Product Description(not the iPhone) With the Apple iPod touch, Apple has married the iPhone's revolutionary multi-touch interface to their popular digital media player. So instead of a Click Wheel, you just use your fingers to flick through your music, photos, and video. Two fingers can be used in a pinching or spreading motion as well, which zooms in and out of photos and web pages. That's right, the iPod touch is the first iPod to offer web access. It does this via built-in Wi-Fi support. There's even a special iTunes Wi-Fi Store, so you can browse and purchase new music and video while you're on the road. The latest iPod touch now offers a suite of new applications, including email, maps, and handy widgets for weather, notes, and stocks. The new iPod touch also features a customizable home screen that lets you rearrange buttons and create your own Web Clips. Ports - Dock Connector & Stereo Minijack Connects to a PC or Mac through USB (using the dock connector) 802.11b/g Wi-Fi Wireless / Safari web browser Charge Time - about 3 hours (1.5 hours fast charge to 80% capacity) Audio Support - AAC (16 to 320 Kbps), Protected AAC (from iTunes Store), MP3 (16 to 320 Kbps), MP3 VBR, Audible (formats 2, 3, & 4), Apple Lossless, WAV, & AIFF Photo Support - Syncs iPod-viewable photos in JPEG, BMP, GIF, TIFF, PSD (Mac only), and PNG formats Video Support - H.264 video, up to 1.5 Mbps, 640 by 480 pixels, 30 frames per second, Low-Complexity version of the H.264 Baseline Profile with AAC-LC audio up to 160 Kbps, 48kHz, stereo audio in. m4v,. mp4, and. mov file formats; H.264 video, up to 2.5 Mbps, 640 by 480 pixels, 30 frames per second, Baseline Profile up to Level 3.0 with AAC-LC audio up to 160 Kbps, 48kHz, stereo audio in. m4v,. mp4, and. mov file formats; MPEG-4 video, up to 2.5 Mbps, 640 by 480 pixels, 30 frames per second, Simple Profile with AAC-LC audio up to 160 Kbps, 48kHz, stereo audio in. m4v,. mp4, and. mov file formats Unit Dimension
Product Details
- Amazon Sales Rank: #358 in Consumer Electronics
- Size: 8 GB
- Color: Black
- Brand: Apple
- Model: MA623LL/B
- Dimensions: 2.00 pounds
- Display size: 3.5
- This player is the iPod touch, not the Apple iPhone
- Upgrade your player with the iPhone 2.0 Software Update for iPod touch via iTunes for an additional fee
- 8 GB of storage provides approximately 1,750 songs; includes earphones, USB cable, dock adapter/connector, polishing cloth, and stand
- 3.5-inch widescreen multi-touch display; battery life provides up to 22 hours of music and up to 5 hours of video
- New applications include email; maps; and widgets for weather, notes, and stocks
Editorial Reviews
Amazon.com Product Description
iPod touch has always been an amazing iPod. With great new applications, now iPod touch is even better. Watch a movie you rented from iTunes. View rich HTML email with graphics and photos displayed inline. Open PDF, Microsoft Word, and Microsoft Excel attachments. With Maps, find your location and get directions from there. See where you are on a map, a satellite image, or a combination of both. Make Web Clips for your Home screen so you can visit your favorite websites in just one tap. Fill up to nine Home screen pages with Web Clips and arrange them however you like. Browse YouTube videos, follow your stocks, check the weather, and take notes. With the new iPod touch, tap into even more.
 Glide through albums with the iPod touch's amazing Cover Flow technology. View iPod touch dimensions. |
 Browse the Web with the included Safari browser. Or fire up a YouTube video and enjoy the show. |
 The iPod touch responds to your movements; turn it sideways and your video is presented in widescreen mode. |
 Incredibly thin at just 8 millimeters. |
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| The mail application lets you view rich HTML email with graphics and photos displayed inline, as well as PDF, Microsoft Word, and Microsoft Excel attachments. |
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| Rearrange the icons on your Home screen. Even change the Dock. |
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| Mark specific locations, find the best route between them, and search for points of interest along the way with Maps. |
Music, Movies, and More
Flick through album covers and find your music. Download and watch your favorite movies, rentals, TV shows, and more from the iTunes Store. Tap into thousands of photos. All using incredible multi-touch technology on a beautiful 3.5-inch display.
Music
If a picture says a thousand words, think of what all the album art in your collection might say. With Cover Flow on iPod touch, flick through your music to find the album you want to hear. When you do, just tap the cover to flip it over and display a track list. Another tap starts the music. Even view the lyrics while you're listening to the track.
Video
The 3.5-inch display gives you video like you've never seen on a portable device. Watch your favorite movie or rental from the iTunes Store. Catch up on TV shows anywhere. Enjoy video podcasts. Play music videos. All using multi-touch technology. With a tap, bring up onscreen controls to play/pause and view by chapter. Turn your iPod touch to switch between widescreen or full screen.
Photos
iPod touch holds up to 20,000 photos you sync via iTunes. Flick to scroll through thumbnails. Tap to view full screen. Rotate for landscape format. Or perform some sleight of hand by opening two fingers to zoom in. You can even play slideshows, complete with music and transitions. Set any photo as your wallpaper to personalize your iPod touch . . . with a touch.
iTunes Wi-Fi Music Store
With iPod touch, discover new music anywhere. Its built-in wireless capability gives you access to the iTunes Wi-Fi Music Store, where you can buy songs with a tap. Browse New Releases, What's Hot, Genres, and Top 10 songs. Or find exactly what you're looking for with a quick search. Tap a song to preview it, tap Buy to purchase it. Even redeem your iTunes gift cards and gift certificates. All from anywhere you happen to be.
Starbucks Music
You walk into a Starbucks. Order your latte. While you wait, you hear a song wafting from the loudspeakers. You love it. So you get out your iPod touch and buy it over Wi-Fi. Just like that. The iTunes Wi-Fi Music Store on iPod touch tells you what's playing in select Starbucks and lets you buy it along with other featured Starbucks content. So you can sip, shop, and listen.
Home Screen
Make the iPod touch Home screen your own. Change what's in the Dock. Rearrange the icons. And make room for even more. You can add up to eight Home screen pages and fill them with Web Clips.
Internet
Surf the web. Send email. Get directions and find your location with Maps. Check stocks, weather, and more. iPod touch is not just an amazing iPod. It's the Internet in your pocket.
Safari
iPod touch is the only iPod with wireless access to the web. Safari is built in, so you see websites the way they were designed to be seen. Search the web using the touchscreen keyboard. Zoom in and out by tapping the multi-touch display. Switch between portrait or landscape view, depending on how you hold your iPod touch. Sync your bookmarks. Better yet, add them to your Home screen. iPod touch can automatically create a Web Clip on your Home screen from any of your favorite websites. So just one tap takes you directly there.
YouTube
Got a bit of a YouTube addiction? iPod touch feeds it from anywhere with a special YouTube player built right in. Watch featured videos, check out the most viewed, search for something specific, then bookmark your favorites for future reference. It's all the fun of YouTube--pocket-size.
Mail
iPod touch is the first iPod with Mail. And it's the best email you've ever seen on a handheld device. This mail application lets you view rich HTML email with graphics and photos displayed inline, as well as PDF, Microsoft Word, and Microsoft Excel attachments.
Maps
Get directions and check traffic with Google Maps. Even find yourself, wherever you are. Using some local Wi-Fi networks (if Wi-Fi is turned on), iPod touch finds your approximate location and gives directions from there. Mark specific locations, find the best route between them, and search for points of interest along the way. With a hybrid map and satellite view, you can see major street names on top of satellite images.
Widgets
Widgets are small, incredibly handy applications you can use every day. Three of the most useful widgets now live front and center on your Home screen:
 Weather Get a five-day weather forecast, including highs and lows, for cities around the world. Save your favorite locations so you can check the weather anytime. |  Notes Take notes, make a to-do list, or jot down a reminder using the easy-to-use touch keypad. Then save or email them. |  Stocks Check your stocks and track the market over one day, one week, one month, three months, six months, one year, or two years. |
High Technology
iPod touch features the same revolutionary interface as iPhone, the most advanced software ever engineered, and state-of-the-art technology. With the multi-touch display, you can control everything using only your fingers. If you rotate your iPod touch from portrait to landscape, the accelerometer automatically changes the way the content is displayed. And with wireless technology, you can connect to the Internet from any Wi-Fi network, anywhere you are.
Multi-touch
iPod touch features the same revolutionary interface as iPhone. Built to take full advantage of the large 3.5-inch display, the multi-touch interface lets you control everything using only your fingers. So you can glide through albums with Cover Flow, flick through photos and enlarge them with a pinch, or zoom in and out on a section of a web page. And iPod touch features a touchscreen QWERTY keyboard perfect for browsing the web in Safari, getting directions on a map, searching for videos on YouTube, finding music on the iTunes Wi-Fi Music Store, or adding new contacts.
Ambient Light Sensor
The iPod touch display has an ambient light sensor that automatically adjusts brightness to suit the ambient light in your surroundings. The result? A better experience for you and battery-saving efficiency for iPod touch.
Wireless
Connect to the Internet anywhere there's a Wi-Fi network. Send email from a coffee shop. Surf the web at the airport. Browse, buy, and download music from the iTunes Wi-Fi Music Store at select Starbucks locations or other wireless hot spots in your area. iPod touch finds wireless networks and connects you to the Internet.
Accelerometer
An accelerometer detects when you rotate iPod touch from portrait to landscape, then automatically changes the contents of the display, so you immediately see the entire width of a web page, your music in Cover Flow, or a photo in its proper aspect ratio.
What's in the Box:
8 GB iPod touch, earphones, USB 2.0 cable, dock adapter, polishing cloth, stand, quick start guide.
Customer Reviews
One of THE best devices
First of let me say what an anti-mac comsumer I am, and how the Ipod touch however has convinced me into considering switching back to Mac. It is basically a handheld computer with some cool free apps you can load word and excel documents, and play hours of games, surf the web amazingly and its so easy to use. I love it and it is definitely the best device I own. I use it for everyhting from shopping lists, to calculus and chemistry homework, to dog whistle, to games, to my own personal photo album, plus I download my favorite tv shows and movies and periodically switch them out after i watch them, I use the bible app for quick references and google earth constantly, plus i use it to study for SAT's when i'm not busy. The only real draw backs are that it has no camera but, and no built in mic but I got over that pretty quick. It really is a toy that can play music and surf the web. Its great for pretty much anyone and I'm so happy i got mine. It feels great in my hand but make sure to get a good reliable case because if it falls on something hard its probably going to break. Hundreds of apps are available and I really have no complaints, if you want something that can surf the web (with in hot spots) download and save e-mails, play games, and listen to music along with hundreds of silly and very useful/entertaining applications then this is the perfect product.
Great upgrade from 8GB
I used to have the 8GB version. I am really glad I upgraded to the 16GB version. The extra storage really comes in handy when you start using more videos. With the recent 2.2 update this size also comes in handy when downloading podcasts and apps from the iPod touch itself. This is the best gadget I have ever owned. A very good investment. This is a very versatile media player. From internet and email to pda funcitons to gaming to video to music and photos. If you have the 8GB version and cant decided whether to upgrade to the 16GB. You should your library of songs, videos, photos and apps is always growing. So you will always need more storage. Its better to have more so that you can use this ipod for atleast 1 to 2 years without having to upgrade. Ideally its best to upgrade to the 32GB version but if you cant then upgrade to the 16GB version. Also make sure you update your software to the latest even if it costs you about $10 its worth it with all the capabilities it has.
So very close to perfect
Apple clearly made some choices about what to put into the iPhone's stepsibling, and not all those choices were good. Some say the ipod Touch is the "iPhone without the phone." (It also lacks the iPhone's camera, microphone and speaker, as well as Bluetooth connectivity.) But although I may be in the minority, I really don't want my cell phone running off the same battery as my entertainment system. My cell phone is mostly for work, and I don't want to worry that every song I play now might mean a missed call later.
The Touch has the same innovative interface as the iPhone, with its multitouch screen and single home button. As I've said, it lacks the phone, which I see as a good thing (although net connectivity via cell networks might be useful when I can't get wi-fi). I also see the lack of a camera as a good thing -- my work has taken me to too many places that make you surrender your camera phone at the door. Although it wasn't available at release, the App Store now means that you can select from thousands of third-party apps that allow your iPod to do things that the iPods of the past could only dream of.
But it could be better. What's the point of criticism if not to point out ways to improve, after all? The iPod Touch doesn't have any form of external storage. It would be great if it had an SD card slot, or some other flash media format. Or even a USB port, so you could connect a hard drive, or maybe even a keyboard. My point is that the only ways to get things into or out of the Touch's memory are via the network and via synching with iTunes. And that is probably why these features don't exist -- Apple chose not to include any such thing, probably because of licensing agreements with application and media publishers, so they could maintain tight control over what data you can move into and out of your device.
I'd say the same reasoning is why they chose not to include Bluetooth, except that the iPhone *does* include Bluetooth. I'm not sure why they left it out of the Touch. But if the Touch did have Bluetooth, that could wirelessly address the lack of a USB port -- you could use a Bluetooth keyboard, perhaps, or Bluetooth external storage, which wouldn't be fast but would be better than nothing.
The lack of an internal speaker and microphone is sometimes a problem. Yes, you can attach external speakers, as with any iPod, but what if I just want to share some funny YouTube video with my friends? I don't want to carry a speaker system around everywhere I go; the point of the iPod is portability. And as for the microphone, the Touch doesn't even have a jack to connect an external mic to. The lack of a microphone means that many network voice chat possibilities are eliminated, including the possibility of using the Touch as a VOIP phone -- and I suspect that Apple's agreement with AT&T that allowed it to make the iPhone may have included noncompetition language that is, basically, the reason why the Touch has no mic.
Another issue is the storage space. Using solid-state flash storage is a better option than hard drives with moving parts, I agree -- you get a more durable iPod. But nobody wants to step down from an 80GB video iPod to an 8GB or even 16GB iPod Touch. Where do you keep all your stuff? Especially with its beautiful screen, great for watching video in a travel context, you'd think there would be more space to put video in. The only reason they didn't double or quadruple the storage space has to be to cut costs. I don't think Apple should be focusing on flash storage until flash storage's prices come closer to having per-gigabyte parity with hard drives.
In the end, the iPod Touch is awesome. But it could be super-awesome, if not for Apple's choices not to include the super-awesomeness because of licensing and legal factors. In my perfect world, the Touch would have a USB port and be able to access media stored on external devices, as well as some kind of flash storage slot, so you could basically have an unlimited media library and connect a keyboard so you could type for real. It should have an internal speaker and mic as well as a microphone jack, so you could use network voice chat and VOIP. And it should really have more storage capacity, at least as much as the video iPods.
And while I'm dreaming, how about some sort of Flash player in Safari?
It feels like magic!
For those who may be interested in acquiring an iPod Touch as a replacement for a PDA, I have found it to be quite useful. The primary function used in this regard is syncing with Microsoft Outlook, which works flawlessly. Now I can check appointments and find those phone numbers for early morning conference calls without waiting 10 minutes for my laptop to boot up.
The new software improves the functionality by adding the notes capability, and I even find myself frequently viewing video podcasts - something I never thought I would use.
The most important functions for me in a portable device are calendar, music, notes, photos, and Audible book playback, all of which this iPod handles very nicely. I have also used the maps feature for driving directions - load it up while on the home WiFi network, then the directions are retained for reference - in a much more useful format than if you print out the directions on Google. Just bring along a navigator, as I would not recommend trying to read the iPod while driving. The same applies to paper maps, of course.
On the downside, the battery life has not been great - less than two hours if actively using WiFi.