The iPod touch 3G doesn’t just belt out your tracks from iTunes on the move: it’s loaded up with iPhone OS 3.0 and the iPhone 3GS’ swishtastic graphics too. But with storage space still failing to match the hefty iPod Classic, is it enough to keep us entertained six months on? Read on and find out in our iPod touch3G review: apps and media skills verdict.The iPod touch 3G was solid when it launched six months ago, but it’s only got better thanks to the continuous mushrooming of extra apps.
The iPhone and iPod touch App Store is a triumph, and has only got better as time has gone on. Of course a large chunk of the 150,00 apps now available are shovelware, but that still leaves a whole lot of gems you’ll love being able to load up on your iPod touch, whether they’re media streaming apps, tube maps or Mr T voice simulators, especially in a Wi-Fi hotspot, where the differences with an iPhone almost vanish. There are so many well crafted iPod touch programs to choose from now, you’ll run out of money before you run out of space to store them.
The major Flaw with the iPod touch 3G’s app ability of course is the lack of multitasking. It’s a real bug bear on the always connected iPhone 3GS, and admittedly less of one here, but there are still times when we find ourselves cursing the iPod touch’s one track mind. Sure you can play your synced music while browsing the web, but wait until you try to use the superb Spotify iPhone app and you’ll see the limits: you can’t listen to the playlists you’ve paid for while doing anything else,
But the iPod touch 3G’s real forte is gaming. Hotspot or not, the iPod touch 3G will always play them, , and you’re absolutely spoiled for choice now. Whether you need a quick burst of arcade fun (Doodle Jump, Flight Control) or an hours long adventure to pass a long train journey (Final Fantasy I and II, GTA Chinatown Wars), the App Store has you covered, and the iPod touch 3G’s responsive screen will never fail you mid-level.
It’s reached the point where we would advise against buying a Nintendo DSi or Sony PSP if you have any iPod touch: with Apple’s PMP, you can now pass the time just as entertainingly, and save on the pocket luggage too. It’s more a case of passing time for developers to spread their wings than upgrades in the iPod touch 3G, but it’s now become a genuine gaming handheld.
Still, the chances are you may just want to fire up a tune from time to time on the iPod touch 3G, and while sound quality won’t bowl you over ever, there’s no denying Apple has the best UI for jumping around all your tunes. In portrait mode, you can dive through song data in alphabetical order as before, while tilting into landscape mode gives you a colourful, if not practical, album browsing view (Cover Flow). We’re not so keen on Shake To Shuffle, which iPhone OS 3.1 brings to the iPod touch 3G, but the ability to control your music while the iPod is locked in so many ways (The screen, the remote buttons and Voice Control) will make it hard for you to consider any alternative music players.
Our one reservation with the iPod touch 3G is video. While movie files are easy on the eye on its 3.5-inch screen, and play completely smoothly, we’re becoming increasingly sick of Apple’s poor file format support. Apple made a smart move supporting the increasingly standard H.264 codec, but its refusal to add extra support for container files is irritating. If you’ve got a stack of AVI files on your computer, you’ll need to convert them (Lengthy), but we’re more concerned about the lack of future proofing here: we’d love to be able to play increasingly popular MKV files, but the iPod touch 3G just won’t play them.
If you don’t source your video anywhere other than iTunes though, you’ll be laughing. Apple’s online store serves up TVs and films in just the right format for you, so you’ll be able to sync straight away and watch all those niggling problems melt away. A batch of media players maybe set to outdo the iPod touch 3G on the spec sheet, but for ease of use, its software still can’t be matched.