The Largely IPhone-like IPod Touch Yet
The most iPhone-like iPod touch yet
You know the story by now. For many, the iPod touch is the iPhone without the phone and GPS features—no cellular voice calls, no texting, and no EDGE or 3G wireless service. The remaining features that the two have in common (or lack) is often how the iPod touch is judged. In the case of the fourth-generation (4G) iPod touch 32 GB 4G newest model —the two come closer to feature parity than ever before. (Even more so this time around as all three iPod touch models have the same features, unlike with the previous generation of touches.) This, for many people, makes for a compelling iPod. It does for us as well.
Similarities and differences
Thin as the iPhone 4 is, the 4G iPod touch is thinner still—two sandwiched 4G iPod touches come very close to the thickness of the iPhone 4. It’s also a little less wide and lighter than the third-generation iPod touch () that preceded it. Its edges are also more angled. This angling is sharp enough that owners of iPhones and previous iPod touches will have to train themselves to search for the volume and Sleep/Wake buttons near the back edge of the iPod rather than the side and top, respectively.
The iPod touch as video camera
The iPod touch’s cameras are not identical to those found in the iPhone 4. Although the rear-facing camera shoots video at the same 720p (1280 by 720) resolution, when you compare the results of the same scene shot with each device, differences are apparent. To begin with, the iPod touch’s videos appear to be zoomed out slightly as compared to videos taken with the iPhone 4. Shoot both cameras side by side and the iPod touch captures more of what’s in front of it. Also, the iPod’s rear-facing camera is more likely to produce washed-out results in bright conditions than the iPhone 4’s camera. Still, while its results aren’t as good as those produced by the iPhone 4 or one of the better HD pocket camcorders, the iPod touch takes reasonable-looking videos under well-lit conditions.
The iPod touch as still camera
I mentioned that with video, the iPod touch’s rear-facing camera is a bit more zoomed out than the iPhone 4’s. The opposite is true with still images. With these images, the iPod’s camera is more zoomed in, hinting at a smaller sensor. Also, iPhone 4’s camera captures stills at 1936 by 2592 pixels, while the iPod touch’s rear-facing camera shoots at 720 by 960 pixels. That’s 5 megapixels on the iPhone 4 versus less than 1 megapixel on the iPod touch
FaceTime and the iPod touch 4th Generation
With the cameras comes FaceTime, and it works very much as it does on the iPhone 4. As with an iPhone 4, you have the option to switch between the front- and rear-facing camera and your voice is picked up by the external mic. Again, even though the microphone is on the back of the iPod—and thus facing away from you as you talk into the front of the device—the mic is sensitive enough to pick up your voice. And, again, the internal speaker is loud enough that you can easily hear the person speaking to you. You can optionally use a compatible wired headset—the microphone and headphones on Apple’s iPhone headset works perfectly with FaceTime. My Plantronics Bluetooth headset, however, didn’t work at all for FaceTime calls
Buying advice
The iPod touch is wildly popular for good reason. It’s an extremely versatile device—media player; pocket gaming machine; productivity tool; Internet communication device; and, with this latest update, pocket camcorder, still camera, handheld recorder, and FaceTime video phone. While its cameras fail to produce results as good as the iPhone 4, they make FaceTime possible, which allows us to more easily forgive their less-than-pristine images and movies.
Despite the cameras’ weaknesses, this is a very good iPod touch. If you have a third-generation iPod touch and lack an iPhone 4, this iPod’s FaceTime capabilities may tempt you to upgrade. If you’re unhappy with the performance or capacity of an even earlier iPod touch, this iPod is more compelling still. And if you’re without iPhone or iPod touch and have been holding out for a device thiiiis close to the iPhone—without the incumbent data plan and two-year commitment (and, of course, the phone features)—that realization has never been closer. It’s hard to imagine what more Apple could do to tempt you.
Tags: ipodtouch32gb4g, Itouch 32GB Price, Itouch 4th Generation, New Itouch 32GB
This entry was posted on Tuesday, November 30th, 2010 at 6:45 pm and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Responses are currently closed, but you can trackback from your own site.