The sublime iPod Touch is now Apple’s most successful iPod and this latest version is better than ever. Jonathan Ive and his team have been able to shave yet more millimetres and grams off a PMP that was already thinner than the Piers Morgan fanclub directory, yet incorporate new features including an iPhone 4-esque hi-def “Retina” display. This makes for a big improvement in clarity when reading books, typing text, playing games and viewing photos.

Apple has also added a front-facing camera and FaceTime to the new Apple iPod Touch, allowing Wi-Fi video chats with iPhone 4 and Touch users, providing both recipients are using iOS 4.1. When calling others, just find your contact and click the FaceTime button on their contact page. Because the Touch isn’t associated with a phone number, you can FaceTime it via an email address instead. Video quality is highly impressive over Wi-Fi, but at the end of the day, it’s still mobile video calling. That’s never taken off before, and we don’t think FaceTime will change that.

See the new iPod Touch up close:

Watch the iPod Touch review video on the right >>  

Click here for exclusive New iPod Touch pictures

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

More Apple reviews

New iPod Nano review

New iPod Shuffle review: Apple fourth generation shuffle tested

Apple iPhone 4 review

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

HD video capture in 720p is now possible, as is sending your footage directly to YouTube or email. We did notice a slight chugginess when panning the Touch around to record, though this didn’t seem to have any bearing on the captured video, which is just as good as on the iPhone 4.

New iPod Touch: Audio quality

Audio quality is excellent; a real improvement over the smaller iPods and even more impressive when you replace the bundled headphones. Vocals are clear, bass is punchy and the all round quality of music ripped at high enough bitrates is plain to hear. Video playback is also impressive, making full use of the new display’s increased resolution and fuller contrast.

While the new iPod Touch is shipped with iOS 4.1, it doesn’t benefit from the new HDR photography option that captures three images (under-, over- and normally exposed) to create an image that can pick out detail in the foreground and background. This is only available to the five-meg iPhone 4 camera; the Touch comes with just a VGA-quality stills camera.

New iPod Touch: Features

Another main addition to iOS 4.1 is GameCenter that allows you to compete in multiplayer matchups with other Touch/iPhone gamers. Just sign up with your iTunes email and find other contacts using a simple search function. Each opponent must be connected to WiFi to multi-play.

Ping, announced in iTunes 10 also features in iOS 4.1 and hence the new Touch. It offers no great advances over what you can do in iTunes itself, but is another social networking app to add to the list.

The new iPod Touch comes in 8GB, 32GB and 64GB models, priced at £189, £249 and a choking £329 respectively. Quality costs, but then this is easily the best PMP in the world

Link: Apple