Apple pulled back the curtain on its latest generation of iPods on Wednesday (September 9), the same day the company unexpectedly announced a price cut on a family of previous-generation MP3 players.

While the big news for Apple geeks was that boss Steve Jobs was on hand to deliver the news after months out of the spotlight due to health problems, the major headline — aside from the price drops — was the new line of iPod Touches, which have twice the capacity at the same price. The 32GB model will retail for $299, while the 64GB goes for $399. There is also the standard 8GB, which is now available at $199.

Among the price changes were $20 to $100 drops in cost for a range of models, including the 32GB iPod Touch ($399 to $279), the 16GB Touch ($299-$249), the Nano (from $129) and the hefty 120GB Classic ($249 to $229). Prices were also dropped for the Shuffle, which comes in 2GB ($59) and 4GB ($79) and a polished-steel 4GB ($99).

The new iPod Nano now comes with a video camera, mic and speaker and a larger, 2.2-inch color display, a pedometer and built-in FM radio with live pause and the ability to tag songs for later purchase in the iTunes store. The 8GB model costs $149, and the 16GB is $179.

Jobs also announced the latest operating system for the iPhone, OS 3.1, which adds better voice control through Bluetooth, smoother video editing and faster boot-up times. He also talked about iTunes 9, the latest version of the company's hallmark download site, which will now have Home Sharing — a program that allows you to share TV shows, movies, audiobooks and music on up to five computers in a network — as well as the ability to manage how your apps show up on your iPhone or iPod Touch directly in iTunes.

Other upgrades to iTunes include Genius Mixes, an iTunes LP app that offers photography, liner notes, live performance videos, interviews and lyrics on select albums, which currently include Bob Dylan's Highway 61 Revisited, Dave Matthews Band's Big Whiskey and the GrooGrux King and Norah Jones' Come Away With Me. There is also an iTunes Extra for movies, which offers deleted scenes, interviews and interactive galleries for movies such as "Twilight," "Batman Begins" and "WALL-E."