Is That an iPod Touch in your Pocket, or Are You Just Glad to See Me?

I have a 3rd generation iPod. I bought it 2004 after one of our summer interns, a rabid apple fanboy assured me that it would work with windows. Nice of Apple to have not made that clear before, but oh well. Off I was to the local electronics superstore. It and I have been happily mated (except for the crappy headphones, but that's what after market headset purchase are for) ever since.

There have been many generations, and several new models since I got my 3G, but I have not fallen for the siren lure. Even with my passion for pocket pcs, I have skipped generations. For example, I went from an HP Jornada 568 (Pocket PC 2002) to a Dell Axim v51x (Windows Mobile 5.0). Living in Canada, an iPhone is not yet currently available to me, even if I wanted one, which I don't.

I have a small cell now, and I'm not looking to get a bigger one. Even if it does lots of other tricks, like playing videos, something I am very fond of when it comes to mobile computing devices. They don't call me the Pocket PC Video Princess for no good reason (PocketRocketFX.com, HandHeldUnderground.com, Mobile Media Interactive). Still, that's not enough. On-device contacts and calendaring functions are critical to me. I also use my Axim for things like reading and playing games (Backgammon and Tetris, especially).

But I digress.

Also, it occurred to me that at least on of the upcoming iPod line might be something iPhone-like, only with Wi-Fi. It just made sense to me, and BINGO - here comes the iPod Touch. And it is a sweet device. No denying that. I practically had to wipe the drool from my screen/keyboard. And the prices are good, relatively-speaking: C$329/U$299 for 8 gigs and C$449/U$399 for 16 gigs. One can pre-order now for a projected September 28th release date. You can watch or download the guided tour. Direct links: Features, Tech Specs, Gallery.

The only things I don't like about it (so far):
1. it won't just play divx files without conversion, and
2. one can't use 3rd party applications unless via accessing them a website

Yes, Apple's video format is a good one, great in fact, but having to convert every divx file I'd want to watch is a pain, and Apple's software sucks for that because it is painfully slow (even with a core 2 duo processor, 2 gigs of ram and nothing else running). Thankfully, I won't have to rely on that for conversion. There are many better choices (Best Software Award winner, DVD Catalyst, for example), plus I'm also beta testing my own humble offering (more on that in a different post).

One strength of the Windows Mobile market, and yes, the Palm device market too, is the vibrant developer community. Apple doesn't really go in for that. And it's a shame. Still, hackers love challenges. Then again, there's App.Tapp. Use it at your own risk, and read more about it.

Still, right now, if you want to use safely 3rd party applications without hacking or doing things that could screw up future firmware updates, they'll need to be browser-based. The iPod Touch uses Safari's browser, and so hit a hotspot or get on your wireless network at home or the office, and surf to your heart's content. Many developers have created sites specifically so one can use their applications. Google is your friend here, but this blog is a great place to start. If you're interested in developing applications for the iPhone (and the iPod Touch), check this Apple Developer Connection link. And see my previous post on Cameron Moll's new Mobile Web Design book.

Online access also means that one can access things like Gmail and Google Calendar, and the like, probably an online message service too, such as the one formerly known as e-messenger.net which has now been cleverly renamed to e-buddy (wonders to self - 'how much did they have to pony up for that domain?').

And is there any doubt that someone will create something Skype-like only web-based, if it's not out there already, so one will be able to make phone calls, as soon as someone like Griffin makes a snap-on microphone. They already do iTalk, so can a version for this model be far behind? Belkin makes mics for iPods too, so they likely have something coming.

Hm, I guess I should add a third point to my (short) list of complaints - NO BLUETOOTH. Guess we'll have to go 3rd party accessory add-on/snap-on for that too. And speaking of Bluetooth, Plantronics, Creative, Logitech and Blue Ant are just four companies which make a combo over-the-head/over-the-ear headphone/microphone combo.

Oh, were you looking for a free iPhone? Well, those who paid for their registration at Office 2.0 Conference (September 5-7), got one free. And if an iPhone was not to their liking, or if they had one already, well, they could get a Sony PlayStation3 instead. Man, that’s some nice swag!