New Apple iPod Touch 8GB 2nd Generation
The New iPod Touch
With a stunningly thin, contoured stainless steel design, iPod touch feels even better in your hand. And the new volume buttons and built-in speaker give you more to love. Groundbreaking technologies built into iPod touch — such as the Multi-Touch display, accelerometer, and 3D graphics — immerse you in the action. The new Genius feature turns iPod touch into a highly intelligent, personal DJ. With a few taps, it creates a playlist by finding songs in your library that go great together.
More ways to play
iPod touch games and applications are nothing short of amazing. And the App Store is where you’ll find them all. The world’s best developers are taking advantage of groundbreaking technology, including Multi-Touch, the accelerometer, real-time 3D graphics, and 3D positional sound, to create games and applications made especially for
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13 comments
Tadelesh on July 3, 2009 at 12:17 pm
5.0 out of 5 stars
Ipod Touch 2nd Generation
What can I say. This is a fantastic device, it totally blows away any other player out there. The capabilities are almost endless and its great fun finding out what else it can…
Ossie on July 3, 2009 at 1:45 pm
I reviewed the 1st generation iPod touch back in December 2007. The iPod touch has certainly come a long way since then. The iPod touch runs the same operating system as the iPhone, which is now up to version 2. 1. iPhone OS 2. 1 runs very smoothly, with fast installation of apps, minimal input lag, faster automatic backups in iTunes, and excellent stability. With the 2nd generation iPod touch hardware, it is clear that Apple DO listen to their customers. Make no mistake, the 1st generation hardware was and still is excellent. But no product is perfect, and there’s always room for improvement. So how is the 2nd generation iPod touch hardware different from the 1st generation? How is it better? Thickness was never a problem with the 1st generation iPod touch. After all, how much thinner than 8mm do you need a pocket computer to be? Well, despite Steve Jobs saying “it’s even thinner”, the 2nd generation iPod touch is actually thicker. Yes, thicker. It’s 8. 5mm thick in the centre. However, it feels thinner in your hand because of the contoured design, borrowed from the iPhone 3G. Apple’s big thing in 2008 is eliminating the sides of products, and replacing them with swooping curves that taper to a soft point. For the iPod touch this is a good thing, because it feels less hard and angular in your hand, making it far more comfortable to hold. The Battery Life of the 1st generation iPod touch was already good at 24 hours for Audio, and 7 hours for Video. The 2nd generation iPod touch dramatically improves on Audio, now at 36 hours, but mysteriously drops 1 hour for Video, down to 6 hours. The biggest problem for me, with the 1st generation iPod touch, was the lack of physical buttons. How many Consumer Electronics products can you think of that only have 2 buttons? It’s a miracle the 1st generation iPod touch did what it did (e. g. Mail, Internet, YouTube, Maps) with just 2 buttons! However, changing the volume of your Music was unnecessarily awkward. First you’d have to tap the Home button to wake the iPod touch from sleep, then you’d have to double-tap it again to bring up the iPod Controls, then you’d have to slide your finger across the screen to operate the virtual volume slider. Fortunately, Apple have overcome their fear of buttons and actually added a physical rocker-switch to the side of the iPod touch. Press one end to increase the volume instantly, and press the other end to decrease it. Genius
Let’s be clear, the 2nd generation iPod touch still comes with Apple’s normal, no-frills iPod Earphones. However, it will also work with Apple’s brand new £19. 00 Earphones with Remote and Mic. These are brilliant and actually an improvement over what’s shipped with the iPhone 3G. There’s a tiny white “block” on the cord of the Earphones that contains 3 buttons and 1 microphone. Squeeze the centre button and you can pause your Music. Squeeze it again and you can continue playing your Music. Double-squeeze it and you can skip forward to the Next track. Triple-squeeze it and you can skip back to the Previous track. The hidden microphone may not seem particuarly interesting at present. But it’s worth noting, with this piece of hardware, the iPod touch is all-set to become a VOIP Wi-Fi Phone. All it needs is a Skype app on the App Store! While you wait for the official one, try Fring instead, which is free.
Finally, anyone that’s used an iPhone will appreciate how useful it is having a built-in speaker. It’s fun for playing video games, it’s sociable for watching videos with friends, and it’s essential for apps such as the French Talking Phrasebook. Well, the 2nd generation iPod touch now has a built-in speaker. The catch is, the speaker isn’t as good as the one in the iPhone 3G. It’s completely internal, with no visible hole or port, so the quality of the sound is weaker and tinnier.
Philip on July 3, 2009 at 2:01 pm
5.0 out of 5 stars
amazing!
The ipod touch is amazing! its songs are high quallity and all the apps are great. i would definly recommend that you buy this item
Caia on July 3, 2009 at 3:21 pm
This is an impartial review based on my experience of the iPod Touch 2nd Generation, and other Personal Media Players. Strengths: + WiFi and Safari Browser. Superb mobile browsing experience. For example, you can stream BBC iPlayer to the Touch perfectly. A real joy. + Youtube widget for playback of youtube videos. + Integrated Nike + Support, so that you can use the device as a training tool for exercise. + App Store. You can download from thousands of Apps on iTunes, including games, and stream internet radio, for instance. + Superb capacitive glass touch screen. Older touch screens use `resistive’ technology. These work on a different principle, and are less responsive. (The Archos 5 uses a resistive screen. The Cowon S9, however, uses a capacitive one like the iPod Touch). + Incredible User Interface. Beautifully conceived and implemented. Music and Videos are organised with an astonishing attention to the user’s goals, and you regularly feel that Apple designers have read your mind when you go about tasks. Here’s an example: you wish to download a podcast. You go to an internet address in Safari. Safari automatically grabs the address, boots you into iTunes (on the device itself), and takes you to the podcast listing within the iTunes store. Two more clicks and you’re downloading your content. That’s the way things should be done. + Advantages over the previous generation include a dedicated volume rocker, slightly more curvaceous design, slightly improved battery life, integrated Nike + support and mini speaker. Weaknesses: - Very, very average sound quality. Now it is a mystery to me why so many users and reviewers overlook this issue. Having owned the Touch, I have come to the conclusion that it is stylish Swiss Army Knife whose MAIN BLADE is blunt. It is true that many people will have no issue with the sound quality probably because their only reference point to the world of personal media players is the iPod brand. This is useful ignorance, because I would challenge anyone not to be thoroughly crestfallen with the sound of this device compared to something as cheap yet beautiful sounding as the Sansa Clip. - Video playback. If you are happy to be locked into the iTunes universe, then you will love this device. You will endlessly pay for movies and will enjoy them on this device. If like me, however, you like to play your own physical DVDs in DivX format,in addition to a range of movie files in various formats and codecs, then the Touch is simply not your friend. It only supports a few video codecs, which means as a device for video playback, it is somewhat paralysed. - Terrible battery life. Three hours of mixed use, and the Touch is wheezing for a recharge. It’s great being a Jack of all trades, but Jack gets tired rather too quickly sometimes! - Being `locked in’ to iTunes. There are some Apple hating brand lunatics who simply disparage anything Apple for the sake of it. For me, I feel that iTunes is an excellent software (especially on a Mac) but it is also limiting. With iTunes organising my device, I can’t just drag and drop files onto the Touch, and this is a bit of a pain. But you may feel different, so this one is up in the air. . . Conclusion and buying advice: Having owned it, the Touch is either superb or mediocre depending on whether you wish to buy it as 1) your mini WiFi web browser with an App Store, or as 2) your multimedia player. 1) As a mini browser, it is excellent. Browse the web, download podcasts, stream iPlayer, etc. (But remember, when you’re not near a WiFi signal, none of these capabilities count for anything). 2) But as a genuine media playback device, it just does not cut the mustard. Think of it as a second rank device in a field of stellar performers. The sound quality for music playback is just average, and in some cases, embarrassing when listened to devices made by Cowon, Sansa, iRiver and Sony. And its Video playback is equally crippled by its lack of codec support. So what is the bottom line? Well, I owned this device but decided to sell it when I bought a £20 Sansa Clip and stopped listening to music on it because the sound quality was so much superior on the Sansa. This is not hyperbole, and I do not hate Apple. In fact, I love Apple, so do take this as objective advice. I simply realised that my priority was sound and video quality, and that I would get all of the extra features of the Touch most important to me (namely WiFi and a stunning User Interface) when I buy a Macbook in the future. I have since purchased a Cowon O2, which is a stellar sounding device (admittedly without the Touch’s `extra’ features) but in a league of its own in terms of sound quality for music playback, and movie playback. (It supports a cornucopia of music and video files and in this regard is a much more accomplished device). So then, what are you after? A mini WiFi enabled device with music/video as an extra? Well then buy the Touch! Go for it. You’ll love it and enjoy its brilliance. But if the answer is an audiophile experience of sound and video, do not buy this device. Start investigating a Cowon O2 or S9, or an iRiver Spinn. Hope this helps. - Written by a non-partisan audiophile.
Zain on July 3, 2009 at 3:54 pm
Fabulous bit of kit, so cool and useable you’ll be kicking yourself for not buying one a long time ago. Music, dozens of downloadable apps (some free, some to buy), games and wi-fi make this a must have for the home and the train. It is definitely worth investing in better headphones – have you noticed how they always have Bose cans with the demo models in Apple stores? Be careful when purchasing as some retailers are still selling the first generation version at full price, as experienced by several customers. However, Apple must take some of the blame for not making the later versions very different to the untrained eye. For the record, the main differences between the newer an older version are: Longer battery life External speaker External volume buttons (these visually distinguish it from the 1G model) Slightly slimmer Updated software Anyway, the earlier (1G) version is being heavily discounted by some sellers. Now costing not that much more than the tiny (non-touch) screened 4G Nano, it is an absolute steal but you may have to hunt one down. . . .
Kaelem on July 3, 2009 at 4:56 pm
5.0 out of 5 stars
Apple iPod Touch 8GB 2nd Generation
A really nice gadget. More than just a music player, with the many applications on the Apples app store you can customise its functions to suit your needs.
Zeshawn on July 3, 2009 at 5:29 pm
5.0 out of 5 stars
Mini Computer or iPOD ?
What a fantastic piece of kit. With it’s wi-fi capability and with all the hot-spots around, find I am using it more and more for email and browsing the web whilst out and about…
Zahina on July 3, 2009 at 7:05 pm
5.0 out of 5 stars
ipod touch
This does everything it says it will and more. Only downside is you need extremely small fingers to type on the keyboard if you are using the net
Baxter on July 3, 2009 at 7:40 pm
4.0 out of 5 stars
GREAT PURCHASE
I BROUGHT THIS I POD TOUCH FOR MY DAUGHTERS 12TH BIRTHDAY, SHE WAS OVER THE MOON WITH IT, NOT SURE AT THE TIME IF I SHOULD HAVE GONE FOR THE BRIGHTLY COLOURED I POD NANO AS SHE…
Wowashi on July 3, 2009 at 8:03 pm
4.0 out of 5 stars
Brilliant!
I absolutely love my new ipod! It is incredibly easy to use and great fun, the best ipod i’ve had! the only problem is the battery seems to go quickly, but thats probably cos i’m…
Vianca on July 3, 2009 at 8:58 pm
5.0 out of 5 stars
Remarkable piece of equipment
I was persuaded by my son to buy an Ipod touch initially to store my CDs in a convenient format, however I have been overwhelmed by the versatility of the Ipod touch.
Galena on July 3, 2009 at 11:57 pm
5.0 out of 5 stars
iPod Touch 8 GB
Arrived promptly without any fuss. The iPod touch is so versatile. I would definitely recommend it to old and young as it is relatively easy to use. Worth every penny!
Rusti on July 4, 2009 at 2:10 am
5.0 out of 5 stars
1 ipod to rule them all
Since buying this, I havent touched my ipod classic or my handheld PC as this device does it all and more.