The product, designed to be smaller and lighter than a pack of gum, aims to allow users to experience their music in a million different ways by storing songs on flash memory rather than hard disc drives.
Apple’s iTunes and its patent-pending AutoFill feature will automatically select songs from a user’s music library to fill up the iPod shuffle, which comes in two models: 512MB holding up to 120 songs and 1GB holding up to 240 songs.
Steve Jobs, Apple’s CEO, said: With most flash-memory music players users must use tiny displays and complicated controls to find their music; with iPod shuffle you just relax and it serves up new combinations of your music every time you listen.
Users will be able to charge and transfer music from their Mac or PC by plugging iPod shuffle directly into a USB port. iPod shuffle doubles as a portable USB flash drive with up to 1GB of storage space to back up personal files and exchange them between computers.
Apple has also unveiled its Mac mini, a compact desktop computer that will connect to any industry standard device, in a further attempt to exploit the digital music industry.
While analysts remain hesitant about how Apple will fare in the fiercely competitive mass market, the iPod Shuffle is expected to bring the company rewards in the flash memory segment of the market.
