Ipod Touch: Some questions i didn't see answers to.

[IpOdChIcK]

1. Is there a built in speaker like there is on the iphone? I assume no since nobody mentioned it but I really hope there is.

2. With the built in Itunes, can you download/update your podcasts?

3. Can you customize the home screen to add/remove shortcuts that you don't want?

[AlphaRob]

1. I'm betting there isn't, since there aren't any holes anywhere on the device.

2. That's a question I myself would like to know the answer to.

3. I don't believe so, no.

[Mr. E.]

2. With the built in Itunes, can you download/update your podcasts?

Wow, that is a good question. How sweet would it be to download your podcasts directly to the ap you want to listen to them on? But it did appear to be a pretty scaled down version of the iTunes store. I wouldn't be surprised if they left out any podcast functionality. On the other hand, they put into place a mechanism to add music from the net to your playlist, so I wouldn't be surprised if somone found a way to make that work for podcasts as well.

[IpOdChIcK]

1. that stinks. That was one feature I really likd about the iphone. I don't always have headphones on me and would sometimes just like to heara song!

2. I'm assuming the answer to this is no. Im ####ed you can't purchase video on the go! It would have been great to be able to purchase an episde of a tv show you missed while on the road.

3. If the answer is no, then there's no way to listen to podcasts right from the main menu? (I don't see a shortcut to podcasts in any of the pics I've seen)That would be annoying as 80% of my ipod use is listening to podcasts.

[iPod Dance]

# 4. Is it possible to edit calendar and Address Book information?

# 5. Is there a search feature like the 5.5 and 6th generation iPods, but with a real keyboard?

[owen-b]

# 4. Is it possible to edit calendar and Address Book information?

# 5. Is there a search feature like the 5.5 and 6th generation iPods, but with a real keyboard?
There's a search feature on the last gen iPods? (what's a 6th gen iPod???)

Anyway, if you look through the multiple videos out there, including the Apple ones, you'll see that yes, you can search with the virtual keyboard.

As for editing Calendar and Address Book, I assume it's the same as on the iPhone, but I don't know what the situation is on the iPhone. ;)

[Maticek]

As I assume the Touch's calendar app will be the same as iPhone's I'd like to know how many different views does the calendar app on the iPhone have? I've only seen the months view.
Does it support categories and colors like iCal?

[M Polo]

1. Is there a built in speaker like there is on the iphone? I assume no since nobody mentioned it but I really hope there is.

2. With the built in Itunes, can you download/update your podcasts?

3. Can you customize the home screen to add/remove shortcuts that you don't want?

1.) From all of the pictures and videos I've seen I do not see any type of built in speaker.

2.) I don’t know the answer for sure but the way Jobs put it, the Wi-Fi iTunes was not a gimped version of iTunes. He made it sound like it was the full store just like you’d access at home. Hearing this makes me think you just may be able to access podcasts.

3.) If you watch the Intro/Demo video on Apple.com they do indeed show being able to replace the bottom five icons with ones you use more frequently. It was a simple drag and drop process.

4.) I have no clue.

5.) There is an internet search feature using either Google or Yahoo that does indeed use the qwerty keyboard.

[justblaize]

Does anyone know if the iPod Touch has a glass front similar to that of the iPhone's?

[Maticek]

One more thing...can the iPhone and hence the iPod Touch download music with the safari browser. Let's say you buy a network capable external hard-drive and copy some music onto it. Can you then via a web interface download a music file and listen it on the iPod Touch?

This would probably work only for the self ripped DRM free music. Anyway my question is, whether safari can handle downloads and if it can, could you safe an mp3 file in the right place for the audio player to recognize it.

[jhollington]

No, music cannot be downloaded with the Safari browser. In fact, nothing can be downloaded with the Safari browser. Things like PDF files can be viewed on the iPhone's Safari browser, but that' about it.

[Maticek]

Can you at least stream a podcast audio file?

[redbridgeroad]

does the safari browser have the bookmarks bar, or a bookmarks folder?

[jhollington]

Can you at least stream a podcast audio file?
Actually, yes, streaming will work fine, as long as the file is in a Quicktime-compliant format, which any unprotected MP3 or AAC file should be. iPod-compliant video files also appear to work.

Note that iTunes Store purchased files will not play, as they are DRM-protected, however.

This is with the iPhone, of course, but there is no reason to assume that this behaviour won't work the same way on the iPod touch.

does the safari browser have the bookmarks bar, or a bookmarks folder?
Again, speaking for the iPhone, there is a bookmarks folder that is accessed from a button at the bottom of the browser. Bookmarks sync from Safari or IE via iTunes.

[homeboy]

Can you save usernames and passwords?

[BlackHawk47]

Can you store external data on the iPod touch (enable disk use)?

[iPod Dance]

BlackHawk, I believe it says you can on the Specs page

[IpOdChIcK]

I know you need to be connected to WiFi for Safari, but do you need to be connected to Wifi in order to use the itunes store?

[jhollington]

The short answer is yes. the iTunes WiFi Store would naturally require WiFi ;)

Obviously you need a connection to access it, but there's also not likely to be any offline or cache-based use.

[Mr. E.]

One more thing...can the iPhone and hence the iPod Touch download music with the safari browser. Let's say you buy a network capable external hard-drive and copy some music onto it. Can you then via a web interface download a music file and listen it on the iPod Touch?

This would probably work only for the self ripped DRM free music. Anyway my question is, whether safari can handle downloads and if it can, could you safe an mp3 file in the right place for the audio player to recognize it.

I use something like this to access my iTunes library at home over other computers. You can play the songs in the browser, but like you and jhollington said, it doesn't work with any DRMed tracks. And depending on your connection, it can be rather slow to load, and I've found that I can't move around large files (i.e. start playback in the middle or jump back 30 seconds to hear what I missed). For listening to music, one song at a time, it's okay, but I found it too aggravating for listening to podcasts. Although I suspect that's a limitation of the quicktime plug in, and I don't know if it will always be a problem or if it is even a problem on the iPhone/iTouch.

It would be really great if they had a way to transfer podcasts on the fly. 95% of the time I sync my iPod it's to get the latest podcasts on there, and it really seems unnecessary if your iPod can go on-line itself.

The short answer is yes. the iTunes WiFi Store would naturally require WiFi ;)

Obviously you need a connection to access it, but there's also not likely to be any offline or cache-based use.

Or else you will only be able to buy songs that you already have on your iPod. Oh, wait, they just introduced that feature -- ringtones.

[IpOdChIcK]

What's the point of the itunes store if it's only available on wifi?? I guess it's usefull for some but I personally am never around wifi unless I'm in my house. If I'm in my house I can just use real itunes.

[Maticek]

I'd don't know where you are from, but if you are from a country that has the iTunes (Music) Store, then it is very usefull. For me personally? There's no iTunes Store whatsoever in Slovenia. The only way for me to buy songs of the iTunes Store is to use a gift card.

And let's say I go on vacation to any of the countries that have the iTunes (Music) Store. I can go to a local Apple Reseler and buy a gift card. That way i can wirelessly buy some music. And maybe even some kind of their national music I would not have even heard of if there wasn't this option.

But yeah, that's like the best option, and a little fanboyish. On the other hand, you can't get any songs to the other iPods while on the go, if you don't come near a computer with iTunes installed. Oh, and in this case you better have your iPod Windows formated, so that you can upload tunes from any computer.

On the whole it's a nice feature, that you can use, but need not to if you decide so. And it's also the only logical step for Apple.

[Mr. E.]

What's the point of the itunes store if it's only available on wifi?? I guess it's usefull for some but I personally am never around wifi unless I'm in my house. If I'm in my house I can just use real itunes.

Well, we're talking about the iPod Touch here. How else would access an internet-based store on an iPod? I guess you could plug it into a computer, but then you could just plug it in to a computer with iTunes on it, and you still wouldn't need the iPod-based store.

I can see an argument for alternative access to the iTunes store on an iPhone, but that seems pretty problematic, since EDGE is supposed to be rather slow and a lost connection partway through a download could be a pain as well. But on an iPod, Wifi access is really the only thing that makes sense if you want to get new music while you're out and about. A wired solution might be handy if you have no wifi access, but there are already wired solutions available (although some are hacks), or at least there have been for previous models, so I'm guessing it's just a matter of time.

[jhollington]

Actually, if we're talking about the iPhone, it seems fairly reasonable that the store might be available over EDGE, unless they've taken very specific steps to prevent that.

Of course, considering that AT&T's offering an unlimited data plan, they may not be too fond of the idea of people downloading songs over their EDGE network.

The iPod touch only has WiFi, so that's about the only way to access it on that particular device.

As for playing tracks via the iPhone/iPod touch browser, it actually works pretty well in terms of the plug-in, and they play almost identically to the way they would if they were on the device itself. The normal in-track navigation options are also available, although since you're streaming, you can't fast-foward (or scroll to) a portion of the track that hasn't actually loaded yet.

It does seem to actually cache the content on the device itself, at least to some degree, but if you leave something playing in the browser and then leave the range of your WiFi access point, strange things may occur.

[iPod Dance]

there's also not likely to be any offline or cache-based use.

I believe with the Sony PSP people figured out a way to access html pages by manually navigating to the equivalent of file:///Users/johnappleseed/Desktop/Pride_and_Prejudice.html

I think it would be utterly fantastic if you could plug in your iPod touch, and (while showing invisible folders) navigate into the iPod's filesystem and drop in some documents, so that you could read ebooks offline.

Since the touch doesn't have Apple Mail, I'm not sure if there's an easier way, or even if my explanation would work.

[Gunner]

If accessing wirelessly without wifi is a big deal then get the iphone or better yet hold out for the rumored 16GB 3G iphone to be released soon.

Think about it. How are you going to use the itunes store on an ipod touch without using the wifi radio?

As far as videos go, I would expect that EVENTUALLY this will be something apple will think about providing, it would probably have to have a resume download capability since the average video track is MUCH larger than the typical song.

The ipod touch should have the same glass screen as the iphone, apple did a lot of research on the iphone and changed the screen to glass at the 11th hour to avoid massive complaints of scratches, I would expect the same with ipod touch.

[wytwolf]

What's the point of the itunes store if it's only available on wifi?? I guess it's usefull for some but I personally am never around wifi unless I'm in my house. If I'm in my house I can just use real itunes.

The only internet connection avaliable on the ipod touch is wifi. So obviously the only way to download music to the ipod touch (minus hooking it up to the computer via usb) would be through wifi. I think you had the ipod touch and iphone totally mixed up. The ipod touch does not have any cellular based internet. If your lucky you'll have a few open wifi's around your city/town and you can jump on when not at home.


Alot of coffee shop (even some mcdonald's) are rolling out wifi, so there are alternatives to just your house.