As expected, Apple made several fairly major updates to the iPod / iTunes / iTunes Music Store suite today. Although the long-rumored widescreen "true video" iPod has yet to present itself, we now have the following improvements to the iPod line:

1. New iPod shuffle. Now in the form of a small silver clip to stick anywhere. 1.62" wide. 1 GB. 12 hour battery. $79.

2. New iPod nanos. Now iPod nanos are mini iPod minis. Same shape, finish, and colors (plus black), plus the nano's color screens. Basically the same physical size as previous nanos. 2GB ($149, silver only), 4GB ($199, 4 colors) & 8GB ($249, black only).

3. 5th generation iPod updates. They now play games, downloadable from iTMS. Finally, gapless playback for tracks that flow seamlessly from one to the next. Now in 30GB and 80GB versions. And the best news of the day: the prices are now $249 and $349.

4. iTunes 7 and Music Store additions. Several new items here: Full-length movies available for purchase for a silly $10 each, games downloadable for 5th generation iPod only for $5, new browsing modes, and a new FREE service: using iTMS to get album artwork for songs that don't already have artwork.

For the future, Jobs also made a rare pre-release product announcement today. Next year, we'll see a new living room device tentatively called the iTV in a box a little smaller than a Mac mini, the primary function of which appears to be a video version of Airport, so that you can stream music and video from your computer to your television elsewhere in the house.