The iPod Shuffle was introduced into the market in 2005 and was positioned as an affordable digital audio player in the iPod family. (The second generation also claims to be the world's smallest MP3 player when it was launched in 2006). And it was just about two weeks ago that Apple announced the new iPod Shuffle, the 3rd generation since its first appearance.

So what's the difference between the new one and its older siblings? If you look at the above pic, you can tell that the 3rd generation iPod Shuffle is slimmer in size and the manufacturer has done away with the volume and track controls.

The new iPod Shuffle has the tagline "The first music player that talks to you". Well, not exactly "talk" to you, but it has a cool VoiceOver feature that will announce your song title, artist name and playlist when you want. It will even tell you if your battery is low and needs charging too.

Here's a brief overview of its specifications:

Input and Output 3.5mm stereo headphone jack
Capacity 4GB flash drive (holds up to 1,000 songs
in 128kbps AAC format)
Supported audio formats AAC (16 to 320 Kbps), Protected AAC (from iTunes
Store), MP3 (16 to 320 Kbps), MP3 VBR, Audible
(formats 2, 3, and 4), Apple Lossless, WAV, AIFF
Battery Built-in rechargeabe lithium polymer; up to 10hr
playback time; charging via USB to computer
Dimension 45.2 x 17.5 x 7.8mm (including clip)
Weight 10.7g
System requirements Mac computer with Mac OX X (v10.4.11 or later) or
PC with Windows XP or Vista, USB port, iTunes 8.1
or later and Internet access