iPod Touch lets you enjoy everything you love about an iPod and then some. Watch your movies and TV shows on a brilliant 3.5-inch display. Use the revolutionary Multi-Touch interface to flick through your music in Cover Flow. And anytime you’re itching for more entertainment just tap iTunes to browse and buy on the fly.

FEATURES:

• A Great Portable Game Player - Immerse yourself in games made for iPod touch.
• A great pocket computer - Surf the web. Get rich HTML email including attachments that looks the same as it does on your computer.
• A great iPod -  Pioneering technology and a brilliant 3.5-inch screen bring an amazing experience to your music movies and more.
• Genius Mixes - This feature acts as your personal DJ searching your iTunes library to find songs that go great together then organizing them into mixes you’ll love. All automatically.

• IMPORTANT: To get started using your iPod charge your player using the USB cable for at least 2 hours


• 8 GB capacity for 1750 songs 10000 photos or 10 hours of video


• This 8 GB iPod touch includes standard Apple earphones; it does not come with earphones with microphone and is not compatible with Voice Control


• Up to 30 hours of music playback or 6 hours of video playback when fully charged


• 3.5-inch widescreen Multi-Touch display with 480 x 320 pixel resolution


• Supports AAC Protected AAC MP3 MP3 VBR Audible Apple Lossless AIFF and WAV audio formats; H.264 and MPEG-4 video formats; JPEG BMP GIF TIFF


• One-year limited warranty with single incident of complimentary telephone technical support

More detail ...

Great case!

This is a great looking case. I really liked the metallic yet somehow soft red finish. In addition it's molded around the front of the case in such a way as to expose a bit of the chrome frame around the edge of the phone which is a nice touch. I've received many compliments on it. l I was concerned about the ring "button" on the back being a problem but it hasn't been an issue. My only complaint is that it's a bit difficult to remove the bottom half of the case if you want to use the phone in a dock. It's certainly easier than most cases but not quite as nice as the Slider Incase Slider Case for iPhone 3G - Black (CL59055). But the incredible appearance and lower bulk of this case more than outweigh that disadvantage.



Pros:

Goes on and off easily.

Can remove the bottom half to use a dock.

Easy access to all controls.

Fits snugly to the phone and locks on.

Has "felt" pads inside to protect the phone's finish.

Allows the chrome edge of the phone to be seen.



Cons:

Release button on the back makes the phone rock slightly when typing on a hard surface.

Removing the bottom to dock isn't quite as easy as I'd like.More detail ...

WARNNING for new 8GB 3G owners and ipod touch 3G Review

Before i start let me just tell you "what's New" with the iPod touch Third generation" :



-Faster Cpu/Double the ram/Better graphic (faster Boot time/faster loading is all what i did notice)

-Double the storage for the same old price

-Voice control (I'll explain it in a second)

-Latest firmware for free

-New Earbuds with built in remote+Microphone (So you can use voice control)



And that is everything~ depends on your needs upgrading from 2G to 3G might be not worth it.



*Important Note* : only the New iPod touch 32GB/64GB are third generation ~ (8GB is repacked 2G) Details below.



About the new Voice control function if you love to take your iPod with you to the Gym the new feature "Voice control" is pretty cool it does allow you to control your music via your voice no need to get the iPod out of your pocket you can simply say "Next" to move to next song say "shuffle" for shuffle say "Pause" and music playback will stop etc that is why i recommend the iPod touch over iPod classic for gym users my friend bought an iPod classic and now he complains that the iPod classic is too heavy for him when he goes to the gym and he will have to buy another iPod "properly Nano" for his Gym for me i use my iPod touch for the gym it's so light that sometimes i forgot that it's even in my pocket.



After playing with my iPod touch 3g for a while i honestly did not notice any difference from the outside or the inside compared to my old iPod touch Second generation (It's supposed to be faster but i did not notice anything during music and video playback or the menus however browsing with safari and loading facebook was faster same thing with boot time) you properly can only notice it being faster with heavy applications since video/music playback is already fast enough with 2G.



I got the 64GB iPod 3G for [...]$ if you think of upgrading your 2G iPod touch honestly do yourself a favor and save yourself the money unless you really need that much of a storage (I do that is why i bought one) also remember that the 3G battery lasts less than 2G(3G battery = 30 Hours of music playback versus 2G 36 hours of music playback according to apple official specs)



*VERY IMPORTANT* for the people who wants the new 8GB version the new third generation 8GB iPod touch is NOT 3G it's a second generation iPod touch but apple did repack it/renamed it to 3rd generation which seems to be misleading by APPLE and it's not cool at all it is IPod Touch 2G+Updated firmware and that is it.



The iPod touch 3rd generation 32GB/64GB versions comes with a free mic+remote with the earbuds while the 8GB do not (it comes with normal earbuds) the 32GB/64GB have the New CPU+Graphic (According to apple the new cpu is twice as fast just like the iPhone 3GS) while the new 8GB use the same old CPU/Chip from the old iPod touch second generation.



Here is APPLE description on the iPod touches page about the 32/64GB versions : """Enjoy all the great features of the 8GB model along with better performance richer graphics and voice control"""



The iPod touch 3rd generation is the same awesome iPod touch second generation was.

You can play your music/watch your videos/play games even read your kindle books/etc "you can read amazon big description of what it's capable of if you do not know yet it's better than what would i say because it has pictures and everything.



The iPod touch got the best browser i have ever seen in a portable device i do not even need to carry my netbook with me anymore thanks to my iPod touch if you hated browsing with lame browsers that crash a lot or slow (many mobile phones) trust me on this one the iPod touch browser is not a toy or a gimmick it is a browser you can depends on it's super fast and smooth and after using it for like a full year it has only crashed on me once!



Short list of pros and cons about the iPod touch



Pros:

-Slicksmall and light device

-Great touch screen

-The BEST web browser on a portable device

-Amazing video/music playback

-App Store (Too many cool applications for Free)

-Display screen is clear and bright

-No bugs and annoying stuff a very reliable hardware

-64GB Flash based mp3 player



Cons:

-Not much of an upgrade over 2G (people were disappointed because they did not get upgrades like camera/OLED/etc)

-Weaker battery only lasts 30 hours for music playback versus 2G iPod touch 36 Hours music playback

-Expensive for the 64GB version

-Still no FM radio without the use of online applications

-Bluetooth is still half locked



Update : one more reason to avoid the 8GB ipod touch Apple announced today "April 09 2010" that iPhone 4.0 OS will be released this summer and it will bring many new features to the iphone and ipod touch however some features like Multitasking will only be available for iphone 3GS and higher or Ipod touch third generation and higher (As i said before the 8GB is second Generation only a third generation 8gb ipod touch do not exist! so you wont be getting multitasking if you buy the 8GB ipod touch)



I hope my review was helpful :)More detail ...

WARNNING for new 8GB 3G owners and ipod touch 3G Review

Before i start let me just tell you "what's New" with the iPod touch Third generation" :



-Faster Cpu/Double the ram/Better graphic (faster Boot time/faster loading is all what i did notice)

-Double the storage for the same old price

-Voice control (I'll explain it in a second)

-Latest firmware for free

-New Earbuds with built in remote+Microphone (So you can use voice control)



And that is everything~ depends on your needs upgrading from 2G to 3G might be not worth it.



*Important Note* : only the New iPod touch 32GB/64GB are third generation ~ (8GB is repacked 2G) Details below.



About the new Voice control function if you love to take your iPod with you to the Gym the new feature "Voice control" is pretty cool it does allow you to control your music via your voice no need to get the iPod out of your pocket you can simply say "Next" to move to next song say "shuffle" for shuffle say "Pause" and music playback will stop etc that is why i recommend the iPod touch over iPod classic for gym users my friend bought an iPod classic and now he complains that the iPod classic is too heavy for him when he goes to the gym and he will have to buy another iPod "properly Nano" for his Gym for me i use my iPod touch for the gym it's so light that sometimes i forgot that it's even in my pocket.



After playing with my iPod touch 3g for a while i honestly did not notice any difference from the outside or the inside compared to my old iPod touch Second generation (It's supposed to be faster but i did not notice anything during music and video playback or the menus however browsing with safari and loading facebook was faster same thing with boot time) you properly can only notice it being faster with heavy applications since video/music playback is already fast enough with 2G.



I got the 64GB iPod 3G for [...]$ if you think of upgrading your 2G iPod touch honestly do yourself a favor and save yourself the money unless you really need that much of a storage (I do that is why i bought one) also remember that the 3G battery lasts less than 2G(3G battery = 30 Hours of music playback versus 2G 36 hours of music playback according to apple official specs)



*VERY IMPORTANT* for the people who wants the new 8GB version the new third generation 8GB iPod touch is NOT 3G it's a second generation iPod touch but apple did repack it/renamed it to 3rd generation which seems to be misleading by APPLE and it's not cool at all it is IPod Touch 2G+Updated firmware and that is it.



The iPod touch 3rd generation 32GB/64GB versions comes with a free mic+remote with the earbuds while the 8GB do not (it comes with normal earbuds) the 32GB/64GB have the New CPU+Graphic (According to apple the new cpu is twice as fast just like the iPhone 3GS) while the new 8GB use the same old CPU/Chip from the old iPod touch second generation.



Here is APPLE description on the iPod touches page about the 32/64GB versions : """Enjoy all the great features of the 8GB model along with better performance richer graphics and voice control"""



The iPod touch 3rd generation is the same awesome iPod touch second generation was.

You can play your music/watch your videos/play games even read your kindle books/etc "you can read amazon big description of what it's capable of if you do not know yet it's better than what would i say because it has pictures and everything.



The iPod touch got the best browser i have ever seen in a portable device i do not even need to carry my netbook with me anymore thanks to my iPod touch if you hated browsing with lame browsers that crash a lot or slow (many mobile phones) trust me on this one the iPod touch browser is not a toy or a gimmick it is a browser you can depends on it's super fast and smooth and after using it for like a full year it has only crashed on me once!



Short list of pros and cons about the iPod touch



Pros:

-Slicksmall and light device

-Great touch screen

-The BEST web browser on a portable device

-Amazing video/music playback

-App Store (Too many cool applications for Free)

-Display screen is clear and bright

-No bugs and annoying stuff a very reliable hardware

-64GB Flash based mp3 player



Cons:

-Not much of an upgrade over 2G (people were disappointed because they did not get upgrades like camera/OLED/etc)

-Weaker battery only lasts 30 hours for music playback versus 2G iPod touch 36 Hours music playback

-Expensive for the 64GB version

-Still no FM radio without the use of online applications

-Bluetooth is still half locked



Update : one more reason to avoid the 8GB ipod touch Apple announced today "April 09 2010" that iPhone 4.0 OS will be released this summer and it will bring many new features to the iphone and ipod touch however some features like Multitasking will only be available for iphone 3GS and higher or Ipod touch third generation and higher (As i said before the 8GB is second Generation only a third generation 8gb ipod touch do not exist! so you wont be getting multitasking if you buy the 8GB ipod touch)



I hope my review was helpful :)More detail ...

Headphones suck!

The headphones that are required to use the new ipod shuffle are probably the poorest example of product design i've ever seen. Based on its size portability and Apple's marketing you would think this would be a perfect product for exercising. That is where you would be wrong! The controls on the headphone wire are right up next to your ear and unless you exercise without sweating that tiny box is doomed to get filled with sweat. I bought this ipod specifically for running but after about 3 miles the controls start acting totally erratically randomly and constantly switching between songs and playlists or alternatively not playing any music but just talking at me with its annoying computer voice. I can only attribute the behavior to sweat getting on the control box. Today I even tried covering the box with plastic wrap and tape but to no avail. I was so frustrated with the ipod's crazy behavior on mile 6 that I actually ripped the headphones out of my ears and threw them in the ditch. Not kidding. Looking for some alternative to control it because I do really like it's size for running and the new playlist feature is great...but not when it's acting crazy. I'm so irritated that Apple overlooked this crucial aspect of this product.More detail ...

Headphones suck!

The headphones that are required to use the new ipod shuffle are probably the poorest example of product design i've ever seen. Based on its size portability and Apple's marketing you would think this would be a perfect product for exercising. That is where you would be wrong! The controls on the headphone wire are right up next to your ear and unless you exercise without sweating that tiny box is doomed to get filled with sweat. I bought this ipod specifically for running but after about 3 miles the controls start acting totally erratically randomly and constantly switching between songs and playlists or alternatively not playing any music but just talking at me with its annoying computer voice. I can only attribute the behavior to sweat getting on the control box. Today I even tried covering the box with plastic wrap and tape but to no avail. I was so frustrated with the ipod's crazy behavior on mile 6 that I actually ripped the headphones out of my ears and threw them in the ditch. Not kidding. Looking for some alternative to control it because I do really like it's size for running and the new playlist feature is great...but not when it's acting crazy. I'm so irritated that Apple overlooked this crucial aspect of this product.More detail ...

Wow. Very Impressive!

I'd have to say that this device has really exceeded my expectations so far. The picture quality is really impressive and I've had no problem at all getting clear reception. The screen size is perfect for keeping the device mobile but still plenty large enough to be easy on the eyes.



A couple of things that really jump out at me are:



-Instant channel changing-

It really is like a regular TV. This is where I was most skeptical because I have tried various mobile video products in the past and they all have connecton issues of some sort. But the FLO TV has no buffering skipping or sync issues between the video and audio. That alone is worth the money.



-Built in speakers-

You can actually hear this thing without having to crank it up to full volume. Very unusual for any mobile device that has built in speakers. Good sound quality as well.



-Touch screen-

The touch screen is really responsive. You don't have to use two hands and press down with all your might just to make something happen.



-Battery life-

It is so nice to not have to carry a charger around everywhere. Getting 5 hours worth of battery life versus the standard 1 or 2 hours on other mobile devices will be great.



So far so good. Highly recommended.

More detail ...

Great Sound Quality Limited Functionalty and Expensive

BACKGROUND: I am an experienced mp3 player user and my current other unit is a SanDisk Sansa Clip 2 GB MP3 Player (Black). I bought a silver 1 Gb iPod Shuffle primarily to use at the gym; however I will also comment about general usage as well. This is also the only Apple device that I have owned of any kind.



SETUP: There are two things to note about the setup process for the iPod Shuffle. Neither of them is complicated but they are annoying. Unlike most other mp3 players that use a mini-USB cable for charging and transferring music the Shuffle requires the use of a proprietary docking station. As such I wasn't able to reuse any of the myriad of mini-USB cables that I have from other devices. So you either have to buy a second docking station or take the one that comes with the Shuffle with you for charging away from home.



The other thing about the Shuffle that I found frustrating was that you are limited to using iTunes for music transfer. Further you can only transfer music from a single computer. This is a very restrictive requirement for such a low end device. Finally I was surprised by how slow iTunes is. Believe me; the last thing I expected was for iTunes to perform slower (by a significant amount) that Windows Media Player. I am no Microsoft lover or apologist by any means (I actually prefer Linux).



SOUND QUALITY: This is the area where I give the Shuffle its best marks. The sound is great whether I am playing m4p formats from iTunes or mp3s that I have ripped from CDs or purchased elsewhere. It is equal in dynamics and range to my Sansa Clip and it even sounds good plugged into the AUX jack for my car stereo.



Of note however I am not using the headphones that came with the Shuffle. I have never thought of myself as having small ears but I found that the headphones that come with the Shuffle seem rather large and hurt my ears immediately after putting them on. For my workouts I am using a pair of Skullcandy Buds Ink'd Earbuds - Dark Gray because they are inexpensive and the in ear style have a secure fit while active. While these ear buds will not win any awards the Shuffle still sounds good even using these.



USAGE/NAVIGATION: This is the area where the Shuffle is way behind the competition. Without a display you essentially have one giant playlist that is in the order that you put songs on the device. You can either play straight through the list or you can "shuffle" your music. However I noticed that between 30 and minute minutes into shuffling the first song gets repeated. This was with over four and a half hours of music on the device. Unlike every other CD or mp3 player that I have ever had I was surprised to find that the Shuffle repeats songs before going through the entire list.



If you decide that want to find a specific song best of luck to you. You have skip and reverse navigation and you'll need a good memory of what order you synced things to your device. Ultimately it is not worth it to try to use the Shuffle this way. It seems that it is really geared toward the gym/active user who doesn't need a lot of control over their music. With this in mind I can hardly see the point of even having a unit larger than 1 Gb. It would seem to make sense to have a 512k offering to better match the functionality.



In short it's great for working out but it would be extremely frustrating to use this as your portable music collection.



OPTIONS: Really the only option that you have on the device itself is the toggle between continuous or shuffle play. From iTunes you can update the software for the Shuffle and change a few settings that most people won't alter from their defaults.



COST: You are paying a premium for the Apple name but you probably already knew that. Creative and SanDisk both have competing offerings with more functionality at a lower price.



CONCLUSION: The iPod Shuffle as an expensive offering that really only makes sense to a specific subset of mp3 player users. While the sound quality is good it is really only for brand loyalists looking for a player to use at the gym.More detail ...

Some nice improvement but incompatible with Bose...

Having 16GB of storage is a huge plus for the new version of the Nano.



The control wheel seems a bit "stiff" and it is not as responsive as past versions but it works fine.



The menus and setup choices have been improved. These are nice but don't make a major difference. "Shake" shuffle is a bit silly (in my opinion it is just as easy to push the advance on the control wheel) but it can easily be turned off.



BIG MINUS - Apple un-necessarily changed the plug on this version of the Nano. The unit will not charge using my older iPod chargers. The bigger issue is that my Bose and other expensive speaker units will play this Nano but they won't charge it.



Apple is beginning to act more and more like Microsoft - forcing its customers to make un-necessary software upgrades and expensive hardware changes in order to use their latest product versions.



Anyway - the Nano is a great product. If you already have a Nano the only justification I can find to upgrade would be the need for more storage or the desire to play video on a very small screen.



If you don't need the video or more music storage you should stick with your older Nano.



More detail ...

The 4 GB Apple iPod Nano - An Improved Entry Level Media Player! Check it Out!

Apple 4 GB iPod nano AAC/MP3 Player Silver (3rd Generation)



Apple's new nano is designed to improve upon past models and add some functionality. The improved video smaller thinner body and updated firmware are enough to make it stand out. The slightly lower price tag is also sure to help sell more units.



I think most buyers will opt to get the 8GB considering it is only $50 more than the 4GB and actually makes the video function more usable. Apple 8 GB iPod nano AAC/MP3 Player Blue (3rd Generation) Regardless the new nano is an improvement in any size.



Pros

+ Small size - so thin!!!!

+ Nice design - shorter fatter form factor for more reliability

+ Brushed aluminum front seems more durable than plastic composite of 2nd generation nano

+ Many color options - Silver blue green black etc.

+ Brighter screen with better contrast than previous generation

+ Great video option is a nice to have for sample TV shows clips etc

+ Works with most traditional iPod accessories (except old A/V cable)

+ Priced to sell! Lowest price Apple video capable player

+ Lower price tag than 2nd Generation nano

+ Unlike iPod classic all flash memory means less failures and breakage

+ Flash memory also awesome for running / working out

+ Slightly better sound quality than 2nd generation

+ Apple reputation is highly deserved



Cons

- 4 GB capacity is very limited for a video player and will require constant reloading via iTunes

- New 2GB Shuffle option provides a workout alternative at about 1/3 the price

- New design not ideal for very big hands due to smaller click wheel

- Universal dock now required for video out (no more A/V cable)

- Slightly shorter battery life than other iPods

- No expandability or SD card slot like Sansa View or Creative Zen

- iTunes software with limited native formats (MP3 AAC)

- Coverflow still buggy / slow

- Features built-in to competing players like FM radio & voice recording much be bought as add-ons

- Competing players now available at 16GB flash at similar body size



The Looks



Some people prefered the gen2 nano's longer body and larger click wheel. The longer nano was prone to bend (and sometimes break) when people put them in their pocket and sat down or moved around. The smaller click-wheel can be awkward particularly for those with large hands. But it's a worthy trade-off for the smaller size and better durability.





Another change motivated by durability is the metal face. The old clear composite face was a magnet for smudges and scratches. The new brushed metal face holds up nicer. Be warned though; it can chip and scratch so get a cover.



The Sound



Sound quality is not significantly improved from previous models. The slight improvements touted in Apple's marketing are exaggerated. However let's be fair to Apple here. MP3 and even CD audio have inherent sound quality limitations.



MP3 is a compression technology that does experience quality loss however minimal. With a lower bitrate your MP3 files will lose more and more of the sound integrity from the original recording. Combine that with the fact many people rip from sources that are not digitally mastered and you would get inferior sound quality with any device.



Almost no MP3 players are actually designed for audiophiles / musicians / sound engineers; i.e. the people who could tell the difference between good sound and great sound. Fortunately some of these devices are starting to come onto the market.



Features and Software



Few new features are noteworthy with this device. Changes in the components and software make the screen brighter and allow you to do more things including watch videos and play games. Some complain there isn't enough memory for video. You can still get enough on here to watch one movie or fit some TV shows with your music. It's a nice extra even if these nanos don't have tremendous memory.



The flash memory in this device could have been a faster speed. However the main advantages of the flash player are still here: less risk of hardware failure associated with a hard disk drive player (better for running or working out).



The device does seem to have a shorter battery life than advertised. Perhaps because of the smaller body size Apple placed a smaller batter inside. As long as you sync and charge at night it's ok. You are still likely to get a day's worth of use from a full charge.



Apple's software is still a weakness with very limited direct control over your device library and few native file options. All formats can be converted using iTunes or another software. You can convert pretty much any file to the MP3 MP4 or AAC formats you need for iTunes. This will mean that those of us with other players will have to have 2 versions of our libraries on our computers eating up hard-drive space. That's because there's no drag and drop adding into the player you have to add it to iTunes first and then sync.



However most users have limited needs and will not notice if they are using MP3s. Apple hits the minimum compatibility needs of most of the market.



Coverflow is little more than a gimmick. It's still buggy and covers tend to blank out if you scroll quickly. Cover art has been downloaded with previous software versions and most other video players so the ability to scroll covers is not really a breakthrough.



Competitors Pros and Cons



Apple's devices are obviously more expensive than other players on a per gigabyte $ cost. In addition the iPod still has fewer built-in features than most competitive devices. It doesn't have a built-in FM radio tuner voice recorder Bluetooth WMA support and an SD card expansion slot. Both the Creative Zen Creative Zen 4 GB MP3 Player (Black) and the Sansa View SanDisk Sansa View 8 GB MP3 Player have micro SD slots FM tuners and voice recording components built in. Both are better priced. The Sansa View comes in a 16GB size for the same price as the 8GB nano.



Still the iPod Nano beats both those players on size as the Creative Zen is much thicker and the Sansa View is taller. Also keep in mind that the Creative Zen has been somewhat buggy and the View doesn't have as long a track record only being released in November 2007.



The new Sony players have finally abandoned their own bad software and now provide some good competition to the iPod nano. In typical Sony fashion they are priced just as high as the nano. But they do have quality components and better sound quality. Sony NWZA816BLK 4GB Walkman Video MP3 Player (Black)



The new 2 GB iPod Shuffle released in February 2008 probably provides the biggest competition if you don't care about video and your only use is working out. Apple iPod shuffle 2 GB Silver (2nd Generation) For 1/3 the price you get a player with half the capacity that's designed for longer battery life and more active use.



Conclusion



In the end what the iPod nano does it does very well. Apple really wins with sleek design and a wealth of accessories. This unit is no different. Not all docks and accessories work with the 3rd generation but many do. And for that large number of users already using iTunes moving your music over to the nano is a snap.



Overall this device is an improvement. Apple's entry level video player will continue to be popular due to great features acceptable pricing and the Apple brand.



Enjoy!!!

More detail ...

Headphones suck!

The headphones that are required to use the new ipod shuffle are probably the poorest example of product design i've ever seen. Based on its size portability and Apple's marketing you would think this would be a perfect product for exercising. That is where you would be wrong! The controls on the headphone wire are right up next to your ear and unless you exercise without sweating that tiny box is doomed to get filled with sweat. I bought this ipod specifically for running but after about 3 miles the controls start acting totally erratically randomly and constantly switching between songs and playlists or alternatively not playing any music but just talking at me with its annoying computer voice. I can only attribute the behavior to sweat getting on the control box. Today I even tried covering the box with plastic wrap and tape but to no avail. I was so frustrated with the ipod's crazy behavior on mile 6 that I actually ripped the headphones out of my ears and threw them in the ditch. Not kidding. Looking for some alternative to control it because I do really like it's size for running and the new playlist feature is great...but not when it's acting crazy. I'm so irritated that Apple overlooked this crucial aspect of this product.More detail ...

Almost "Untouchable"

One year ago I purchased the 16GB original iPod Touch. At that time I found that even though it had some flaws the over-all package made it one of the best iPods available. Now one year later Apple has released the next generation Touch. I've now had it for a few days and here's what I found: the second gen iPod Touch is a marked improvement over the the first gen and comes even closer to perfection. Keeping this in mind this review will show one big and a number of smaller shortcomings. It may also be difficult to justify upgrading from the 1st to 2nd gen unless you simply must have one of the few hardware improvements and can live with the fact that you may have to re-purchase some of your accessories.



Size and Dimensions

The iPod Touch now sports a more rounded design on the back making it look slightly thinner and more like the iPhone than the original did (it is not really thinner than it's predecessor just looks that way). Unfortunately the back plate is still made from stainless steel and this plate attacts fingerprints and scratches almost magically. After one year of near-constant use the backplate of my first gen Touch looks a bit like a wild etch-a-sketch (I carry the Touch in my pocket). Interestingly the glass on the front appears (after one year of heavy use) to be absolutely scratch-resistant. It's the backside (that also carries the custom engraving) that quickly becomes blemished. I would have preferred a brushed metal/aluminium backplate. I had to look it up but the new Touch is slightly lighter (a few grams) - but it looks thinner (thanks to the tapered edge design). The rounded edges make it fit my palm slightly better making it feel just right (to be honest the original Touch was already very very good in this respect). Other than that the outside dimensions exactly match that of the original Touch. The most visible change from the front is that the steel from the backplate now frames the glass much like it did on the original iPhone.



Touch Screen and Controls

The screen is simply gorgeous. It's bright crisp has great contrast and can adapt it's brightness to the ambient light. In direct sunlight much like it's predecessor it becomes difficult to read correctly. In shade it's perfectly readable -- a feat considering how bright a display has to be to achieve that. Color temperature of the display has shifted slightly downwards (or to sound less pompuous: the display's colors have shifted slightly from a blueish to a golden tinge something you wouldn't notice unless you have the two devices side by side).



The touch screen is very responsive and as I stated before absolutely scratch-resistant. Surviving a full year in my pocket along with metallic objects such as my keys is a testament to it's durability (looking at the stainles steel backside is a constant reminder just how badly it could have been scratched). As with the original Touch the same problems occur when you try to control the device 'blind' (i.e. while it is in your pocket): without looking at it you simply can't. Fortunately Apple has addressed the most important drawback with this design: a hardware volume control. The screen's resolution remains at 480x320 which is very good (certainly better than my iPod Classic's). Interestingly I've found out that ripping videos to this resolution does not necessarily yield noticeably better results than for the iPod classic's (320x240) screen so I now rip to that resolution conserving some memory.



iPod / iTunes

After one year of owning the original Touch I have to remind myself that this device originally is an iPod -- or rather a digital music player. As it turns out although I also use it for music playing this function has more and more been relegated to a background task -- a task nontheless that it handles really well. The coverflow browsing and display functionality has evolved nicely from the original (1.0 and 2.0) versions and are still the best in the market. The interface improvements support nice touches such as displaying a song's lyrics on single tap bringing up the volume/cue controls on double-tap of the home button an alphabetic slide rule when browsing titles etc. Still missing is a search function though. And especially in light of the gorgeous display capabilities and the recent addition of a new visualitzer (in additional to the existing ones in iTunes) I would have loved to see a visualizer on the Touch as well. The biggest (and in my oppinion delibarate (as in spiteful)) omission is this: you still can't enable 'hard drive mode' i.e. use the Touch as a mass storage device. The biggest boon is improved battery life.



Video is crisp (still no contrast control though) and audio playback is just as you expect (again: I'm no audiophile. I'm absolutely happy with most player's audio capabilities). Again I'm not using the Apple-provided white and quite sub-par headphones. I'm using separately purchased ones. New for the second gen is a built-in speaker. Audio quality here is not actually terrible but close. The sound is tinny weak and just somehow comes out of the iPod (mono of course). I believe that the addition of the speaker has a specific reason different from HiFi: it makes playing games on the Touch without headphones so much more enjoyable. But for listening to music I would prefer headphones or active speakers. To be honest I prefer not listening to music from that speaker.



iTunes integration is top-notch as before. Some sort of bug-fix now has made data backup much faster and both iTunes and the Touch now sport a new kind of smart playlist that is called 'Genius'. Initially I wasn't impressed by this feature. Although iTunes 8 has had this feature I regarded it primarily as a well executed new way to sell song and hence didn't use it. On my iPod however (which only carries a subset of my library due to memory contraints) this feature literally rocks. On my first day alone it had me re-discover five songs I never knew I had (much less liked).



On the downside the Touch still does not support playlist groups which is a constant annoyance to me. I'm also disappointed to see that the Touch still can't synch wirelessly nor can it be used to access shared playlists (other than downloading them of course). An application in the App store offers this functionality albeit only for non-DRM'd titles proving the point that this is possible.



Images (from iPhoto) can also be synched to the Touch and nothing is more fun than showing off your iPod's capabilities using a nice picture and 'pinch' and 'swipe'. Interestingly (or rather: unfortunately) iTunes appears to down-sample large images to a smaller resolution probably to conserve memory. This may make sense but I would like to be able to have more control over this feature (i.e. decide myself what the image's resolution on the iPod should be).



Accessories - the Big Bad Ugly

Unfortunately Apple has changed the pin-out (*again*) for the iPod connector. As a result some 'made for iPod' accessories either don't work or don't work fully any more. For example my Altec Lansing active speakers can't charge the Touch any more (it was able to charge the 1st gen Touch). This is truly truly annoying as you don't know if your iPod works with your 'made for iPod' devices any longer and makes purchasing new accessories a game of chance. My car has a (hideously expensive) iPod integration that luckily still works (including re-charging). Still the iPod connector compatibility (or lack thereof) is becoming a big mess. Just imagine you want to buy an accessory for your kid or friend and too late find out that it does not work with it.



WiFi / Internet

A year ago I purchased an iPod and got a fully integrated web accesory kit. As it turned out the addition of WiFi and full internet access is a killer feature to me. The web browser (a mobile version of Safari) is very capable. Much has been said about the fact that Mobile Safari does not support Flash. This is annoying if you visit sites that use it. The pinch/slide gesture-based interface works so well that I regularely use the Touch for normal web surfing. The general experience has increased over the past few month no doubt in no small amounts due to the fact that many sites have beed re-designed with the iPhone in mind. Since the Touch's browser is exactly the same it inherits the benefit. WiFi speed is good (although it still uses the 802.11b/g not the n variant) - and mostly depends on the hotspot you are connected to. It remembers the hotspots it has connected to (much like a laptop would) and can also connect using WPA. There are other Web enabled applications that come with the iPod (Maps which can pinpoint your location by the position of hotspots close to you) Stocks YouTube and Weather which are nice but remarkable. WiFi reception range is average but definitely below that of some PC laptops.



Then the Touch also comes with Mail Calendar and Adressboock and these do become killer fieatures especially when coupled with an Exchange server or (as Apple would prefer) MobileMe. Mail supports 'push' technology meaning that (almost) as soon an there is an incoming mail (and your Touch is connected to a hotspot) you are notified by a little discreep 'bleep'. Reading emails including mails with rich content works very well. Composing any but the shortes emails on the other hand is bothersome verging on annoying due to the small virtual keyboard). Still simply being able to do this makes all the difference. Live Calender updates have saved my bacon a few times already as you do not have to remember to actively synch your iPod after you have made a change to the calender.





Integration with Exchange (at the point of writing) remains a tad spotty with no messages appearing for s few hours and then suddenly many appearing at once (I initially suspected a configuration issue on the Exchange Server but this appears not to be the case). Depending upon how you configure MobileMe on your Mac the results are similar to what you can expect from Exchange (with the difference of course that Apple is running the servers for you). Unfortunately MobileMe currently does not synch your Notes.



Nicely executed is the integrated iTunes store. While possibly just another mechanism to generate sales I simply love the fact that if I hear or remember a song I can almost always instantly purchase it and have it on my touch within seconds. Songs purchased on the Touch synchronize back to your main library in iTunes (into a rather silly 'Purchased on Touch' playlist). If a download has to discontinue because the network connection was lost (or for any other reasons) it will continue as soon as the connection to the Internet is restored.



Interestingly the touch sports (I'm a sucker for lame puns) the required hardware to connect to the 'Nike + iPod' sports accessories built-in (i.e. you do not have to connect the dongle). I say interestingly because these devices utilize the bluetooth frequency band yet the Touch does not support bluetooth devices (headphones mikes car integration and printers come to mind). Since I use a shuffle for work-out this is not a must-have feature for me.



Applications/App Store

If Mail Calendar and Browser are killer apps Apple has added another killer feature to the Touch (and iPhone) that expands the device's usability (and customizability) by orders of magnitude: the App store. In appearance similar to the iTunes Store here you can choose from literally hundrets of applictions (of greatly varying quality though) purchase and install them instantly. Prices run from free to roughly 10 USD (there are some more expensive titles but the majority are priced at a couple of USD). The apps are presented in three different ways ('featured' 'top' browse by category) plus you have the ability to search for keywords.



Although the 'signal to noise' ratio isn't that great (there are quite a lot of useless or awfully executed applications) there are some jaw-droppingly good apps that truly enhance your Touch. Among the first to mention is Apple's own (free) 'Remote' app which allows you to remote-control iTunes on your Mac or Apple TV - with real-time full visual feedback and full search capability (allegedly it is also a real boon for Apple TV users as it provides a virtual keyboard as input means. Not having Apple TV I can't comment on this). Then there is an application that allows you to stream all your music (well the unprotecte at least) to your Touch - over the Internet to wherever you are (interestingly this App was not produced by Apple).



Greatly enhancing the Touch's usability are eBook readers (the Touch is almost perfect for rading books giving you that 'Star Trek' info pad feeling) as well as off-line news readers. Another important category are applications that enable you to easily transfer (and view) files from your Mac/PC to the Touch. I would have expected Apple to integrate this feature into iTunes (perhaps rudimentary support for PDF) but third party providers are more than happy to bridge this gap for you. And for the geeks there are VNC and SSH clients that finally allow them to control their server cluster using an iPod.



For those who want radio there are lots of offerings for IP radios. Of course this means that your iPod must remain in range of a hotspot to use this feature. Mine does so I alos now have radio -- and re-discovered just why I never missed it. I'm simply not a radio guy I guess. I do know that many people miss it and wish apple had gone the last mile and also added an FM tuner.



Two Apps I'm sure that will arrive soon at the App store is due to another addition to the Touch: support for extenal microphones. Apple's hi-end earphones have both a remote and mike built in and are said to be compatible with the 2nd (and only 2nd) gen Touch. Audio note pads and VoIP apps (a la Skype) that allows phone functionality over WiFi are sure to follow soon (note: I have seen these apps available in the US stores; sadly they are not yet available here in Switzerland Also I interpret Apple's docs that the 2nd gen Touch supports external microphones as they have not yet shipped the combined mike/remote headphones to me).



And then there are games. They currently are the biggest category of all applications. The Touch with it's integrated accelerometer 480x320 color screen and touch interface makes a nice gaming device and developers have come up with some truly fun and innovative games ('Toy Bot' may serve as a great example). Apple may have realized that this is becoming an increasingly important aspect of the Touch: the Gen 2 device sports a speaker that makes little sense - except to improve the gaming experience (believe me: playing an accelerometer-based game with headphones on can be verry little fun when it gets exciting). And improving the experience it does. The Touch is ill suited for classic 'control pad' based games (e.g. Tetris Pac Man) and most of their Touch adaptations suffer accordingly. Other games however adapt nicely to touch/accelerometer input (Monkey Ball Crash Cart etc) or are a natural fit (Labyrinth Sudoku Solitair Othello)



Super-geeks can also download the iPhone/Touch SDK and create their own applications. This is not for the faint of heart as you first download a few gigabytes (Apple's XCode development environment) and then will have to code in Objective-C (an extension to standard C) and use the Cocoa framework. Plus you'll need a Mac to do so. The environment is actually very good and includes an iPhone simulator to test your software before deployment.



I should mention that most of the improvements (with the exception of the hardware upgrades: mike support built-in nike support volume buttons and battery life) can be had for free on your 1st gen Touch (if you have the 2.0 Update) or a couple of bucks if you havn't upgraded yet. Unless you (like me) want the larger memory (my first gen only has 16GB) the decision to upgrade to 2nd gen may be difficult.



Summary:

The 2nd generation iPod Touch is an almost perfect device. It combines top-notch video/audio world-class UI great casual gaming hundrets of apps and full access to the Internet into a single beautiful package. To sum it up neatly: Untouchable. Well -- almost. It has one big flaw if you have invested in accessories: it may not be compatible with them as Apple has changed the iPod connector pin-out (again). With those reservations I recommend the Touch to anyone. Also great: owners of the 1st gen Touch can get most of these goodies with a simple inexpensive software upgrade.





Hits

+ great display

+ good audio

+ gesture-based interface

+ accelerometer for controls

+ great integration with your music library (via iTunes)

+ long battery life

+ wireless music store

+ wireless App store (killer feature)

+ Speaker for gaming

+ Mail Calendar and Address book with Push

+ WiFi Internet (killer feature)

+ Remote App (free) for your PC/Mac's iTunes/AppleTV

+ SDK freely available for anyone

+ Microphone and remote support

+ Nike + iPod without dongle



Misses

- incompatibility with 'made for iPod' devices (bad bad bad)

- stainless steel backplate (fingerprints and scratches easily)

- no wireless synching

- no wireless playback of streamed iTunes content (an Appstore application can stream unprotected content though)

- no visualizer

- no search function

- no playlist groups (why oh why?)

- no GPS nor FM radio

- Notes not synched with MobileMe

- no hard drive mode

- no synching documents (except third party Apps)

- downsampling of photos

- currently tops out at 32GB (would have preferred 64)

- no bluetoothMore detail ...

Headphones suck!

The headphones that are required to use the new ipod shuffle are probably the poorest example of product design i've ever seen. Based on its size portability and Apple's marketing you would think this would be a perfect product for exercising. That is where you would be wrong! The controls on the headphone wire are right up next to your ear and unless you exercise without sweating that tiny box is doomed to get filled with sweat. I bought this ipod specifically for running but after about 3 miles the controls start acting totally erratically randomly and constantly switching between songs and playlists or alternatively not playing any music but just talking at me with its annoying computer voice. I can only attribute the behavior to sweat getting on the control box. Today I even tried covering the box with plastic wrap and tape but to no avail. I was so frustrated with the ipod's crazy behavior on mile 6 that I actually ripped the headphones out of my ears and threw them in the ditch. Not kidding. Looking for some alternative to control it because I do really like it's size for running and the new playlist feature is great...but not when it's acting crazy. I'm so irritated that Apple overlooked this crucial aspect of this product.More detail ...

Headphones suck!

The headphones that are required to use the new ipod shuffle are probably the poorest example of product design i've ever seen. Based on its size portability and Apple's marketing you would think this would be a perfect product for exercising. That is where you would be wrong! The controls on the headphone wire are right up next to your ear and unless you exercise without sweating that tiny box is doomed to get filled with sweat. I bought this ipod specifically for running but after about 3 miles the controls start acting totally erratically randomly and constantly switching between songs and playlists or alternatively not playing any music but just talking at me with its annoying computer voice. I can only attribute the behavior to sweat getting on the control box. Today I even tried covering the box with plastic wrap and tape but to no avail. I was so frustrated with the ipod's crazy behavior on mile 6 that I actually ripped the headphones out of my ears and threw them in the ditch. Not kidding. Looking for some alternative to control it because I do really like it's size for running and the new playlist feature is great...but not when it's acting crazy. I'm so irritated that Apple overlooked this crucial aspect of this product.More detail ...

Headphones suck!

The headphones that are required to use the new ipod shuffle are probably the poorest example of product design i've ever seen. Based on its size portability and Apple's marketing you would think this would be a perfect product for exercising. That is where you would be wrong! The controls on the headphone wire are right up next to your ear and unless you exercise without sweating that tiny box is doomed to get filled with sweat. I bought this ipod specifically for running but after about 3 miles the controls start acting totally erratically randomly and constantly switching between songs and playlists or alternatively not playing any music but just talking at me with its annoying computer voice. I can only attribute the behavior to sweat getting on the control box. Today I even tried covering the box with plastic wrap and tape but to no avail. I was so frustrated with the ipod's crazy behavior on mile 6 that I actually ripped the headphones out of my ears and threw them in the ditch. Not kidding. Looking for some alternative to control it because I do really like it's size for running and the new playlist feature is great...but not when it's acting crazy. I'm so irritated that Apple overlooked this crucial aspect of this product.More detail ...

Very cool handy and sleek new toy -- but don't throw away your Flip yet!!

Watch Video Here: http://www.amazon.com/review/R3GCL7CCLCHZCY When Steve Jobs announced the newest generation iPod nano he suggested that with its new video capability the nano would easily compete with the Flip Video camcorder. While someday down the line this may be a serious contender in the pocket video camera market it's not there yet. I took some comparison footage with the iPod nano and the standard definition Flip Mino to show why. My point in all this is not to suggest that you go buy a Flip instead of an iPod nano but that you ask yourself what it is you really want. If you want to make videos you can upload to Youtube and you want them to look pretty decent and you don't care much about music or you already have an mp3 player I wouldn't buy this iPod just because now it has video. On the other hand having some video capability might be enough to give this the edge over most other music players; if games are more important to you than video though you'd be better off with an iPod touch.



One thing you'll notice in the footage where I shot the same things back to back with both camcorders is that where the Flip really shines is in low light. I shot the hamster moments at night in a room illuminated only by a lamp. Not only did the iPod nano take grainy video it also didn't do any kind of white balancing and the indoor lightbulb added an orange tint to the clip; I'm not sure exactly how the Flip is designed to address this (whether it automatically adjusts white balance or just has a better average setting) but the footage shows that it captured light correctly both outdoors and indoors. If you compare the hamster shots with the Flip and with the nano I think it's clear that for indoor and lowlight there's no comparison and the Flip has the nano beat hands down. The outdoor images are closer but I think even this small video shows greater detail in the Flip video. When you blow the images up bigger there's no comparison -- the Flip looks decent even on a big screen TV the iPod nano footage looks like it was shot with well a toy camera. In all fairness that's all it is at this point. (Note by the way that like the Flip the nano will only take video and doesn't take photos. You can manually add photos to the nano from your computer but you can't use the onboard camera to capture stills.)



Another thing that bugs me a bit about the new iPod nano is the bizarre placement of the camera lens. It's nestled down in the corner of the backside below the screen -- exactly where it is most natural to hold this thing if you are shooting with it. Even if you just grasp the thing at the corners there's a tendency for some part of a finger to accidentally edge into the camera frame. In fact I found that even after I was aware of this fact I kept doing it anyways -- the way this thing fits in my hands just makes it likely I'll catch an edge of a finger in my shots unless I'm conscientious about avoiding it and that detracts from the spontaneity this is designed to take advantage of. (I even noticed I'd done it on most of the iPod nano footage for this video comparison -- and I thought about doing it over but then decided to leave it in just to show how easily it can happen.)



So to sum up: what you really get with the iPod nano is a toy camera fun to have in the pocket and very cool to have just in case there's something you want to shoot but not quite the quality we've come to expect from the handy pocket camcorders like the Flip Mino and the Creative Vado and the Kodak Zi8 that keep getting better and better. Video is a nice new feature on the Nano but not really a radical innovation and not a game changer.



What makes the iPod Nano worth it is that in addition to video on the fly you get to listen to music you get an FM radio that works quite well and even tells you what song you are listening to you get a voice recorder (a VERY nice feature excellent for students who can listen to music on their way to class and then record a lecture) a decent quality mini speaker a somewhat useful pedometer decent game options for killing time. You don't get any of that with the Flip! Sure the new iPod nano is a toy ... but it's a very cool toy.



More detail ...

Very cool handy and sleek new toy -- but don't throw away your Flip yet!!

Watch Video Here: http://www.amazon.com/review/R3GCL7CCLCHZCY When Steve Jobs announced the newest generation iPod nano he suggested that with its new video capability the nano would easily compete with the Flip Video camcorder. While someday down the line this may be a serious contender in the pocket video camera market it's not there yet. I took some comparison footage with the iPod nano and the standard definition Flip Mino to show why. My point in all this is not to suggest that you go buy a Flip instead of an iPod nano but that you ask yourself what it is you really want. If you want to make videos you can upload to Youtube and you want them to look pretty decent and you don't care much about music or you already have an mp3 player I wouldn't buy this iPod just because now it has video. On the other hand having some video capability might be enough to give this the edge over most other music players; if games are more important to you than video though you'd be better off with an iPod touch.



One thing you'll notice in the footage where I shot the same things back to back with both camcorders is that where the Flip really shines is in low light. I shot the hamster moments at night in a room illuminated only by a lamp. Not only did the iPod nano take grainy video it also didn't do any kind of white balancing and the indoor lightbulb added an orange tint to the clip; I'm not sure exactly how the Flip is designed to address this (whether it automatically adjusts white balance or just has a better average setting) but the footage shows that it captured light correctly both outdoors and indoors. If you compare the hamster shots with the Flip and with the nano I think it's clear that for indoor and lowlight there's no comparison and the Flip has the nano beat hands down. The outdoor images are closer but I think even this small video shows greater detail in the Flip video. When you blow the images up bigger there's no comparison -- the Flip looks decent even on a big screen TV the iPod nano footage looks like it was shot with well a toy camera. In all fairness that's all it is at this point. (Note by the way that like the Flip the nano will only take video and doesn't take photos. You can manually add photos to the nano from your computer but you can't use the onboard camera to capture stills.)



Another thing that bugs me a bit about the new iPod nano is the bizarre placement of the camera lens. It's nestled down in the corner of the backside below the screen -- exactly where it is most natural to hold this thing if you are shooting with it. Even if you just grasp the thing at the corners there's a tendency for some part of a finger to accidentally edge into the camera frame. In fact I found that even after I was aware of this fact I kept doing it anyways -- the way this thing fits in my hands just makes it likely I'll catch an edge of a finger in my shots unless I'm conscientious about avoiding it and that detracts from the spontaneity this is designed to take advantage of. (I even noticed I'd done it on most of the iPod nano footage for this video comparison -- and I thought about doing it over but then decided to leave it in just to show how easily it can happen.)



So to sum up: what you really get with the iPod nano is a toy camera fun to have in the pocket and very cool to have just in case there's something you want to shoot but not quite the quality we've come to expect from the handy pocket camcorders like the Flip Mino and the Creative Vado and the Kodak Zi8 that keep getting better and better. Video is a nice new feature on the Nano but not really a radical innovation and not a game changer.



What makes the iPod Nano worth it is that in addition to video on the fly you get to listen to music you get an FM radio that works quite well and even tells you what song you are listening to you get a voice recorder (a VERY nice feature excellent for students who can listen to music on their way to class and then record a lecture) a decent quality mini speaker a somewhat useful pedometer decent game options for killing time. You don't get any of that with the Flip! Sure the new iPod nano is a toy ... but it's a very cool toy.



More detail ...

Almost "Untouchable"

One year ago I purchased the 16GB original iPod Touch. At that time I found that even though it had some flaws the over-all package made it one of the best iPods available. Now one year later Apple has released the next generation Touch. I've now had it for a few days and here's what I found: the second gen iPod Touch is a marked improvement over the the first gen and comes even closer to perfection. Keeping this in mind this review will show one big and a number of smaller shortcomings. It may also be difficult to justify upgrading from the 1st to 2nd gen unless you simply must have one of the few hardware improvements and can live with the fact that you may have to re-purchase some of your accessories.



Size and Dimensions

The iPod Touch now sports a more rounded design on the back making it look slightly thinner and more like the iPhone than the original did (it is not really thinner than it's predecessor just looks that way). Unfortunately the back plate is still made from stainless steel and this plate attacts fingerprints and scratches almost magically. After one year of near-constant use the backplate of my first gen Touch looks a bit like a wild etch-a-sketch (I carry the Touch in my pocket). Interestingly the glass on the front appears (after one year of heavy use) to be absolutely scratch-resistant. It's the backside (that also carries the custom engraving) that quickly becomes blemished. I would have preferred a brushed metal/aluminium backplate. I had to look it up but the new Touch is slightly lighter (a few grams) - but it looks thinner (thanks to the tapered edge design). The rounded edges make it fit my palm slightly better making it feel just right (to be honest the original Touch was already very very good in this respect). Other than that the outside dimensions exactly match that of the original Touch. The most visible change from the front is that the steel from the backplate now frames the glass much like it did on the original iPhone.



Touch Screen and Controls

The screen is simply gorgeous. It's bright crisp has great contrast and can adapt it's brightness to the ambient light. In direct sunlight much like it's predecessor it becomes difficult to read correctly. In shade it's perfectly readable -- a feat considering how bright a display has to be to achieve that. Color temperature of the display has shifted slightly downwards (or to sound less pompuous: the display's colors have shifted slightly from a blueish to a golden tinge something you wouldn't notice unless you have the two devices side by side).



The touch screen is very responsive and as I stated before absolutely scratch-resistant. Surviving a full year in my pocket along with metallic objects such as my keys is a testament to it's durability (looking at the stainles steel backside is a constant reminder just how badly it could have been scratched). As with the original Touch the same problems occur when you try to control the device 'blind' (i.e. while it is in your pocket): without looking at it you simply can't. Fortunately Apple has addressed the most important drawback with this design: a hardware volume control. The screen's resolution remains at 480x320 which is very good (certainly better than my iPod Classic's). Interestingly I've found out that ripping videos to this resolution does not necessarily yield noticeably better results than for the iPod classic's (320x240) screen so I now rip to that resolution conserving some memory.



iPod / iTunes

After one year of owning the original Touch I have to remind myself that this device originally is an iPod -- or rather a digital music player. As it turns out although I also use it for music playing this function has more and more been relegated to a background task -- a task nontheless that it handles really well. The coverflow browsing and display functionality has evolved nicely from the original (1.0 and 2.0) versions and are still the best in the market. The interface improvements support nice touches such as displaying a song's lyrics on single tap bringing up the volume/cue controls on double-tap of the home button an alphabetic slide rule when browsing titles etc. Still missing is a search function though. And especially in light of the gorgeous display capabilities and the recent addition of a new visualitzer (in additional to the existing ones in iTunes) I would have loved to see a visualizer on the Touch as well. The biggest (and in my oppinion delibarate (as in spiteful)) omission is this: you still can't enable 'hard drive mode' i.e. use the Touch as a mass storage device. The biggest boon is improved battery life.



Video is crisp (still no contrast control though) and audio playback is just as you expect (again: I'm no audiophile. I'm absolutely happy with most player's audio capabilities). Again I'm not using the Apple-provided white and quite sub-par headphones. I'm using separately purchased ones. New for the second gen is a built-in speaker. Audio quality here is not actually terrible but close. The sound is tinny weak and just somehow comes out of the iPod (mono of course). I believe that the addition of the speaker has a specific reason different from HiFi: it makes playing games on the Touch without headphones so much more enjoyable. But for listening to music I would prefer headphones or active speakers. To be honest I prefer not listening to music from that speaker.



iTunes integration is top-notch as before. Some sort of bug-fix now has made data backup much faster and both iTunes and the Touch now sport a new kind of smart playlist that is called 'Genius'. Initially I wasn't impressed by this feature. Although iTunes 8 has had this feature I regarded it primarily as a well executed new way to sell song and hence didn't use it. On my iPod however (which only carries a subset of my library due to memory contraints) this feature literally rocks. On my first day alone it had me re-discover five songs I never knew I had (much less liked).



On the downside the Touch still does not support playlist groups which is a constant annoyance to me. I'm also disappointed to see that the Touch still can't synch wirelessly nor can it be used to access shared playlists (other than downloading them of course). An application in the App store offers this functionality albeit only for non-DRM'd titles proving the point that this is possible.



Images (from iPhoto) can also be synched to the Touch and nothing is more fun than showing off your iPod's capabilities using a nice picture and 'pinch' and 'swipe'. Interestingly (or rather: unfortunately) iTunes appears to down-sample large images to a smaller resolution probably to conserve memory. This may make sense but I would like to be able to have more control over this feature (i.e. decide myself what the image's resolution on the iPod should be).



Accessories - the Big Bad Ugly

Unfortunately Apple has changed the pin-out (*again*) for the iPod connector. As a result some 'made for iPod' accessories either don't work or don't work fully any more. For example my Altec Lansing active speakers can't charge the Touch any more (it was able to charge the 1st gen Touch). This is truly truly annoying as you don't know if your iPod works with your 'made for iPod' devices any longer and makes purchasing new accessories a game of chance. My car has a (hideously expensive) iPod integration that luckily still works (including re-charging). Still the iPod connector compatibility (or lack thereof) is becoming a big mess. Just imagine you want to buy an accessory for your kid or friend and too late find out that it does not work with it.



WiFi / Internet

A year ago I purchased an iPod and got a fully integrated web accesory kit. As it turned out the addition of WiFi and full internet access is a killer feature to me. The web browser (a mobile version of Safari) is very capable. Much has been said about the fact that Mobile Safari does not support Flash. This is annoying if you visit sites that use it. The pinch/slide gesture-based interface works so well that I regularely use the Touch for normal web surfing. The general experience has increased over the past few month no doubt in no small amounts due to the fact that many sites have beed re-designed with the iPhone in mind. Since the Touch's browser is exactly the same it inherits the benefit. WiFi speed is good (although it still uses the 802.11b/g not the n variant) - and mostly depends on the hotspot you are connected to. It remembers the hotspots it has connected to (much like a laptop would) and can also connect using WPA. There are other Web enabled applications that come with the iPod (Maps which can pinpoint your location by the position of hotspots close to you) Stocks YouTube and Weather which are nice but remarkable. WiFi reception range is average but definitely below that of some PC laptops.



Then the Touch also comes with Mail Calendar and Adressboock and these do become killer fieatures especially when coupled with an Exchange server or (as Apple would prefer) MobileMe. Mail supports 'push' technology meaning that (almost) as soon an there is an incoming mail (and your Touch is connected to a hotspot) you are notified by a little discreep 'bleep'. Reading emails including mails with rich content works very well. Composing any but the shortes emails on the other hand is bothersome verging on annoying due to the small virtual keyboard). Still simply being able to do this makes all the difference. Live Calender updates have saved my bacon a few times already as you do not have to remember to actively synch your iPod after you have made a change to the calender.





Integration with Exchange (at the point of writing) remains a tad spotty with no messages appearing for s few hours and then suddenly many appearing at once (I initially suspected a configuration issue on the Exchange Server but this appears not to be the case). Depending upon how you configure MobileMe on your Mac the results are similar to what you can expect from Exchange (with the difference of course that Apple is running the servers for you). Unfortunately MobileMe currently does not synch your Notes.



Nicely executed is the integrated iTunes store. While possibly just another mechanism to generate sales I simply love the fact that if I hear or remember a song I can almost always instantly purchase it and have it on my touch within seconds. Songs purchased on the Touch synchronize back to your main library in iTunes (into a rather silly 'Purchased on Touch' playlist). If a download has to discontinue because the network connection was lost (or for any other reasons) it will continue as soon as the connection to the Internet is restored.



Interestingly the touch sports (I'm a sucker for lame puns) the required hardware to connect to the 'Nike + iPod' sports accessories built-in (i.e. you do not have to connect the dongle). I say interestingly because these devices utilize the bluetooth frequency band yet the Touch does not support bluetooth devices (headphones mikes car integration and printers come to mind). Since I use a shuffle for work-out this is not a must-have feature for me.



Applications/App Store

If Mail Calendar and Browser are killer apps Apple has added another killer feature to the Touch (and iPhone) that expands the device's usability (and customizability) by orders of magnitude: the App store. In appearance similar to the iTunes Store here you can choose from literally hundrets of applictions (of greatly varying quality though) purchase and install them instantly. Prices run from free to roughly 10 USD (there are some more expensive titles but the majority are priced at a couple of USD). The apps are presented in three different ways ('featured' 'top' browse by category) plus you have the ability to search for keywords.



Although the 'signal to noise' ratio isn't that great (there are quite a lot of useless or awfully executed applications) there are some jaw-droppingly good apps that truly enhance your Touch. Among the first to mention is Apple's own (free) 'Remote' app which allows you to remote-control iTunes on your Mac or Apple TV - with real-time full visual feedback and full search capability (allegedly it is also a real boon for Apple TV users as it provides a virtual keyboard as input means. Not having Apple TV I can't comment on this). Then there is an application that allows you to stream all your music (well the unprotecte at least) to your Touch - over the Internet to wherever you are (interestingly this App was not produced by Apple).



Greatly enhancing the Touch's usability are eBook readers (the Touch is almost perfect for rading books giving you that 'Star Trek' info pad feeling) as well as off-line news readers. Another important category are applications that enable you to easily transfer (and view) files from your Mac/PC to the Touch. I would have expected Apple to integrate this feature into iTunes (perhaps rudimentary support for PDF) but third party providers are more than happy to bridge this gap for you. And for the geeks there are VNC and SSH clients that finally allow them to control their server cluster using an iPod.



For those who want radio there are lots of offerings for IP radios. Of course this means that your iPod must remain in range of a hotspot to use this feature. Mine does so I alos now have radio -- and re-discovered just why I never missed it. I'm simply not a radio guy I guess. I do know that many people miss it and wish apple had gone the last mile and also added an FM tuner.



Two Apps I'm sure that will arrive soon at the App store is due to another addition to the Touch: support for extenal microphones. Apple's hi-end earphones have both a remote and mike built in and are said to be compatible with the 2nd (and only 2nd) gen Touch. Audio note pads and VoIP apps (a la Skype) that allows phone functionality over WiFi are sure to follow soon (note: I have seen these apps available in the US stores; sadly they are not yet available here in Switzerland Also I interpret Apple's docs that the 2nd gen Touch supports external microphones as they have not yet shipped the combined mike/remote headphones to me).



And then there are games. They currently are the biggest category of all applications. The Touch with it's integrated accelerometer 480x320 color screen and touch interface makes a nice gaming device and developers have come up with some truly fun and innovative games ('Toy Bot' may serve as a great example). Apple may have realized that this is becoming an increasingly important aspect of the Touch: the Gen 2 device sports a speaker that makes little sense - except to improve the gaming experience (believe me: playing an accelerometer-based game with headphones on can be verry little fun when it gets exciting). And improving the experience it does. The Touch is ill suited for classic 'control pad' based games (e.g. Tetris Pac Man) and most of their Touch adaptations suffer accordingly. Other games however adapt nicely to touch/accelerometer input (Monkey Ball Crash Cart etc) or are a natural fit (Labyrinth Sudoku Solitair Othello)



Super-geeks can also download the iPhone/Touch SDK and create their own applications. This is not for the faint of heart as you first download a few gigabytes (Apple's XCode development environment) and then will have to code in Objective-C (an extension to standard C) and use the Cocoa framework. Plus you'll need a Mac to do so. The environment is actually very good and includes an iPhone simulator to test your software before deployment.



I should mention that most of the improvements (with the exception of the hardware upgrades: mike support built-in nike support volume buttons and battery life) can be had for free on your 1st gen Touch (if you have the 2.0 Update) or a couple of bucks if you havn't upgraded yet. Unless you (like me) want the larger memory (my first gen only has 16GB) the decision to upgrade to 2nd gen may be difficult.



Summary:

The 2nd generation iPod Touch is an almost perfect device. It combines top-notch video/audio world-class UI great casual gaming hundrets of apps and full access to the Internet into a single beautiful package. To sum it up neatly: Untouchable. Well -- almost. It has one big flaw if you have invested in accessories: it may not be compatible with them as Apple has changed the iPod connector pin-out (again). With those reservations I recommend the Touch to anyone. Also great: owners of the 1st gen Touch can get most of these goodies with a simple inexpensive software upgrade.





Hits

+ great display

+ good audio

+ gesture-based interface

+ accelerometer for controls

+ great integration with your music library (via iTunes)

+ long battery life

+ wireless music store

+ wireless App store (killer feature)

+ Speaker for gaming

+ Mail Calendar and Address book with Push

+ WiFi Internet (killer feature)

+ Remote App (free) for your PC/Mac's iTunes/AppleTV

+ SDK freely available for anyone

+ Microphone and remote support

+ Nike + iPod without dongle



Misses

- incompatibility with 'made for iPod' devices (bad bad bad)

- stainless steel backplate (fingerprints and scratches easily)

- no wireless synching

- no wireless playback of streamed iTunes content (an Appstore application can stream unprotected content though)

- no visualizer

- no search function

- no playlist groups (why oh why?)

- no GPS nor FM radio

- Notes not synched with MobileMe

- no hard drive mode

- no synching documents (except third party Apps)

- downsampling of photos

- currently tops out at 32GB (would have preferred 64)

- no bluetoothMore detail ...

Headphones suck!

The headphones that are required to use the new ipod shuffle are probably the poorest example of product design i've ever seen. Based on its size portability and Apple's marketing you would think this would be a perfect product for exercising. That is where you would be wrong! The controls on the headphone wire are right up next to your ear and unless you exercise without sweating that tiny box is doomed to get filled with sweat. I bought this ipod specifically for running but after about 3 miles the controls start acting totally erratically randomly and constantly switching between songs and playlists or alternatively not playing any music but just talking at me with its annoying computer voice. I can only attribute the behavior to sweat getting on the control box. Today I even tried covering the box with plastic wrap and tape but to no avail. I was so frustrated with the ipod's crazy behavior on mile 6 that I actually ripped the headphones out of my ears and threw them in the ditch. Not kidding. Looking for some alternative to control it because I do really like it's size for running and the new playlist feature is great...but not when it's acting crazy. I'm so irritated that Apple overlooked this crucial aspect of this product.More detail ...

Very cool handy and sleek new toy -- but don't throw away your Flip yet!!

Watch Video Here: http://www.amazon.com/review/R3GCL7CCLCHZCY When Steve Jobs announced the newest generation iPod nano he suggested that with its new video capability the nano would easily compete with the Flip Video camcorder. While someday down the line this may be a serious contender in the pocket video camera market it's not there yet. I took some comparison footage with the iPod nano and the standard definition Flip Mino to show why. My point in all this is not to suggest that you go buy a Flip instead of an iPod nano but that you ask yourself what it is you really want. If you want to make videos you can upload to Youtube and you want them to look pretty decent and you don't care much about music or you already have an mp3 player I wouldn't buy this iPod just because now it has video. On the other hand having some video capability might be enough to give this the edge over most other music players; if games are more important to you than video though you'd be better off with an iPod touch.



One thing you'll notice in the footage where I shot the same things back to back with both camcorders is that where the Flip really shines is in low light. I shot the hamster moments at night in a room illuminated only by a lamp. Not only did the iPod nano take grainy video it also didn't do any kind of white balancing and the indoor lightbulb added an orange tint to the clip; I'm not sure exactly how the Flip is designed to address this (whether it automatically adjusts white balance or just has a better average setting) but the footage shows that it captured light correctly both outdoors and indoors. If you compare the hamster shots with the Flip and with the nano I think it's clear that for indoor and lowlight there's no comparison and the Flip has the nano beat hands down. The outdoor images are closer but I think even this small video shows greater detail in the Flip video. When you blow the images up bigger there's no comparison -- the Flip looks decent even on a big screen TV the iPod nano footage looks like it was shot with well a toy camera. In all fairness that's all it is at this point. (Note by the way that like the Flip the nano will only take video and doesn't take photos. You can manually add photos to the nano from your computer but you can't use the onboard camera to capture stills.)



Another thing that bugs me a bit about the new iPod nano is the bizarre placement of the camera lens. It's nestled down in the corner of the backside below the screen -- exactly where it is most natural to hold this thing if you are shooting with it. Even if you just grasp the thing at the corners there's a tendency for some part of a finger to accidentally edge into the camera frame. In fact I found that even after I was aware of this fact I kept doing it anyways -- the way this thing fits in my hands just makes it likely I'll catch an edge of a finger in my shots unless I'm conscientious about avoiding it and that detracts from the spontaneity this is designed to take advantage of. (I even noticed I'd done it on most of the iPod nano footage for this video comparison -- and I thought about doing it over but then decided to leave it in just to show how easily it can happen.)



So to sum up: what you really get with the iPod nano is a toy camera fun to have in the pocket and very cool to have just in case there's something you want to shoot but not quite the quality we've come to expect from the handy pocket camcorders like the Flip Mino and the Creative Vado and the Kodak Zi8 that keep getting better and better. Video is a nice new feature on the Nano but not really a radical innovation and not a game changer.



What makes the iPod Nano worth it is that in addition to video on the fly you get to listen to music you get an FM radio that works quite well and even tells you what song you are listening to you get a voice recorder (a VERY nice feature excellent for students who can listen to music on their way to class and then record a lecture) a decent quality mini speaker a somewhat useful pedometer decent game options for killing time. You don't get any of that with the Flip! Sure the new iPod nano is a toy ... but it's a very cool toy.



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