Apple’s New iPod Shuffle Surprises

No matter how earnest the stalkers are in tracking down new products, updates and other announcements from Apple, sometimes they fail. Once a while, Apple manages to pull out a surprise. Today, the surprise is the new iPod Shuffle, an even smaller version than the previous generation iPod Shuffle. It is only 10.7g in weight, about as light as some of the lightest bluetooth earpieces. It comes in 4GB capacities, holding up to 1000 songs.

The new iPod Shuffle will ship in 3 to 5 business days. Apart from the new smaller physical size, the main new feature is VoiceOver. The new iPod Shuffle’s VoiceOver speaks the song titles, artists and playlist names. It’s a small little evolutionary upgrade. The body is more elongated than before, and it only comes in two colours now. The colourful previous generation iPod Shuffle is reduced to black and silver options. It sells for S$128, while the older generation iPod Shuffe (which is still available for sale) goes for S$78. that’s a S$50 premium for small, light, and VoiceOver. Is it worthwhile?