Apple plans 2GB iPod Shuffle, cuts price on 1GB player

Apple on Tuesday shuffled (har, har) its lineup of matchbook-size digital music players, announcing a new iPod Shuffle with double the storage space and slashing the price of its 1GB models to $49.

The 2GB version of the screenless flash memory-based player will cost $69 and be available for sale later this month, Apple said in a statement. That's less than the previous price for a new 1GB model, at $79. (Apple has, however, been selling refurbished 1GB Shuffles for $49 in recent months.)

Both models, which sport a built-in clip, are slated to come in five colors: silver, blue, green, purple, and red--for the (Product) Red lineup, a corporate charity movement that donates a portion of sales from designated products to the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria.

Apple released the second generation of the teensy gadget, which weighs half an ounce and measures half a cubic inch in volume, in November 2006. It has refreshed the Shuffle's colors on a few occasions since then.