In today’s media event featuring U2, Apple introduced the long-rumored iPod Photo, as well as a special edition U2 iPod and iTunes 4.7.

The iPod Photo features a 65,536-color LCD screen with the ability to display photos onscreen. The headphone jack now doubles as an A/V output to present slide shows with music on a TV. The new iPod Photo dock features a similar A/V output.

A 40G model is available for $499 and a 60G model for $599. Both models claim 15 hour battery life, vs. 12 hours for the current iPod models. When used to display a slideshow with music, however, the battery time drops to 5 hours.

The U2 Special Edition iPod is available only in a 20G model with the same specs as the standard 20G iPod but with a black enclosure and a red click wheel.

iTunes 4.7 adds the ability to sync photos with the iPod Photo either from iPhoto or any folder.

For more information, visit http://www.apple.com/ipodphoto/ .