Music Goes Mini With New iPod

Jul 08, 2004 07:55 AM EDT

Apple’s popular digital music player iPod is shrinking its size for even greater portability. Apple announced that the mini iPod will launch July 24 around the world.

Due to more-than-expected demand and slow production the player was postponed for 3 months. Apple has already received over 100,000 pre-release orders for the mini iPod and demand is still growing.

We had planned supply to last through late June, [and] now we expect to be able to catch up with demand," said Greg Joswiak, Apple vice president of hardware product and worldwide product marketing.

The music player that weighs just 3.6 ounces comes in a case smaller than any cell phone and is capable of holding up to 1,000 praise songs on its 4-gigabyte hard drive. An extensive collection of Christian contemporary music, gospel and praise songs can be downloaded onto the player from Apple’s online music store, iTunes.

"The iPod mini has been a smash hit in the US, and we're thrilled to finally be able to offer it to music lovers the world over," said Steve Jobs, Apple's chief executive.

The mini iPod will sell for $249 or its US equivalent price world-wide.