Apple Introduces New iPod touch

Apple® today introduced the second generation iPod® touch featuring an amazingly thin contoured metal design, a gorgeous 3.5-inch widescreen glass display, 802.11 b/g Wi-Fi wireless networking, integrated volume control buttons, a built-in speaker for casual listening, a built-in accelerometer and other advanced sensors, and Apple’s revolutionary Multi-Touch™ user interface. iPod touch, now available for just $229 for the 8GB model, is perfect for playing music, movies and games, with millions of songs, thousands of Hollywood movies and hundreds of games available on the iTunes® Store.

“iPod touch is the funnest iPod we’ve ever created,” said Steve Jobs, Apple’s CEO. “Users can listen to millions of songs, watch thousands of Hollywood movies and now, thanks to the App Store, download and play hundreds of great games on their iPod touch.”

The new iPod touch is smaller and lighter than the original, with a sleek new design that features a contoured metal enclosure with integrated volume control buttons and a brilliant 3.5-inch widescreen glass display. With its rounded edges, flush display and curved, more compact design, the new iPod touch is more comfortable to hold and more portable than ever.

iPod touch users can choose from hundreds of exciting game titles such as “Spore Origins” and “Scrabble” from Electronic Arts, and “Real Football 2009” from Gameloft available on iTunes or directly through the App Store application on the iPod touch. The revolutionary App Store works over Wi-Fi, enabling users to browse, purchase and wirelessly download applications directly onto their iPod touch and start using them instantly. The App Store features an incredible array of applications in a wide variety of categories, including games, travel, entertainment, social networking, sports and much more.

iPod touch works seamlessly with iTunes so you can import, manage, and then easily auto-sync your favorite content. With up to 36 hours of music playback or six hours of video playback on a single charge, the new iPod touch is the ultra-portable way to enjoy your favorite music, TV shows, movies and games on the go. The 32GB model holds up to 7,000 songs, 25,000 photos or 40 hours of video; the 16GB model holds up to 3,500 songs, 20,000 photos or 20 hours of video, and the 8GB model holds up to 1,750 songs, 10,000 photos and 10 hours of video.*

The new iPod touch works with the new iTunes 8 Genius feature, allowing customers to automatically create playlists while on the go. Users can preview the playlist Genius creates, refresh the list to choose different songs and save Genius playlists to enjoy again later.

The new iPod touch also features built-in Nike + iPod support making it an incredible workout companion. Users simply place the optional Nike + iPod sensor ($19 US) in their Nike + shoe to seamlessly connect with the new iPod touch to track miles run or sync with the latest generation gym equipment.

The iPod is the world’s most popular family of digital music players with over 160 million sold. Apple’s incredible new lineup includes the iPod shuffle in four vivid new colors starting at just $49; the iPod classic in one slimline model with 50 percent more capacity for the same great price—120GB of storage for just $249; the fourth generation iPod nano featuring a gorgeous curved metal and curved glass enclosure, in nine vibrant colors starting at $149; and the second generation iPod touch now starting at just $229. iPod owners can choose from a vast ecosystem of accessories with over 5,000 products made specifically for the iPod including speaker systems, fitness accessories, fashionable cases and iPod connectivity available in over 90 percent of new car models sold in the US.

Pricing & Availability

The new iPod touch is available immediately for a suggested price of $229 (US) for the 8GB model, $299 (US) for the 16GB and $399 (US) for the 32 GB model through the Apple Store® (www.apple.com), Apple’s retail stores and Apple Authorized Resellers. iPod touch requires a Mac® with a USB 2.0 port, Mac OS® X v10.4.10 or later and iTunes 8; or a Windows PC with a USB 2.0 port and Windows Vista or Windows XP Home or Professional (Service Pack 2) or later and iTunes 8. Existing iPod touch users can update to the latest 2.1 software for just $9.95 to add the new Genius feature. iPod touch owners who already have the 2.0 software get the 2.1 software update for free. Simply download the latest version of iTunes onto your Mac or PC, and purchase the 2.1 software update via iTunes.

*Battery life and number of charge cycles vary by use and settings. 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; and video capacity is based on H.264 1.5-Mbps video at 640-by-480 resolution.

Pictures: Courtesy of Apple

Source: Apple

Qualcomm Delivers OmniVision Metro Service to Fisher Industries New Service Provides Visibility into Fisher’s Service Vehicle Fleet

Qualcomm Incorporated (Nasdaq: QCOM), a leading provider of business-to-business wireless enterprise applications and services, and Fisher Industries, a leading provider of aggregate products and services including road and highway construction, paving, excavation and grading, and equipment manufacturing, today announced that Fisher Industries has chosen Qualcomm’s OmniVisionSM Metro service offering, Service Fleet Manager, to help manage its service vehicles. Commercially available since March 2008, the OmniVision Metro service is already helping Fisher Industries gain important visibility into their mobile assets for improved cost containment, revenues and customer service.

The OmniVision Metro service provides Fisher Industries with visibility into its service vehicles via management dashboards driven by data from in-vehicle GPS hardware. The information delivered via Service Fleet Manager dashboards helps to enable improved workforce and asset management, routing and scheduling. Service Fleet Manager can also help increase revenues due to gains in productivity and operational efficiency. Additionally, the service can help reduce costs because the location of employees and vehicles can be quickly identified to optimize routing, reduce idle or “stand by” time, and minimize employee overtime. With near real-time location information, Fisher Industries can better manage scheduled arrival and departure times of service vehicles for improved management of their mobile assets. Customer loyalty and trust may be improved with better communication, easily audited service reports and the ability to respond to customer needs faster.

Q1 Tracking Solutions, a wholly owned subsidiary and regional reseller in Tempe, Arizona, has installed the first OmniVision Metro units on Fisher service vehicles and is continuing to install units on the remainder of their service fleet.

“We chose Qualcomm’s OmniVision Metro service because it can help us better manage our workload, vehicles and employees,” said Suzie Medley, vice president of Fisher Industries. “The ability to track location and time of service or delivery has become invaluable to us. We’re also able to better respond to customer needs because we know precisely where our mobile resources and employees are located, or where they should be located.”

Designed for the mobile resource management market, Service Fleet Manager incorporates industry-specific capabilities and features, including detailed maps and reports that provide a snapshot of an entire service fleet for improved management and planning. The OmniVision Metro service provides a unique, web-based dashboard display that converts data into easy-to-use business intelligence, enabling service fleets to compete more effectively in today’s competitive environment. The service also helps to enable improved employee productivity and increased operational efficiency of mobile assets by helping companies ensure that they send the right resources at the right time to their customer sites.

“We are excited to be working with Fisher Industries and look forward to providing them with quality service for their local service fleets,” said Bert Gillespie, director of sales for Qualcomm Enterprise Services. “Qualcomm’s OmniVision Metro service can help companies boost revenues and improve customer satisfaction because they know exactly where their vehicles and employees are for superior logistical planning and support.”

Service Fleet Manager, the first OmniVision Metro offering, can help improve labor efficiency; reduce ever-increasing fuel, insurance and employee overtime costs; and boost revenue and customer loyalty. Labor efficiency can be improved and overtime costs better controlled by optimizing employee work time and minimizing wasted time for employees. Service Fleet Manager can precisely calculate engine idle time and speed of vehicles, allowing fleets to manage driver behavior proactively to reduce fuel costs and potential accidents. The OmniVision Metro service can also help companies to lower insurance premiums, self-insurance costs and liability exposure by deterring risky driver behavior, quickly locating stolen vehicles and generating reports about off-hour vehicle usage.

Source: Qualcomm