Movin' right along
Music on the go, isn’t that what your iPod is all about? Well, that’s certainly where the shuffle starts; as the smallest of the newest generation of iPods, the shuffle sports a durable, sleek body made from a single piece of aluminum, and then polished to a beautiful shine so you can appreciate it’s style. The shuffle is easy to carry around, and keep within easy reach, thanks to a clip that you can attach to your clothing.
Good things come in little packages
Just because it’s the smallest of the new iPods doesn’t mean the shuffle is the runt of the litter. With 2GB of storage space, you can store hundreds of songs , so there’s plenty of space available for your favorite music. Or podcasts. Or audiobook. Or . . . well you get the idea. Plus, with up to 15 hours of battery life on a single charge, you’ve got plenty of time to enjoy it.
Making your lists
Sometimes you just want to randomly go through your music, letting it take you where it will, but sometimes you just have a certain group of songs you want to go through. Luckily, the shuffle is ready for you with the ability to support multiple play lists imported from your iTunes library. Have a certain set you like to sweat to, another group to travel with, and a third list that gets you through the rest of the day? No worries, you can load them all on the shuffle and change them at your leisure.
Your own personal DJ
It shouldn’t come as much of a surprise by now, but there’s a musical Genius lurking inside your iTunes music library. By enabling the Genius feature in iTunes, it dynamically creates lists of songs that go together from your library. Once you’ve got a list you like (or maybe just a list that intrigues you), import it to your shuffle and you’ll be able to listen on the go. And of course, the more information you give it, the smarter your Genius becomes — so don’t be shy about rating your music and adding to your library!
Voice killed the video screen
While iTunes may have its Genius, the shuffle is a language master with its voiceover feature. Rather than relying on your eyes, the VoiceOver feature can read back everything from song titles and artists, to play list names. Plus, it can do it in 25 languages (it picked up 5 more since the last shuffle), so even if you’re going from Canadian Punk to Turkish Arabesque, your shuffle will be able to identify your songs to you.
Pushing your buttons . . . in a good way
With so many options for audio, it’s important to be able to control it on the go. Thankfully, the shuffle features large, easy to use buttons right up front to make control a breeze. Intuitively placed, the center button lets you play and pause, while the left and right buttons push your play list forward and back, as well as control the VoiceOver functionality for play lists and Genius mixes. Up and down controls your volume, so you can choose how loud things get. The top buttons control how your music flows, allowing you to select whether you want to let the shuffle live up to its name, or just play straight through your library or playlists, as well as give you quick access to VoiceOver.
Easy being
It shouldn’t be too surprising that a company as dedicated to good design would also be dedicated to good environmental stewardship, and the iPod shuffle is a great example of their dedication. Not only is the shuffle free of brominated flame retardant and PVC, but the aluminum enclosure is highly recyclable as well – so even after it plays its last note, you can be sure it just become a waste of space. And speaking of waste, Apple has reduced the amount of packaging they use as well, to the tune of it being 60% smaller, and 53% lighter. That’s music to anyone’s ears.
In the box:
Included with your purchase of the iPod shuffle are: Apple Earphones, iPod shuffle USB cable (45mm), Quick Start Guide and other product information, and the iPod shuffle.
