Apple announces the availability of downloading audio shows, called podcasts, with its release of iTunes 4.9., and says all of its new high-end iPods will come with color screens.

ITunes 4.9, the companion service to the popular iPod music player, will allow users to subscribe to over 3,000 free Podcasts and have each new episode automatically delivered via the Internet to their computer and iPod.

Through a software update available from Apple's Web site, IPods will now offer a Podcast menu, including bookmarking within a podcast and the ability to display podcast artwork in color.

The new models will cost $299 for a 20-gigabyte model and $399 for 60 gigabytes.

Separately, Apple will no longer sell high-capacity iPods with monochrome screens, although screens on the smaller iPod mini line are unchanged.

Apple says it would combine its iPod and iPod Photo lines, creating a single line of high-capacity music players that all feature color displays.

Podcasts, which Apple Vice President Greg Joswiak called "the next generation of radio," have surged in popularity since late in 2004, and will work on any digital MP3 player. The phenomenon allows users to create and upload their own audio programs on the Web, which then can be downloaded to multimedia players at a later date.

Source: Xinhua/agencies