006 1:52PM]

Well i'm always for charity. I just don't need apple and bono to tell me to do so because in the end, they will get all the recognition; this is what it's all about.

[Matt B @ Nov 3rd 2006 2:02PM]

"On May 11, 1987, The London Times carried a cover story connecting the World Health Organization's African smallpox vaccine programs with the outbreak of AIDS in central Africa. Even Robert Gallo agreed that the WHO vaccine program, which inoculated millions of blacks, could have awakened the "dormant" AIDS virus. This extremely important story was killed in America, and the story never appeared on TV or in any major newspaper. The idea of AIDS as a biological experiment is not without precedent. Over the past few decades, there is proof that government agencies have repeatedly exposed people to biological agents in secret experiments authorized by government agencies."

I question the donation to combat something man made. Magic Johnson must have "found the cure", why can't they give it to the rest of the infected. Oh, that's right, there is no money to be made there.

[Grant @ Nov 4th 2006 10:07PM]

"you�re right about the comment of better just donate the whole $250 , this is merely hype , this capitalism is sinking the world ... i dont think apple would broke if donated more to a global fund, but the real question is , if they are obligated to do charitable acts like this , or is just his two cents to genereate conscious ..."

Capitalism is sinking the world? If the top nations of the world weren't as capitalistic as they are, we would all have to scrounge around looking for aid, rather than having the luxuary to set up a fund for other countries while not having to worry about our own situations.
and it's call corporate/social responsibility, anyone who's gone to a day of any business class would know it's a good thing to have, regardless of it being a shameless promotion, it helps regardless. Apple is a fairly socially responsible company, and thats very rare in the tech field. Anyone care to point out any other cases of corp. responsibility in the tech field? the only one i can think of is the Gates fund, and thats only because Billy got bored with his billions, let someone else run his company and went off to save the world, so thats not even microsoft, thats just himself.

On top of that, why mock bono for using his success to promote aids awareness and work towards a cure? God forbid someone use the time they get in front of an audience for good than just your typical scientology or kabala crap.

Remember folks Celebs pushing disease awareness= Good.
Celebs pushing religion=Retarded.

[willyjsimmons @ Nov 3rd 2006 2:50PM]

@Tristanfey

You're confused buddy.

That's how they **determined** what % of each product gets donated.

Better?

Again, for the simple:

Every 10 items sold = 1 yr of AIDS meds.

[Matt B @ Nov 3rd 2006 2:54PM]

Just another in a long line of drugs that let you "live" with a condition instead of curing it.

[willyjsimmons @ Nov 3rd 2006 2:59PM]

@Matt B

Well gee. I say screw it then.

Everybody just die...mkay. Thanks.

[Mrfreezie @ Nov 5th 2006 3:50PM]

:(

wow, I was just saying that I wish they would make it a little different... no reason to be so mean to me... I don't know about you, but I don't have feelings of steel........

[no3rdw @ Nov 3rd 2006 4:52PM]

I would seriously pay extra over the price of the normal 80GB iPod to get it in red WITH a white clickwheel. 8GB still is just not enough but I really want a red iPod. The whole red and white thing makes this the nicest looking iPod ever produced. Apple, sell the 80GB in red (W/ WHITE) and you can even charge a $50 premium and I'll buy it :D

[daz @ Nov 4th 2006 7:02AM]

U2 recently moved much of their assets out of Ireland to avoid paying tax. We should pay $250 so charity gets $10 and Bono doesn't even want to pay tax!

[Sal @ Nov 13th 2006 9:16PM]

For those who have been to the Apple stores recently, do they have the red Nano on display?

Would like to check it out before ordering one...

Looks great though, possibly the best looking in the current line of Nanos.