Feeling underwhelmed by the keynote?

There was a definite feeling of disappointment in the air amongst the ranks of Europe's technology press as we sat watching the keynote live from San Francisco on a big screen at the press event in London last night. We all wanted an iPod touch with a camera in it, and judging from the comments that were coming into our Live Blog of the event, our readers did as well. However, Steve's "One more thing" turned out to be an updated iPod nano stuffed with even more features with nary a mention of the touch in sight.

Firstly though, let me just say that it was great to see Steve back at the helm, where he belongs. But even Steve's presence didn't save Apple's "It's only Rock 'n' Roll" event from being a bit of a wash out. Sure, we got some nice additions in the new iTunes 9 (particularly Home Sharing), new 3.1 software for the iPhone and iPod touch, and the new games for the iPod touch that were previewed all looked great. The new iPod nano with an FM radio, video camera and larger screen is a very nifty device, too.

(Our sister site, TechRadar, has already posted its official iTunes 9 review!)

Oh, and before I forget, Apple updated the iTunes Store to make it easier to buy things, but the new iTunes LP feature (which bundles video interviews, album artwork animations, liner notes and lyrics) doesn't half remind me of those "multimedia CD-ROMs" that we had back in the '90s when the CD-ROM drive was cutting edge. (I should know, I started my journalism career off on CD-ROM Today magazine!)

However, the new releases all felt much more like simple spec bumps and not the giant leaps forward we're used to seeing from Apple, a company that likes to push the boundaries of technology. So what's going on? Steve Jobs comments after the event in an interview with David Pogue of the New York Times were telling:

"Originally, we weren’t exactly sure how to market the Touch. Was it an iPhone without the phone? Was it a pocket computer? What happened was, what customers told us was, they started to see it as a game machine,' he said. 'We started to market it that way, and it just took off. And now what we really see is it’s the lowest-cost way to the App Store, and that’s the big draw. So what we were focused on is just reducing the price to $199. We don’t need to add new stuff. We need to get the price down where everyone can afford it."

And that's exactly what Apple did. The 8GB iPod touch is now a very tempting £149, and if I hear the phrase "most affordable gateway" to the App Store one more time I'll scream, but that's exactly what it is.

Be warned though: the iPod touch did get a spec bump but only the 32GB and new 64GB models are "50% faster" and capable of better graphics, so before you head off to the Apple Store with your credit card in hand you might want to think about whether it's worth spending that little bit extra and getting the £229 32GB model. Especially if you want to future proof yourself against the next generation of iPod touch games, which will inevitably make more demands on the processor.

Of course, if money is no object then I can almost hear the 64GB (£299) model calling your name right now...