iPod Touch
Apple iPod Store and iPod Review. What Makes an iPod Special?
I love gadgets and discovered the iPod touch is actually a very cool and fun to use gadget. I used to think that the iPod touch was just another fancy MP3 player. It is so MUCH MORE than an MP3 player. Keep reading below to find out how.
To make this article more helpful, I tried to divide it into helpful sections. Since I try to keep life simple, I tried to simplify why the iPod touch (4th Generation)
iPod Touch Hardware
When you get a chance to see one in person, the iPod looks cool. The glass front and stainless steel back feel sleek and smooth in your hand. The 4th generation iPod touch is even thinner and lighter the previous generations. The length is 4.8 inches, the width is 2.8, and the weight is just 0.19 pounds (3.6 oz)! It is sleek looking.
The Screen
The screen is a brilliant Retina display. It is a 3.5-inch (diagonal) widescreen multi-touch display with a 960-by-640-pixel resolution (326 dpi resolution). DPI stands for dots per inch. The higher the dpi, the better images and text appears. To help understand and put dpi in perspective, a typical computer screen is at about 100 dpi and good printers start at 300 dpi. If you hold something about 12 inches away from your eye, 300 dpi is the limit of the human eye (retina) to distinguish between individual pixels. This high dpi screen results in crisper, clearer images, and easier to read text regardless the size of the font.
The screen also includes a LED backlighting with an ambient light sensor that automatically adjusts the brightness of the screen for the best viewing and battery life possible.
The glass used in this screen is the same type of glass used in the windshields of helicopters and high-speed trains. The glass has been chemically strengthened to be 20 times stiffer and 30 times harder than plastic rendering the glass ultradurable and more scratch resistant than ever.
The Built-In Cameras
Yes, there is more than one camera on this compact gadget!
The front camera has been engineered to work flawlessly with the included FaceTime software (look below for a description of FaceTime). The camera has just the right field of view and focal length to focus your face at arm's length and presents you in the best possible light. This is important for video calls and is perfect for taking self-portraits. The front camera can take VGA-quality photos and videos at up to 30 fps.
The back camera can shoot HD 720d video at 30fps and has a CMOS image sensor. Still photos can be taken at 960 x 720. It has an advanced backside illumination sensor that enables it to capture beautiful footage even in low-light settings.
You can also tap to control exposure for video or stills.
The Built-In Microphone
The microphone can record conversations, music, academic tutorials, voice lessons, college lessons, or any audio. It is used for communication, voice recognitionnad voice memos. This allows the iPod touch
WiFi
802.11b/g/n Wi-Fi (802.11n 2.4GHz only)
Bluetooth® 2.1 + EDR
Built-In Gryoscope with Accelerometer
Three-axis gyroscopic with accelerometer sensor that enables the device to recognize approximately how far, fast, and in which direction it has moved in space. This makes the iPod touch capable of advanced motion sensing such as user acceleration, full 3D attitude, and rotation rate. Translation: more motion gestures and greater precision for an even better gaming experience.
Battery Life
Built-in rechargeable lithium-ion battery. Lithium-ion batteries have no memory effect and are have a slow loss of charge when not in use.
Music playback time: Up to 40 hours when fully charged
Video playback time: Up to 7 hours when fully charged
Charging times: Fast charge in about 2 hours (80% capacity), full charge in about 4 hours.
Processor, multitasking
ARM Cortex-A8 Apple A4 1 GHz (underclocked to 800 MHz)
The Apple A4 chip is a powerful and power-efficient mobile processor. With it, iPod touch can easily perform complex jobs such as multitasking, editing video, and placing FaceTime calls all while maximizing battery life (and fun)!
Sensors
Three-axis gyro
Accelerometer
Ambient light sensor
Miscellanous
Built in speaker
3.5-mm stereo headphone minijack
iPod Touch Software
Let’s look at what software comes with the iPod touch
Codec
What is a video codec? It is software that enables video compression and/or decompression for digital video. It is what enables video recording and/or playing capability. The iPod supports the following formats:
· AAC. Advanced Audio Coding (AAC) is a standardized lossy compression and encoding scheme for digital audio. It was designed to be the successor of the MP3 format, AAC generally achieves better sound quality than MP3 at similar bit rates!
· Protected AAC (iTunes Store)
· H.264
· MPEG-4
· Motion JPEG video
· M4V
· MP4
· MOV
· AVI formats
Built-in Video Editing
Basic video editing is built into the iPod touch. All you have to do is just drag to select start and end points on a filmstrip. Keep only the parts of the video you want and turn it into something you and your friends will watch again and again.
Game Center
The new Game Center app lets you expand your social gaming network. With iOS 4.1, you will see a Game Center app on your Home screen. Just tap it, sign in with your Apple ID, and you are ready to go. You can create a different nickname that will be visible to friends and the gaming community. You can also assign several email addresses to the Game Center app, making it easy for more friends to find you. Download any game you see by tapping links in Game Center. Once you sign in to Game Center you are always connected until you decide to sign out.
Facetime
Facetime allows you to do video calling
Email is built in. You can see email attachments in their original formats including PDF, Microsoft Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and iWork. Access your email accounts from popular providers like MobileMe, Google Gmail, Microsoft Exchange, Yahoo! Mail, AOL, and most industry-standard IMAP and POP mail systems. Also included is a built in dictionary and spell check
Voice Control
Voice Control understands the music in your iPod touch. Do you want to hear something specific? All you have to do is ask with your voice. For instance, say “Play artist Bob Dylan,” and iPod touch does just that. You can ask your iPod touch what song is playing and hear your iPod touch answer. Tell it to play your favorite album, artist, or playlist. Speak simple commands such as “shuffle,” “next song,” and “pause.” You can even tell your iPod touch to play more songs like the one you’re listening to.
Find My iPod
If you misplace your iPod, Find My iPod touch can help. It is a feature that is part of MobileMe, with iOS 4.2.1 (you can enable Find My iPod touch in Settings). If you misplace your iPod touch, you can sign in to me.com from any computer web browser or using the Find My iPhone app on another iPod touch, iPhone, or iPad to display its approximate location on a map. You can display a message or play a sound to help you find it. For example if you enabled Find My iPod touch and you left your iPod touch in the gym locker room, you can write a message and have it displayed on your iPod touch screen. You could say something like, “Oops, I left my iPod behind. Please call me at 408-555-0198.” Your message will appear, even if the screen is locked. If the map shows that your iPod touch is nearby - perhaps in your room under a pile of clothes - yet you still can’t find it, you can tell Find My iPod touch to play a sound that overrides the volume or silent setting. If you realize that you left your iPod touch
Miscellaneous
· Surf the web with Safari
· Play Youtube videos
Watch the latest viral video sensation and access your favorite videos.
· Record voice memos. Voice Memos will even record while you use your iPod touch to do things such as check email or surf the web.You can trim recorded memos right on iPod touch. That way, you keep only what you need.
· Photos. Play slideshows, complete with music and transitions. Email a photo to a friend
· iTunes
Create an iTunes Store account and shop over Wi-Fi anytime.
· Built-in accessibility. Accessibility comes standard on iPod touch. It’s built right into the operating system. And innovative features on iPod touch take accessibility a step further.
· iBooks
Available as a free download, iBooks is an amazing eBook reader and a great place to buy books.
· iMovie
Edit video, add themes and music, and share your movies. Available in the App Store for just $4.99.
· Mail
Send email and view attachments from your Gmail, MobileMe, or other email account.
· Safari Web Browser
Visit your favorite websites. All you need is your iPod touch and Wi-Fi.
· Photos
Take your photos with you. Share them in an email. Make your favorite your wallpaper.
· Home Screen
Customize the arrangement of your apps across multiple Home screens in iTunes.
· Voice Control
Control music playback on iPod touch using spoken commands.
· Maps
Find restaurants, concert venues, or any place you need to go, and see how to get there with Maps.
· Nike + iPod
Achieve your fitness goals with built-in Nike + iPod support on iPod touch.
· Voice Memos
Record notes, random thoughts, a friend's impersonation, or any audio you want.
· Accessibility
iPod touch comes with screen-reading technology and other accessibility features.
· Kindle App
Have Kindle at your fingertips with this application:
What’s included
What's in the Box
· 8 GB iPod touch 4th generation
· Earphones
· Dock connector to USB cable
· Quick start guide
What Others Are Saying
The iPod touch has been receiving rave reviews from most of the consumers on the internet with an average 4.5 out of 5 from most reviewers on Amazon
· Excellent Media Device and Portable Computer
· This thing rocks!
· A joy to use
· Great Device!
· The Lines Between iPod Touch and iPhone Have Started to Blur
· A Great Little Gadget!
· Best gadget I've ever owned
· Great Investment!!!
Conclusion
Where Can I Buy the iPod Touch 4th Generation?
You can buy the iPod touch on Amazon. You will get great service, the best deal
Where Can I Read More Reviews for the iPod Touch?
The best place for reviews from people who actually use the product is Amazon. Click here to read more