Apple beefed up its market-leading iPod line of portable music players at its “Let’s Rock!” media event today, but had no major surprises to spring.

In fact, the only real surprise had nothing to do with hardware or software – it was the announcement that Apple has settled its yearlong feud with NBC Universal.

Such favorites as “Monk,” “The Office,” “Heroes,” and “Battlestar Galactica” are all back, available in both HD format (for $2.99) and the standard format. It’s about time.

Apple CEO Steve Jobs, still looking a bit thin but otherwise fine, delivered almost all of the one-hour presentation.

He elicited chuckles from the audience when he walked on stage with the phrase “Reports of my death are greatly exaggerated,” projected on the giant screen behind him, a reference to a canned obit on him that Bloomberg News mistakenly transmitted a couple of weeks ago.

Jobs showed off new models of the iPod Nano and the iPod Touch, as well as a new version of its free iTunes software, iTunes 8. While the new models offer some nice enhancements, what Apple offered today can’t compare to the dramatic announcements at last year’s event, which overhauled the entire line and introduced the Touch.

Much of the emphasis was on the iPod Nano, which sits in the sweet spot in the middle of the iPod product line. The Nano gets a new form factor, returning to its previous long, thin shape from the stumpy version introduced last year, just as many of the rumor sites had predicted.

However, this version has a display twice as deep – it takes up half of the front face. The aluminum case is also thinner and curvier than the second generation Nano’s. Viewed from the top or bottom edges, the case looks like an elongated oval.

Though the new Nano didn’t get a touch screen, Apple has added the Accelerometer technology that allows the screen to change its orientation when you tilt the device. With help from the Accelerometer, you can now simply shake your Nano to shuffle your songs.

The Nanos also come in more colors than any iPod model ever – virtually every color in the rainbow from red to purple. Only black and white are missing.

Apple CEO Steve Jobs emphasized the more environmentally friendly composition of both the Nano and the new iPod Touch. The new iPods contain no BFR, mercury or PVC, use arsenic-free glass and are now “highly recyclable.”

The new Nanos come in two models, 8GB ($149) and 16GB ($199), doubling the capacity of those it replaces while keeping the prices the same. The changes solidify the Nano’s place as the iPod suited to the most consumers.

Apple made less substantive changes to the iPod Touch. It’s lighter with a slightly smaller contoured case. New features include integrated volume control buttons and, get this, a built-in speaker.

The new Touch also has a built-in receiver for the Nike shoe sensor (as well as the software needed to operate it) so owners can use it to monitor their workouts. You still need to buy the shoe sensor ($19) separately.

Jobs brought Apple Senior Vice President of Worldwide Product Marketing Phil Schiller on stage to demonstrate a few new iPod Touch games. Apple must think gaming is important to Touch buyers; the headline on the iPod Touch press release calls it “the funnest iPod ever.”

Apple dropped the prices on the Touch models but kept the capacities the same. So now the 32GB model is $399 (down from $499), the 16 GB model is $299 (down from $399) and the 8 GB model is $229 (down from $299).

I had for a 64GB Touch at the $499 price point, but perhaps Apple determined too few customers are willing to pay that much. (It’s a touch too much, as it were.)

Apple only tweaked the iPod Classic, raising the capacity of the 80GB model to 120GB while holding the price at $249. The 160GB model is history.

Apple probably wants to phase out the Classic line, but still needs a large capacity iPod for those who desire huge mobile music and video collections. When larger capacity flash memory gets cheap enough, expect the Classic to die altogether.

Conspicuous by its absence was the iPod Shuffle, which Jobs didn’t even mention. However, a visit to the online Apple Store shows the Shuffle now comes in brighter colors, though still in the same 1GB ($49) and 2GB ($69) versions.

On the software side, Jobs demonstrated a new version of iTunes that added a new way to browse your collections and a “Genius” feature that generates playlists of songs that “go great together.” I obviously haven’t had time to test it yet, but it sounds similar to “The Filter.”

Jobs also announced the Friday availability of the desperately needed iPhone 2.1 firmware update, which he said should result in fewer dropped calls, better battery life and fewer app crashes, among other improvements. The download is free to all iPhone owners.