The New iPod Touch

As you know, I am an owner of an iPod Touch. I believe it is 2nd generation and it accompanies me practically everywhere. I bring it to work and to the gym. When I go out for a walk, I've got it and I'm listening to an audiobook, which are great things, by the way. The only place I don't use it is when I ride my bike. I do see people plugged in when they ride, but I would rather keep my ears free to listen to the honking of horns and the swearing of drivers, rather then some nice music. It's a personal preference.

When Steve Jobs announced the next generation of iPods, I was interested. I've been looking over the specs and to the various opinions of others, as well as the actually video announcement. In fact I've included it in this blog:


It does have a lot going for it; the better display, the two camera, including a front facing one, the fact you can shoot video in HD. That is a lot. I've also noted that Steve Jobs is calling it the "iPhone without the phone". It's because it has everything the iPhone has, without the ability to call, or at least you have to have a contract to use it.

The last bit isn't really of much interest to me, I like my cellphone. I wouldn't really consider my Touch as being a replacement phone at all.

To continue about the new Touch, it has a better processor, which makes it a better games platform. It is also slated to run on iOS 4.1, which is the newest OS for the iPhone/Touch platform. Again, this sounds real good.

Now what it comes down to is this; am I interested in buying it? For a while, before the announcement, I had always thought if the next Touch had a camera, I would buy it and buy it quickly. I do like the model I have, but wow, a camera, that's something fantastic.

You would think I'm totally into this now, but I have to admit, as I've done some reading and research I've discovered the cameras aren't really that great. When it comes to the camera, it's actually not even a 1megapixel camera. It actually works out to 0.7MP. An article by Kevin C. Tofel at GigaOm mentions this:

2003 called and wants its camera back. Yes, the new touch has a front-facing VGA camera and a sensor on the back too. That rear camera even shoots high-definition, 720p video, just like the iPhone, but don’t even think to compare the rear shooter to that of the 5 megapixel camera on the iPhone 4. Stills from the iPod touch are a lowly 960 x 720, which works out to just under 0.7 megapixels. A solid shot like the one to the right taken by my son with his iPhone 4 isn’t happening on the new touch. Pics will look fine from the touch for posting on social networking sites and such, but blowing them up is going to be a painful experience, as details will lose definition faster than you can say “one more thing.”

I should also point out, it's a pedometre and can be useful if you have the Nike+ program when you exercise.

Then there is the apps. I think this is still where Apple excels. The apps are fun to play with and can be very useful. Where would I be without Tweetdeck for the iPhone, especially come the CFL?

I should point out the camera situation may be more due to form factor then anything else, an article in Wired points this out:

Then again, the iPod Touch is about one millimeter thinner than the iPhone 4 (which is significant when it comes to pocketability). Anything bigger than a one-megapixel sensor probably would have been a squeeze, especially when you consider that the Touch includes a front-facing camera, too.

There's another interesting article at Wired that comments on the popularity of the Touch, it seems that it makes up 38% of all sales of iOS products, which says a lot about the popularity of the devise. It is everyone's second devise and is a very good alternative to the iPhone, should you not be able to afford the data plan you got to have with the Phone.

I have to admit, what I've seen of the Touch makes it interesting. The display does look amazing, from what I've seen:


I have to admit, as great as it sounds, I think I might stay with what I've got. It comes down to thinking, do I have any real need to upgrade at this time? For what I use the Touch right now, surfing the net, reading email, tweeting, using facebook, plus music and video, I'm happy and content. Perhaps I will simply wait for a little while longer.

Then again, I saw this:


The Samsung Galaxy Player 50 has been announced at the IFA exposition. I have to admit, this sounds very interesting. I like the fact it's Android based, which is something I'm enjoying with my Android tablet. I think I may just keep my eyes and ears open to learn about availability and price here in Canada. Hopefully they do sell it in Canada.

I'll keep you posted