• 29Dec 09

  iPod Touch (3rd gen) review as well as some good apps

  iPod Touch 32Gb (3rd generation) review from i60spaure

  I know that reviews about this device have already been published on the Internet and that you'd probably rather go see them than mine, but...

  Why wouldn't I share my opinion?

  ---- At the end of the review I will mention some apps that I recommend ---

  The iPod Touch is way more than a multimedia device. Though that's what it's made for, the device can also be used for many other things:

  -A PDA device (write notes, check your emails, write documents*, add events to the built-in calendar, manage your contacts, and more)

  -A mobile web browser (In fact, it's the quickest and most reliable internet browser I have yet seen on a mobile device)

  -Playing 3D games (there are lots of them available in the App Store for less than 10 bucks)

  -Remotely controlling your PC (when it's on the same LAN) with Mocha VNC

  -And more...

  

  Design and ergonomics:

  The iPod Touch looks very beautiful compared to other Mp4 players. It's less than a centimeter thick and it is esthetically very pleasant to the eye. Though I suggest you buy a case; the back of the iPod can be scratched up very easily. This is an inconvenient, as after a couple of months the back of your iPod will be pretty ugly.

  The iPod Touch controls very well, even with the thumb. It is very easy to control and despite the buttons on the screen being pretty small, it's still very easy to click on them. Typing on the iPod Touch is pretty easy and turning it to landscape mode makes it easier to type long sentences. Watching a movie on the little thing doesn't hurt the eye and it's even enoughly big for two people to enjoy the movie at the same time. The device has a high dot pitch which means crispier pictures.

  

  Applications:

  The iPod Touch comes preinstalled with the following applications.

  Mail: It lets you send emails as well as receiving them. They all open as well as on a PC and the iPod even lets you see attached documents, as PDFs, JPGs, DOCs, PPTs and many other files. The downside though is that you cannot save them on the Hard Drive (you'll need to use Files Lite, which is a free application)

  Calendar: With it, you can add events and name them. It works pretty well actually

  Photos: Well, it's to view pictures

  YouTube: With it, you can watch youtube videos. On the new firmware (3.0), you can also rate them and write comments. It's pretty slow when searching videos actually as sometimes you need to wait 30 seconds for a simple search.

  Contacts: You can add contacts or sync them to Outlook or mail accounts as Yahoo.

  Stocks: Never used it

  Maps: It's the equivalent of Google Maps. You can search for a building or a place and it can also give you directions (I think).

  Weather: It displays weather for the cities of your choice. It's working with the Yahoo! Weather service and even small cities like mine are available.

  Calculator: You can use the normal calculator or switch the iPod to landscape mode to uncover a scientific calculator. If it's not good for you, there are tons of calculators available from the app store.

  Settings: Manage the settings for your iPod Touch, as disabling Wi-Fi, setting up a password or adjusting the brightness.

  iTunes: Let's you browse iTunes and buy things.

  Music: Lets you liscen to music. If you switch the iPod Touch to landscape view, it will switch in the ****c coverflow view.

  Videos: You can watch videos. I recommend you to organize them into Tv Shows, since they are well organized on the iPod after that.

  Safari: Navigate the Internet, save bookmarks, etc. The Safari browser for the iPod Touch is almost flawless; it works so great compared to the one in the PlayStation 3 and the PSP. It doesn't take too much long to load, it never crashes (it never crashed on mine since I got it) and the interface is well designed. This is one of the things that make me proud of my purchase as it just works great! The only wrong thing is that Apple hasn't incorporated the Flash Player plug-in, which means you're limited to videos from youtube.com.

  Voice Memos: You can record memos with the microphone built-in the headphones (more on that later).

  

  UI (User Interface): The user interface on the iPod Touch is great: it's easy to use, simple and convenient. It's very well organized and it sorts your music by artists, playlists, albums, alphabetical order and more. There is even a search function built-in the iPod which works extremely well.

  The animations are smooth and sleek; they look very cool.

  Screen quality: The iPod Touch has a 3.5 inch screen of 480x240 pixels. It's got a very high dot pitch which means that the images don't look pixilated. When put at low brightness, you can barely see the screen. But when you put it to high brightness you better put sunglasses. The display is brighter than my computer screen (5 months old HP LCD), though the iPod Touch screen's contrast is nowhere near as good. The colors are still vibrant, though not excessively saturated; they look normal and are pleasant to the eye.

  I watched the TV show Fringe yesterday on it and I was very impressed. The images are very sharp and crisp.

  Sound quality: Many people complained that the quality wasn't great, but I find it OK. I personally think it sounds great with the included headphones, but if you want a better quality I suggest you to buy ear buds. I haven't heard any static noise while listening to music.

  The quality of the microphone: The microphone which is hidden in the headphones' wires has a good quality. It's very well suited for Skype and the voice memos application. The microphone is way better than the one built-in to my laptop's LCD screen.

  Battery life: The iPod Touch can stay playing music in standby mode for about 30 hours, and can read videos for about 6 hours. Turning Wi-Fi on and browsing the Internet requires a lot of power so it won't be able to stay on for more than 4 hours. Compared to alternative options, the battery is nowhere near bad. You probably won't run out of juice before you get the ability/time to charge it.

  Third-party applications: There are lots of free applications that you can download on the iPod Touch. I will here list the more convenient ones I have found to date:

  -Skype: With it, you can chat and make free calls to other Skype users. It's about 3$/month (or 3 cents by minutes) for calls in the US/Canada, so it's very cheap compared to the iPhone alternative. You get to make one free call, in order to convince you that it's working well. And believe me; it does work very well.

  iTunes: iTunes is a free software that you must download in order to use your iPod Touch. It's user interface is as good as the one of the iPod Touch and it is a very good application. One of the downsides is that the TV shows as Fringe can cost 60$ (for a season), which costs as much as the blu-ray package of the show. All of the things you buy are downloaded directly onto your PC so you won't get a physical CD. It's possible to burn the music onto a CD anyway.

  

  Those are some third-party apps that I think are worth mentioning.

  -Traffic Rush: An addictive little game

  -Sims 3: A great game to pass time on the iPod Touch

  -Flashlight: Use as a flashlight in the dark. When the iPod's brightness is set to full it's useable.

  -Mocha VNC: Remote control your PC if both devices are connected to the same LAN (local area network)

  -Read It Later: Lets you save .htm pages from the browser in order to read them later when you're OFFLINE.

  -Files lite: Lets you wirelessly save documents, presentations and PDF documents to your iPod Touch and read them offline.

  -Theseus and the minotaur: A little good logic game almost identical to mummy maze (the concept is identical).

  -Pac Man Lite: Well, a little pac man game for arcade fans.

  -Google Earth: See the whole Earth in 3D. It looks fantastic on the iPod Touch

  Conclusion: As you can see, there are lots of useful applications on the iPod Touch which are convenient and turn your iPod Touch into a computer. Overall, the iPod Touch is a product of quality. This is the first Apple product I bought in my life and it won't be the last for sure. I'm having a great time using it and I'm even using it right now to write this (not the entire review though). It is very convenient to take with you, but a Nano might be better suited for athletics.

  I personally would recommend you to get the 32gb version, which is priced at 299,99. It has a faster processor, more RAM and a new video chipset that some new games take adventage of. It also is bluetooth compatible and has way more memory than the 8gb model.

  I hope you enjoyed my review, and I'll come back later with more useful apps in another blog. Stay tuned!

  EDIT: I now recommend FileApp instead of Files Lite, as it doesn't have a storage limit. So take this application or buy the full version of Files Lite for 5$.

  • Posted Dec 29, 2009 11:59 am PT
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• 18Dec 09

  Answers for the Xmas questions

  I know I'm very quick for answering.

  Let the answers be revealed:

  1. Where does the Xmas candy can come from? It's a symbol of Jesus

  2. Where does the Xmas three come from? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christmas_tree

  3. In memory of who did we invited Santa Claus? St-Nick

  The questions were written in a way that only intelligent humans can understand...

  The fact is that I replaced every letter of the word instead the first and the last one. Lots of people are capable of reading it even if the letters are misplaced because the mind see the word as a whole.

  • Posted Dec 18, 2009 12:31 pm PT
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• 18Dec 09

  I have some Xmas questions for you

  I have some Xmas questions for you!

  I hope you can read them.

  *Spoiler for kids

  1. Wehre deos the chirmstas cnday can cmoe form?

  2. Wrehe deos the chmstairs tere cmoe form?

  3. In momrey of who did we ivnenetd Snata Cuals?

  I'll come back with answers later

  • Posted Dec 18, 2009 9:17 am PT
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