iPod touch FaceTime hands-on:

iPod touch

The gap between the iPod touch and the iPhone continues to decrease, with this fourth-gen version of the Apple PMP gaining the headline functionality of its fourth-gen cellular sibling. Amazingly it’s even thinner than the waifish model it replaces, down to just 0.28-inches and 3.56 oz, still with a premium-feel stainless steel back plate and black glass fascia. Controls are as before, a home button under the display, sleep/wake on top and volume on the left hand side; the Dock Connector and 3.5mm headphone socket are on the bottom.


iPod touch FaceTime hands-on:




Most eye-catching is the 3.5-inch Retina Display, carried over from the iPhone 4 and just as impressive on the new iPod touch. At 960 x 640 resolution – totaling a luxurious 326 pixels per inch – it’s everything Apple’s hyperbole could say about it. Color-rich, with fonts as smooth as print and bags of contrast, it’s tough not to fall in love at first glance. Multitouch support is obviously present, as is WiFi b/g/n (802.11n using the 2.4GHz band only) and Bluetooth 2.1+EDR: no GPS, though the touch can triangulate position using known WiFi networks nearby. Finally, gamers should be excited by the new three-axis gyroscope, which offers vastly more accurate positioning information.

Once you’ve gotten past the Retina Display, you might notice the small lens peering out from where an iPhone 4′s earpiece would be. The new iPod touch gets two cameras: one, a front-facing VGA camera for FaceTime calls, and a higher-resolution camera on the back capable of 720p 30fps video recording or 960 x 720 stills. The FaceTime support is something that’s been rumored since the service was first announced: offering, as you’d expect, not only touch-to-touch video calls but touch-to-iPhone 4 calls, it opens up Apple’s system to a segment unwilling or unable to sign up for a cellular contract, yet who want to get in on the fun. Initiating FaceTime calls remains straightforward, tapping the contact and then flicking between the two camera views when connected by touching the display.