The iPod Touch (trademarked and marketed as the iPod touch) is a portable media player and Wi-Fi mobile platform designed and marketed by Apple Inc. The product was launched on September 5, 2007 through an event called The Beat Goes On.[1] The iPod Touch adds the Multi-Touch graphical user interface to the iPod line and is available with 8, 16, or 32 GB of flash memory. It includes Apple's Safari web browser and is the first iPod with wireless access to the iTunes Store. With a software update, which is sold by Apple, it also has access to Apple's App Store.[2] The second generation iPod Touch, featuring external volume controls, an external speaker, a contoured back and built-in Nike+ support, was unveiled on September 9, 2008 at the Let's Rock keynote presentation.
The iPod Touch has the iPhone's multi-touch interface, with a physical home button off the touch screen. The home screen has a list of buttons for the available applications. All iPod Touch models have included the applications Music, Videos, and Photos (collectively duplicating the standard functions of the iPod Classic), iTunes (providing access to the Wi-Fi Music Store), Safari, YouTube, Calendar, Contacts, Clock, Calculator, and Settings. Later models added Mail (accessing POP/IMAP/SMTP e-mail), Maps, Stocks, Notes, and Weather,[3] which could also be added to the earlier models with the purchase of a software upgrade. Direct links to web sites can be added to the home screen by the user.
New applications including a VPN client, scientific calculator and access to third party applications were released for an upgrade fee on July 11, 2008.[4]
Comparisons to the iPhone
The iPod Touch is slimmer and lighter than the iPhone. It lacks some of the iPhone's features: access to a phone network, a built-in microphone, a camera, Bluetooth capability and GPS receiver. Steve Jobs has referred to the iPod Touch as "training wheels for the iPhone."[14]
The second generation added physical buttons...