Everything you love about iPod just got tinier. iPod mini lets you bring along enough music for a three-day weekend getaway in a package so small you'll forget you're carrying it. Until people ask you about it, that is. Available on Mac and Windows for just $249.

Fashionably Compact

Apple engineers squeezed all the best features of iPod into a case weighing just 3.6 ounces and smaller than any cell phone(1). iPod mini features an anodized aluminium case that resists stains and scratches. The case weighs practically nothing, but protects iPod mini in your pocket, purse or backpack. Recessed in the case to keep its surface pristine wherever you lay it, the 1.67 inch (diagonal) backlit screen displays full song names and more. Like its (slightly) bigger brother, iPod mini gives you over 25 minutes of skip protection and lasts up to 8 hours on a single battery charge. So you won't pay a penalty for miniaturization.

Can Touch This

In fact, all the features of iPod are still under your thumb. Always striving for perfection, Apple engineers moved the iPod's buttons under the wheel. The iPod mini Click Wheel gives you the enhanced durability and sensitivity of the iPod Touch Wheel, with buttons underneath. The Click Wheel takes best advantage of miniscule space and lets you scroll single handedly though 1,000 songs from your iTunes music collection. You'll find such thoughtful construction only from Apple. Because try as they might, the competition can't touch this.

"iPod has revolutionized the way people listen to music," said Steve Jobs, Apple's CEO. "iPod mini joins the iPod family of best-selling digital music players, offering customers the same 1,000 songs in your pocket as the original iPod in an innovative design that's half the size. We think its going to be pretty popular, especially with younger music lovers."

iPod mini is the perfect combination of ultra-portable design, storage capacity, ease-of-use and audio performance. iPod mini is smaller than most cell phones and weighs only 3.6 ounces. Building on the success of the original touch wheel, iPod mini features an innovative, new Click Wheel that combines the ease and simplicity of a touch wheel with the precision of mechanical buttons for precise, one-handed navigation. iPod mini users can transfer a song per second from their Mac(R) or Windows computer and conveniently charge iPod mini with either the included FireWire or USB 2.0 cable.

iPod mini features Apple's patent pending Auto-Sync technology that automatically downloads an entire digital music library onto iPod mini and keeps it up-to-date whenever iPod mini is plugged into a Mac or Windows computer using FireWire or USB 2.0.

Users can personalize their new iPod mini with a custom laser engraving on the back. iPod mini can be custom engraved with a name or personal message to commemorate special events such as a graduation, birthday or a winning team's season, as well as for identification in case they lose their iPod.

Oh, one other minor detail, you can choose your iPod mini in one of five trend-setting colors: silver, gold, green, pink or blue.

I have to admit; I've been holding out. And now I'm glad. Thank you, all you Apple engineers, for offering an iPod that is smaller than my cell phone! I think I'll go for the gold!!

~Jennifer

P.S. Look for Apple's new store opening in Union Square this Spring.