4th Generation iPod Touch Unveiled.

Sleek iPod Touch 4th Gen

A few days ago, Steve Jobs unveiled Apple’s new iPod line. Some people aren’t as excited with the changes in the product line as I am but that’s how life is. My 3rd gen is just around 7+ months old but I’m already considering getting the new 4th generation iPod Touch because I love the new features they added from the iPhone 4. It really is like an iPhone without the phone part. Some love the iPhone but I really love my Nokia e63, so I’m ecstatic that I can enjoy the new features from iPhone 4 without needing to get one.

The biggest change for the 4th gen iPod Touch is the addition of the two built-in cameras (one on the front and one on the rear) for FaceTime. Let’s say you want to do a video call with your mom or your best friend who owns an iPhone 4 or the new iPod Touch, you can easily do it with FaceTime while you’re connected to a Wi-Fi network. If they however don’t have the iPhone 4 or the new iPod Touch, you can still do video calls once existing apps in the AppStore, like Skype, improves their app to take advantage of the new features of the iPod Touch. The front camera can take VGA quality stills while the rear camera can take HD quality movies. It has basic editing built-in so if you need simple edits to your videos before uploading, you can do it on your iPod Touch. If you need more editing features, you can easily buy the iMovie app from the AppStore.

The iPod Touch also received a new processor called the Apple A4 chip which makes multitasking easier and without killing your battery life. It’s said that the 4th gen iPod Touch can run audio playback for up to 40 hours or video playback for up to 7 hours.

Another change is the 960 by 640 Retina display. It packs 326 pixels per inch, making it the iPod with the highest-resolution screen ever, allowing you to see remarkably sharp text and incredibly vivid graphics.

Included with the update is a built-in three-axis gyroscope, which when paired with the accelerometer allows a better gaming experience by providing more motion gestures and greater precision.

With the improvements for gaming, a new app called GameCenter which lets you expand your social gaming network has been added for iOS 4.1. You’ll have access to leaderboards to check out your friends’ (and other people’s) high scores and achievements. If you’re playing multiplayer games and you need opponents, it can set up auto-match to prioritize your friends if they happen to be looking for an auto-match, too.

Here are the front and rear views of the new 4th generation iPod Touch:

The 3rd generation iPod Touch was already thin compared to other devices, but the new 4th gen is even sleeker at 7.2 mm. The power button has been transferred to the right side and the +/- volume buttons have been separated, while a speaker has been added under the device beside the dock connector. A mic was also added beside the rear camera to facilitate the sound recording of your HD videos.

It is true that the iPod Touch isn’t great at playing music compared to other mp3 dedicated devices out in the market but the fourth generation iPod Touch has a lot of the things an average user like me wants, with some nifty additional features:

• It has the capability to play my music, videos, tv shows, podcasts, audiobooks and e-books.
• It can make video and voice calls (through Wi-Fi), take still images and take HD videos.
• It allows me to browse the web, check my emails, send free SMS through Chikka and access my instant messaging accounts like Y! Messenger and Skype.
• It keeps me connected to social media sites like Facebook, Twitter and FourSquare.
• It allows me to enjoy different game genres to pass the time like Plants vs Zombies, The Creeps, SEED, Words with Friends, Bookworm, Bejeweled 2, Tap Sudoku, Finger Physics, Let’s Golf, Thumpies and Doodle Jump.

Overall, the new 4th gen iPod Touch is the perfect jack of all trades for mobile people like me. You can’t bring everything with you on the go, but the new iPod Touch allows you to bring a little of everything… in a touch.

*Photo Credit: All images are property of Apple.com.