As some of you know, Apple released a new iPod Shuffle a few days ago. It has 4gb of memory, no buttons, and the only way to control it is with three buttons on the Apple headphones only, but it's smaller. Instead of removing something that most MP3 players come standard with, I think Apple should have kept the old design and added more memory and some built in speakers. Although built in speakers were originally added to the iPod Touch just for apps, I think it would be cool to literally be able to listen to your music completely on something the size of a matchbox. Not to mention, if you lose the headphones you won't be able to use your iPod, and it won't work with any other headphones/speakers.

Here is the current iPod Shuffle image: *click*

Here is a fake I made: *click*

What do you think of the new shuffle?

I've never been a fan of the shuffles and this doesn't look that much better.. I would of probably still prefered to have buttons on the actual device though, and not the headphones. I guess if you loose the headphones it won't be too cheap for a replacement..

I think the innovation is very creative, but it seems really pointless and inefficient to me. I personally wouldn't want to control my MP3 on a little part of the earphone wire. And, I mean seriously Apple, isn't the shuffle already small enough?

I have an Ipod Shuffle G2, and the only thing that seems much better is the extra memory. The headphones are cool but if you misplace, or don't take a fancy to them that could be a problem.

It stinks. The big no-no for me is incompatibility with 3rd party headphones. I see no reason to effectively re-buy my PortaPros for a dinky $30 adapter. And in the same spirit, I hate Apple's earbuds.

I think they could have done more with it. Like for instance, looking at it, there's so much open space, they could've added a tiny screen or something. Sure, it would take away the term, "shuffle", but it would look okay. Oh, and I don't like that fact that we're back to black and silver again. I like colors (Lol, I have a green Nano, 4th Gen.). But, I respect Apple. They do the things they do for a reason.

That fake you made is copycat off Creative Stone, you know that?
Stone is the only MP3 with built in speaker and no screen.
Or, its only for Stone+.
I dont need any MP3 when i have my Nokia 5800 with great sound and 3.5 plug directly
My old MP3 cant drive a Philips ear-clock.. its too weak.

Most of the suggestion for the Shuffle here is a bit ripping from Stone, which has a screen and also speaker in Stone+
Though the Stone is looking like a stone just a tiny bit.

And im not a fan of any Apple thing.
If you ask a guy in my class, he is a Apple-freak.. (Apple-juice, Apple imac, ipod)
Does Shuffle have any organized list for playing?

How is adding built-in-speakers a rip off? So what if the Creative Stone was the first to do it, do you honestly think that the first person to do something should be the only? What if the people who first made the computer told rival companies that they were ripping them off? How far do you think computer technology would've gotten? Besides, it's not as if adding built-in-speakers to a screenless MP3 player is a very complex idea; I came up with it after a few seconds of looking at the new shuffle. I highly doubt that Creative's product designers were gathered around a table, for hours, trying to come up with something as simple as built-in-speakers. I created this topic for ideas not for original ideas.

I'm pretty sure that you can edit the settings for your shuffle on iTunes to determine the order of the songs.

I was at the Apple Store earlier today and was playing around with these. Apple's In-Ear headphones aren't too bad actually. They fit comfortably enough, although not exactly the comfort my Bose In-Ears have. The controls were easy enough to grasp. I don't mind having to use a controller with them. Third-Party vendors are already making products to go with it and your own headphones. A little tip: they play when you plug your headphones in right away and at the same volume. Just use the Apple ones to set your volume and go. Really, I'd only use a Shuffle for running (Touch is too bulky) and I don't need to be changing the volume. That said, I'll probably pick up a Shuffle G2 not a G3. I don't need that much space for running.

~Bcloutier~

I dont like those who go into the ear, but those who goes on or around the ear is better, less cleaning
But those who go into the ear gives good quality.

But Shuffle is a vulnerable player, it doesnt have any buttons?
Only having it on the remote is stupid, if you miss it, its useless.

The Voice thing sounds ridiculous, I don't like the colour range and the headphones are ridiculous.... I might go into the store and try it out, but doesn't look terribly good so far :-(

~Magical

A speaking MP3 is not good at all, it cant say what a chinese song is, or somehting written in norwegian, i really doubt this is even a mile from success, just junk that talks like a robot.
Almost all speech engines cant say ÆØÅ, some of the danish and norwegian letters.
So, talking = down..

You have to think about the market, though. How many songs are actually like that - and how many of the people who buy them will listen to those? It's like a computer mouse, you can't make it a ft long because 0.05% of the population have extremely large hands. And it comes in different languages, so you may be able to.

~Magical

I completely agree although I still think that VoiceOver is extremely asinine. If you really need to know the name of a song on your own iPod, you're pretty stupid. Besides, it's not like this VoiceOver thing actually helps you navigate through your music; it just tells you the names of your songs and playlists.

I am still skeptical on the speech commands. I still really wish they'd make a small screen to tell you what song your on