Secrets of the iPod shuffle

So, Apple’s released a new iPod shuffle, but why should we, and more importantly you, care about the runt of the iPod litter? Well, it’s got loads of new features, some obvious, some not so obvious. Here are the most important…

Talk this way…
The new iPod shuffle needs iTunes 8.1 to work. That’s because it has text-to-voice tech built in. It’ll read through the ID3 tags in your iTunes library and turn them into the sound snippets to be read out when you pop them on the new iPod shuffle. But don’t worry if you’re expecting more mis-pronunciations than an ITV4 presenter, VoiceOver works in 14 languages, and even better, it’ll automatically detect what language your songs are in, reading them out in the appropriate tongue. Should you prefer English still, not to worry: you can manually override it as well.

Shuffle on now…
The VoiceOver function might sound like a gimmick, but it’s actually pretty good. It’s quiet and unobtrusive and a definite improvement on the previous shuffle. You can skip to the next track with a simple double tap on the earphones widget, but if you want a fast read-out of all the tracks stored away inside, you can skip through read-outs too! Double tap while the new iPod shuffle is reading out a song listing to you and it’ll start reading out the next, and so on. Easy.

Multiple playlists
The new iPod shuffle allows for multiple playlists, a useful little feature if you want specific tunes for running, and then something a little less pumping for going to work. You can activate a playlist read-out by holding the middle button down for several seconds, or you can skip through them by hitting the + and – buttons. Choosing a playlist kicks it off instantly, as there’s absolutely no loading time.

What’s the (battery) time, Mr Wolf?
Apple says you’ll get a good ten hours of listening on the new iPod shuffle out of one charge, but it can be hard to tell how much time you’ve got left without a screen. The VoiceOver function will alert you once the juice runs down to 25 per cent, but did you know it’s possible to get the new iPod shuffle to tell you whenever you want? All you have to do is turn the shuffle off and on again and it’ll trigger a status update.

Greener than green
As well as being made from recyclable anodized aluminium, and of course being even smaller than the previous version (40 per cent smaller in fact), the new iPod shuffle comes in an even smaller box. That means less packaging, and therefor, less waste. Green star to Apple.

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