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Apple's new iPod touch, nano and classic: Hands firmly on

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We told you the Earth would stop turning, and it did. Apple, after the typical rumour-grooming hysteria that precedes every one of its press conferences, announced three head-explodingly exciting new iPod products. Two of them are updates to previous iPods, and there's a simple change of colours for the iPod shuffle. But one was outstanding in its revolutionary freshness, and we're going to look at that first. Its name? The iPod touch.

The iPod touch is exactly what the world has been demanding -- it's a true video iPod. Moreover, it's a phoneless iPhone, although as we'll see, more iPhone features than you might first expect made the cut.

The iPod touch comes in 8GB and 16GB versions. It has a massive, high-resolution, 89mm (3.5-inch) touch-sensitive screen. Apple has included the multi-touch aspects of the iPhone's iPod, as well as the Safari Web browser, Cover Flow album navigation, built-in Wi-Fi (b/g varieties) and the accelerometer technology that allows the iPod to detect whether it's being held in landscape or portrait mode.

At just 8mm thick, the new iPod is the slimmest iPod ever created -- it's not even a third of an inch in depth. This sounds amazing, and when we got our hands on a model, it seemed even more amazing still. It's a beautiful device to hold; every seductive charm the iPhone has, the iPod touch has too.

Okay, so you've admitted to yourself that you're ready to part ways with your money (and we don't blame you), but how much are you going to part with? Well, the 8GB version will cost £199, while the 16GB version costs £269.

Now, about that Wi-Fi. The Zune tried to do it, and did it badly. The iPod touch on the other hand, doesn't. You can now browse, preview and purchase music over Wi-Fi from the iTunes Store. Yup, if it's on iTunes, it's on your touch. When you next dock your iPod, the purchased tracks are added to the library on your PC and synced as normal. Brilliant! This feature has also been added to the iPhone. YouTube is even supported over Wi-Fi. All those videos of cats talking and fat kids lip-syncing are now at your fingertips.

This stunning new iPod really needs to be touched, squeezed, caressed, fondled and -- what the hell -- taken to bed, when it's released towards the end of September. It's available to pre-order now from Apple's site.

But that's not all Apple announced. The traditional video iPod has been completely overhauled, and it's not even called a video iPod anymore...

Update: Full reviews of the Apple iPod nano (3rd gen, video), Apple iPod classic and Apple iPod touch and a video of the iPod touch, nano and classic from the launch are now live on the site.

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Comments

AnonymousThu 6 September, 2007 11:45pm

Hey Guys

just a quick thought,
with apple releasing this new do it all ipod touch will this mean the death of the iphone?
it seems they have kind of shot the selfs in the foot here.....
i am a recent apple convert even though i have been trying not to buy for years but i had to since my little rio carbon died :'(
one last thing..... ipod touch + fingerprints all over the screen = hard to watch videos?
keep up the great work guys
Max

Stephen CFri 7 September, 2007 12:41pm

I dont think that the ipod touch will affect iphone sales in a bad way , quite the opposite I believe. The iphone is going to be very expensive lets be honest, The ipod touch is a smart release, releasing it before we get the iphone. There is also a lot of people who have still try to keep away from the ipod revolution who will now be blown away with the touch. Also as a long ipod user and recent imac purchaser I want the ipod touch. I believe this product will convert all the sceptics and in turn promote the iphone extremely well.

AnonymousFri 7 September, 2007 1:45pm

Anonymous, I went on the Apple website and viewed the Ipod Touch and its accessories and believe it comes with a polishing cloth in the box when first bought

AnonymousFri 7 September, 2007 8:53pm

Hi - i was wondering about the wifi on this device : will you be able to

1. read email / yahoo / hotmail
2. use media applications for streamed media such as pandora / shoutvast yahoo radio / last fm -

anyone with any insider knowlege?

Nate Lanxon, CNET.co.ukFri 7 September, 2007 9:23pm

The WiFi built into the iPod Touch lets you access the entire Web, but there's no dedicated email application. This means you'll be able to use Web-based email, such as Yahoo Mail. Services like Last.fm won't function as they would on a computer as there's no internal speaker. But you'll be able to browse the site and take part in user-generated areas such as forums.

AnonymousWed 12 September, 2007 3:19pm

Nate Laxon said this ...

"The WiFi built into the iPod Touch lets you access the entire Web, but there's no dedicated email application. This means you'll be able to use Web-based email, such as Yahoo Mail. Services like Last.fm won't function as they would on a computer as there's no internal speaker. But you'll be able to browse the site and take part in user-generated areas such as forums."

Internal speaker ? eh ? what is this man talking about ? you can't listen to pandora's online website without an internal speaker? have you ever heard of headphones man! Editor of being a dumbass!

carrie smithSat 8 September, 2007 8:38am

i was just wondering about putting music on the ipod touch. Does all the music have to be purchased off iTunes?? Or can you upload you on music off your computer as is the case with the other ipods??
cheers xx.

Nate Lanxon, CNET.co.ukSun 9 September, 2007 4:52pm

You can organise your music just as normal, either with songs purchased from iTunes or those already on your computer. They work just like other iPods.

AnonymousMon 10 September, 2007 10:53am

Eh what about replacable batteries u know wen it eventually wears out and will not hold a charge must we keep sending back ipods to the factory for a battery change? & what about pple in Africa like mwa

Nate Lanxon, CNET.co.ukMon 10 September, 2007 3:29pm

I'm afraid you must, yes. Apple may offer you a reconditioned model for a modest sum, or you can wait until some companies start offering DIY battery replacement kits for sale on eBay.

AnonymousWed 14 November, 2007 9:36am

I still can't believe anyone has tried living with the reality of a iPod Touch. It is obvioulsy an object of desire with an amazing GUI ... BUT... 16gb on a video device pretty much makes it redundant. 1 50min tv show from iTunes is in excess of 500mb. Throw in some music recorded at the highest quality (and why would you ever record at anything else) and this thing will fill up quicker than a thing being filled-up very quickly! I have avoided the whole Apple thing for years and have an Archos Gmini 400 which was playing video years before iPod's so I know how much space video can take. I have now taken the plunge into Apples world and ordered a 160gb Ipod classic from Santa. I would have bought the touch but in the real world, rahter than in the eye of the fashon victim, the Touch falls at the first hurdle.

AnonymousWed 1 October, 2008 5:19pm

What The Fudge!, i have one and It does have a Mail icon, and a youtube icon, and a safari icon also with an app store to download last fm. Jeez, don't jump to conclusions!!

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