As expected, Apple just updated the iPod touch with a new thinner stainless steel case -- it's still got the same display. There's now hardware volume controls (hooray!) and a built-in speaker, and a Nike+ receiver is also built in, so you just need the shoe transmitter. On the software side, the UI has been tweaked and the new iTunes Genius features have been added, and the App Store is now included (obviously). Battery life is decent at 36 hours of music and 6 hours of video, and Apple's doing the same "environmentally sound" design thing it did with the new nano. Three price points: 8GB for $229, 16GB for $299, and 32GB for $399. So much for that
rumored price drop below the iPhone's $199 price point, but we won't complain too much about a $100 price drop.
posted Sep 9th 2008 12:08PM
Wow, cool. But where's the picture? Or better, a gallery? Thanks in advance for fixing :)
same old, same old. scraps for you.
The integrated Nike+ is a smart move. It makes people who'd normally get just an iTouch get the sensor and maybe even the shoe so they aren't wasting that feature.
yes, I did just hijack the 1st comment.
No A2DP so that apple can sell those new spiffy clickey iHeadPhones for $79... eat it up fanboyz! Love it!, worship it... its what you do!
Why in the world would someone hate Apple? Americans should be proud of a company making quality and good working products. It makes very decent products, German style. Even though they limit it so much, I have owned an iPod Touch after many many Windows mobile, and I'm very amazed at its performance the same performance in the morning you get in the evening without having to reboot. I'm not a fan of any company i'm just giving my honest opinion, I'm looking forward into getting a Mac next.
Nice that it has an integrated speakers...I can finally ditch my boombox with the 6 D batteries when i want to walk down the street jamm'n
Yes, so now instead of looking like a tool with a huge stereo on his shoulder, you'll look like a tool holding nothing on his shoulder.
If I ever see you 'walkin' down the street jammin' ', remind me to remind you that you look like a tool
@CJ
Joke..
Your head...
Figure out this brain buster!
From My Cube.
Joke also...
Still a tool...
Figure THAT out.
Hey CJ,
Jokes are supposed to be FUNNY. They elicit laughter.
Cube's post: funny. obvious humor.
Your post: not so much.
Thanks for playing, though.
C'mon, Engadget. You have already covered all this apple stuff in your liveblogging post. Do we really need all this extra stuff cluttering the front page?
Get over it. This is a website about gadgets, these are new gadgets. It's not going to kill you.
Fuck integrated speakers! I don't want to hear your terrible top-40 shit music.
I feel the same way about mouths.
Goodspeed : "You like music, you like Elton John, how about the song Rocket Man?"
Soldier/merc dude: "I don't listen to that soft shit!"
I doubt most people would use the speaker for listening to music. It has other applications.
sharin a movie.....
Nike plus on the Touch?!?! What about the iPhone? Aw, crap...
It's a shame they didn't integrate nike plus into the Nano since it's easier to clunk around.
OoOoOOooOOOooo a stopwatch!!! Sign me up!
iPhonish.
Hardware volume controls are the one major gripe I had with the iPod touch's first generations. Well, that and somewhat sub-parr audio quality.
Built in speaker though, that's going to hideous. Because you know that just after christmas, you won't be able to move for trendy kids, fighting the gangsta, emo, and miscelaneous kids for who has the loudest music on commuter transport. Bad move Apple, you're ruining the one thing that made portable MP3 players good; not having to listen to other people's crap.
The PSP (2nd best selling media player) has had built in speakers from the get go.
However much it pains me to say it, I'm with iErik with this one. Not for his scathing comments about the PSP, I have no problems with the device, but I catch a train to school almost everyday (soon it will be over, driving test today, eek!), and I see on average someone with a PSP about once a week. iPods, on the other hand, almost every second person has one.
And going back to what I was saying, on the way home, there are all the OTHER schookids with their iPod nanos and their iPod touches, hanging out with friends and playing their music at TOP VOLUME through crappy k-mart battery speakers, with driver that go distorted at a quarter of full volume. And yet they STILL PLAY THE DAMN THINGS AT TOP VOLUME, regardless of distortion or how good the song sounds. And I go to a public school in the middle of two major Brisbane private schools, so lots of rich kiddies having fun with their new most-expensive things that everybody has anyway. Also known as the iPod touch.
Now give everyone who buys the new Touch the ability to play loud, distorted beyond regonition, music directly from their device, and now get them to all hate each other's music, and attempt to drown out each other as much as possible. That'll be my new daily commute in hell.
Built-in speaker is a good add. Comes in very hand for playing games. Not meant for music.
Also, A built-in speaker will also make the built-in alarm clock ACTUALLY USABLE.
you know this links back to the same article, right?
yawn
Am I the only one who wouldn't have minded a slightly thicker Ipod Touch with HDD options like the latest Archos 5 and 7 generation players? Or at least a way to expand the storage in the future with an SD card slot, but Apple would never do that.
Its either Apple or Archos as my next mobile device probably.
I hear you about the Archos 5.. Trying to figure out why I would want the new iPod Touch over the Archos.. Lets see..
Archos 5 = 120 GB HD for $400 or Ipod Touch = 32 GB for $400?
Archos 5 = 800 x 480 resolution or Ipod Touch = 480 x 320 resolution?
Archos 5 = Adobe Flash support or Ipod Touch = still no Flash support?? wtf??
Archos 5 = FM tuner or Ipod Touch = None, but has the Genius Playlist (Thanks, but I am capable of choosing my own music.)
Archos 5 = has GPS Ipod Touch = No GPS
OK - so the reviews say the Archos 5's software is a bit clunky, but a better screen and higher storage space, really what does the Ipod Touch have over the Archos 5 for the same price? I have iTunes on my home computer (Mac).
...I need some convincing..
I have never owned an Apple product, never a fan of them but the Touch may be my first. I'm leaning towards the Archos, but I like the Touch's App Store, those games in the presentation certainly look nice.
Though with the Archos, I can play the many flash games out there on the internet as well as try out the widgets offered by the Opera browser.
I really like how much storage you get for your money with the Archos, but it is HDD vs SSD so not a fair comparison.
@stereobot
"really what does the Ipod Touch have over the Archos 5 for the same price?"
Are you kidding? If watching movies is the only thing you do, then no. But for anyone else, the iPod Touch easily wins. Safari Browser over WiFi, Google maps, games, application store, etc...
Nah dude...you can hate on a lot of Apple stuff but the Touch is pretty impressive. Yes, it's hella expensive compared to other players (even flash based ones), but it's so insanely thin that it's still very impressive that they packed in wifi and plenty of processing power (and with hacks, you can run all sorts of crazy apps).
Now if only they didn't lock down the apps.
I was hoping for a iPhone without the phone. I don't like that they're kicking it in the knees so that it stays technically beneath it.
Eh, what you could do right, is buy a 199 iPhone from Apple, and, GET THIS, no activate it, just leave in a broken sim card, jailbreak the damn thing.
There you go, 200 dollar iPhone-without-phone.
Who is going to pay the two year contract you are required to sign when you purchase the phone at $199? Your only allowed to act like a dick if you know what you are talking about.
You're* Damn, It bugs me when other people do that.
Ooh, yeah, try to pick up on a joke before you make dick comments. Perhaps try looking at someone's userpage to get a good idea of the kind of person they are before you go throwing names about. Just an idea.
Yea, cause everyone has the time and no life to read each persons page to determine who they are and then decide how to reply. It's called a first impression dickwad.
Wait, D**kwad, why are you talking to yourself?
Three price points: 8GB for $229, 16GB for $299, and 32GB for $399. So much for that rumored price drop, but at least the 8GB model came down some, right?
The 16gb was $399 yesterday (occasionally $379), so that looks like a $100 price drop to me.
he's right
I know. it's a 100 price drop!!!! for the 16gb and 32 gb models...nice one engadget
Yeah the price drop actually DID happen.... FAIL.
piss on them for not updating the capacity. I'm not getting one until it's 64GB
Here's to hoping the 2.1 update for the phone introduces the Nike app!
Nope. Not going to happen. It pisses me off to. WTF Apple and Nike!?!
Very disappointed. Surely thought A2DP and 64GB was coming this time!
Can you at least plug in a microphone (like you can with the new nano), or is AT&T still scared of iPod-VOIP?
Eat, Steve, eat. You're skin and bones.
Looks better than WWDC tbh
You still need the Nike + transmitter. The person who wrote the blurb about the new 'touch got it wrong. There's no way your movements will be recorded on the built in receiver without the transmitter.
So, is there a way to delete songs without a computer?
Did Apple really just give iPhone users who have been waiting for Nike+ the shaft??? I'm going to be pissed if that's the case....
Meh. I wanted GPS. Dun wanna buy sum stinkin' iphone... :\
Still gonna get a touch tho.
I don't get it. They add that Nike garbage, but no bluetooth? And why don't they offer a thicker hard drive version? Imagine a 120gb Ipod touch with bluetooth? I'd be all over it the day it was released, and I'm no Apple fanboy. (Ipod 5th gen is the only apple product I've owned since the IIgs I had as a kid)
I'm going to have a very difficult time resisting selling my first gen and getting this new one. I really wanted a speaker and we got it (no, not for playing music in public, but for alarms/pda use, occasional podcasts and, of course, games), and I also really wanted physical volume controls and we got that too. It's really almost everything I'd hoped for.
That would be great if everyone used the built in speakers the same way you would use them, but unfortunately kids will feel it necessary to play their music at full volume thru the speakers, distortion and all. I feel sorry for all the high school teachers or anyone that uses mass transportation...
What's with the black spot where the camera normally is on the iPhone? Has anyone else noticed that yet? Or is it the external speaker and I'm just an idiot?
Ok, it's the integrated Wi-Fi antenna. I still can't find the speaker though in any of the pictures I've seen yet.
Still no Bluetooth? I guess they want you to buy the crappy earbuds.
the bluetooth will come... the next time Jobs presents it!
they got some marketing geniuses in Apple.
does it deliver turn-by-turn directions to those $79 earbuds via Bluetooth...no GPS, no bluetooth? But it talks to your friggin running shoes!
How much thinner is it than the 1G 8mm?
Actually slightly thicker, by all accounts.
Think iPhone 3G thin; thicker, but tapered, so it seems thinner in the hand.
I can't say that I love what Apple did here but I can understand it.
The iPhone is losing market share against blackberry so they couldn't undercut it further with the ipod touch lineup - hence no GPS for the touch and an additional selling point for the iPhone.
Clearly if they crammed a nike receiver in there they could have crammed any number of other things - gps, xm, more capacity. Nike must have a greater profit margin than all of those things.
That being said I have been waiting a long time to upgrade my current iPod from the 4th Gen iPod Photo I have and will probably go with the 32gb.
Still the touch is a device that could simply be amazing. Make it 64 gb, add xm radio and gps and then you would have something worth getting really excited about.
"The iPhone is losing market share against blackberry"
How can the iPhone "lose" marketshare to RIM when RIM is the established market leader and the iPhone is the new competitor? That doesn't make any sense whatsoever...
im pissed about the speaker and external volume controls. those are probably the worst aspect of the current touch.
so how are current touch owners supposed to get nike+? cant they just use the wi-fi?
The fact that it still has the steel back (not that crappy cheap looking back plastic the phone has) and has dedicated volume controls makes me want to get the new 32 Gig and give my old one to my boyfriend. (the speaker is a bonus, but i'm guessing it doesn't work all that well)
It's not thinner. 8.5 mm compared to the 1G at 8 mm. It is "curve" so the edges is thinner but now it will weeble wobble on the tabletop.
can someone, anyone, please tell me if the iphone will have nike+ with the new firmware????? I am dying to have it on my phone. Doesn't the iphone have all the same stuff the itouch has in terms of being able to recieve a transmiter signal?
Know one knows at the moment, but given Apple's history, I'd say it's unlikely, after all they never released it for any other iPod than the Nano in the past, even though they could've.
It's frustrating, but what can you do?
nope, nike+ dosn't work with my ipod touch 1G, or iphone.
Say it with me, kids....A-2-D-P! A-V-RCP!
this will all be a minute point when the world ends tomorrow after the Hadron Colider starts up....drink up fanboys,get all the "Apple"juice now!
It's been a good ride u bastards,see ya'll in a world with only M$ products!
when do you think the apple stores will have these in stock?
Why is the back shiny/reflective in some photos and matte in others?
Even on the Apple site.
I've seen the unboxed shots and it's reflective - so why the inconsistency?
sterobot:
Go read the reviews of the Archos on Amazon and you'll see why it isn't recommended. Nevermind the fact that they're buggy and fragile, but just the fact that Archos nickels and dimes you ever step of the way keeps me from even considering one of their products. You think Apple is bad charging for updates then Archos isn't for you. Want to use the browser on the $400 mp3 player you just bought? Goto Archos' website and pay $30 for that privilege. Want to watch videos? Goto Archos' website and pay $20. etc etc etc
You did not mention that the $400 was the list price for the 160GB model. I purchased the 80GB model 605 with the optional DVR station to allow direct video recording to the device for less than I paid for my first gen 16GB touch. My 605 has survived several drops to the concrete sidewalk, and still works fine. My previous Archos device, the AV500 did come with all accessories included, but it was much more expensive than the 605 which has more features, and a better screen. Apple has taken the a-la-carte approach as well. My earlier, more expensive ipods had a cradle, ac adapter, and sync cables included, now the cradle, and ac adapter are extra cost accessories. I have seen posts that the web browser in the new generation Archos 5 will include a plug-in for the web browser, which will be sent via email when you register the device.
Not quite the price drop I was hoping for on the 32GB, but I think 399 is close enough to the sweet spot where I won't end up defecting to Zune once my 5G Video dies in probably the very near future
What about Nike + on the iPhone ?!?! :S
Am i missing something, i am paying MORE for the Ipod without a phone. Yeah Att sucks, yeah there is a monthly bill but f you are going to pay a phone bill regardless why pay more WTF?
32GB only FTL.
The Price is a Lie for the Nano
Look at what Best Buy is selling the new Nano for
http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?skuId=8773062&type=product&id=1204332007749
Anyways, I can't wait to get new iPod touch. Though, I'll probably get the 16 GB version as I don't have $400. Darn.
Anyways, can't wait to Jailbreak it >:D
Is "same screen" supposed to be a selling point?
hahaha, I don't think so. Don't even know hy they mentioned :D mabe they were expecting an transformation from Touch to tablet ;) But Anyway, I dream of an iPod Touch with 16x9 720p around 6" screen.
drew, that's kind of the point.
I guess the 8GB model costs $199 and not 299 as mentioned in the article.
NOOOOOOOOOOOO!
Dang. I bought my iPod touch back in January.. this is unfair!
I WANT BUILT IN SPEAKER!! AND NEW CASE!
It's really unfair. But my family is having financial problems..
any word on the speaker quality/volume?
The speaker is completely encased. It's inside but there's no holes. They just sort of use the tiny bit of space inside the iPod Touch to "amplify" the sound. It sounds tinny and weak but it's loud enough for game sounds, beeps, clicks and chirps. Treble is there but of course, no bass or midrange.