Quick review of 4G iPod Touch

There's very little to dislike in the newly improved iPod touch 4G.

AS APPLE'S premium music player, the iPod touch has benefited from consistent hardware and software updates that makes it one of the most popular Apple products next to the iPhone.

The new 4th generation (4G) iPod touch gains some significant enhancements, many that are found in the iPhone 4 - a fancy new Retina Display, A4 chip processor and FaceTime to name a few.

Lots of changes

At a glance, the 4G iPod touch looks identical to last year's model with the same round-edged curve design and reflective metal back plate. However, the latest version sports a much thinner profile that is just 7.2mm thick.

While there is no major physical redesign, the 4G sports many new features both seen and unseen. Key hardware enhancements include the HD video recording camera on the back as well as a front facing camera for FaceTime.

THIN AS A STICK: The new 4th generation iPod touch is just 7.2mm thick.

That's not all, the device's 3.5in multitouch screen has also been upgraded to a Retina Display, showing off very eye-catching and crisp images that make watching videos and playing games look much better on the device.

Updated games with support for Retina Display such as Angry Birds, Flight Control and Modern Combat looked sharper and had more detail.

Other subtle physical changes in the design include redesigned volume buttons that are now two individual buttons and the Sleep/Wake button shifted to the right-hand side of the device.

Disappointingly, the iPod touch ships with a regular pair of headphones instead of the microphone- and volume-control-equipped headphones included with last year's model.

Lots of different uses

On the inside the iPod touch sports Apple's new A4 processor, which is the very same processor used to power the iPhone 4 and the iPad. The performance gain is quite noticeable when compared against our older iPod touch.

Running applications in general feels a lot smoother and faster. Normal actions like web browsing, listening to music and watching movies felt the same though the 4G really shines when it comes to playing games.

NEAT: The new iPod touch benefits from a faster A4 processor and built-in gyroscope that enhances the overall gaming experience.

Games in general look better and ran incredibly smooth as we played Retina Display-optimised games such as Modern Combat 2: Black Pegasus, Real Racing and N.O.V.A.

Another unseen new addition on the 4G is the built-in gyroscope that works in conjunction with certain games like N.O.V.A. - you can use it to aim your gun while you move your character with the virtual stick.

FaceTime video calling makes use of the front-facing VGA camera, allowing you to call other iPod touch users as well as iPhone 4 and Mac users over a WiFi connection.

The feature works surprisingly well by using your e-mail address instead of your phone number as your identity. All you have to do is sign in with your Apple ID and you're good to go.

Calls typically take four to five seconds to connect even after you hit the accept call button, but once you're connected the call and video quality is clear.

You still get Bluetooth and WiFi connectivity on the new iPod touch for web surfing and use with location-based apps.

The device's battery performance is tricky to measure as it is highly dependent on usage. We found the new iPod touch able to last a full day of regular usage with some power to spare, thanks in part to its energy-efficient A4 processor.

But the battery obviously drains faster when you constantly play games and edit videos on iMovie for instance, so keep these activities to a minimum if you want to prolong the battery life.

All about videos

One of the most talked about features on the new iPod touch is the built-in camera that shoots both stills and videos. While the camera does not share the same lens and sensor as the iPhone, it is still capable of capturing HD videos.

The 4G is capable of recording 720p quality HD videos at 30 frames per second. Changing the exposure is quick and as simple as tapping on the screen.

The omni directional mircophone does a good job of picking up sound and the recorded voices sound clear upon playback. Videos generally turn out well under bright conditions with lots of light and the camera's low light performance is also admirable despite the high amount of noise present in videos.

In short, the video quality is almost up to standard with a compact camera and it appears smooth during playback.

In fact, the quality is good enough that you can compile videos in iMovie to create a simple but pretty good looking clip. We made several on the iMovie app and were pleasantly surprised by how effective and simple it was to make a home video on the go.

Admittedly though, the camera doesn't fare so well when it comes to taking still pictures. The camera is limited by its fixed-focus lens and it doesn't have the tap-to-focus feature used in the iPhone 4. Instead tapping on different parts of the screen only changes the exposure of the photo.

The quality of photos is also noticeably softer, lacking detail and is much more grainy in low light conditions. You probably won't be making large prints with these photos, but they are good enough for posting on Facebook or Twitter.

Conclusion

All in all, the 4th generation iPod touch is really like a Swiss army knife - it offers all that you need in a multimedia device: Music and video playback, games, web browsing and now HD video recording along with the ability to make video calls.

The new features certainly add value to the device and it can do almost everything the iPhone 4 can with the exception of voice calls, text messaging and GPS navigation.

There isn't much to dislike about the iPod touch though we did find the camera's still picture quality poor in contrast to the otherwise great HD video quality.

In a nutshell, if you are looking for a media player that has almost everything that a smartphone has, the iPod touch is certainly worth considering.

Pros: Sharp-looking Retina Display; speedy performance for apps; HD video recording.

Cons: Poor still photos; no microphone-equipped earphones provideEndd.

iPod Touch
(Apple)
Portable media player
DISPLAY: 3.5in Retina Display screen (960 x 640 pixel)
SUPPORTED FORMATS: AAC, MP3, AIFF, Apple Lossless, AIFF, WAV
STORAGE: 64GB (also available in 8GB and 32GB models)
BATTERY: Rechargeable lithium-ion
BUNDLED ACCESSORIES: Earphones, 30-pin cable dock connector to USB cable
OTHER FEATURES: Camera with 720p HD video recording, built-in speakers, FaceTime
CONNECTIVITY: WiFi, Bluetooth 2.1
DIMENSIONS (W x D x H): 58.9mm x 7.2mm x 111mm
WEIGHT: 101g
PRICE: RM1,399