First looks at new iPod Nano, Touch, Apple TV, iTunes

First looks at new iPod Nano, Touch, Apple TV, iTunes Few if any major surprises emerged from Apple's press event here Wednesday. The crowd was more or less expecting a new iPod Touch with front and rear cameras and FaceTime video calling that makes it that much more like an iPhone 4 — without the phone part or a wireless contract.

And no one was shocked that Apple CEO Steve Jobs unveiled a smaller and, at $99, far cheaper version of the Apple TV set-top box that Jobs often has referred to as a "hobby."And with "social" the mantra of all things tech nowadays, the appearance of the new music-oriented Ping social network inside iTunes 10 — it borrows elements from Twitter and Facebook— also shouldn't have come out of left field.

Over the coming weeks, I plan to try out all of Apple's new offerings. In the meantime, here are some quick thoughts:The iPod Nano used to be the most popular iPod. That distinction surprisingly now belongs to the more expensive iPod Touch.Both devices are getting a makeover as is however the ever-more-diminutive iPod Shuffle, now just $49 with 2 gigabytes of storage.