While most Kiwi gadget fetishists were intensely jealous of their American counterparts getting to buy an iPhone, I was instead lusting after an iPod with iPhones ultra slick interface. Someone at Apple must have heard my prayers to his holiness, Saint Jobs (the patron saint of geek-kind), because Apple stripped the phone guts out of thiPod Touche iPhone to deliver what could the most iconic iPod yet, the iPod touch.

Available in 16Gb or 8Gb capacities, the iPod Touch is roughly the same height and width as my recently deceased 3rd generation 20Gb iPod, but at a mere 8mm thick, its incredibly slim. The lack of a hard drive (yes its totally solid state) also means its significantly more shock resistant and lighter than a hard disk-based iPod. Its slinky form factor also means it can be slipped into a trouser pocket.

Style-wise is a really stunning bit of gear. The front of the iPod touch is a single piece of shiny glass, beneath which lies a 3.5-inch widescreen. This was stunningly crisp and bright at 480 x 320 resolution, both indoors and out, was and able to crank out acres of peeper pleasing pulsating pixel goodness. The only moving part on the iPod touch are front mounted home button identical to that found on the iPhone. Unlike its cellular cousins brushed metal behind, the iPod touch's rear is made up of shiny stainless steel. On the looks front alone, the iPod Touch is so stylee youll want to lick it.

Supported digital audio formats also remain unchanged from previous iPod generations, with the touch able to play AAC (16 to 320 Kbps), MP3 (16 to 320 Kbps, VBR), Audible, Apples Lossless AIFF, and WAV. Photos can also be synched across to the iPod touch via itunes with the iPod touch able to view photos in JPEG, BMP, GIF, TIFF, PSD (Mac only) and PNG. Video playback in H.264 and MPEG-4 is also included.

About the only blot on an otherwise perfect record was the iPod touchs earbuds, which as with previous iPod iterations are not good. Plugging my fancy Bose earbuds into the iPod gave my ears access to its true sonic capabilities, transforming what had previously been average audio into something rather splendid. My only other complaint (and this is a pretty minor quibble) centres around the lack of a proper EQ. While nearly every other Mp3 player manufacturer has incorporated a user adjustable EQ into their players, iPod users are still stuck with a bunch of crummy pre-set EQs.

Grizzles aside, I was quickly besotted with the Ipod touchs user interface. Navigating around music, photos/videos and surfing the web isnt just pretty darned funky, but is incredibly intuitive to boot. Scanning the iPod Touchs music library when holding it vertically is a simple matter of running your finger down the screen to scroll through a list of tracks. Spin the iPod touch horizontally however, and the cover flow interface appears which displays albums visually with cover art that you can flip though just as youd flip though CDs in a music store.
 
With built in WiFi (802.11 b/g), purchasing music wirelessly is as easy as connecting to a wireless access point and tapping the ipod Touchs iTunes store icon to purchase music. Wireless, surfing with the iPod Touch is equally impressive. The bundled safari web browser is both zippy and supports tabbed browsing. By default, most webpages are rendered with tiny type but rotating the iPod Touch horizontally orients its display into landscape mode. The real magic however lies in the "pinch to shrink or expand" multitouch interface gesture which allows you to zoom in or out on any part of a web page. Very Minority Report!

Apple rate the iPod Touchs battery life at 22 hours for audio or 5 hours for video, but I found battery life averaged out at just over 12 and a half hours for audio playback and approximately 4 hours for video playback. Activating or de-activating the touchs WiFi also saw battery life drop by up to a further 10-15%, depending on my distance from the WiFi access point.

Theres a whole lot to like about the iPod Touch. Slick design, fantastic usability and great features combine to make the Touch an instant design classic that sees Apple once again raising the bar on the competition to retain top dog status when it comes digital portable media players. If youre looking for an Mp3 player, youd be hard pressed to say no to an iPod touch.
 
Capacity:        8Gb ($479 incl GST)/16Gb ($649 incl GST)
Size:            110 x 61.8 x 8mm
Weight:            120 grams
Display:            480 x 320 (163 pixels per inch) widescreen colour LCD multi-touch
Connectivity:        USB 2.0/WiFi 802.11 b/g
Battery:            Lithium Ion (up to 22hours audio playback)
Audio:    AAC (from 16 to 320 Kbps), MP3 (from 16 to 320 Kbps & VBR), Audible, Apples Lossless AIFF, and WAV.
Video:    Video playback in H.264 and MPEG-4 is also included.
Photos:            JPEG, BMP, GIF, TIFF, PSD (Mac only) and PNG.

Pros     Fantastic user interface
            Solid state memory = light weight & shock proof
            Fantastic feature set
Cons    Crappy ear buds bundled
            Lack of built in user adjustable EQ

Verdict            Give this puppy a Tone Gold!!!!
Aesthetics        99%
Performance    90%
Features           90%
Functionality    99%
Price value       89%
Overall              93%