Apple's Invite Only Product Release Session In San Francisco

Apple held an invite only event today, which was surprisingly hosted by CEO Steve Jobs. This was Jobs' first appearance since October 2008 as he has been recovering from a liver transplant. Some interesting iPod and iTunes updates to look out for in the near future.

Apple introduced an updated version of the iPod Nano that sports a built-in video camera and microphone located on the lower left-hand side. It also features a slightly larger 2.2-inch display, up from 2 inches. There is still no Wi-Fi, or built-in Web browser, so users will first have to sync the videos to their computers to access and edit the files. The upgraded device also has an FM tuner, which lets users listen to radio tracks. This is a feature iPod users have been pining for, for a very long time.

Apple announced the release Wednesday of OS 3.1, which will be a free update to iPhone users and $4.95 to iPod Touch owners.
With 3.1, users on both platforms can now get Genius recommendations for applications they've purchased. These show up in the App Store app, as well as in iTunes, and function in a similar fashion to how Genius for music works. It takes your purchase information and sends it to Apple, which will analyze it for similar purchases, and offer up recommendations. This may end up being a more precise system since there are fewer apps than music tracks.
3.1 also adds a new security feature for iPhone owners--the capability to lock down the device over the air using MobileMe. Previously, if your phone was lost or stolen, this feature would only be enabled if the user had set it that way.
iTunes 9
Apple introduced a new version of iTunes, which offers iPhone and iPod Touch users a way to better organize applications they have added to the device. Users can now drag and drop apps to multiple home screens at once, instead of doing so on the device itself.

Read the rest of the story here, provided by cNET.