Steve Jobs noted during last week's unveiling of freshly designed iPods that the iPod Touch has been called "an iPhone without the phone," and an "iPhone without a contract." Now that it's even more like the iPhone 4, it's sure to remain the most popular iPod.
Touch is the standout among the trio of new iPods. The squished and square iPod Nano -- $149 for 8 gigabytes and $179 for 16 GB -- is awfully cute. But Apple has given and taken away. In: a multitouch display and a clip for attaching Nano to a sleeve or bag. Out: the click-wheel and video camera.
On the new postage-stamp-size Shuffle ($49, 2 GB), Apple brought back the click-wheel and physical buttons to complement the VoiceOver feature that announces names of songs and playlists.
If there was a disappointment in the new stuff Jobs introduced, it comes with Ping, the music social network inside iTunes 10 software. Ping isn't a complete bust. It just feels incomplete. A closer look at Touch and Ping:
*iPod Touch. The Touch arrives this week with features that bring it even closer to the iPhone 4 it is modeled on. For starters, there are front and rear cameras that let you make FaceTime video calls over a Wi-Fi connection.
Moreover, there's a sweet high-resolution 3.5-inch Retina display that nearly matches the screen on the iPhone 4. Touch doesn't quite have the wide viewing angle of the iPhone 4, which the latter achieves through technology called "in-plane switching." Side by side, the Touch appeared slightly dimmer than the iPhone.
Still, even teeny-tiny text on the Touch is supersharp and readable. And Touch has the same snappy A4 processor that powers iPhone 4. The power-friendly chip will help push battery life for audio up to 40 hours, Apple says.
Touch is thinner than the iPhone and...
Posted: 2010-09-09 10:57:57
