This is trend-setting and is part of what will change how people engage with Media. The key idea behind this sort of technology is to combine tools, and allow individuals to listen to what they want when they want to. Media is going one-on-one, instead of the old-world fashion of “broad”casting.

By GREG SANDOVAL
AP Technology Writer

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Apple Computer Inc. CEO Steve Jobs introduced a music-playing phone Wednesday that is capable of storing about 100 songs, as well as a pencil-thin version of the iPod, the company’s ubiquitous digital music device.

The iPhone, made by Motorola Inc. and loaded with iTunes software, can store podcasts as well as music. Users can transfer songs to the device from their PC or Macintosh computers and make calls through Cingular Wireless.

“It’s an iPod shuffle right on your phone,” said Jobs, Apple’s chief executive officer, who noted that both the iPhone and iPod shuffle both randomly sort music, hold about the same number of songs and have display screens.

Jobs also introduced the pencil-thin iPod Nano, which will replace the iPod Mini. It is one-third the size of the Mini and holds 1,000 songs.

“It’s impossibly small,” Jobs said at the Moscone Convention Center. “It’s thinner than a No. 2 pencil.”

The Nano can store music, games, photos and a calendar. It also has a “screen lock” feature that allows no one except the user to access content.

A 4-gigabyte Nano will retail for $249, and a 2-gigabyte model will sell for $199. Both versions will be available in stores this weekend, Jobs said.

Music-playing cell phones could emerge as a competitor to the iPod, some analysts predict. By branching into phones, Apple would hope to secure its place as the kingpin of digital music regardless of what device is used to listen.

Shares of Apple rose 21 cents to $49.01 in afternoon trading on the Nasdaq Stock Market.

Tags: Motorola, iTunes, Apple, iPod, Mobile Phones, iPhone, Rumors, Cingular.