Review by C. Franz for Apple iPod touch 8 GB (2nd Generation–without iPhone OS 3.1 Software) [Previous Model]
Rating:
One year ago I bought 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 enhancement over the the first gen, and comes even closer to perfection. Keeping this in mind, this review will show one huge, and a digit of smaller shortcomings. It may also be hard 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-hold some of your accessories.

Size and Dimensions

The iPod Touch now sports a more rounded design on the back, making it look abstractedly 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 nearly 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). Fascinatingly, the schooner on the adjoin 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 abstractedly lighter (a few grams) – but it looks thinner (thankfulness to the tapered edge design). The rounded edges make it fit my palm abstractedly better, making it feel just right (to be honest, the original Touch was already very, very excellent in this respect). Other than that the further than dimensions exactly match that of the original Touch. The most visible change from the adjoin is that the steel from the backplate now frames the schooner much like it did on the original iPhone.

Touch Screen and Controls

The screen is simply gorgeous. It’s bright, crisp, has fantastic contrast, and can adapt it’s brightness to the ambient light. In direct sunlight, much like it’s predecessor it becomes hard to read correctly. In shade it’s perfectly readable — a feat considering how bright a show has to be to achieve that. Color warmth of the show has shifted abstractedly downwards (or, to sound less pompuous: the show’s colors have shifted abstractedly 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. Extant 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 terribly 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 vital drawback with this design: a hardware volume control. The screen’s resolution remains at 480×320, which is very excellent (certainly better than my iPod Classic’s). Fascinatingly, I’ve found out that ripping videos to this resolution does not necessarily yield noticeably better results than for the iPod classic’s (320×240) screen, so I now rip to that resolution, conserving some memory.

iPod / iTunes

After one year of owning the original Touch I have to hark back myself that this device formerly 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 show 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 showing 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 show 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 largest (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 largest 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 pleased with most player’s audio capabilities). Again I’m not using the Apple-provided white and quite sub-par headphones. I’m using separately bought ones. New for the second gen is a built-in speaker. Audio quality here is not really terrible, but close. The sound is tinny, weak, and just somehow comes out of the iPod (mono, of course). I judge that the addition of the speaker has a specific reason uncommon 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 nearer, 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, but (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-learn 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 ’smack’. Fascinatingly (or rather: unfortunately), iTunes appears to down-sample large images to a smaller resolution, probably to conserve memory. This may make sense, but I want to be able to have more control over this feature (i.e. choose myself what the metaphors resolution on the iPod must be).

Accessories – the Huge Terrible Hideous

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 really, really 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 huge 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 bought 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 excellent (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 join 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 certainly below that of some PC laptops.

Then, the Touch also comes with Mail, Calendar and Adressboock, and these do be converted into killer fieatures, especially when coupled with an Exchange server or (as Apple would prefer) MobileMe. Mail supports ‘push’ technology, meaning that (nearly) as soon an there is an incoming mail (and your Touch is connected to a hotspot), you are told by a small 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 prose) remains a tad pockmarked, 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 akin 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 a further mechanism to breed sales, I simply like the fact that if I hear or remember a song, I can nearly always instantly hold it and have it on my touch within seconds. Songs bought on the Touch synchronize back to your main library in iTunes (into a rather silly ‘Bought 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.

Fascinatingly, the touch sports (I’m a sucker for lame puns) the required hardware to join to the ‘Nike + iPod’ sports accessories built-in (i.e. you do not have to join the dongle). I say fascinatingly 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 a further killer feature to the Touch (and iPhone) that expands the device’s usability (and customizability) by orders of magnitude: the App store. In appearance akin to the iTunes Store, here you can choose from literally hundrets of applictions (of greatly varying quality, though), hold 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 link of USD). The apps are presented in three uncommon ways (‘featured’, ‘top’, browse by category), plus you have the skill to search for keywords.

Although the ’signal to noise’ ratio isn’t that fantastic (there are quite a lot of a waste of time or dreadfully executed applications), there are some jaw-droppingly excellent apps that really 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 note 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 (fascinatingly, this App was not produced by Apple).

Greatly enhancing the Touch’s usability are eBook readers (the Touch is nearly exact for rading books, charitable you that ‘Star Trek’ info pad feeling) as well as off-line news readers. A further vital category are applications that enable you to easily transfer (and view) files from your Mac/PC to the Touch. I would have probable Apple to integrate this feature into iTunes (perhaps rudimentary support for PDF), but third party providers are more than pleased 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 persons 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-learned 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 a further 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 largest category of all applications. The Touch, with it’s integrated accelerometer, 480×320 color screen and touch interface makes a nice gaming device, and developers have come up with some really fun and innovative games (‘Toy Bot’ may serve as a fantastic example). Apple may have realized that this is becoming an increasingly vital aspect of the Touch: the Gen 2 device sports a speaker that makes small sense – except to improve the gaming experience (judge me: playing an accelerometer-based game with headphones on can be verry small 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, but, 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 make their own applications. This is not for the faint of heart, as you first download a few gigabytes (Apple’s XCode enhancement 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 really very excellent, and includes an iPhone simulator to test your software before deployment.

I must 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 Bring up to date), or a link of bucks if you havn’t upgraded yet. Unless you (like me) want the larger memory (my first gen only has 16GB), the choice to upgrade to 2nd gen may be hard.

Summary:

The 2nd generation iPod Touch is an nearly exact device. It combines top-notch video/audio, world-class UI, fantastic casual gaming, hundrets of apps, and full access to the Internet into a single, gorgeous package. To sum it up neatly: Untouchable. Well — nearly. It has one huge 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 persons reservations, I recommend the Touch to anyone. Also fantastic: owners of the 1st gen Touch can get most of these goodies with a simple, inexpensive software upgrade.

Hits

+ fantastic show

+ excellent audio

+ gesture-based interface

+ accelerometer for controls

+ fantastic 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 (terrible, terrible, terrible)

- 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 bluetooth

Review by Stephen Hall for Apple iPod touch 8 GB (2nd Generation–without iPhone OS 3.1 Software) [Previous Model]
Rating:
The iPod Touch debuted only one year ago, and this is the first bring up to date. I was excited to pick up the new iPod Touch at the Apple Store because I had never owned a first generation, though I do own iPhones.

I want to concentrate primarily on the new features:

First, physical volume buttons are now placed on the side of the iPod Touch as they are on the iPhone. This is very convenient. It allows you to adjust the volume of your music, without having to pull the entire device out of your pocket and activate the screen. A time saver.

Second, many people requested a built-in speaker for the iPod Touch like is available on the iPhone. Apple listened. But, there is one vital point to make on this! The iPod Touch is incredibly small, and Apple is forced to place an incredibly small speaker. The speaker in the iPod Touch sounds worst than the speaker in the iPhone. I have compared it side by side, and it’s honestly significant, and the iPhone speaker isn’t that fantastic to start with. But, in a silent room, the speaker is still useful for previewing a song you might want to buy, or for playing games. But, still, if you want fantastic sound, you need to join your headphones.

Genius – This new feature is really surprisingly excellent. When you’re listening to a song you delight in, select the genius option. It will make a playlist for you, with songs that go together nicely with the one you started with. It helps you rediscover fantastic music from your collection with a playlist suited to the mood you’re in. I didn’t reckon it would do a excellent job compiling this list, but it has been quite impressive.

Applications – It’s fantastic to have the skill to buy (or get some free) applications right on the iPod Touch. Furthermore, with the software bring up to date this new iPod Touch comes with, the Application installation process is so much smoother than it had been even on my iPhone. It now works how you want it to, seamlessly. I like having a weather application that includes doppler radar images, and that is free. I also have several games on it. There is a fantastic variety of applications available from hundreds of third-parties right on the iPod itself, so you are certain to find something that interests you. I really like the new release of Spore, for the iPod Touch and iPhone. Apple is really pushing the games and quietly suggest they are challenging Nintendo and Sony. They are innovative and fascinating games, but I reckon they have a ways to go, to challenge persons game makers.

Nike + is now built in too, so if you have the shoes and the puck, the iPod Touch is ready to receive the data from it. Battery life is improved to 36 hours audio and 6 hours video according to Apple. I find the audio digit honestly accurate if you don’t light up the show much, but the video digit is a slight bit harder to achieve.

Of course, the new ipod Touch does look and feel even better than the first generation, from my small experiences with the previous one. I also reckon it feels cooler than my iPhones, but obviously your interpretation may very. I like the metal back on the iPod Touch. It looks classy, though it is prone to scratches.

One of my favorite features continues to be, when in my home on Wi-Fi, to reach down for the Touch, use Safari web browser and look something up. It’s fantastic.

By and large, it was a levelheaded bring up to date for the iPod Touch. I wish the speaker could be better on it, but I judge that is due to the physical restrictions of the small device. I could have knocked it to four stars for that, but I reckon most people realize a built in speaker isn’t the way you want to listen to most audio on an iPod to start with. I’m impressed by the second generation iPod Touch, and I reckon with the third party applications getting better and becoming more well loved, more people will consider the Touch.

Review by Chad Gilmour for Apple iPod touch 8 GB (2nd Generation–without iPhone OS 3.1 Software) [Previous Model]
Rating:
Obviously from all these other reviews this is by far the most functional product out there, and I’m not disputing that at all, I loved my Ipod touch, but they have a ridiculously fleeting duration. The kicker is that if you as much as sweat on it or expose it to rapidly changing temperatures (as is common in the upper midwest) your warranty is voided and your Ipod might not last long at all.

I just lost an Ipod touch due to moister condensation from taking it from 30 degree weather to 70 degree weather. That made enough condensation to trip the water marker inside the Ipod which voids the warranty and shorted out the screen. To top it off; that one was really a substitution for a further Ipod touch because the first one I got had a phone jack that broke within a month of normal use, and then this one had a faulty screen due to “water hurt” and now Apple conveniently doesn’t have to replace it anymore.

Just read some of the discussions on Apples site about Ipods and water hurt, it literally takes just one drop of water to fleeting it out and void the warranty.

So if your getting one my advice is to live somewhere that doesn’t get too cold or place you in situations that allow moisture condensation to happen.

Review by Mark for Apple iPod touch 8 GB (2nd Generation–without iPhone OS 3.1 Software) [Previous Model]
Rating:
The new Apple iPod touch 32 GB (2nd Generation) has a few improvements over the first generation Apple iPod touch 32 GB. By and large, the improvements make it more attractive to new owners than to existing ones looking to upgrade. I will clarify why I chose it, and ultimately whether the changes are enough for you is bound to be subjective.

Apple’s 32GB iPod Touch is still the leading you can buy. The Apple iPod touch 8 GB (2nd Generation) model is priced so low that it is very attractive as an entry level unit. So from that perspective, the 16 GB model is kind of the hideous duckling since it’s not much less than the 32 GB model. If you just need the WiFi browsing, the 8 GB model will meet persons wants. If you want to place a decent amount of music and video on it, the 32 GB model is the way to go. I would recommend persons who are considering the 16 GB model to step up to the 32 GB model if at all possible.

The unit finally has volume controls, and even adds a few features that were surprising such as the small speaker. But adding volume controls without track controls was surprising to me. And while the speaker is nice and the Nike integration is also nice, neither of persons are deal waves for me. The battery life enhancement is noticeable. And web browsing is still fantastic, though the wireless range has not been improved. By and large the best enhancement is probably the lowered price, which is a larger deal to persons who were holding off. This is my third, and I’m still looking forward to the next version and more capacity.

For me, I found that the first generation player became much more of a multimedia device than my other MP3 players. I could live with some of the weaknesses, but the battery life really became an issue. That was even after disabling most power hogging features. I made sure to test this out for at least two weeks before making a judgement on this particular enhancement. On the new one, the battery life is certainly improved though not nearly as much as advertised. The other huge enhancement is the addition of at least a few buttons for volume control.

Safari browsing still rocks, but the fact that they didn’t upgrade the wireless is disappointing. I will hope that the next version will have stronger wireless and more capacity. If they can do that, they will be at a nice starting point for prospect generations to build on.

There is a widely publicized issue with wireless browsing on certain types of secured networks. You may have to reconfigure security at home or wait for an bring up to date. I have not directly experienced this and I only join to secure WiFi, except for rare cases. I have still experienced a long time polling and connecting to WiFi networks but. Depending on many factors, you may need to wait for the next software bring up to date if this is a huge issue for you.

Pros

+ 32GB of storage is a decent size for music and video for most users

+ Nice new lowered prices for each capacity level

+ Safari web browsing and simple WiFi hotspot setup still the best feature

+ Fantastic design with a sleek thin body with abstractedly more curvature

+ Gorgeous 320×480 pixel wide-screen provides pleasing video viewing

+ Turn to the side to view video using the full wide screen width

+ Orientation detection changes view to landscape mode automatically when turning iPod!

+ Brighter screen with fantastic contrast and crisp sharp images

+ Wireless access via 802.11 b/g compliant antenna (still waiting for `n’)

+ Wireless searching and video on mode can be disabled to extend battery life

+ Headphone jack compatible with standard phones

+ Genius playlist feature works well enough

+ New apps work fantastic and give you stocks, maps, email, notes and weather

+ Supports both NTSC and PAL video out

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

+ Flash memory also awesome for running / working out, though I use my nano for that

+ Integration of Nike workout features also nice add-on

+ Cover-flow works better on the Touch with the software bring up to date

+ Abstractedly better sound quality than 2nd generation iPods

+ Small speaker is fantastic for playing games or previewing tracks

+ Apple reputation is probably still worth the premium

+ Plenty of free video and audio teaser content available on iTunes

+ Simple access to iTunes right from your device over your community wireless internet!

+ Apple store provides simple access to more and more apps

Cons

- Still not enough capacity to make it a substitution for your disk-based player

- Still no track controls, though the volume controls and hold are nice add-ons

- Accessories such as cases that fit version 1 need to be replaced due to body redesign

- Screen requires “real touch,” terrible for persons of us in cold weather cities

- Data port still seems cramped

- Still not backwards compatible with legacy docks and cables

- Battery life somewhat improved, but not nearly as much as advertised

- Only minimal usage of WiFi and video will allow regular daily usage on one charge

- No expandability or SD card slot like competing players

- Limited native formats (MP3, MPEG4, AAC) and high software overhead (still growing!)

- iTunes attempts to install extra software when updating!!!

- PDA functions such as calendar syncing and friend management still need work

- Still lacking some features such as built-in FM radio & voice recorder

- Missing wireless syncing and song transfer, features already on the Zune

- No Bluetooth for peripherals and accessories (weird considering Nike integration is based on bluetooth)

- No wireless synching or wireless access to iTunes WLAN libraries

- No WiFi viewing of live iTunes PodCasts

- Still no community viewing of PDF or other common document formats

- No mode to use as disk storage?!?!

- Still relatively expensive in GB/ $ terms

Conclusion

By and large this device is enough of an enhancement to lure in more converts. Persons who own the first generation iPod touch or want to store their entire music collection will probably want to wait. Except of course, if you must have one or more of persons updated features (improved battery life, Nike integration, etc). In that case, you can find comfort in the abstractedly improved sound.

Delight in!!!!

Review by Hey Its That Dude! for Apple iPod touch 8 GB (2nd Generation–without iPhone OS 3.1 Software) [Previous Model]
Rating:
I’ve been an Ipod user for the last 4 1/2 being, starting with the 20gb 4th generation and the moving up to the 80gb Classic. I had been eyeing the Ipod Touch for the last year now, waiting for the 2nd generation version to come out, and now that I’ve bought one, I have to say, this is one of the best products I’ve ever used!

When you see the Touch for the first time, especially the 32gb version, you’ll marvel at how thin the device really is. It’s really thinner than the iPhone and lighter than my ancient 80gb Classic. The Ipod Touch fits my hand perfectly, and I’ve got huge hands and long E.T. fingers (not that long). The build quality looks to be up to snuff although I haven’t, and don’t be going to, to drop it (its bound to happen).

The external volume control, which only comes with the 2nd generation version, is a fantastic business to have when working out or listening to music. You can place the Touch to sleep, the screen will turn off and it will still play music, which is exact for saving battery life. The Touch screen is prone to getting sticky if you like eating foods with grease and sauce but can be cleaned quite easily. The real touch screen is very responsive. Its responsive enough to know exactly what you want to do with it and yet, it won’t detect your fingers when you abstractedly brush against it by mistake.

The Ipod Touch has virtually every feature that the Iphone has, with the exception of phone capabilites, GPS, and microphone recording capabilites. Its got Music, Videos, Photos, Internet/WiFi, YouTube (You can bookmark and download Youtube videos, with an app…), E-Mail, Notes, Calculator, Stocks, Weather, Web Browser, Maps, ITunes…the works. But the one business thats better than all of persons features, is the App Store.

The App Store allows you to download, straight to your Ipod Touch of course, any application (Apps) that people make for the product. With the App Store, you can get, FOR FREE…Associated Push News, Internet Radio, Games (Card Games, Racing Games, RPG Games, All Games…), Wikipedia, More Stocks/Bonds, Online Book Readers and probably a thousand differnt things that I haven’t mentioned. The App Store even has a consumer-based 5-star review system for each application, so that you don’t download a crappy one by mistake. The “Apps” and App Store is the Ipod Touch’s bread and butter. The apps will have you using the Ipod Touch for the next 3-4 being as they greatly extend the usage and importance of the Ipod.

The battery life of the 2nd Gen Ipod Touch is supposed to be better than the first one and so far, I haven’t run into any battery issues. The video quality looks fantastic to me, especially when you download a high-def movie (Youtube videos look excellent as well). Everything can be showed in Widescreen and the Touch can even flip the videos over, depending on how you tilt the device in your hand (Very Cool Feature, takes a min or two to get used to). Audio quality is similiar to any other Ipod, if you’ve ever used one. It sounds better than most mp3 players and now, with the 2nd generation Ipod Touch, its got an external speeaker, so you can pull out the headphones, place it on your desk at work, and dance until your fired.

It seems like Apple continues to reinvent the veer with every new Ipod that they bring out to the market. Everywhere the ancient Ipods everywhere know for the “click-veer,” the Ipod Touch is going to be know for its near-exact touch screen interface. Maybe it wasn’t the first device to have a touch-screen but its certainly one of the best. I can’t judge I waited a year to buy this business. 10/10.