As expected, Apple last week launched iPOD Photo, a new version of its portable digital music player that has been optimized to handle photos as well.

The new iPOD Photo, launched with much fanfare along with a new U2-inspired music-only iPOD, promises digital designers and photo enthusiasts a new way to store and share digital photos. It holds as many as 25,000 digital photos, along with up to 15,000 song files, and comes with a high-resolution color screen optimized for photo viewing. It also features a TV-out link, for displaying photos and slideshows on a TV, as well as improved battery life.

“Having both your entire photo and music collections with you wherever you go is the next big thing,” said Steve Jobs, Apple’s CEO. “Everyone has a digital camera and wants to enjoy and share their growing library of digital photos wherever they are. Unlike video content, photo content is free and abundant, and there are no copyright issues to deal with.”

iPOD Photo comes in two models. The 40GB version costs $499, while the 60GB version costs $599. Both come with a dock with audio and video out, earbud headphones, 1.4m AV cable, 1.2m 30-pin to FireWire cable, a 1.2m 30-pin to USB cable, AC adapter, black carrying case and a CD with iTunes 4.7 for Mac and Windows computers.

Copyright © 2005 Ziff Davis Media Inc. All Rights Reserved. Originally appearing in Publish.