Apple launches new sleeker iPod

Apple has announced details of a sleeker, cheaper iPod Nano at a conference in California today (September 9).

Apple Chief Executive Steve Jobs said that the new version of the company's best-selling iPod will be curved and made of aluminium and glass.

The eight-gigabyte version will sell for $149 in the US - $50 cheaper than the previous model - £149 in the UK. A 16-gigabyte version with up to 24 hours of music playback or four hours of video will sell for $199 or £289.

Jobs also unveiled a thinner, $229 version of the iPod Touch with rounded edges and eight gigabytes of storage, reports the Associated Press.

Jobs, who was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in 2004, appeared thin but in good shape at the time of the announcement. Addressing speculations that he may be in ill health, he appeared in front of a screen that flashed, "the reports of my death are greatly exaggerated," a quote made famous by American author Mark Twain.

--By our Los Angeles staff.
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