This actually makes sense. The larger screen of the iPod Touch was originally intended intended for watching video, but the market for portable video players and video downloads still hasn’t really taken off in the same way as the market for music downloads - which, incidentally, has just seen the iTunes Store become the largest single music retailer in the US. This means that there’s not yet a critical mass of people willing to pay extra for the large screen of the iPod Touch just so that they can watch videos on it.
Ready to take on the Nintendo DS and Sony PSP?
On the other hand, Apple suddenly finds itself awash in games. One of the unexpected side effects of the success of the iPhone is that there’s been a rush of games released for the iPhone that use its touchscreen and accelerometer as the control system for the game – tilting the screen from side to side to turn a car or to roll a dice, for instance. Games developers that have hardly given a second thought to Apple’s Mac computers in the past are now rushing to release games for the iPhone.
But while the iPhone ties you in to hefty monthly payments on the O2 network contract, the iPod Touch can play all those iPhone games – as it has the same touchscreen and accelerometer – without the expensive contract. That leaves you free to download games galore at pocket-money prices, such as Crash Bandicoot, Super Monkey Ball and even some quite sophisticated 3D games such as Elite Racing and Real Football 2009. Apple won’t want to go directly head-to-head with the Nintendo DS console or Sony’s Playstation Portable – which are both cheaper than even the 8GB iPod Touch – but gaming might be a way to steal a few sales away from rival music players such as Archos or Microsoft’s Zune.
Verdict
Whether that’s a wise decision remains to be seen, but there’s no doubt that the iPod Touch is still a pretty impressive gadget. It’s obviously overkill if all you want is a compact and affordable MP3 player – in which case the new iPod Nano or the iPod Shuffle is the one you want. However, the combination of the 3.5in screen, video and music playback, gaming, wireless internet and touchscreen controls make the iPod Touch one of the most powerful and versatile handheld devices currently available.
Apple 2G iPod Touch
COMMENTS
@Lossy
iPods do support a lossless codec, see ALE:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apple_Lossless
However native FLAC support would be welcome, as would codecs like DIVX.
My point about AGPS on the Touch stands. Waiting for a minute for a device to calculate your GPS position is fine at the start of a long car journey but not good for a mobile device. I can't imagine too many Londoners standing around on the street waiting to get a lock on their position. And without a means of downloading the maps a GPS would be useless.
Mine sounds fine
@LOL AC
Sounds to me like you got a dodgy iPod touch because mine sounds absolutely great when I use it with my Shure E3C headphones (mainly electro, dance, pop, techno and ambient music).
Lossy Audio
Right well the sound quality on any audio system is worth looking at as many different players handle things differently.
I have both an iRiver and an iPod... the iriver wins everytime for sound, so much so that if i listen to them back to back it annoys me!
Not to mention that a lot of players now support flac which is lossless... something apple need to start looking into! At the end of the day the sound is processed so it can sound good or bad. and it should have some form of rating in a review. yes its subjective, thatw why you ask a few people around the office!
GPS and aGPS
The iPhone 3G has BOTH GPS types. It acquires aGPS data from cell towers first, since it's quick to do, then in a few seconds updates that with more accurate satellite GPS. If it used only GPS, apps would take several seconds to pull the data, making the device feel sluggish. Also, keeping the GPS system cycling every 30 seconds has dramatic battery saving potential, and once aGPS is fine tuned with GPS data, aGPS is nearly as accurate. It's really the ideal solution for a mobile platform. aGPS alone is not as accurate, but having both systems proviudes the best speed, battery life, and overall accuracy.
aGPS is "asisted" GPS. by itself aGPS is not a complete system. Sattelite data is still collected and still used. Stop spreading FUD about aGPS if you don;t understand the technology.
Funny you should ask
I've used http://www.fring.com/blog/?p=226
fring and skype on my iPhone in wifi areas.
I understand it also works for Touch. And it's being upgraded for the new Touch:
http://www.fring.com/
if it's not already upgraded.
