The Silver Apple 4GB iPod shuffle is a surprisingly tiny MP3 player, with a generous 4GB storage capacity: enough to hold up to 1000 songs. The first thing you'll notice about it, aside from its diminutiveness, is the absence of a display screen or buttons. A physical switch on the player toggles between the off, shuffle, and linear playback modes. Volume, track advance, and play/pause are controlled by a physical control button, built into the included set of ear buds.
While owners of previous versions often lamented the fact that there was no way to find out what song you were listening to at a given time this is no longer the case. This iPod talks. Its VoiceOver function reads aloud the song title and artist name. Its voice - female for PC and Tiger users, male for Mac users with Leopard & Snow Leopard - speaks 14 different languages, will recognize everything from an aria from an Italian opera to the latest J-Pop hit from the streets of Tokyo. The shuffle also uses VoiceOver to help you move between playlists.
The device itself is a bit too small to sport its own USB port, but have no worries - the cable is included. It even allows you to use the iPod as a USB flash drive. The iPod shuffle is only 1.8" tall, 0.7" wide, and 0.3" thin, smaller than the average house key. It weighs less than half an ounce. Compatible with Windows and Mac systems with iTunes, it can play up to 10 hours of music between charges.
The Mac users will hear the Leopard voice that they're used to, while PC and Tiger users will hear a female voice.
Apple is also rolling out support for 3rd party headphones that will be able to utilize the iPod shuffles' controls.