I was given one of these recently as an early holiday present from my family. After a week or so of owning an using it, I have to say that I feel it's a great little toy and an excellent gift for the cube or puzzle adict in the house (which would be me), BUT one that's not without its quirks.
First, the positives - the TouchCube has a lot going for it. It's mysterious, bearing all white faces when off, becoming instantly recognizable as a Rubik's cube as soon as its turned on. The whole "touch" thing is something that everyone loves... that whole "manipulating something with no visible buttons or switches" thing never gets old. It's very bright, especially when used in the dark, and the colors are accurate to those classic cube colors. It works like a traditional cube so it's solved like a traditional cube. The extra features that being computerized provides though will help some users out quite a lot. The "hint" feature is cool but I'd say it's hard to really learn from. The old solution guide that comes with the current regular cubes is a lot more helpful. Being able to have the computer solve the cube is nice for someone that just wants to start over. In this sense, the TC may help more people get into the cube again because it seems less "impossible" than before.
Negatives - High price. When a regular cube is [...] at Target, charging [...] is a bit steep, but the technology in this little guy does warrant the price... there's a decent CPU in there handling the solutions, 6 color LED panels, 9 per side, an accelerometer to determine orientation... I do understand that it's a very sophisticated little guy, but that price will scare some people away. The only other big problem is actually solving the thing. Because you have to manipulate the top face, and only the top face (all other faces have their touch surface disabled), this can cause a lot of disorientation if you're used to solving the cube a different way. It only took a day to adjust, but my solve times on the touch cube are about 20 minutes, vs about 2 1/2 for a regular cube thanks to a combination of having to re-think some moves and the fact that you have to rotate the whole cube instead of just turning it from the bottom. Isn't technology supposed to make things more efficient/better/faster? Finally - dead spots. There are some parts of my particular TC that just don't respond well to swipes. Sometimes 2 or 3 swipes are needed or sometimes it'll flip the cube the wrong way... if you don't notice it go the wrong way this can undo a lot of your solution work, forcing you to re-do a bunch of steps. If you DO notice it though, and haven't progressed too far, the "UNDO" feature is a boon. These seem to be getting better with use though, so it's hard to say if the dead spots will be a permanent problem.
So in short, it's not 100% perfect, but the TouchCube is a great conversation piece and for those that just like the Rubik's cube enough to overcome the high price, it's worth it. I would recommend a regular cube first though, if you're shopping for someone that doesn't already have one. That way, if they just don't enjoy it, you're only out 1/15th the cost.