Apple iPod Touch 8Gb

Apple clearly knows a thing or two when it comes to industrial design, but like the iPhone before it, the new iPod Touch is the most breathtakingly gorgeous electronic device we’ve ever seen. From the wraparound chrome back to the single sheet of glass that covers the front, it just oozes high-tech allure.

One of the most impressive aspects of the Touch’s design is how thin it is — a mere 8mm. This is the result of Apple switching from 1.8” hard disks to solid state flash memory, but this isn’t entirely without compromise. Flash memory is still comparatively expensive and to keep the Touch affordable, Apple is only offering it with 8Gb and 16Gb capacities.

The lack of moving parts does make it rather more robust than previous iPods (though no less susceptible to scratches and greasy finger marks), and it has a positive effect on battery life, too. When playing audio, the Touch lasts for around 25 hours, though this drops to 16 if you enable Wi-Fi. Video playback lasts for an impressive seven hours

With only a power and a ‘home’ button adorning the case, all of the Touch’s features are accessed using its touch-sensitive screen. This is magnificently bright and clear, and only responds to a fleshy fingertip — so you can slip the Touch into a pocket without worrying about something on-screen being pressed inadvertently.

The home button below the screen displays the Touch’s main menu, no matter what application is being used at the time. The music navigation system has been completely overhauled and you now scroll through lists of albums, artists, songs and playlists simply by swiping a finger up and down the screen. It’s all very intuitive, but there’s one final trick up the Touch’s sleeve. Rotate it 90 degrees and the screen flips into landscape view and displays the same ‘cover flow’ view used by recent versions of iTunes, so you can flick through albums by looking at their cover art.

Though it’s essentially a phone-less iPhone, the Touch still has Wi-Fi — and for good reason. Apple has already expanded the iTunes Music Store to allow purchases directly from an iPhone, and you can now download tracks with the Touch, too. You browse, preview and buy with a dedicated iTunes application, but the Touch also has a web browser in the form of Safari.

Most handheld web browsers struggle to deliver even a close approximation of the desktop browsing experience, but not Safari. You can flit between full-page and variably-zoomed views with just a gesture, and even complex pages are displayed quickly and accurately. The only omission is support for Flash, but a dedicated YouTube application takes care of everyone’s favourite time waster.

So, what’s not to like about the iPod Touch? Well, not much. Since there’s no remote control, having to look at the screen to control playback is a pain and the maximum 16Gb capacity is meagre compared to other devices, particularly since there’s no way to expand it. This is, however, by far the easiest media player to use and no other model comes close to the iPod’s seamless integration with iTunes. In short, this is the best media player by quite some margin.