The low down on everything that went on at the ‘Its only rock and roll’ Apple media event.

So, today (9/9/09), Apple held their ‘It’s only Rock and Roll’ event. The name itself gave us some clues as to what the keynote would be about: Music and iPods. So, if you missed the event, or would like our take on the proceedings then keep on reading!

As the lights dimmed, and the crowd hushed on the East Coast of America, none other than Steve Jobs walked out on stage! Unsurprisingly, he got a standing ovation for well… errm, being Steve Jobs!! Steve starts off by saying that 5 months ago he had a liver transplant, so I now have the liver of a mid-20’s person who died in a car crash. I wouldn’t be here without such generosity. He hopes all of us can be as generous and become organ donors. There you go, become a donor because Steve Jobs said so! No, guys, its a great thing to do!

Now we’ve got the niceties out of the way, we’re down to business!! He started off by talking about the iPhone, and that there had been 30 million iPhones sold, impressive, eh?! Then he moves onto the App Store, and that there are over 75000 apps in it, and that users have download them 1.8 billion times. WOW! So, today Apple released iPhone 3.1, an update to the biggest update the iPhone’s software ever. So, what does it include? Well, not much really! Genius has always made suggestions on songs that are in iTunes, that you haven’t got. Well now it makes recommendations on songs that you HAVE got! Another new thing, is ringtones. They’ll have over 30,000 ringtones available for $1.29… extortionate or what?!!! 3.1 is available today, for free. Even for iPod Touch owners (as long as you’ve already got 3.0!) Next: iTunes! Steve starts to talk about how successful it is and that it’s available in 23 different countries. Apparently, iTunes is also the number 1 music retailer in the word, selling over 8.5 billion songs! So, today, iTunes 9 is being released! What’s new in iTunes 9, then? First of Genius Mixes. Steve describes it as: “Imagine a genius DJ that plays endless mixes of songs from your library that go great together. You just click on one of the mixes, and start playing it — and it will go on and on and on. It’s like a great radio station”. Next up is improved syncing, you are now able to sync by artist, genre or playlist, giving you more flexibility on what is on your iPhone. In iTunes 9 you can now manage your apps, and how they appear on your iPhone’s screen. Now you can share your music, tv shows and films all through a new thing called Home Sharing. However, you will only be able to share them with computers that are authorized with your iTunes account. So, are Apple now allowing us to share copyrighted music?! What sort of deal have they struck with music labels? Maybe, this means we will see proper bluetooth in the next gen iPhone. Next up is the redesigned iTunes Store, it’s got a really clean interface, and is a welcome change for anyone that was getting bored of the old layout. Now you can also buy LP’s on iTunes, with the LP’s photos, Videos, Liner Notes and Credits, and it looks awesome! Another new feature is when you are looking for a song in the iTunes store, there is an arrow next to ‘Buy Now’, where you can share on FaceBook and Twitter. iTunes 9 is available today! Now we move onto Phil Schiller, iPods, and iPod sales. We are shown this Pie Chart: Of course, Apple emphasize that they have 73.8% market share, and Microsoft only have 1.1% of the market with their Zunes. He then goes on to talk about how great the iPod Touch is, and how (when it’s connected to WiFi), it can be a portable computer. He then talks about how good the apps are, and that they are cheaper than PSP and Nintendo DS games. Then he gives us the figures… There are nearly 5 times as many titles for the iPhone and iPod touch as there are for the Nintendo DS, how impressive is that?!! Then Phil brings up the developers of some big applications, for us, well it’s quite boring! When that was over, Phil announced a price drop of the 8GB and 16GB models of the iPod Touch, the 8GB would be $199 and the 16GB would be $299. Then he said that the 64GB version would be $399. 64GB?!! How many apps is that?!! A new feature in the 16GB and 64GB version would be OpenGL support, meaning the iPod should be very fast! (OpenGL is in Snow Leopard, guys!) Then Phil showed off the new iPod Touch advert. Next, up came a picture of an iPod Classic… which had been on a diet! However, this wasn’t the 120GB version… it was a new 160GB version, for the same price as the 120GB version ($249)! Then Phil moves onto the Shuffle. It will now be available in a few new colours: The Shuffle is available for $59 for 2GB and $79 for 4GB. There is also a new totally stainless steel and polished Shuffle. And that is it for the iPods… or is it? Phil leaves the stage, and back comes the man of the hour, Steve Jobs! He says “People are using these portable SSD cameras…” (He’s showing off the Flip) “4GB of space for $149. We want to get in on this. SO what are we going to do?  Well we’re going to start with 8GB, and we’re going to lower the price… to free.” What? What does he mean free?! He continues to say “How are we going to do that? We’re going to build a camera into the back of every nano.” He then goes on to show how the video looks, however, we are not told how many megapixels it is. Steve then shows us some more new features such as VoiceOver. Then he says something else: “The nano is the most popular player in the world, we’ve sold over 100m. We’re adding some things, like Genius Mixes. We’ve also built in an FM radio.” Other new features include Voice Memos and a pedometer that can be synced with Nike. Another thing he mentions is the Nano now comes in a new Polished Anodized Aluminum. Steve then shows us a new Nano advert. Of course, Apple also like to be environmentally friendly… That is it…. so, no Apple Tablet, or a new line of iPods, just updates. Are you disappointed, or are you please, and what do you think? Leave your thoughts in the comments!

Thanks Engadget for the pictures :)