New iPod Touch for More iTunes Apps

Apple held a long press conference this morning to discuss the future of their iPod line. Some interesting announcements made today that’s likely to catch the attention of gamers everywhere.

Several charts and graphs were on display, where Apple showed some interesting statistics comparing the iPod Touch's game sales to the Nintendo DS and Sony PSP. While many don't actively regard the iPod Touch as a gaming platform in the same vein as those two platforms, it looks like Apple is really trying to take the lead as a leader in handheld gaming. With a crowded shot of a GameStop store shelf, conference attendees were told the perks of purchasing games through Apple's App Store in light of heading down to your local retailer.

A few representatives of a few prestigious game developers soon took the stage with live demos of some of their new titles.

Ubisoft's Ben Mattes presented the iPod/iPhone version of their highly anticipated Assassin's Creed II. Ezio was shown on a 2.5D playing field, running across the rooftops of Italy and actively slashing down any foe in his way. All of the violence and acrobatics known to Assassin's Creed were in full display, along with a few interesting iPhone additions, such as the ability to stick your face on in-game "Wanted" posters, GamePro.com reports.

News agencies also repot, Apple refreshed its existing iPod line up with slew of changes the much awaited Rock and Roll event. Few old models were quietly dropped and new ones with more storage replaced them. In the new iPod Touch lineup, the legendary iPod Classic gets highest capacity and iPod Shuffle gets more colorful.

Also, there's a price cut as always since September is meant to be Apple's annual product life cycle for iPods.

Two new third generation iPod Touch models in 32GB and 64GB capacities join in the iPod Touch lineup and the 16GB iPod Touch model quietly slips out. Both new iPod Touch models support OpenGL ES 2.0 graphics for accelerated 3D graphics and are boasted to be 50 percent faster. Hence, it s believed that both new iPod Touch models have the same 600MHz Samsung S5PC100 mobile application CPU based on ARM's CORTEX A8's design.

If iPod Touch carries the same PowerVR SGX chip as in the iPhone 3GS, it is still capable of running 720p HD video natively. Also, the OpenGL ES 2.0 support will allow game developers for iPhone Platform to make games with better graphics.

Big bully iPod Touch 64GB can store up to 14,000 songs, 90,000 photos or 80 hours of video. That's seriously a massive storage for a handheld touchscreen device. Apart from storage bump, the new third generation iPod Touch models have new Genius Mixes feature that is capable of making up to 12 playlists automatically, based on the existing tracks on the device.

Third generation iPod Touch also has voice control. So, earphones from Apple or any third party earphones with remote can be used for Voice Control on Music playback. A slew of new features would be added with the iPhone OS 3.1 software update that is available for download from the official Apple site, Techtree.com reports.

With iTunes 9 and iPhone OS 3.1, you now have more control over how your apps are organized on your iPhone or iPod Touch. For example, you can pick and choose which apps to sync with your phone, and you can rearrange how your apps appear on your phone.

Overall, I can't think of a reason not to upgrade to iTunes 9 and iPhone OS 3.1. iTunes does need something of an overhaul, though. The sidebar, for example, is starting to get very crowded, as Apple tacks more features on. Maybe in version 10 we'll see Apple simplify and streamline iTunes, the Washington Post reports.