New iPod Shuffle. Skip The Engraving

Apple has released a smaller version of the iPod Shuffle, now holding 4GB of music at the same $79 price as the last generation 2gb model. Of note, this model introduces VoiceOver to tell you what song/artist is playing. (Very handy for all those songs you load onto your iPod without knowing what they are, or who sang them.) On a more useful development, VoiceOver can be used to navigate to different playlists as well. The shrinking of the shuffle comes at the expense of moving the controls to the earbuds, so if you plan on using other headphones, wait for the inevitable 3rd party products (that will be bigger than the shuffle) to allow you to use your favorite buds.

And, as our title says, it looks like engraving on this model will be so small as to be laughable, so skip it. We called our local Apple Store, and they "may" have them tomorrow. The Apple Store online indicates they will be available in stores tomorrow. We also checked on price drops for the existing models, but gave up after our 7-minute phone hold while someone checked. Which reminds us, don't call the retail stores, just go there , or try to find the info online. (1GB last gen shuffles online are $49.)