As if Apple's iPod Shuffle wasn't tiny enough, the company just launched a new even smaller version of the gadget also improved with several fun features.

Seeking to lure buyers as spending on technology slows amid the recession, Apple introduced the smallest music player in the world: a 4GB pinky-sized device, half the size of the previous model, that can hold up to 1,000 songs.

The preshrunk Shuffle also adds a new VoiceOver feature that can speak song titles, artists, and playlist names, as well as provide status information, such as battery life at the touch of a button. The feature was first on the fourth-gen iPod nano, which offered "spoken menus."

Described by Apple as a "fashion tech-cessory," the player can speak 14 languages: including English, Czech, Dutch, French, German, Greek, Italian, Japanese, Mandarin Chinese, Polish, Portuguese, Spanish, Swedish, and Turkish. According to Apple’s vice president of iPod and iPhone Product Marketing, Greg Joswiak, the iPod Shuffle automatically recognizes what language it should speak, but that option can be changed in iTunes.  

"The amazingly small new iPod shuffle takes a revolutionary approach to how you listen to your music by talking to you, also making it the first iPod shuffle with playlists," Joswiak said in a statement.

Priced at $79, the Shuffle comes in an aluminum design with a built-in stainless steel clip available in silver or black. All controls are now located on the earphone cord and allow the user to play, pause, adjust volume, switch playlists and hear the name of the song and artist.