It doesn’t matter if you love Apple or if you hate them, they are setting the quality bar for consumer MIDs.
The iPod Touch has been a well built device since the first generation, and with the fourth and latest generation, they’re upping the ante once more.
The new iPod Touch is incredibly slim at just 0.28 inch (7.1mm), and yet the battery life has actually been increased. Apple claims that the new iPod Touch will play audio for 40 hours and video for 7.
While we’re on the subject of video… the iPod Touch is now equipped with the iPhone 4’s “Retina display inch Apple’s fancy marketing terminology for “really high pixel density inch this is a four fold increase over the previous generation’s 320×480 screens, pushing the resolution all the way up to 960×640. The difference is quite impressive if you’ve been using an older generation iPod Touch for years. In addition to the screen, the insides have been updated to Apple’s A4 chip (the same one found in the iPad and iPhone 4.
Apple has included a front and rear camera on the iPod Touch which is going to make FaceTime chatting very prevalent in the US. This is the first implementation of video conferencing that will be easy enough non-techies to just pick up and use, and if Android doesn’t do something similar, they’ll soon be left in the dust in this area (of consumer friendly mobile video conferencing). Expect kids to be sent off to college with a sparkling new iPod Touch so it will be easy for them to stay in contact with their iPod Touch wielding parents back home.
The rear camera is somewhat of a mixed bag. It can do 1280×720 HD recording at 30 FPS which is great (you can expect to see the number of amateur HD videos on YouTube spike in the coming year), however, photos can only be snapped at a rather pathetic 960×720 which is only about 0.6MP. I was hoping that the iPod Touch would include the same quality camera that is found on the iPhone 4, but it seems that this is not the case. Still, the camera will likely take better photos than non-smartphone camera-phones (which iPod Touch users are likely to be using).
Without question, millions of these devices will be sold. Yes, Apple is a marketing maestro, but regardless of what convinces people to purchase the iPod Touch, they are buying a great companion for a great price. Intuitive and useful calendars, email, web browsing, gaming, music, and apps are now joined with effortless FaceTime video chatting, an incredible display, and HD video recording in a pocketable package that has enough juice to last you through the day, all for $229, $299, or $399 for 8/32/64GB and available next week.
I’m glad the content of your post brought your headline out of the clouds. It doesn’t matter if you love Apple or if you hate them (or if you just don’t care), the iPod is not a high quality audio player. If it’s setting any “quality bar”, then it’s certainly not as an audio player. Unfortunately, the remainder of your article reads like marketing literature. I’m fine with that. I’ve come to expect little more on today’s Internet. However, there’s certainly NO discussion about what “quality” does and doesn’t mean or analysis of how Apple hits and misses in both categories. Buy one. I’m sure you’ll love it. I’m sure Apple will sell a lot of them. It’s good for my portfolio if you do. McDonald’s sells plenty of Big Macs too, and I don’t think anybody has accused them of “setting the quality bar” for hamburgers. Apple’s stock has treated me well over the years, and I probably owe it to them to give a little back by purchasing their products again. But this device, I do not want. I like quality (set your irony detectors on “high”).
Thanks for your comment aftermath. Maybe I should have been more direct in my post. What I’m really saying about “quality” was mostly referring to the build quality and the usability of the features of the device. You’d have to have a rather amazing argument to say that these are not well made devices. Secondly, I’m also saying that it doesn’t really matter how much a loud minority of people complain that it can do X function, they are still extraordinarily useful devices (for mainstream users), regardless. As much as I wish there was…there is no MID on the market that offers the same build quality and usability at a compelling mainstream price.
What do you use?
Long live the PDA! er, uhmm, long live the MID!
Orwhatever you call it these days.
Apple is the only manufacturer who is still improving and churning out modern versions of the PDAs that Microsoft and Palm abandoned. This model looks great (although I was really hoping that they would increase the screen size to 4.3″.
I for one am tired of paying data bills on my phone lines, and abandoning the smartphone craze… For the second time. T-mobile prepaid FTW. It will save me $90 a month. Converged devices? Meh. Not big into social networking, so not a big deal.
You did fail to mention what Apple neglected to put into this product: gps. There is almost the implicit assumption these days that all electronics of this nature have gps. Apple is not buying that, as this, the wifi iPad, and the new nano are all lacking gps. Bummer on what would otherwise be a killer device.
I’ve been looking for a replacement for my old Palm Tungsten T5. I use the Palm as my portable “laptop” for business (my PowerBook mostly stays in the office). The Palm works with my Verizon MiFi but only WEP. :(
I need to sync calendar, todo lists, address book, notes, etc, but the confidentiality of what I do means I don’t want my client data in the cloud. My old Motorola W755 on Verizon (I need a reliable network for business) works great as a phone but the tech in me would like something fancier.
The new Android smartphones look great but the sync capability isn’t there. I can’t believe you can’t sync iCal Tasks – doesn’t anyone besides me use to do lists to run their business?
I liked your article – looks like the new iPod Touch just might be the ticket for what I need.
Good article Ben.
@aftermath they certainly set a quality bar for MIDs also iPod Touch sound quality is good enough for the most, let me know if there is any other good multipurpose device available at a similar cost and I will be glad to purchase it.