Apple (AAPL) kicked off its special media event held in San Francisco on Wednesday with an appearance by Chief Executive Steve Jobs, his first since returning from medical leave where he underwent liver-transplant surgery, and an announcement that the company would be launching a new model iPod Nano featuring a video camera, a voice recorder, FM radio and a pedometer. New models of the iPod Touch will also come with access to social media outlets, Facebook and Twitter, another key development.

Jobs received a standing ovation upon his taking the stage at the event, and started the event by urging audience members to become organ-donors.

"I'm vertical, back at Apple and loving every day of it," Jobs said.

Jobs, who is regarded by many investors as central to Apple's success, is also known for unveiling the unexpected, fueling the fervor around the company's secretive, invitation-only events.

Early headlines also reported that Jobs announced the introduction of the iPhone OS 3.1, and also the release of Version 9 of iTunes, which will allow for richer digital content and will include "Genius mixing" using the company's 'Genius' software, according to Dow Jones.

The company also announced also plans to make 30,000 ringtones available to iPhone users for $1.29 per ringtone.
Jobs boasted the company has sold 8.5 billion songs on iTunes, making it the number one music retailer in the world. ITunes is available in 23 countries, the most recent of which being Mexico, and hosts more than 100 million credit card accounts, Jobs said.

The much-hyped announcement of what was generally anticipated to be the release of a new line of iPod’s featuring cameras, will likely be made public at the company’s special media event, but Jobs’s propensity for surprise has everyone wondering if Apple might just have something new in the pipeline.

In a hint that the company will be announcing something related to its music-players, Apple posted newly reduced prices on several of its iPod models Wednesday morning.

The price cuts ranged from $20 off of the 120-gigabyte iPod Classic, to as much as $120 off of the 32-gigabyte iPod Touch. The price cuts also include a $189 8-gigabyte iPod Touch, a $149 16-gigabyte Nano, and a $126 8-gigabyte Nano.

Also present at the event was Google Inc. (GOOG) chief and former Apple board member, Eric Schmidt, who recently left the board amid reports that the Federal Trade Commission was looking into a possible conflict in Schmidt's role in both companies.

Speculation as to what the company would announce Wednesday had ranged from a newly launched version of iTunes, with possible video-streaming capability, a project that would boost sales of albums on iTunes, and the long-shot belief that Jobs might use this opportunity to launch the Apple Tablet, a rumored slightly larger iPod Touch that could compete in the netbook space. Apple’s decision to hold the event on Sept. 9, 2009, a long-awaited date for Beatles fans who have eagerly anticipated the release of the digitally remastered Beatles catalogue and Rockband video game on 9/9/09, also fueled rumors of a possible digital release of the Beatles catalogue on iTunes.

Apple's stock fell 1.15%, or $2.00 and was trading at $170.93 per share on Wednesday afternoon at the event's conclusion, after hitting a session high of $174.47 when Jobs arrived. Some analysts considered the event a bit of a let down.

"I would say this was an utter disappointment; people get carried away," said Trip Chowdhry, a senior analyst with Global Equities Research. "Because remember, Apple is as always a product innovation company and now it's been almost 3 years and we haven’t seen [the innovation of] any category killers."

Brian Marshall, an analyst with Broadpoint AmTech said he was not disappointed because he was expecting the announcement to be a non-event.

“I think there were no real surprises; there was a negative event in terms of the fact there is no video camera functionality for the iPod touch—they did launch it for the Nano, but not for the Touch,” Marshall said.

“A positive surprise was Steve Jobs. He did look pretty anemic but he is healthy and up moving around,” Marshall continued.

FOX Business Correspondent Shibani Joshi contributed to this report.