In what's no doubt another attempt to take some PR away from Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ: MSFT), Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: APPL) announced a new version of the iPod shuffle.

Now, you can get your smallish music playing needs fulfilled by a range of different colors. Just in time for Valentines Day, get your pink, green, orange, blue and silver shuffles for $79. Noticeably absent? The (product)RED version for AIDS research ... guess you gotta keep those margins on some products. As always, if you order from Apple's own site, you can laser engrave a two-line message on the itty-bitty exterior.

Again, nothing revolutionary, but with the release of Windows Vista, you gotta get your name in somehow, right?

[Via Engadget]

Apple's 1 GB second-generation iPod shuffle is rumored to be the unexpected bestseller of Apple's entire iPod empire, analyst Shaw Wu at American Technology Research claimed. AppleInsider has been told that the iPod shuffle is in extremely high demand this month with sales tracking in excess of 5 million for the quarter. Mega retailer Target estimates a minimum two week delay on the shuffle order and as of last Friday Amazon.com was out of stock in its warehouses.

Marked by this high demand were remarks of "tremendous" and "phenomenal" from Phil Schiller, Apple vice president of worldwide sales. I know from user experience that the first generation shuffle had some problems with the battery life. Apparently, this next-gen Shuffle must be drastically improved for it to post the sales numbers reported this month. We'll see if this high demand continues through the holiday season. If it does, this portends glad tidings for Apple shareholders.

Apple Computer, Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) saw a very nice increase in the stock price today. The computer manufacturer ended at $82.45, up 2.41% or $1.94. That's a big leap in price. A lot of it might be attributed to news stories today about the tremendous interest in the new iPod shuffle. Apple's head of marketing thinks the new iPod shuffle is going to basically rock out for Apple with holiday sales, and as a lot of Apple investors are fair-weather iPod investors, it helps convince more people to jump aboard.

In a previous post, I said "I'm not sure how much the Shuffle will contribute to the bottom line for the holiday sales with Apple. The Nano will probably have higher margins and a bigger impact, but the Shuffle is a nice price point and should move fairly well. Having them available at the start of November will certainly add to sales as that initial burst of sales comes out. Certainly the form factor will be more attractive than the previous Shuffle, I wouldn't be surprised for Shuffle 2.0 to do better than Shuffle 1.0 for Apple." I still think this will hold true.

Another boost for holiday sales will be the MacBook. The latest upgrade gives the MacBook the latest Intel Core 2 Duo chip for $1099 and on up. The consumer level notebooks are heavy hitters in Apple's lineup, so expect this and the shuffle to help Apple stuff some stockings this winter.

Tobias Buckell is an author, freelance writer, and professional blogger who owns Apple stock.

Apple's new iPod Shuffle (or Shuffle 2.0 as some have been calling it) will arrive in retail stores this Friday. The company announced the device well back in September at their 'Showtime' event in San Francisco along with the iTV, and it has taken a while for the Shuffle to actually ship. Apple said at their last earnings report that the unit would ship 'at the end of October' or 'in a few weeks' so they are hitting their shipping date as forecast.

The new Shuffle has an aluminum case, a built in clip, and is even smaller than the original Shuffle (it looks about the size of a matchbook). It will be $79 and holds 1GB of songs. You can see what it looks like in its retail packaging over at our sister site, Engadget.

I'm not sure how much the Shuffle will contribute to the bottom line for the holiday sales with Apple. The Nano will probably have higher margins and a bigger impact, but the Shuffle is a nice price point and should move fairly well. Having them available at the start of November will certainly add to sales as that initial burst of sales comes out. Certainly the form factor will be more attractive than the previous Shuffle, I wouldn't be surprised for Shuffle 2.0 to do better than Shuffle 1.0 for Apple.