Intro & Design
If you're one of the thousands of people who have been wowed by the touch-screen capabilities and elegance of Steve Job's new baby that is the iPhone, but don't want a new cell phone, then rejoice: the 'iPod touch' is finally here. Since the 4th gen iPods came out, rumors of a widescreen iPod with touchscreen capabilities have been floating around for a few years, but never surfaced. The iPod touch brings so much more than what was just rumors, but also at the same time, brings very uncanny similarities to the recently released (and most recently price dropped) iPhone. And why not? His Steveness claimed that the iPhone is also the best iPod ever so it seems only fitting to port the same technologies over to a dedicated portable audio media player.
Look and Feel
To put it short, the iPod touch is really an iPhone sans the phone. Literally. Compared to the renewed iPod classic and iPod nano, which bears the iconic click-wheel design, the iPod touch looks almost identical to the iPhone. The touch shares the same black fascia design, utilizes the same screen size and resolution, has the same multi-touch interface, and has the same menu button at the bottom as the iPhone. You'll easily mistaken it for the iPhone.
Unlike the iPhone, however, the touch is surrounded by a matte black ring (chrome on the iPhone), and is a tad bit wider and shorter in dimensions. The touch is also much thinner at 8mm and also lighter than the iPhone, making this device even easier to carry around in your pocket. It even feels different. While the iPhone is rounded off on the edges, the iPod touch's wider footprint is flat on the top sides giving it a much grippier feel. You won't feel like the unit will slip out of your hands like the iPhone will.
Turn the iPod over and you'll notice differences as well. The touch, unfortunately, uses the chrome metallic backing as previous iPods and not the anodized aluminum the iPhone employs. As a result, the chrome is prone to fingerprints and smudges. Apple, haven't you learned anything by now?
Keyboard
If you've spent time trying out the iPhone at your local Apple Store, you should be familiar with the virtual keyboard system. The iPod touch's system works exactly the same and is very useful when using the Safari web browser (Yes, it can surf the web) or entering contacts. Typing on it takes some getting used to but with practice, you'll become an expert at typing quickly. Those with large digits will find the virtual keyboard a bit difficult to work with and typing errors will certainly occur often. Fortunately, the system has a smart error control.
Features
The iPod touch is the first iPod to use the revolutionary 'Multi-Touch' touch screen technology. It is also the first iPod to include standard WiFi for full web browsing. Both technologies are borrowed straight from the iPhone. Onboard flash memory is available in 8GB ($299) and 16GB ($399) versions, but are a far cry from the 160GB of storage that can be had with the iPod classic at the same price.
Other features borrowed right off the iPhone include the address book for contacts, calendar (read-only), calculator, clock (world/timer/alarm), photo viewer, Safari browser, and the YouTube video application.
A feature new to Apple and of which makes its debut on the iPod touch is the iTunes Wi-Fi Music Store. This revolutionary feature allows you to preview, browse, purchase, and download songs online right from the iPod touch via its built-in WiFi connection.
Battery life is quoted at 22 hours of audio usage and 5 hours of video. Those figures are about on par in real world testing. Full charge takes about 3 hours.
Rundown of Features:
- 8GB or 16GB models; PC & Mac compatible
- Screen: 3.5' widescreen display with Multi-Touch touchscreen technology, 480 x 320 resolution
- Dimensions: 4.3' x 2.4' x .31'
- Supported audio formats: AAC (16 to 320 Kbps), Protected, MP3 (16 to 320 Kbps), MP3 VBR, Audible (formats 2, 3, and 4), Apple Lossless, AIFF, and WAV
- Supported video formats: H.264 video, up to 1.5 Mbps, 640 x 480 pixels, 30FPS
- 802.11b/g Wi-Fi
- Applications: Calendar, Calculator, Clock, Photo Viewer, Safari Browser, Youtube
- USB 2.0 connectivity via iPod dock port
- Built-in rechargeable lithium-ion battery with 22 hours of audio or 5 hours of video playback
Performance & Features
Display
Like the iPhone, the showcase of the iPod touch is in its big, beautiful widescreen display. It’s absolutely gorgeous to look at and easy to use thanks to the well designed Multi-Touch technology. Album art and photos are crisp, colorful, and vibrant.
There have been some reports of the iPod touch using inferior LCD displays to that of the iPhone’s. Shimmering and black ghosting effects weren’t as noticeable on my test unit as some users have reported, but this may be a manufacturing flaw for the first batch of units and will hopefully be addressed.
Performance – iPod functionality
So how well does this revolutionary iPod stack up? Quite well actually, considering the user interface is borrowed straight from the already excellent iPhone interface. The operating system is fast, simple and very elegant to see and use. Based on the mobile platform version of OS X, content is displayed in high resolution with little to no slowdown. Touch controls are dead accurate and quick making the Multi-Touch interface a truly wonderful thing to use.
Controls
Navigating through commonly used features such as music and videos is a breeze thanks to quickly accessible and well labeled “buttons” at the bottom of the home screen. I found it easier to access my media content with the iPod touch than the iPhone as there are separate “Music” and “Video” buttons located on the quick launch bar.
One major annoyance I found with the touch is the lack of dedicated volume controls. The only way to adjust volume is to power on the display, and bring up the audio control window from the “Now Playing” screen. It’s a tedious process especially when you have your iPod in your pocket. The iPhone has volume controls on the side, so why not on the touch?
There are two ways to browse your music: traditional list mode and Cover Flow. In traditional mode, you hold the unit upright like you normally would on a standard iPod. You can browse your music by song, album, artist, or customize the buttons by other criteria. Simply pick a song (or video) from your playlist and it will begin playing automatically. Tap the screen once, and a control window pops up for adjusting volume, track, and play settings. Tap again to make it go away. It doesn’t get any simpler than that. To access your playlist again, tap the top left button or tap the right button to see a track listing of all the songs contained in the same album.
A convenient feature I found is the ability to press the “home” button twice when outside of iPod mode – whether using the Safari browser, contacts, or photos – to toggle a pop-up audio control window. This way, you won’t have to exit the program you’re using and having to go back to the “Currently Playing” screen.
Cover Flow
Turning the device horizontally toggles Cover Flow mode where you can now browse through your music by album cover art by sliding your finger left or right across like a jukebox. It’s almost like watching an art gallery and the interface is absolutely incredible to view in action. The transition is seamless and will surely amaze the first couple times. Tap on the desired album to open a listing of the songs contained in that album and tap the song you want to play. Unfortunately, after awhile I found this mode to be more of a display showcase than a useful feature. Rather than remembering the name of a song or artist, Cover Flow only works if you can remember the album art of the song you’re trying to play. Not to mention, it’s a slow process if you’re trying to get from one end of your album to the other end.
Another annoyance of Cover Flow is you simply can’t turn it off. The tilt sensor sometimes will switch between traditional mode and Cover Flow when you least expect in situations where the unit will be tilted, say when you place it on a flat surface or when you’re carrying it while working out.
Regardless, the iPod touch does a fine job of doing what it does best: play music. Users will take some time getting used to the new controls but the process should be fairly quick to learn.
Features & Conclusion
Virtual Keyboard
Like the iPhone, the virtual keyboard was designed to eliminate clutter and give you more screen real estate to work with. While it takes some getting used to, the system is surprisingly responsive and has a soothingly light 'tap' sound upon each key entry. Without any tactile feedback, you just have to learn to trust using it. Errors will happen especially for those with larger hands, but the smart spellchecker does make things easier to live with. Practice makes perfect!
Internet Browsing via Wi-Fi
Thanks to built-in Wi-Fi, the iPod touch is capable of browsing websites with the robust Mobile Safari browser. Double-tapping and pinching in/out allows you to adjust the level of zoom. Entering URLs and search queries proved not a problem with the virtual keyboard that pops up only when needed. Wi-Fi speeds were fairly quick and websites loaded just fine. But what's up with the lack of Flash support?
Contacts
Same as the iPhone. You can add, view, and edit contacts from the device and then sync with your desktop - very convenient.
Calendar
This is an odd one. For some reason, Apple decided to butcher the calendar application for the iPod touch, perhaps in an effort to prevent cannibalization of iPhone sales. Unlike the iPhone, you cannot create events - only view the ones you created and synced from your desktop computer. If you're going to showcase your revolutionary touch screen system, why omit the ability to create contacts then, Apple? What a waste of a virtual keyboard
iTunes Wi-Fi Store
By far the biggest surprise was the inclusion of the ability to preview, purchase, and download music directly from the iPod touch via Wi-Fi. This feature works remarkably well and it is fast. Song previews play almost instantly and with good quality too. With a cleanly organized menu system, it's very easy to browse around. The Spotlight search feature is a nice touch, offering instant search with each letter entry. I can picture myself using this feature a lot.
Downloading a song couldn't be any easier too. Just select the song you want to buy and a wireless download is initiated. Once downloaded the song is automatically added to your playlist for immediate playback. Sync the iPod up to your computer and the song will be added to iTunes. I love it!
Photo Viewer
Synced with iPhoto via iTunes, you can load pictures onto your iPod touch and share them with friends. Pinching allows you to zoom and thumbing through photos is as easy as flicking a finger across. There's no onboard camera.
Starbucks Integration
This is definitely a peculiar tie-in. Starbucks and iPods? Essentially, this feature gives you the ability to browse songs that are currently being played at your local coffee shop. As of this time, I was unable to test this feature out with it being slowly phased in at Starbucks across the nation. Regardless, I am not impressed with this feature as it's really just a marketing gimmick and I can't really think of why anyone would want to use this useless feature. And isn't Starbucks partnered up with T-Mobile in providing wireless HotSpots? Gasp, is Apple secretly working behind AT&T's back?!
Conclusion
Pros:
- Beautiful and big widescreen display
- Multi-Touch interface
- True web browsing via Wi-Fi
- YouTube!
- iTunes Wi-Fi Store
- Thin and light
- Battery life
Cons:
- Limited storage space
- Expensive
- No dedicated Volume controls
- Where are the other apps/widgets??
- Can't create events in Calendar
- Half-assed iPhone design
- Chrome metal backing
The iPod touch proves to be a wonderful piece of technology. It's well designedokay, so maybe it really is just an iPhone with the phone components taken out. But that's not a bad thing as the interface is very robust and easy to use to begin with. However, I was actually quite disappointed in Apple's attempt to truly revamp the next generation of iPods. They got lazy here with designing the iPod touch and really just half-assed the design from the iPhone. This really takes away the wow factor.
Plus, at its price it now comes down to whether you want more storage space or more technology. 16GB is nothing if you plan on adding a lot of music and video onto it. For the same amount, you can get the iPod classic with 160GB of storage. Even the 80GB classic can be had at the same $299 price as the 8GB touch model. Let's not even get started about comparing the iPhone on pricing and features
Nonetheless, it really is the best iPod ever.
