Some random thoughts and comments about the recent Apple product launch event (Sept 1, 2010) … as in previous years, Steve Jobs used the annual event to provide a glimpse at the fall product lineup as well as new application and service offerings.

Most notable (in my mind) were news of the new iPod Touch, a powerful device that basically provides the ability for users to use an iPhone without any carrier contract. The new iOS 4.1 and 4.2 provides even more functionality and WOW possibilities for developers, and the transition of iTunes store at R 10 to a full-blown social media service is going to be HUGE!

At today’s Apple event, Steve Jobs started off by talking about the company’s new flagship store in Paris (a historic building that took 18 months to restore), new facility in China (complete with amazing 40 ft state of the art glass structure), and impressive store in London… all landmarks in their own right . Interesting to hear that there are now 300 Apple stores world wide, reaching over 1,000,000 customers several days a month – imagine, on any given day Apple reaches upwards of a million potential customers inside these 3 stores! The company is also  teaching 80,000 classes to their customers via their in-store learning offerings. Perhaps the most mind-boggling stat that Jobs tossed out in his introduction though was the fact that out of all those customers, over half of the purchases are being made by new Mac customers! When you consider that for the Mac faithful once you go back you never go back the future looks incredibly amazing for Apple with no signs of slowing down!

A few numbers:

• To date some 120 million iOS devices have shipped
• 6.5 million apps now on app store
• 200 apps are downloaded every second
• 275 million iPods sold to date
• iPod Touch – most popular iPod (the iphone without a contract)
• iTouch is #1 portable game player in the World
• new Nano will cost $149 $179
• new iPod shuffle with buttons, voice over, playlists and its really small (stamp size) 15 hours of music, 5 colors only $49
• All new Apple devices available next week or pre-order today

In big news for the developer, Apple today announced  iOS 4.1 – available next week. This latest update to the OS includes among other features, the addition of  HDR photo – take a photo and 3 are grabbed, one normal, one under, one over exposed to produce an HDR photo. According to Jobs,  iOs 4.2 will be coming later this fall.

New iPod Touch - The latest iTouch is an amazingly thin device offering an attractive option for consumers who want an iPhone without a carrier contract! The iTouch is packed with incredible new features including Apple’s stunning Retina display, FaceTimer video calling, HD video recording, Apple’s A4 chip, 3-axis gyro, iOS 4.1 and Game Center-all combined in the thinnest and lightest iPod touch ever. The new iPod touch features up to 40 hours of music playback and seven hours of video playback on a single battery charge.  The new iPod touch will be available next week for a suggested price of $229 (US) for the 8GB model, $299 (US) for the 32GB model and $399 (US)

iTunes 10 – Finally, perhaps the biggest news is the announcement of iTunes 10 with Ping , completely redesigned and now billed as the social media service for Music! The app will enable users and artists to share even more of their thoughts and media with others thanks to new, social media integration – this is huge.iTunes Ping lets you post your thoughts and opinions, your favorite albums and songs, the music you’ve downloaded from iTunes, plus view concert listings and tell your friends which concerts you plan to attend. iTunes 10 also features HD TV show rentals* for just 99 cents an episode and AirPlay wireless music playback.

I’m hoping that the new social integration also extends to the application store, enabling developers to interact with users even more and provide the ability for end users to share details of apps with their social media – that would be a huge plus for developers!