It’s a new recession iPod.
Apple on Wednesday rolled out the third generation of its low-end iPod shuffle, which has speech-based functions that tell users what song is playing and who is singing it. The VoiceOver technology on the $79 device, which the Cupertino company calls the world’s smallest digital music player, also recites the names of playlists, giving users a new way to navigate their music on the screenless iPod.
The new shuffle, which holds up to 1,000 songs, can tell users other information as well, such as how much battery life remains. In addition to English, it can communicate in 13 other languages, including Mandarin, Japanese, Turkish, German and French.
And it’s about half the size of the previous model, smaller than a AA battery.
“These are exactly the kinds of products you need to come up with in the midst of a recession,” Interpret analyst Michael Gartenberg said. “It’s not a stripped-down experience. It has a new cool user interface that isn’t even on the high-end iPods. Apple has worked hard not to make this a race to the bottom.”
Apple launched the first of its iPod line during the last economic downturn, in 2001.
The new 4-gigabyte device — which costs $10 more than the second-generation model it replaces, which had half the capacity — will give a “small boost” to the company’s bottom line, Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster said in a note to investors. The high-margin shuffle could nudge iPod sales for the current quarter from 9.5 million to 10 million, he said.
Munster said the new shuffle indicates that innovative tinkering continues at Infinite Loop.
“Following a disappointing Macworld, investors had been wondering what was next for Apple,” he wrote. “The shuffle is a small part of the overall story but the innovation we are seeing is encouraging for future product development.”
Munster sees a possible launch of a 10-inch touch-screen tablet-type device or low-end MacBook next year.
The new shuffle comes in two colors, silver and black. Apple is still selling the 1GB shuffle, which plays about 240 songs and comes in an array of colors, for $49, without any upgrades.
Contact John Boudreau at jboudreau@mercurynews.com or (408) 278-3496.
A second-generation iPod Shuffle. 
Yesterday, Apple Computer revealed the third-generation version of its iPod Shuffle model, which introduces new features including a voice that tells the user what song is playing in their playlist through the user's headphones. Apple stated that the iPod will have 4 gigabytes of space, which is enough to hold approximately 1,000 songs, twice as much as the second-generation Shuffle.

In the announcement of the device, Apple told the media that the new voice system, called "VoiceOver", will completely replace all of the button controls on the device, and will allow the user to find information about the current song, playlist, and the current battery life remaining. It will be available in 14 languages, which include English, Japanese, German, and French. The new model is also about two times smaller than the second-generation Shuffle, being described as slightly smaller than the size of a AA Battery.

"You previously couldn't have multiple playlists on the iPod Shuffle because you couldn't really switch between them as there was no way to know how you would switch. So now instead of seeing, you get to hear," said Greg Joswiak, the Vice President of iPod Marketing at Apple.

The new iPod was stated to be available in two colors, silver and black, and is expected to be priced at $79, $10 higher than the previous model. The current second-generation's 1 gigabyte and 2 gigabyte models will continue to be sold after the release of the device.

"These are exactly the kinds of products you need to come up with in the midst of a recession. It's not a stripped-down experience. It has a new cool user interface that isn't even on the high-end iPods. Apple has worked hard not to make this a race to the bottom," said a market analyst for Jupiter Research.