iPod nano... Hot cakes

Now this is sexy!

Today Apple announced the iPod nano, a very elegant, slim digital player that supersedes the iPod Mini (which is no longer listed on Apple's website but is there if you know the URL).

Super slim, light and a bright colour screen are three of the great form factors of this cute little gadget. Long battery life, great sound quality are two others in this latest move that surely will cement iPod as the coolest brand on the planet at the moment - and no doubt will sell like hots cakes.

Two models on offer - 2 gigs to hold 500 songs/podcasts and 4 gigs to hold 1,000. Pricing in the US starts at $199, according to Apple's website. What's interesting is that, unlike the iPod and iPod Mini, storage is flash memory, not a hard drive, which will means 100% skip-free listening. Similar, in fact, to the iPod Shuffle.

Full features list here.

Simultaneously, Apple has launched iTunes version 5 which has some interesting new features such as syncing with Outlook and Outlook Express on Windows PCs (clearly targeting business users), and with the Motorola ROKR E1 - the so-called iTunes phone that has garnered plenty of media talk recently.

And talk about coolness (and co-branding) - you can now buy all six Harry Potter books as audiobooks as well as buy a special Harry Potter-branded iPod.

Christmas is less than four months away. All hot cakes, no question.