Apple's iPod Event - Part 2

By Andrew Ehinger

Aside from the redesign of the Apple Nano, there was also some other ground shaking news with the company's media players - a new iPod Touch.

    The Touch gets confused a lot with it's (almost) identical twin brother the iPhone. The main difference between the two (other than one being a cell phone) is their physical size. The Touch is a little thinner and lighter than the phone. But the second generation Touch really makes it a contender in the moble media and gaming market. Yes, I said gaming! Previously there were some games for the touch, but now software makers are introducing some pretty advanced games. Using its built in accelerometer you control the game by tilting the touch in the desired direction. It works pretty well - though it takes a bit of getting used to. The 2G touch also gets a built in speaker - that's pretty amazing for such a thin player. Steve Jobs admitted the speaker wasn't anything to write home about, but it does give the user the ability to shed the earbuds for the first time. The Touch will also be able to communicate with the Nike + iPod pedometer without the plug in receiver that the Nano needs.

So will the touch become the newest mobile gaming platform, going head to head with the Sony PSP? It's a question I asked Steve Jobs as he was walking through the media area just after his speech. He gave me a smile and shook his head as if to say, he couldn't say anything. But the message was somewhat clear, the Touch will be a mobile gaming platform for the future. But when you compare apples to apples (excuse the pun), next to the PSP and even the Nintendo DS, the Touch just doesn't seem to have the horsepower that hard core gamers really want. Still software companies are not going to ignore Apple's dominance. Expect some pretty cool titles in the future.

In last years "The Download - Holiday Gift Countdown" I chose the first generation Apple iPod Touch as my second top pick. This year the second generation Touch  (which comes in three memory sizes, 8, 16 & now 32GB) I'm sure will be a hot holiday gift. Apple iPod Touch.