<
A href=”http://www.hp.com”>HP has announced the addition of two new iPods to its Apple iPod from HP product line. The company is bringing the 30 gigabyte and 60GB iPod photo models Apple announced last fall to the HP brand. As with other Apple iPod from HP, the new iPods match Appleis specs, with HP packaging them with USB 2.0 cables that are color coded for HP PCs, along with installation instructions on a poster.
More specifically, the 30GB unit will hold up to 7,500 songs and 25,000 photos, and the 60GB unit holds up to 15,000 songs and 25,000 photos, the same as Appleis versions of the products. Both models can connect to a TV with an optional audio-visual cable accessory for displaying photos.
Unlike Apple, however, HP will not be using the word "photo" in naming the products. Like their non-photo 20GB sibling, these units will carry the name Apple iPod from HP. The company will be relying on packaging and other marketing materials to convey the fact that they are capable of storing, displaying, and sharing photos.
"We wish to avoid confusion between these products and our other photo offerings such as our digital cameras," Ross Camp, a spokesperson for HP, told The Mac Observer.
HP became the first, and so far only, iPod licensee in August of 2004, when it announced 20GB and 40GB iPods. The company also introduced printable Tattoos, a line of printable stick-on covers for all iPods. Apple then introduced the iPod photo in October, but HPis version of the product was nowhere to be seen, until now.
HP currently carries the 20GB and 40GB iPod, but the 40GB unit will be taken down from HPis Web site when the 30GB and 60GB photo units are added. Mr. Camp said that the new units should be added to HP Shopping some time next week, and they are expected in the retail channel shortly thereafter.
Pricing for the devices is the same as Appleis, at US$349 for the 30GB unit, $449 for the 60GB unit, and the 20GB unit will remain at $299.
[Update: This story was updated with additional information from HP regarding naming, availability, and pricing. – Editor]