NEW UPDATE:
The first real, full review of the iPod touch by PC Magazine is here. Still looks pretty solid. I wants it.
Oh thank God. I might not have to buy the iPhone anymore. The iPod Touch has every feature I’d want from the iPhone without the phone part!
WiFi web browsing, Google maps, NYTimes, Coverflow, multi touch photos…
iPod Touch FTW!
UPDATE!
Holy crap they’ve just leveled the pricing for the iPhone and the new iPod Touch. Argh! And the most shocking news was the price cut for the iPhone - $200 off. What a slap in the face for anyone that just bought one just yesterday.
UPDATE!
An open letter to early adopters of the iPhone have been written by Steve Jobs. The one letters asks that they be forgiving to Apple for screwing them over. A $100 free gift certificate to Apple stores has been offered as some form of compensation, but obviously, this mainly benefits Apple more than anyone. Hmmm.
Some more thoughts on the iPod touch:
For me, the iPod touch has pretty much everything I’d want from an iPhone without the need for a new cellphone bill. So as much as one converged device would be pretty sweet, paying about $1200 a year to AT&T is something I’m glad to do without. I’ve been very fortunate you see and recently joined the corporate cell phone plan through work.
I’m probably going to be rocking my Samsung Blackjack for the next 18 months, so in the mean time, the iPod touch awaits. For me, three major barriers exist for my iPhone adoption:
1. Microsoft Exchange Server support with full ‘Direct Push’ email is lacking for the iPhone. This could be fixed in the next few months.
2. I’d have to get a new account and phone no. with AT&T with the iPhone and then get that migrated over to the corporate plan. Probably doable.
3. I already have a freaking phone! And it’s being paid for! I want to throw my money at Apple, not AT&T. This one is hard to swallow. AT&T can go bite me as I’ve never had so many dropped calls until I moved to their networks.
One aspect to the iPod that makes me so personally excited for its release is its WiFi capability. For me, this could mean that from the comfort of my couch, I could read the NY Times, check in on my Flickr page, reply to my GMail and type into my blog. Most of what I use my laptop for at home is casual browsing. I don’t have a fully functional PC at home any more, so this little fella might just be all I need.
But earlier today it hit me! A killer app that I might actually kill someone for (at least gratuitously injure).
Can someone please write a application that lets me control iTunes remotely from the iPod touch. And I don’t mean, can I play my mp3s from my iPod. No. I mean, can I control the library of mp3s that’s sitting in my house, attached to a dumb PC, from my iPod touch? Please?
This would an incredibly compelling way to utilise the WiFi hooks and its massive touch screen! Most home owners have a stationary computer. Often it is hooked up to the main stereo system in your home. Currently, there’s been very few options to control your music library and have it play through your main stereo.
Apple released the AirPort Express which has AirTunes, which lets you use your laptop to control your music collection remotely as it sends the audio signal wirelessly to the stero. But a laptop is hardly that convenient to carry around your house. For a lot of people, your laptop is your only computer and then you’re back to square one again: controlling what’s playing by returning to the physical heart of the collection. I want to have something that lets me see my collection, control it, but not necessarily be standing right next to it.
Using an Apple remote to control your iTunes is simple and cheap solution, but your control is very limited to play, pause, next track. The only other solution that exists that I know of is the Sonos. This is the solution that I’d love to have but can’t afford. For $1000 (including the $400 remote) it gives the user the ability to see, control and direct what’s being played from your computer. And yes, its a luxury to have a colour screen just for your music remote control, but it’s bound to be a great experience. Your computer can now just sit still, chill out and pump mp3s to a stereo.
With the iPod touch, I might finally be able to have something as cool, as visual and as powerful as that Sonos without paying $1000 for this one experience. It means changing your perception of the iPod from being your entire music collection, to simply being a window into your library. A sexy, 3.5″ touchable window.
Another UPDATE!
