SAN JOSE, Calif., Oct. 26 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Apple(R) today introduced iPod(R) Photo, the newest member of the iPod family that lets you take your entire music and photo library with you wherever you go. iPod Photo holds up to 25,000 digital photos alongside your music library and displays them on its stunning high-resolution color screen, allowing you to scroll through your photo library almost instantly using iPod's patent pending Click Wheel. iPod Photo lets you combine your music and your favorite photos to create magical slideshows on your iPod, and features TV-out for sharing your slideshows on big screen televisions and projectors. iPod Photo comes in 40GB or 60GB models which hold up to 10,000 or 15,000 songs, and its extended battery life gives users up to 15 hours of music playback or up to 5 hours of slideshows.

"Having both your entire photo and music collections with you wherever you go is the next big thing," said Steve Jobs, Apple's CEO. "Everyone has a digital camera and wants to enjoy and share their growing library of digital photos wherever they are. Unlike video content, photo content is free and abundant, and there are no copyright issues to deal with."

With its vivid color screen and backlight, iPod Photo displays crisp, clear photos both indoors and outdoors, so users can take their digital photo collection wherever they go and easily share their memories with family and friends. iPod Photo creates an entirely new iPod experience in full color for viewing album artwork, calendars, contacts and games, adding even more excitement to iPod.

Featuring Apple's patent pending Auto-Sync technology, iPod Photo makes it easy to automatically download your entire digital music and digital photo library onto iPod and keep it up-to-date whenever it is plugged into a Mac(R) or Windows computer using FireWire(R) or USB. Mac users can Auto-Sync their iPod with their photo library in iPhoto(TM) and Windows users can Auto-Sync their iPod with their photo collection in Adobe Photoshop Elements, Photoshop Album or their My Pictures folder. iPod Photo works with iTunes(R) 4.7, released today, providing music fans with the best digital jukebox on either a Mac or Windows computer and access to the iTunes Music Store, the number one digital music service in the world.

iPod Photo comes with Apple's patent pending Click Wheel, which combines the smooth and continuous scrolling of a touch-sensitive wheel with five push buttons for superior one handed navigation to easily find, view and share thousands of photos.

Pricing & Availability
The new 40GB and 60GB iPod Photo models will begin shipping today for a suggested retail price of $499 (US) and $599 (US) respectively, through the Apple Store(R) (http://www.apple.com), Apple's retail stores and Apple Authorized Resellers. iPod Photo includes a dock with audio and video out, earbud headphones, 1.4m AV cable, 1.2m 30-pin to FireWire cable, a 1.2m 30-pin to USB cable, AC adapter, black carrying case and a CD with iTunes 4.7 for Mac and Windows computers.

iPod Photo requires a Mac with a FireWire or USB 2.0 port and Mac OS(R) X version 10.2.8 or later (v10.3.4 or later required for USB 2.0); or a Windows PC with a FireWire or USB 2.0 port or FireWire or USB 2.0 card and Windows 2000 (with Service Pack 4 or later), XP Home or Professional.

All iPods include rechargeable batteries, which have a limited number of charge cycles and may eventually need to be replaced. Battery life and number of charge cycles vary by use and settings. See http://www.apple.com/batteries for more information. Music capacity is based on four minutes per song and 128-Kbps AAC encoding; photo capacity is based on iPod-viewable photos transferred from iTunes.

Apple ignited the personal computer revolution in the 1970s with the Apple II and reinvented the personal computer in the 1980s with the Macintosh.

Today, Apple continues to lead the industry in innovation with its award-winning desktop and notebook computers, OS X operating system, and iLife and professional applications. Apple is also spearheading the digital music revolution with its iPod portable music players and iTunes online music store.

NOTE: Apple, the Apple logo, Macintosh, Mac, Mac OS, iPod, FireWire, iPhoto, iTunes and Apple Store are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Apple. Other company and product names may be trademarks of their respective owners.