Apple unveils video-playing iPod

Owners of the latest addition to the hugely popular iPod family will be able to download the latest prime-time TV shows onto …

Owners of the latest addition to the hugely popular iPod family will be able to download the latest prime-time TV shows onto its new wide iPod.

Users can buy programmes such as Desperate Housewivesand download them the day after broadcast directly on to the iMac or iPod.

Computer giant Apple announced its new wide iPod, which is 30 per cent thinner and has 50 per cent more storage than the existing model. It stores homemade movies as well as music videos and will be launched with a new series of iPod advertisements.

The new iPod - which comes in black and white - will go on sale in the United States next week.

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The 30 gigabyte model stores 7,500 songs, 25,000 photos or up to 75 hours of video. A 60 gig model stores 15,000 songs, 25,000 photos or 150 hours of video.

Apple chief executive Steve Jobs said 75 per cent of all mp3 players now sold were iPods.

The new model comes hot on the heels of iPod nano - which sold one million in the first 20 days after its launch. "We could not meet demand," Mr Jobs said.