Apple had an event today. An iPod event full of updates and announcements including:

• iTunes 9
• iPhone OS 3.1
• New iPod Touch
• New iPod Nano w/ built in camera & FM Radio

The iPod Touch will now start at $199.99 USD for the 8 GB with $299.99 USD (32 GB) & $399.99 USD (64 GB) variants following. Finally! A sub $200 iPod Touch. And to top it off, they’re including Open GL|ES 2.0 which means expanded graphical capabilities for games.

They finally started to compare the iPhone to the DS & PSP which is valid on one hand, but complete nonsense on the other. There is a definite market for iPhone’s bite sized gaming, but it doesn’t offer the same kind of gaming that the NDS or PSP offers at all. Sure there is a Halo-esque game called Nova coming, but that’s nothing like a Phoenix Wright or a God of War. Good for Apple for taking its gaming initiative seriously though.

The “new” iPod Nano with the built in cameras make a lot of sense considering the form factor and how it fits when held horizontally. Apple also decided to add a FM radio antennae and pedometer in it. And at $149 USD for an 8 GB and $179 for 16 GB, it’s hard to resist. I would pick one up if I was looking for a new MP3 player today.

Head over to Apple’s website to check out the new hotness. If it’s not there yet, it should be there some time today.

This is Apple, after all.

Some of my personal highlights from Day 2 of CES 2008:

CES and Bill Gates has been quite the tradition. I mean just check out the above picture of him and Conan racing from CES 2005. With this being Sir Bill Gates’ final CES 08 appearance, the tradition is coming to an end. Engadget got the opportunity to speak with the “soon to be former” Chairman of Microsoft and ask him some questions.

Sony demoed copying from Blu-ray disc today and what makes it so special is how they transferred a lower resolution version of the movie onto the Sony PlayStation Portable. Sony should have done this when the PSP first launched with  DVDs and not even bother with UMDs. Buying the same movie twice? Pfft.

Sony confirmed that OLED TV manufacturing is difficult and they are seeking partners for this new venture. Perhaps they should talk to Samsung. After all, it’s thanks to them that they are one of the best in LCD HDTV market. Personally, the longer they take to come to market, the better I feel about my latest 52″ LCD HDTV purchase.

I adore my iPod, but SanDisk products have always caught my eye. Check out the new Sansa View 32 GB flash based MP3 player which will only set you back by $349. The $79 4GB Sansa clip is also pretty good and very cheap.

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