Apple has launched its iPod shuffle, a breakthrough digital music player which is based on the successful iPod but costs less than £70.

The latest music player uses cheaper flash memory rather than hard drives, which are used in more expensive iPods.

It is the most affordable iPod and available in two models: 512MB holding up to 120 songs for just £69 and 1GB holding up to 240 songs for just £99.

iPod shuffle is based on iPod’s pioneering and widely-used shuffle feature, which randomly selects songs from the user’s music library or playlists.

It automatically selects songs from a user’s music library to fill up iPod shuffle with just one click.

Chief executive Steve Jobs introduced the new machine at his annual MacWorld speech, in San Francisco.

He said: "iPod shuffle is smaller and lighter than a pack of gum and costs less than £70. With most flash-memory music players users must use tiny displays and complicated controls to find their music; with iPod shuffle you just relax and it serves up new combinations of your music every time you listen."

Users can choose to listen to their music in order rather than shuffled and they can conveniently charge and transfer music from their Mac or PC by plugging iPod shuffle directly into a USB port.

iPod shuffle is the newest member of Apple’s wildly popular iPod family for both Mac and PC which includes the fourth generation iPod, the iPod mini, the iPod U2 Special Edition and iPod photo.

More than 10 million iPods have been sold since it was introduced, and it is the number one selling digital music player in the world.