Apple iPod touch 16 GB 2nd Generation (Black) (Discontinued by Manufacturer)

by Apple

Product Features

• This player is the iPod touch, not the Apple iPhone; iPhone software is not included with this iPod touch but is available for download at apple.com
• 16 GB capacity for 3,500 songs, 10,000 photos, or 20 hours of video
• Up to 36 hours of music playback or 6 hours of video playback when fully charged
• 3.5-inch widescreen multi-touch display with 480-by-320-pixel resolution
• Supported audio formats: AAC, Protected AAC, MP3, MP3 VBR, Audible, Apple Lossless, AIFF, and WAV; supported video formats: H.264, MPEG-4; supported image file types: JPEG, BMP, GIF, TIFF, PSD (Mac only), and PNG

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Product Description

Amazon.com

The iPod touch has always been an amazing iPod. And with its groundbreaking technologies--including a Multi-Touch screen, the accelerometer, and 3D graphics--and access to hundreds of games, iPod touch puts an amazing gaming experience in the palm of your hand. It comes in 8 GB, 16 GB, and 32 GB models with new volume controls and a built-in speaker. Play hours of music. Create a Genius Playlist of songs that go great together. Watch a movie. Surf the web. View rich HTML email. Find your location and get directions with Google Maps. Browse YouTube videos. And shop the App Store for games and applications.

Millions of songs, thousands of videos, hundreds of games. Click to enlarge.

Music
Music on iPod touch not only sounds amazing, it looks amazing, too.

Touch Your Music
Remember what it felt like to flip through your CD or record collection? Cover Flow brings that feeling back. Just turn iPod touch on its side and flick through your music to find the album you want to hear. Tap the cover to flip it over and display a track list. Tap again to start the music. Even view the lyrics while you're listening.

A Musical Genius
Say you're listening to a song you really like and want to hear other tracks that go great with it. The new Genius feature finds the songs in your library that go great together and makes a Genius Playlist for you. You can listen to the playlist right away, save it for later, or even refresh it and give it another go. Count on Genius to create a mix you wouldn't have thought of yourself.

Fill It Up
Fill up your iPod touch with audio and video from your iTunes library. All you have to do is choose the playlists, videos, and other content you want to sync, and iTunes does the rest.

The iPod touch feels even better in your hand, thanks to the stunningly thin, contoured enclosure made of polished stainless steel.

Just turn iPod touch on its side and flick through your music to find the album you want to hear. Click to enlarge.

Carry hours of video with you, and watch it on a crisp, clear 3.5-inch widescreen color display.

Movies and TV Shows
Movies and TV shows have never looked this good on a portable device.

Everything's a Must-see
Carry hours of video with you, and watch it on a crisp, clear 3.5-inch widescreen color display. Need ideas? From Hollywood blockbusters to independent favorites, there's something for everyone at the iTunes Store. Download and watch movies with a few clicks. Prefer TV shows? Buy a single episode or an entire season's worth all at once.

In Control
While watching your video, tap the display to bring up the onscreen controls. You can play/pause, view by chapter, and adjust the volume. You also can use the new volume controls on the left side of iPod touch. Want to switch between widescreen and full screen? Simply tap the display twice.

Sync and Go
Need some entertainment for your next flight or road trip? With iTunes on your Mac or PC, you can sit at your computer and choose the movies and TV shows you want to sync to your iPod touch.

Games
With its groundbreaking technologies, iPod touch puts an amazing gaming experience in the palm of your hand.

Get in the Game
Developers all over the world are creating exciting games unlike anything you've ever seen on an iPod or mobile device. Many games come alive with stunning 3D graphics and immerse you in the action with the advanced technologies in iPod touch. There's even a built-in speaker, so you can hear all the action.

Fingertip Control
Many games for iPod touch use Multi-Touch to give you precise, fingertip control over game elements. Use your finger to drag your pieces around the board in chess or dice games. Or pinch to enlarge or shrink your view, rotate your character left or right, or just tap to make a selection.

Tilt, Turn, and Go
The built-in accelerometer actually responds to your movements, so you can tilt and turn your iPod touch to control the action. It's perfect for racing games--where your entire iPod touch acts as a steering wheel--and for tap-and-tilt games like Super Monkey Ball, in which your character rolls to your movements.

The App Store
Even if games aren't your thing, there's an iPod touch application for you. Thousands of applications in almost every category--entertainment, social networking, sports, photography, reference, and travel--are a tap away at the App Store.

Developers all over the world are creating exciting games unlike anything you've ever seen on an iPod or mobile device. Click to enlarge.

The built-in wireless capability in iPod touch gives you access to the iTunes Wi-Fi Music Store, where you can choose from millions of songs with a tap.

iPod touch features Safari, the most advanced web browser ever on a portable device.

iTunes Wi-Fi Music Store
Discover new music anywhere.

Buy on the Fly
The built-in wireless capability in iPod touch gives you access to the iTunes Wi-Fi Music Store, where you can choose from millions of songs with a tap. Browse New Releases, What's Hot, and Genres. Take a look at Top Songs and Top Albums. Or find exactly what you're looking for with a quick search. Play a 30-second preview of any song, then tap once to buy it. Your music starts downloading instantly, and you can keep tabs on its progress by tapping the Downloads button.

Sync it Back
When you connect iPod touch to your computer, the music you bought on-the-go syncs to your iTunes library. If you've partially downloaded a song to iPod touch, your computer completes the download automatically.

iPod touch at Starbucks
If you have an iPod touch, an iPhone, or a computer with the latest version of iTunes, you get free Wi-Fi access to the iTunes Store and to Starbucks' Now Playing content. Stroll into a participating Starbucks, and you're connected automatically.

Home Screen
Get instant access to whatever you need on your iPod touch.

Customize Your Home Screen
Arrange the icons on your Home screen any way you want. Even move them to another Home screen. Create up to nine Home screens for quick access to the games and applications you download from the App Store and to your Safari Web Clips.

Go Home
No matter where you are on iPod touch, you can press the Home button to return to the Home screen. You can go back to what you were doing at any time.

Add Apps, Web Clips, and More
Whenever you download an application from the App Store, a new icon appears on your Home screen. And if you check the same websites every day, just create Web Clips and you can access the sites directly from your Home screen with a single tap. Not happy with how they're organized? Reorder them any way you want by dragging them around the screen.

Safari
iPod touch features Safari, the most advanced web browser ever on a portable device.

Browse Anywhere
The iPod touch is the only iPod with 802.11b/g wireless access to the web. Whenever you're connected via Wi-Fi, you can access your favorite websites to read news, check scores, pay bills, and go shopping.

Search and Find
iPod touch syncs your bookmarks from your PC or Mac, so you can access favorite sites quickly. It has Google and Yahoo! search built in, so it's easy to find what you're looking for on the web.

Zoom with a View
Get a closer look at any web page by zooming in and out with a tap or a pinch of the Multi-Touch display. View websites in portrait or landscape. Rotate iPod touch 90 degrees and the website rotates, too.

Clip it.
If you check a website frequently--a favorite newspaper, blog, or sports site--why not create a Home screen icon for it? Make Web Clips with Safari, and your favorite sites are always just a tap away.

Email on iPod touch looks and works just like email on your computer.

When you're connected via Wi-Fi, you can get directions, find local businesses, and check traffic with Maps.

Mail
Email on iPod touch looks and works just like email on your computer.

See it All
iPod touch supports rich HTML email, so images and photos appear alongside text. And you see email attachments in their original formats, not stripped-down versions. Rotate, zoom, and pan in more than a dozen standard file and image formats, including PDF; Microsoft Word, Excel, and PowerPoint; and iWork.

Access it All
Access your email from popular providers--including MobileMe, Microsoft Exchange, Yahoo! Mail, Google Gmail, and AOL--and most industry-standard IMAP and POP mail systems.

Send Fast
iPod touch recognizes email addresses in different applications. If you run across an email address on a web page or a map listing, for example, just tap it; iPod touch opens a new message and addresses it for you.

Type Smart
With its built-in dictionary, the intelligent iPod touch keyboard predicts and suggests words as you type, making it fast and easy to write email.

Maps
When you're connected via Wi-Fi, you can get directions, find local businesses, and check traffic.

Find Yourself
iPod touch finds your location using known Wi-Fi hotspots. It also finds points of interest by keyword: Search for "coffee" and iPod touch shows you every cafe nearby.

Get Directions
Just type in an address and get directions from wherever you are. View a list of turn-by-turn directions, or see a highlighted map route. You also can mark specific locations and find the best route between them.

Enjoy the View
Just like Google Maps on your computer, Maps on iPod touch lets you switch between views of Google map data, satellite images, and a hybrid of both. Multi-Touch makes the difference. Tap to zoom, pan, and change your view on the move.

See Traffic
Maps on iPod touch shows you live traffic information, indicating traffic speed along your route in easy-to-read green, red, and yellow highlights.

Love to watch the latest YouTube videos? iPod touch gives you all the fun of the web's best videos--pocket-size.

iPod touch uses iTunes to sync photos you have in iPhoto on a Mac or Adobe Photoshop Elements and Adobe Photoshop Album on a PC.

Keep your schedule at your fingertips with iPod touch.

Build your contacts list on your Mac with Address Book or on your PC with Microsoft Outlook, then sync everything to your iPod touch using iTunes.

YouTube
Love to watch the latest YouTube videos? iPod touch gives you all the fun of the web's best videos--pocket-size.

Share from Anywhere
Email your favorite videos to your favorite people. Tap "Share" on any YouTube video detail page, and iPod touch creates an email with the video link already in it.

Watch What You Want
Explore Featured, Most Viewed, Most Recent, and Top Rated videos. Or search for the video you want with a keyword search. Once you find what you're looking for, bookmark it to watch later.

Photos
Carry up to 25,000 of your favorite photos everywhere.

Share Photos
Show thousands of photos from the palm of your hand. Flick to scroll through thumbnails. Tap to view full screen. Rotate to see a photo in landscape. Pinch to zoom in or out. Play slideshows, complete with music and transitions. Email a photo to a friend, set it as your wallpaper, or share it in a MobileMe Gallery.

Save Photos
If you receive a great image in an email, save it to your photo library on iPod touch. Once there, it acts just like any other photo. You can set it as your wallpaper, share it on the web, or pass it on.

Sync Photos
iPod touch uses iTunes to sync photos you have in iPhoto on a Mac or Adobe Photoshop Elements and Adobe Photoshop Album on a PC. Just choose which photos or albums to sync to your iPod touch, then you can look at them--and share them--anywhere you go.

Calendar
With iPod touch, it's easy to make plans and stay on schedule.

Add Events
Keep your schedule at your fingertips with iPod touch. Add events to your calendar. Set a custom alert. Write a note or two. Manage multiple color-coded calendars. And do it all with just a few taps.

Stay in Sync
Connect iPod touch to your computer, and the events that you've created on-the-go automatically sync to Microsoft Outlook on a PC or iCal on a Mac. And all the events you've added on your computer sync to iPod touch.

Three Ways to View
iPod touch gives you three ways to view your calendars. List view shows you all your appointments in the coming days as a comprehensive list, which you can scroll up and down. Day view displays one day's worth of appointments visually. And Month view offers an at-a-glance look at an entire month.

Contacts
Put names, email addresses, phone numbers, and more at your fingertips.

Make Contact
Build your contacts list on your Mac with Address Book or on your PC with Microsoft Outlook, then sync everything to your iPod touch using iTunes. You also can add contact information directly to your iPod touch from maps, web pages, and email. Next time you sync, your computer is updated, too.

Search Contacts
If you have a lot of contacts, a quick search shows you a list of matching names. Or you can scroll up and down your entire list to find the right contact. Want to send them an email? Just tap an email address and the Mail application opens automatically.

Organized by Groups
If you keep your contacts organized into groups--such as co-workers, friends, family, and so on--iPod touch will, too. And iPod touch can hold more than just names, email addresses, and phone numbers. You also can track birthdays, websites, nicknames, and notes.

Stocks, Weather, and Notes
Stay on top of it all.

Check Stocks
Stocks on iPod touch shows you performance information for any stock you choose. When you want more details about a stock's performance, tap the Y! for instant access to Yahoo! Finance.

Get Weather
Check worldwide weather at home or away. Add the cities you want, then flick back and forth to get six-day forecasts for each. Tap the Y! to open a Yahoo! city guide that shows you what's happening, rain or shine.

Take Notes
Forget the pen and paper. Use Notes on iPod touch to write yourself a quick note and keep important information on hand. There's even a built-in email function that lets you send notes to yourself or others.

Calculator
iPod touch's calculator helps you settle the restaurant bill or keep track of your budget.

Calculate Simply
When you tap the Calculator icon, iPod touch shows you a simple application with addition, subtraction, multiplication, division, and memory functions. Use it just as you would a pocket calculator.

Calculate Scientifically
Your simple calculator doubles as a sophisticated scientific calculator. Just rotate it to landscape to access dozens of functions for solving complex science and math problems.

iPod touch now includes built-in Nike + iPod support.

Nike + iPod
Get the most out of your workout.

Tune Your Run
iPod touch now includes built-in Nike + iPod support. Just slip the Nike + iPod Sensor (available separately) into your Nike+ shoe and start your run. The sensor communicates wirelessly with your iPod touch, tracking your time, distance, and calories burned. It even gives you voice feedback on your progress.

Tune Your Cardio Workout
This feature also works with new cardio equipment available in many fitness centers. Just look for treadmills, ellipticals, stair steppers, and stationary bikes that are Nike + iPod compatible.

Sync with Nikeplus.com
When you get back to your computer, sync your iPod touch via iTunes and transfer your exercise data to nikeplus.com, where you can track your workouts, set goals, and challenge friends.

Multi-Touch
iPod touch features the same revolutionary interface as iPhone.

Glide, Flick, Pinch
Built to take full advantage of the large 3.5-inch display, the Multi-Touch touchscreen interface lets you control everything using only your fingers. So you can glide through albums with Cover Flow, flick through photos and enlarge them with a pinch, zoom in and out on a section of a web page, and control game elements precisely.

How it Works
The Multi-Touch display layers a protective shield over a capacitive panel that senses your touch using electrical fields. It then transmits that information to the LCD screen below it. iPod touch software enables the flick, tap, and pinch.

Type with the Touchscreen Keyboard
iPod touch features an intelligent touchscreen keyboard perfect for browsing the web in Safari, getting directions on a map, searching for videos on YouTube, finding music on the iTunes Wi-Fi Music Store, or adding new contacts. It analyzes keystrokes to suggest words as you type and correct spelling errors automatically. And because it's software based, it changes its keys to support typing in multiple languages.

iPod touch locates nearby wireless hotspots, including protected networks.

Accelerometer
iPod touch responds to motion using a built-in accelerometer.

Responds to Movement
iPod touch detects when you rotate it from portrait to landscape, then automatically changes the contents of the display. So you immediately see the entire width of a web page, view a photo in its proper aspect ratio, or control a game using only your movements.

How it Works
The accelerometer inside iPod touch uses three elements: a silicon mass, a set of silicon springs, and an electrical current. The silicon springs measure the position of the silicon mass using the electrical current. Rotating iPod touch causes a fluctuation in the electrical current passing through the silicon springs. The accelerometer registers these fluctuations and tells iPod touch to adjust the display accordingly.

Perfect for Gaming
Accelerometer technology really shines when you play games because it immerses you in the action. It's perfect for racing games--where your entire iPod touch acts as a steering wheel--and for tap-and-tilt games like Super Monkey Ball, in which your character responds to your every movement.

Wireless
Connect iPod touch to the Internet anywhere there's a wireless network.

Connect Automatically
iPod touch locates nearby wireless hotspots, including protected networks. If you've never used a particular network, it asks you to enter a password the first time, and it remembers the password from then on. So the next time you're within range, it connects automatically.

Surf's Up
Now you can send email from a coffee shop. Surf the web at the airport. Shop for games from your couch. Browse, buy, and download music from the iTunes Wi-Fi Music Store at select Starbucks locations or other wireless hotspots in your area.

Read Kindle Books on the iPod touch

Read Kindle books on your iPod touch.

• No Kindle required.
• Get the best reading experience available on your iPhone or iPod touch.
• Access your Kindle books even if you don't have your Kindle with you.
• Automatically synchronizes your last page read between devices with Amazon Whispersync.
• Adjust the text size, add bookmarks, and view the annotations you created on your Kindle.
• Don't have a Kindle? Get yours here.

Shop for Books on the Kindle Store on Your iPod touch

• Buy a book from the Kindle Store, optimized for Safari, on your iPod touch or iPhone and get it auto-delivered wirelessly.
• Search and browse more than 400,000 books, including more than 103 of 112 New York Times bestsellers.
• Find New York Times bestsellers and new releases for $9.99, unless marked otherwise.
• Get free book samples; read the first chapter for free before you decide to buy.
• Books you purchase also can be read on a Kindle.
• Kindle newspapers, magazines, and blogs are not currently available on the iPod touch or iPhone.
• Kindle for iPhone is currently available for customers in Argentina, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Dominican Rep., Ecuador, El Salvador, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Guatemala, Honduras, Hong Kong, Hungary, India, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Jamaica, Japan, South Korea, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Republic of, Mexico, Moldova, Republic Of, Netherlands, New Zealand, Nicaragua, Norway, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Russia, Slovakia, Slovenia, South Africa, Spain, Sri Lanka, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, Thailand, United Kingdom, United States, Uruguay, Venezuela, and Vietnam

What's in the Box
iPod touch 16 GB, earphones, USB 2.0 cable, dock adapter, polishing cloth, quick start guide

Product Description

The iPod touch has always been an amazing iPod. And with its groundbreaking technologies including a Multi-Touch screen, the accelerometer, and 3D graphics and access to hundreds of games, iPod touch puts an amazing gaming experience in the palm of your hand. It comes in 8 GB, 16 GB, and 32 GB models with new volume controls and a built-in speaker. Play hours of music. Create a Genius Playlist of songs that go great together. Watch a movie. Surf the web. View rich HTML email. Find your location and get directions with Google Maps. Browse YouTube videos. And shop the App Store for games and applications.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

40 of 43 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars The coolest device we have ever owned September 14, 2008

By Epi Man

This thing is flat out amazing. Previously my PSP was my most dense piece of impressive technology. My wife's Touch blows it away. Of course it is a great iPod (although I think the click-wheel might be a little better for navigating), but it also is great for flashcards for the kids, little games, email and internet. Simply amazing. It was worth every penny for us and was a nice replacement for our 2nd gen 10gb ipod which failed us after 5 years.

I am pretty sure we have already downloaded $20 worth of apps. I am embarrassed to be gushing - but this is a really impressive little device.

21 of 21 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars My very first iPod!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! November 15, 2008

By SptXc

I just lost my iPod virginity. I was never a fan of Apple. I thought that Apple was a complete rip off, too expensive, and too restricted. That all changed when I bought the 16gb. I gave in to the whole iPod mania. It is an extraordinary piece of technology. I would recommend buying the 16gb or 32bg, because during setup it uses 1.5gbs.

The look and feel of the Touch is great. Fits perfectly in your hand. Its very light weight and the screen size is perfect. Now yes, it is a smudge magnet. I've read some of the other reviews and the same thing everyone complained about is that it smudges too much. Of course it does, if you have dirty greasy fingers, its gonna leave finger prints all over the screen. Apple included a cleaning cloth. Wipe it off and stop bitching about. I would recommend a case for the Touch, it does scratch very easily.

The sound is great. Some of the other reviews said its not the best, I beg to differ. It sounds like any other mp3 player. I have the Creative Zen, (which is great if your looking for a very basic mp3 player) and it sounds exactly the same. I don't know what some of the other reviewers were expecting, the sound is good enough for me. Now, the speaker. Its pretty umm, not good, I don't wanna say bad, its just the speaker isn't useful for playing music. I wouldn't use it for playing music because its not loud enough, it sounds like its going to bust, and its very distorted. Its good for the alarm, email alerts, games, but its not good enough to play music on.

The music is great. The way the player is setup is something ive never seen. Tilt the screen sideways, you have coverflow, just slide through album covers. Tilt it upwards, you can scroll through songs, or artists, or play lists. The genius play list I don't care for.... There's no point of it. I don't need it to randomly pick songs when im listening to one song. Its seem to be a version of the shuffle feature. The volume buttons are on the side, you can use it whenever your browsing through the Touch. No need to go to the player page and adjust the volume on the screen, just use the button on the side.

Wifi. If you really wanna enjoy the whole experience of the Touch, you have to have wifi!! I know some people who don't have wifi, and only use it for the music, which makes no sense. You need a router, you don't have one, get one before buying the Touch. The wifi is probably the most important feature in the Touch. You can do so much with it. Email, Youtube, Safari, AppStore, itunes store, Maps, Weather. Without wifi, you will have a very boring and pointless Touch.

Safari is really good. You can stroll through all websites. It doesn't support Flash, which sucks, that would have been great. Maybe the generation of Touches. Not much to say about the safari, its just the internet. Youtube! Works very well. Search any video as you normally would on the computer, watch anything you want on youtube. Email, check email, sent or receive. I have aol email setup on the Touch and its pretty damn good.

Now App Store and iTunes music store. I would recommend buying a prepaid itunes gift card. You will get addicted to buying songs and games on the Touch. Limit yourself when searching the iTunes store. The whole entire library of music is in your hands. Downloading music is very fast and again, addictive. There are tons of FREE apps available in the App Store. I have Myspace mobile, Facebook, AOL radio, (yes real streaming radio, and it has local radio stations) iTv, and sooo much more. Tons of games, a lot of them are free.

I don't know what else to say I know im leaving out a lot, (Nike, if you don't have the right Nike shoes and don't run, then there's no point of the Nike feature) and probably most of you didn't read the whole review. It's a great mp3 player that does everything.

In simple words for those looking for an extraordinary mp3 player:
iPhone - AT&T = iPod Touch. Read more ›

88 of 103 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Solid New Features + More Affordable September 9, 2008

By Steve H TOP 1000 REVIEWERVINE™ VOICE

The iPod Touch debuted only one year ago, and this is the first update. I was excited to pick up the new iPod Touch at the Apple Store because I had never owned a first generation, though I do own iPhones.

I want to concentrate primarily on the new features:

First, physical volume buttons are now placed on the side of the iPod Touch as they are on the iPhone. This is very convenient. It allows you to adjust the volume of your music, without having to pull the entire device out of your pocket and activate the screen. A time saver.

Second, many people requested a built-in speaker for the iPod Touch like is available on the iPhone. Apple listened. However, there is one important point to make on this! The iPod Touch is incredibly small, and Apple is forced to put an incredibly small speaker. The speaker in the iPod Touch sounds worst than the speaker in the iPhone. I have compared it side by side, and it's fairly significant, and the iPhone speaker isn't that great to begin with. However, in a quiet room, the speaker is still useful for previewing a song you might want to buy, or for playing games. However, still, if you want great sound, you need to connect your headphones.

Genius - This new feature is really surprisingly good. When you're listening to a song you enjoy, select the genius option. It will create a playlist for you, with songs that go together nicely with the one you started with. It helps you rediscover great music from your collection with a playlist suited to the mood you're in. I didn't think it would do a good job compiling this list, but it has been quite impressive.

Applications - It's great to have the ability to buy (or get some free) applications right on the iPod Touch.... Furthermore, with the software update this new iPod Touch comes with, the Application installation process is so much smoother than it had been even on my iPhone. It now works how you want it to, seamlessly. I like having a weather application that includes doppler radar images, and that is free. I also have several games on it. There is a great variety of applications available from hundreds of third-parties right on the iPod itself, so you are certain to find something that interests you. I really like the new release of Spore, for the iPod Touch and iPhone. Apple is really pushing the games and quietly suggest they are challenging Nintendo and Sony. They are innovative and interesting games, but I think they have a ways to go, to challenge those game makers.

Nike + is now built in too, so if you have the shoes and the puck, the iPod Touch is ready to receive the data from it. Battery life is improved to 36 hours audio and 6 hours video according to Apple. I find the audio number fairly accurate if you don't light up the display much, but the video number is a slight bit harder to achieve.

Of course, the new ipod Touch does look and feel even better than the first generation, from my small experiences with the previous one. I also think it feels cooler than my iPhones, but obviously your interpretation may very. I like the metal back on the iPod Touch. It looks classy, though it is prone to scratches.

One of my favorite features continues to be, when in my home on Wi-Fi, to reach down for the Touch, use Safari web browser and look something up. It's great.

Overall, it was a solid update for the iPod Touch. I wish the speaker could be better on it, but I believe that is due to the physical restrictions of the small device. I could have knocked it to four stars for that, but I think most people realize a built in speaker isn't the way you want to listen to most audio on an iPod to begin with. I'm impressed by the second generation iPod Touch, and I think with the third party applications getting better and becoming more popular, more people will consider the Touch. Read more ›

57 of 66 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars curvier, lighter, cheaper, iPhone-ier September 9, 2008

By James

Amazon Verified Purchase

The 2G iPod Touch is a solid update, with some nice new, er, touches. If you have the existing 1G Touch, you won't find a compelling reason to upgrade unless you use the Nike+ fitness device, as this new Touch has that support built in. If you've been waiting for the price to come down, good news: the new devices are about $100 cheaper than their predecessors, so the 32Gb Touch can be had for under $400, and the 8Gb for a little over $200. The 16Gb device strikes me as the sweet spot at $299.

Improvements include: iPhone Firmware 2.1, which opens access to the AppStore and fixes some of 2.0's bugs; an internal speaker (not terribly loud, but it'll do in a pinch); the Nike+ support; a new form factor that is lighter and curved for easier holding (though if you use it on a flat surface it's not as stable as the 1G); 6 hour video / 36 hour audio battery life; support for the new iTunes 8.0 Genius playlists (similar to Rhapsody Channels and Pandora, but limited to your on-device music collection).

If your primary need is for an audio player, especially for podcasts and audiobooks where the device sits in your pocket for hours on end, I'd recommend you consider the iPod Nano. The new 4G Nano tops off at 16Gb, which works out to nearly six months of spoken-word content. And at $199, you get twice the storage for less than the 8Gb Touch.

Where the Touch shines is in its interactivity - a gorgeous video-viewing experience that won't strain your eyes like the Nano, full Safari browser and other Internet-enabled applications (with a WiFi connection), gorgeous 2D and decent 3D gaming, PDA-like functionality. It's called Touch for a reason - it screams out to be looked at, touched, played with, caressed, even licked.... It's a full-blown computer in your hand; to use it as a mere digital audio player makes Steve Jobs cry.

I wouldn't toss a 1G Touch for this device, since you can upgrade to the 2.1 firmware and get most of the goodies in software. But if you're looking to upgrade from a smaller device and want something with the additional potential to replace your Palm, PSP or Nintendo DS Lite, this is a compelling option. Read more ›