The highly anticipated release of Apple’s new iPod nano music player happened yesterday with the company’s Chief Executive Steve Jobs presenting the new gadget. Aside from showing off the product’s new features, he also addessed the widely debated health issue as for several weeks now he has been the target of many mean and unverified stories.

A quotation borrowed from Mark Twain saying "The reports of my death are greatly exaggerated" was shown on a screen near the stage, proving that Mr. Jobs can also be funny when the situation calls for it.

He introduced the new models starting with the company’s best seller, the $149 iPod with a storage space of 8 Giga Bytes; its price is now $50 smaller than its predecessor. The following model was the 16 GB version which will sell for $199 and according to the presentation, users will be able to play 24 hours of non-stop music or four hours of video. The show included details for the new $229 Web-connected iPod Touch with rounded edges and a storage space of 8 GB and the Apple’s 32 GB version which will retail for $399.

"I'm not an economist, I don't know if it's going to get better or worse, but I think Apple's faring reasonably well," Mr. Jobs told CNBC after the event, showing that even though Apple holds the lead in the digital music players market, he knows that there are many new factors involved and that it could all take a turn for the worse at any moment. On the other hand, there is a strong possibility that the new features, new design details and new prices to attract new customers, enlarging Apple’s already significantly wide user base.

The new offer also includes some new sets of earbuds. The first set is called Apple Earphones with Remote and Mic and can be used with all the new releases - the 4G Nano, 2G Touch and 120GB Classic. The microphone and remote functions will be disabled if connected to any other iPod device, except for the ones mentioned above. These cost $30 and are the more affordable version. The high-end model costs $80 and offers a woofer, a tweeter and a choice of silicone prophylactics for each bud. There have been many complaints about the many flaws of Apple’s earphones and hopefully the new models have been designed not only for a better sound but also for a longer use.

One of the best and most amusing new features of the iPod Nano, which is also available on the new iPod Touch, iPod Classic and iTunes 8, is Genius. Once a user selects a certain song using Genius, the program creates an instant playlist with 25 other songs from the playlist that share similar musical characteristics - the bigger the music archive, the better the results.

With all this year’s releases and also the upcoming ones from companies all over the world, the market has become extremely competitive. Over the next few months we will get a clear image of what the customers want.