Apple introduced a new iPod nano today, hailed by co-founder and CEO Steve Jobs as the thinnest iPod ever, it was the star of today’s press conference which did not introduce any new concepts or product categories, but did include updates for all iPod designs, tweaks for the iPhone, and both High Definition TV shows and a music recommendation service for the iTunes store, which according to the latest sales stats, is outselling all other retailers across all formats.

I attended the event in San Francisco today by invitation of Apple Canada where amongst the new product announcements Steve Jobs made light of recent con concerns over his battle with pancreatic cancer, noting that rumours of his death have been gratly exaggerated, a reference to a biography and deathnotice that was published online by accident. Musician Jack Johnson, introduced by Jobs as the #1 selling artist on iTunes also appeared on stage to perform two songs.

iPod nano

8GB $170

16 GB $220

The new nano is very petite in size, although tall and slim for its diminiuative stature. It is wafer-thin and has a body that along its width is shaped like an oval. With the same anodized aluminum casing as previous nanos, it is being offered in nine different colour choices including silver, purple, blue, green, orange, yellow, pink, (PRODUCT) RED and black.

The new nano includes the same acceelrometer sensor as the iPod Touch and iPhones, allowing its display to automatically shift from portrait to landscape view with just a tilt of the device. You can also shake it to have it shuffle your playlist and move to a different song. The Shake-And-Shuffle feature takes some getting used to as it doesn’t react instantly, the shuffle occurs after a pause not immiediately to your shake. When Apple introduced their new iPhone, they included a set of earbuds with a built-in microphone to use as hands-free. The new nano includes the microphone software so that nano users have the option of buying the hands-free earbuds separately to use them with their nano for recording voice notes.

The nano is a gorgeous device and the ability to switch display view with the accelerometer is a welcome addition, but its shake-and-shuffle feature may be more of a novelty than a useful feature. It is such a light and slim device that, as we’ve seen with the MacBook Air, owners may have to take extra care not to displace or lose the wafer-like players.

iPod Touch

8GB $260

16 GB $330

32 GB $430

(only through the Apple online Store)Although Jobs did at one point refer to it as the iPod Touch Two, the new features are minimal. The new design is slightly thinner than the previous iPod Touch and includes both volume controls on the side (apparently the most-requested feature from users) and built-in speakers for personal playback. It includes an added acceleromter sensor to allow built-in wireless communication with the Nike+ shoes. Previously the Sport kit required you to plug an added accessory into your iPod to match the sensor in the shoes, the new Touch doesn’t need that accessory.

The big enhancement is the new battery life – 36 hours of music playback and 6 hours of video.New software upgrade. For those already have purchased and installed the iPod Touch Upgrade previously released, there is a new version that will add new tweaks including better stability and avoidance of crashes from Apps.If you already own an iPod Touch there’s no point in upgrading to this new design, but the added tweaks are good news to those who have been waiting for one.

iPod Classic

120 GB $280

Unfortunately the classic didn’t get any new features other than an increase in its storage capacity which is now 120 GB.

iPod Shuffle

1 GB $55

2GB $75

The little Shuffle is being given four new colours; blue, green, (PRODUCT)red, and purple.

iPhone 3G

Apple is releasing a new software update for the iPhone that should resolve several issues including crashes from running multiple apps, improved battery life, and reduced call signal drops. The update is free

Genius For iTunes, iPod nano, Touch, and iPhone

A new feature for iTunes and iPods with displays, Genius is a music recommendation service that will record anonymous information about your music library, what songs and hos often you listen to them, which is sent to Apple’s servers where it is used to learn about your music tastes. The service is an opt-in one, meaning users have to give permission for it to collect its data and you can choose to opt out at any time.It performs two results. If you start to play one song from your library and then click on the Genius button, it will assemble an intelligent playlist for you from your music library. All of the songs will be programmed to flow together, much the way radio programmers and DJs do with their playlists.These playlists appear in your library with little Genius icons and can be both generated in iTunes or directly on your iPod device. If you later choose to end the Genius feature, these playlists remain on your computer, but as traditional playlists with no ability to be refreshed ot updated.The second set of results appear within a sidebar that is pulled out from the side of iTunes that includes both album and song recommendations from iTunes, an attempt by Apple to better promote their online store.

From what I have seen so far, the Genius playlists will be fun to play with, but only useful for those with large libraries. Having the Genius Sidebar open just feels like having a set of ads in your application and its hard to see the value there.

iTunes 8

The new version includes a new music visualizer that displays abstract cosmic images of planets and solar bodies. It’s very cool and, as one Apple helper admitted to me, was “inspired” by the third-party Magnetosphere visualizer that I’ve featured here previously.

Apple has added a third way to browser through your library. In addition to the list view and the animated Coverflow, a new Grid View allows you to look through your library as album art icons. Each icon represents an artist and associated albums. When you hover the cursor over an icon, it will shift to show other albums in that section. It's neat, although if you are like me and already used to the other two views, you'll probably never use it.

At least in the United States, iTunes will now feature television shows in High Definition and will now include shows and content across all categories from NBC, which had previously ended their relationship with Apple’s store. In the case of the High Definition show, Jobs confirmed that you will be able to watch them both on your computer as well as on your HDTV.There is currently no information as to when High Definition TV shows will be launching for Canada.