A couple new(er) toys from Apple.

With the recent June release of the Apple iPhone, followers of all things Apple have been expecting some of those iPhone features to make their way to some of the iPod line up. Well, in what was certainly an assembly of reporter, distributors and technofiles hanging upon the scripted words of Steve Jobs with baited breath, they got their wish. The iPods have undergone a bit of a face lift and a little surgery within. Here's what was announced today.

iPod Shuffle

Relatively unchanged within, but now available in some new colors, the iPod shuffle now comes in red with its standard 1GB of flash memory. Still quite affordable at $79 USD.

iPod Nano

This was one of the expected changes for Apple and their iPod lineup. The iPod Nano now sports a color 2-inch, 320x240 LCD display. The available memory configurations have been doubled as well with 4GB and 8GB of flash as the new standard. In a surprise move, the the nanos are now made made entirely of metal and will be available in black, red, silver, blue, and green. They will be shipping sometime today and should hit store shelves by the weekend. As for storage, the 4GB silver model retails for $149 USD. The larger (and more desirable) 8GB model comes in all of those afore mentioned colors and retails at $199 USD.

iPod Classic

Not much of a change here, simply a revamp and slight redesign of the iPods we're all accustomed to. The new al metal design is nice, as is the 80GB and 160GB storage options. They're thinner too. The 80GB iPod Classic will sell for $249 USD while the larger capacity 160GB version will fly off the shelves for $349 USD.

iPod Touch

And this is the one we've all been waiting for, an iPhone without the phone. At only 8mm thick, the iPod Touch touts nearly all of the features that as made the iPhone so popular. The screen is still the same size as the iPhone. One notable extra that is a first for any iPod is the WiFi integration within. It comes with its own flavor of Safari and support for YouTube videos. Users will be able to surf the web, listen to music and so forth. Battery life has been indicated to be 22 hours of audio playback and 5 hours of video playback, according to Jobs.

The iPod Touch comes in two versions; 8GB for $299 and 16GB for $399 USD. On an added note, Jobs took a moment to detail the Apple iTunes WiFi Music Store. Users will now be able to preview a sample of the music they are interested in and purchase it with a single tap of the display. The song is immediately downloaded to their music library and with sync with their desktop system the next time their iPod touch is docked.

That ties in further with the promotional deal Apple has brewed up with Starbucks. iPod touch (and presumably iPhine users too) will now have a Starbucks logo appear on their display when they are in proximity of one of the 6 trillion Starbucks throughout the known universe. If they like the song they've just heard over the hissing steam of the cappuccino machine, they can buy it instantly. The last ten songs played will also appear for purchase. The new marketing will roll out in New York and Seattle first at a few select Starbucks locations.

And to top it all off, Jobs also announced a change to the iPhone lineup. The 4GB model is now dead while the 8GB model will see increased production and a massive price cut from $599 down to $399 USD.

All these new toys and lower prices has me wanting to buy more Apple.