4th Generation iPod Touch Review

Apple decided to keep the curved back of previous models instead of going down the squarer route they did with the iPhone and this new slimmer casing is good news for peripheral companies who can now release slimmer cases with a hole for the camera lens. But what about the camera? disappointingly the camera is less than 1 mega pixel in quality so the pictures do not come out anywhere near as good as the 5 mega pixels one of the iPhone 4 however this may be related to the fact that the casing is smaller and so a compromise had to be made. The camera also allows for 720p HD movie recording and with the iMovie app you can produce your own edited short movies without even turning on your computer.

The screen has an all improved retina display resulting in a 960x640 pixel resolution screen and those of you who have handled the new iPod Touch would agree that the vibrancy and quality of the images shown are exceptional. When turned off the screen is now completely black as opposed to the dark grey colour of the old screen.

The one thing that Apple have yet to upgrade on the iPod Touch is its capacity, it still only goes up to 64GB and with the seemingly endless amount of things we can find to upload to our iPod's these days it would appear that the next big change for the 5th Generation iPod Touch would certainly be a bigger memory or at least an added expansion slot. The touch also fails to perform as well for some of the latest cutting edge games due to it lack of RAM compared to the iPhone (256mb compared with 512mb) This leads many game developers to find ways around this problem until the RAM can be expanded.

Overall when compared to the iPhone 4 the iPod Touch may appear to have a few shortfalls but when it comes to the generalmedia player market it certainly wins in my book!

'Game Centre' is a new mobile gaming application that lets you set up gaming networks with your friends. It uses an auto match function that will pair you against your friends or anyone else in the world that squares up to your talents. Gaming on you iPod Touch or iPhone is now much more competitive as you try and out score your friends on the leader boards or gain more gaming achievements than them. New games can be downloaded and played straight from 'Game Centre' so now all your games can be organised in one place. Once you have signed into 'Game Centre' your friends will be able to see that you are online and can then invite you to play against them.

Game Centre is hoping to bring gamers together in a competitive and fun community right on your iPod Touch or iPhone.

(Only available with the iOS 4.1 upgrade - available now!)

Height 111mm
Width 58.9mm
Depth 7.2mm
Weight 101g
Screen Size 3.5 inches (diagonal)
Display 960x640 pixel resolution (326 pixels per inch)

1. Facebook This has got to be the app I use the most to catch up with what my friends are doing. You can do everything you would do on your computer plus more! I love the new places update allowing you to let your friends know where you are, I have seen many surprising places already.


2. Bejewled My favourite game by far! Very addictive and with the facebook connectivity can be very competitive. Simple enough concept all you have to do is match 3 or more jewels together to get rid of them. Every time I get a spare couple of minutes I am either playing Bejewled or checking facebook.


3. E-Bay If like me you are always buying or selling something on e-bay then you know how important it is to be able to get that last minute bid in before the auction ends. Not always convenient if you have to be away from your computer at that time. That's why I personally love this app as I can always keep track of what I'm buying or selling wherever I am. Defiantly comes in my top used list.


4. iMovie I love the fact that I can now shoot video on my iPod Touch but even better I love the fact that I can edit them on it as well. No more loading up movies to my MacBook to edit, I can create something special and share it with my friends right in my hands.


Something To Watch Out For In The Future
It may not be out yet but it has been speculated that iWork will soon be available for the iPhone. Currently seen inaction on the iPad I can see this being a very popular app as long as it is reasonably priced. Apple are already designing mobile devices with specs that not too long ago could be found in their desktop computers so who knows where their apps development could take us.