SAN FRANCISCO, Jan. 6 (UPI) -- Apple CEO Steve Jobs kicked off Macworld Expo in San Francisco Tuesday by announcing a smaller and less expensive iPod music player, CNET News said.
Known as "iPod mini," it uses a newgeneration of tiny hard disks, holds 4GB of storage -- or about 1,000 songs -- in a half-inch thick case the size of a business card.
The device, which will cost $$@$!249 and come in a choice of five colors, will be available in the United States in February and worldwide in April.
The new iPod could help Apple retain its lead in the market for portable MP3 players.
The announcement of the music player marked the beginning of the 20th anniversary year of Apple's Macintosh computer, a landmark product for the computer maker.
"We've got a lot of things on the way," Jobs said. "It's going to be a great 20th anniversary year."
