Apple quietly announced Tuesday that they’re releasing new iPhones and iPod Touch players with larger hard drive capacities.

The updated iPhone now has a maximum flash drive size of 16GB and retails for $499. The 8GB model remains at $399.

The new iPod Touch can now be bought with a 32GB flash drive. Pricing remains the same on the older models. That makes for 3 iPod Touch models–8GB for $299; 16GB for $399; and 32GB for $499.

Sadly the announcement didn’t include a “3G” iPhone, which is reported to be released sometime in 2008. The move was probably meant to breath some life into the lines between major product refreshes, and hopefully boost sagging iPod sales.

I’m still living with my now-warranty-replaced AT&T 8525, so without a 3G iPhone I’m still going to be waiting. Had the low-end iPod Touch dropped in price I might have considered getting a replacement for my old 4th generation iPod (it really makes the kiddies do a double take when I pull it out…it’s a brick, has a small screen, and no color or video…gasp!). Ohh well, I’ll bide my time. I hope it temporarily provides a boost in phone/player sales, as I could certainly use a boost in the stock price. The announcements seemed to do little at all to stop APPL shares from sinking further Wednesday. It’s a good thing I’ve got many years to recover my retirement account. It’s a bad thing that the retirement isn’t likely to come early now :-(


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