Apple has been particularly
busy these past few months. We’ve seen updated aluminum iMacs, the new
iPod classic,
new iPod nano
fatty and of course, we can’t forget the mega hyped
iPhone. Redefining
both mobile phones and digital media players, the iPhone has made a definite
dent in tech history. Now we have the iPod touch. This device takes all the
music and video related features that have made the iPhone so popular, and made
them available to people that don’t want to switch carriers or phones.

* Storage: Available in either 8GB or 16GB Flash drive capacities
* Display: 3.5-inch (diagonal), 480 x 320 pixels at 163 DPI
* Frequency response: 20Hz to 20,000Hz
* Audio formats: MP3 (16 to 320 Kbps), MP3 VBR, AAC (16 to 320 Kbps), Protected AAC (from iTunes Store), Audible (formats 2, 3 and 4), WAV, and AIFF
* Video formats: H.264 video up to 1.5 Mbps, 640 x 480 pixels
* WiFi (802.11b/g)
* Audio: 3.5mm stereo headphone minijack
* Power: Rechargeable lithium polymer battery (up to 22hrs of audio playback time and
5hrs of video playback time)
* Size: 4.3 x 2.4 x 0.31in (110 x 61.8 x 8mm)
* Weight: 4.2oz (120)

Package Contents

* iPod touch
* Earphones
* USB 2.0 cable
* Dock adapter
* Polishing cloth
* Stand
* Quick start guide
* Apple stickers

To say that the iPod touch is just an iPhone without the phone,
really isn’t an accurate description. At first glance, the touch does look like an iPhone, I’ll give you that. But once you look a little closer, you’ll see that it’s an entirely different device. One that just happens to look like the iPhone…

The touch is almost half the thickness of the iPhone. It’s also a little bit shorter and the select button is smaller in diameter. You will also notice that the rim around the display is Black instead of chrome like the iPhone.

After carrying around my iPhone for the past few months, the touch feels considerably thinner. It is comfortable in hand although a bit on the slippery side. Squeezing it yields no flexing creaking or cracking. It’s definitely a solid device.

Oh look, it has a chrome back. Yay. Not. Apple, please stop this madness!!! Chrome is smudgy and way too susceptible to scratching. It’s time to move on. Really!

Along the bottom edge, you’ll find the universal dock connector and a stereo earphone jack. Unlike the iPhone’s earphone jack, this one can accommodate any type of 3.5mm earphone connector.

The only other button on the touch is located on the top of the device. This thin button turns the screen on and off. The lack of hardware buttons to adjust volume, pause playback, and navigate forward and backwards through tracks was immediately evident. Without such buttons, you have to turn the display on and use the onscreen touch buttons for these functions. This can be a bit annoying.

To give you an idea how the touch compares to the iPhone size-wise, take a look at the image above. The touch is on top, iPhone on bottom.

The touch’s color display is the same size and resolution as the iPhone’s display, but it has a slightly higher density of pixels. The iPhone’s DPI is 160, while the touch’s DPI is 163. Is this difference noticeable? Only when viewing images side by side like you see here. Comparing the exact photo on both devices, I think the touch has a slightly sharper picture and brighter colors. That said, some people have been complaining about issues with their touch’s display. They are saying that they have negative Black problems when viewing video with dark scenes. The picture will wash out and be hard to see. I’ve also heard reports of dead pixels. Luckily, I’ve not seen either of these issues on my own iPod touch.

User Interface
As soon as you turn the touch on, you are greeted with the same screen that you would see on the iPhone. It’s obvious that the iPhone’s interface has been stripped down and pumped into the touch.

Don’t like the earth wallpaper on the opening screen? You can change it to one of your own photos using the settings dialog.

The built in features / applications are represented by 11 icons. In my opinion, Apple should have created larger icons and filled the entire screen. The way it is now, it just looks lame to me. It’s like, what happened to the rest of the apps? It’s too iPhone-ish.

Let’s take a look at each one… First up, Safari.
Safari
The touch has WiFi built in, which makes it a great little surfing device. Safari is the best web browser for small devices, that I’ve ever used. With those remarkable pinch and spread finger gestures, that allow you to shrink and enlarge sections of the page for easier viewing, surfing is a lot of fun. There’s also the automatic changing from portrait to landscape mode when you physically rotate the display. The two images above are the same web site shown in both portrait and landscape orientations.
YouTube
If you’re addicted to watching user submitted video content, then the YouTube app will keep you busy busy busy. You see thumbnails of featured and most viewed videos, and also have the ability to search for other videos.
Oh joy! A Harry Potter puppet show video on YouTube. Can life get any better than that? I think not!

Calendar

Just like the iPod classic and nano, the iPod touch also has a calendar app. It looks like the same calendar app that you find on the iPhone, minus one important feature: the ability to edit and add new events. I guess since the touch is an iPod, that means that it is not privileged to have those features. Grrrrrr…
You have three views, agenda (List), Day and Monthly views.

Contacts
The touch makes a nifty rolodex for all your addresses. Pictures even sync with Apple’s desktop contacts app (Not sure how and what it syncs with for Windows users).
Hmmmm, look what we have here! The ability to add and edit new contacts records. What is up with that? Doesn’t it seem odd that Apple says it’s ok to edit and add new addresses on your touch, but it’s not ok to edit and add new calendar events? Are you as confused as I am?

Music
The touch interface on the touch (sorry) makes finding music almost as fun as listening to it. Scrolling through lists of artists with a flick of your finger has the be the greatest way to navigate content ever invented. The music interface on the touch has been lifted directly from the iPhone. I haven’t noticed any differences.
While music is playing, you can see the album cover art.
Tapping on the list icon in the upper right corner of the now playing screen, will pop you into the album song list screen. From there, you can rate the song by tapping on the 5 dots at the top of the screen. You can also jump to a specific song by tapping on it.

Rotate the iPod touch into landscape orientation while in music mode, and it will convert to cover flow. In this mode, you flip through your albums by their cover art.
Tapping the small i in the lower right corner will display the songs in the facing album.

The touch’s audio quality is very good. I rip all my music at 192 kbps VBR (Variable Bit Rate) and am more than happy with the way music sounds through even the stock earbuds.

Video
Watching video on your touch is very enjoyable. The screen is large, bright and vivid.

iphone
The iPod touch does not have a built in camera like the iPhone, but you can sync your photos to it and view them.
The touch makes a great little digital photo frame when you put it in slide show mode and set it up on the itty bitty plastic stand that comes with it.

iTunes
Finally, a feature that the iPhone doesn’t have (yet), but the touch does… iTunes! Yes, you can now browse, preview and purchase music directly from your iPod touch using a WiFi connection. It’s extremely easy… too easy really… which of course, Apple is banking on.
When you find a song (or album) that you want to purchase, you just tap the BUY NOW button with your finger. You’re then prompted for your iTunes password. After you type it in using the on-screen keyboard, your song will download directly to the device.
Entire albums can be purchased, or individual songs. At the moment, you can only find and purchase music. Videos, TV shows and movies are not available. Of course you can purchase them with your desktop version of iTunes and sync them to your touch.

There is lots of controversy over whether people should run with headphones. Indoors, on treadmills, the purest says they are not able to really pay attention to the running. Outside, safety is the issue (the purest still has their case). While, I understand both viewpoints, I just can’t follow the rule. I have to have my music. It provides a quiet distraction from the outside world and gives me the motivation and rthyme to keep moving.

For any purest out there, I have to ask, do you where shoes, clothes… how pure do you need to be? Running is a pure sport to start with, it is about the self, not the equipment. I like the idea of triathlons, but there is too much equipment advantage to be gotten by those who can. Swimming should be pure, but it isn’t once you strap on these high tech suits. Certainly cycling is not pure. You can go down the line… running requires shoes, but until those shoes can have bionic springs or little sonic jets in them, it will continue to be pure. Adding a little music to it does it give enough of an advantage or disadvantage to change that.

I can more justify the safety issue when people are running outside. In certain places, not being able to hear can be very detrimental to runners. If you run in the city where people can cause you harm or on streets (city or country) where vehicles can do you harm, you have to be able to hear them coming. I am fortunate that I am an above average height male. In this respect, I feel bad for people where this is not the case and safety becomes an issue. But this only protects me from the first issue. The second issue is more of a question of common sense and self awareness. This second issue could also apply to driving, so should be ban radios from cars?

Okay, the end of my rant. The real reason I wanted to blog on this topic was the irony of the music that comes on at just the right time. Sometimes I listen to audiobooks or podcasts, but when I listen to music, the right music always seems to come on at the right time to give me a smile. Yesterday as rounded my nieghborhood street for the third time with son in the stroller, the Justin Timberlake song “What Goes Around, Comes Around” came on. The day before, as I made the turn on a out-and-back run, I was starting to feel my lungs burn … on came “No Air” by Jordin Sparks. My favorite was when I was really starting to suffer on a big hill towards the end of a long run… Alanis Morissette’s “Uninvited”… go away pain, go away!

I think I should be alble to listen to my music, if only to put the smile on my face instead of the grimis that might otherwise be there. (BTW – my MP3 player is an 8GB Black with Red Creative Zen V Plus. It competes with the Nano and I would take this non-proprietary player over the Apple any day!)