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Apple launches smaller, 4-gigabyte iPod shuffle

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By JESSICA MINTZ

The Associated Press

Published: March 12, 2009

SEATTLE - Apple Inc. unveiled a minuscule new iPod Shuffle on Wednesday that takes its "smaller is better" mantra to a whole new level.

The third-generation Shuffle, a slim aluminum rectangle less than 2 inches long, takes up about half as much space as the previous version even as it doubles music storage space to 4 gigabytes. To achieve such a tiny form, Apple had to remove most of the buttons from the body of the $79 device and put them in the headphone cord.

"Smaller has tended to work very well for us," said Greg Joswiak, a marketing vice president at Apple.

Ross Rubin, an analyst for market researcher NPD Group, said there's no such thing as too small for gadget-happy consumers as long as Apple stays focused on ergonomics and provides a way to secure the device and keep it from getting lost.

People who buy a new Shuffle will be paying a premium for Apple's design, he said, noting less-expensive minimodels such as SanDisk Corp.'s Sansa Clip and Creative Technology Ltd.'s Zen Stone.

The trade-off for a sub-$100 Shuffle always has been the lack of a screen to visually navigate through the music stored on the device.

Now Apple has a feature called VoiceOver that can, at the push of a button, speak the song and artist name or rattle off the list of custom mixes - called playlists - that the owner has loaded on the device.

The new Shuffle, which comes in silver or black aluminum with a shiny stainless steel clip, is set to go on sale today.

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