Today, Steve Jobs / Apple unveiled some tasty iPod news, and I have no choice but to blog about it. Taking the stage at a San Francisco press conference in true Jobs style (turtleneck and jeans!), he revealed a completely “refreshed” line of iPods, including three new devices and a price drop for the iPhone. Highlights follow:

1.) iPhone users will be able to create ringtones from eligible songs in their own iTunes library (for an extra 99 cents).

2.) In addition to the Nano and iPod Classic, Apple is releasing an iPod Touch, which is basically a thinner iPhone without the phone. (The Touch comes with YouTube, Safari and Wi-Fi.)

3.) The iTunes music store will be available for both the Touch and the iPhone, meaning you can now purchase songs through the device itself, assuming you’ve got a Wi-Fi connection. (We’ve been waiting for this for a long time, Steve.)

4.) Price cut: 4G iPhones are being killed off, while the 8G model will be available for $399 as opposed to the original $599 price. Always sucks to be an early adopter.

5.) In news most relevant to the future of marketing, Apple also announced a partnership with Starbucks: Using your Wi-Fi music store, you’ll be able to automatically identify whatever song is currently playing at the Starbucks you’re having a cup of coffee at, and (of course) buy it with one click. This makes sense because Starbucks co-produces music and will now have the chance to feature their content via location-aware iPods. Applebucks service will be available in most major metro areas by late 2008.

*Whew!* Complete liveblogged coverage and commentary of the press conference can be found here at Engadget. I also recommend watching video of the event, if only to revel in Steve Jobs’ showmanship.

This week I finally pulled the plug on my Verizon account and got everything ported over to the iPhone. All is well and good, except for this growing stack of unused mobile devices on my desk. Fortunately, there are a number of options for responsible reuse or recycling of old phones, outlined in detail at exPhone.

The average American mobile user owns three or more phones, and most of these end up in landfills. So if you have any exPhones that have been put to pasture, be sure to wipe out all your data, then donate the device to a good cause or simply recycle it.

Apple offers a simple service — they send you an envelope, you send back your phones (or iPods!), and they take care of the recycling for you. (Or maybe Steve Jobs is collecting old parts to build a giant robot.)

In other mobile device news: GeoHot hacked the iPhone, de-coupled it from the AT&T network, and then traded it for a Nissan 350z. Meanwhile, Engadget and Crunchgear have more rumors about the GooglePhone.

Resembling one of those mysterious black monoliths from 2001: A Space Odyssey, an iPhone has landed in the Lava Row office. And it is truly life-changing.

Believe the hype. (And for residents here in Iowa, ignore all those rumors about the iPhone not being available until 2009, or that AT&T’s wireless service won’t extend well to our state. I am excited to say that both are false.)

What’s great about the iPhone? Browsing the real Web with Safari. Painlessly putting together a conference call within seconds. Streaming YouTube content in full glory. Earbuds with a built-in mic. This list goes on and on. Finally, it’s now possible to deliver rich entertainment and information to a mobile device.

How can the iPhone improve? Unfortunately, the device is locked down, making it difficult for developers to build customized software applications on top of it. Apple should go open source with future versions. Not that that’s stopped anyone: Today on Salon, Farhad Manjoo posted a great article about hackers who have already cracked open the iPhone.