If you can’t wait for the much-hyped iPhone or prefer to retain your current handset, now comes the “iPhone without the phone”.

Apple yesterday announced the launch of its new iPod line-up on the Thai market, including the iPod touch.

Although it cannot be used for making a call, the iPod touch includes the multi-touch interface and Wi-Fi wireless networking of the revolutionary iPhone.

Apple has said it will not introduce the iPhone in Asia before next year. Many people have started to import unlocked iPhones from the United States. Apple has locked the iPhone to oblige users to buy the handset with a two-year subscription contract with AT&T. On some Thai websites, an 8GB iPhone is selling for Bt23,000.

Apple is introducing the iPod touch to the Thai market at the retail price of Bt12,990 for the 8GB model and Bt16,690 for the 16GB model.

An Apple executive argued that the iPod touch was not simply an iPhone without a call function. “It’s nearly half an inch thinner. You get a different feeling when you carry the iPod touch,” he said.

EY  Yeo, senior iPod marketing manager for Asia-Pacific, said he was delighted to have the iPod touch with him at the press conference.

“Thailand is one of the first countries where we have had the iPod touch to show at the press briefing,” he said.

Yeo admitted that the new line-up of iPods could not yet support Thai-language fonts.

Sources said Apple still had to solve some technical problems to enable the iPod touch, which has a touch-screen keyboard, to perform Thai inputs.

Yeo said Apple had put all the iPhone’s innovations into the iPod touch, which is only eight millimetres thick.

At the press conference in Bangkok, Apple also introduced updated versions of the iPod nano, iPod classic and iPod shuffle.

Despite being almost the same price as previous models, the third-generation iPod nano has twice the memory capacity, a bigger screen and can play video, Yeo said. The 4GB iPod nano is Bt6,490 and the 8GB nano is Bt8,690.

The tag line for the iPod classic is “hold everything”, thanks to its enlarged capacity of up to 160GB.

“In October 2001, when we first introduced the iPod, it had only 5GB capacity for storing only 1,000 songs and it was quite heavy and big. Now we have this one that can hold music, photos, podcasts, videos, games and other data, but it is thinner,” said Yeo.

The 80GB iPod classic can play music for up to 30 hours, with its battery life increased by more than 100 per cent from its predecessor.

The 160GB iPod classic can play audio files continuously for 40 hours - long enough for you to hold a party for almost two days, Yeo said with a grin.

Pichaya Changsorn, The Nation

Current prices and facts listed from Apple.com
iPod Nano: 4GB is $149/ 8GB is $199 iPod Classic: 80GB is $249/ 160GB is $349 iPod Touch: 8GB is $299/ 16GB is $399