Small and beautiful

With digital products becoming ever smaller, Beijing Weekend Guide zeroes in on two of the smallest hi-tech widgets you can find in town.

Apple released its new iPod shuffle in the middle of March, but Beijing consumers saw it on sale at the Apple Sanlitun Store only last month. This is the third generation of iPod shuffle MP3 players, which is smaller than an AA size battery. Priced at 608 yuan, it comes in two colors - silver and black.

All the controls are located on the earphone cord. The iPod shuffle does not disappoint. It is the first MP3 player which can actually talk to you. The new VoiceOver function enables it spell out your song titles, artists and playlists. It is also multi-lingual and automatically selects the best language for your songs. The small shuffle can "speak" 14 languages including Polish, Greek, Italian, Japanese and French.