Apple has launched a new talking version of its iPod shuffle music player on Wednesday, which uses VoiceOver technology to speak aloud the titles of songs and the names of artists and playlists.

The new 4 gigabyte Shuffle will be priced at $79 and carry up to 1,000 songs, double the amount of the last generation of Shuffles.

The stainless steel shuffle is half the size of its predecessor and smaller than an AA battery. The device provides around 10 hours of music playback on a single battery charge.

There are no buttons on the shuffle, instead it is controlled by a button on the earphone cord, which allows users to play and pause songs, adjust the volume, move through playlists, and listen to track information.

The new VoiceOver feature announces the songs to users in 14 different languages including Czech, Dutch and Mandarin as well as English.

“Imagine your music player talking to you, telling you your song titles, artists and playlist names,” said Greg Joswiak, Apple’s vice president of iPod and iPhone product marketing.

“The new iPod shuffle is the world’s smallest music player and takes a revolutionary approach to how you listen to your music by talking to you, also making it the first iPod shuffle with playlists.”

For the time being, Apple is keeping the current-design 1 GB Shuffle in the product line as the least expensive iPod at $49. However, the 2 GB $69 version will be discontinued.

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