Product Reviews

While this year's nano is a radical departure from last year's, Apple has resisted the temptation to tinker too much with the touch. In fact, at first glance, you'd be hard pressed to tell the difference between it and its predecessor.

The most obvious addition is the hardware volume control borrowed from the iPhone. Other than that, physical changes are limited to the removal of the black border around the screen in favour of the iPhone's silver bezel, and a curvature of the rear that means it's thinner at the edges. Apple has also added a speaker, which is described as being for 'casual listening', a phrase that could be a euphemism for 'irritating anyone else within earshot'. And the touch now has a built-in sensor for the Nike+ iPod training system, allowing you to use it with a £14 shoe sensor without having to shell out for the iPod sensor. Given that the touch, like the nano, uses solid-state memory to store data, and that it's small and light enough to be carried by runners, this

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seems like a very sensible inclusion.

The other changes are all in software, and the good news for existing touch owners is that they can upgrade to version 2.1 of the operating system and access the latest features without having to buy a new iPod. As such, there's very little reason for these users to upgrade to the latest model. For anyone who doesn't already have one though, there's plenty to admire. The 3.5in screen is perfect for watching video, not to mention playing games, of which there are plenty on the way that make great use of the touch's accelerometer, promising to turn this iPod into a handheld gaming device for the same kind of people who have bought Nintendo's Wii in their millions. Despite Apple's focus on games at the touch's announcement, we can't see it as a serious competitor for Sony's PSP or Nintendo's DS, both of which have vast libraries of games. Nevertheless, it may be good enough to persuade anyone thinking of buying a handheld games console and a music player to invest in one device that can fulfil both functions, as well as play video and surf the Internet.

With so many functions, the iPod touch's biggest limitation is likely to be battery life. Apple quotes 36 hours for music and six hours for video, but if you have the wifi transceiver switched on and use the accelerometer in games, that will reduce significantly and you'll need to charge it every day.

If you can live with that though, the iPod touch remains a superb media player. It's not cheap, but its versatility, ease of use and build quality make it excellent value for money.