I don't understand why Apple didn't include the email or notes application. Google Maps should be included for that matter.

I'm not complaining, just looking for an answer. I wonder if they may add them eventually.

Because e-mail would be really really useful. =P

I wonder if you can at least check web-based e-mail clients like GMail and Yahoo Mail and Hotmail/MSN Livemail. But more important would be being able to check Outlook Web Access - but that requires IE so probably not. A shame since that would allow the device to be truly useful as more than just a music and video player.

Quote: (Originally Posted by jeremy3721)
I don't understand why Apple didn't include the email or notes application. Google Maps should be included for that matter.

I'm not complaining, just looking for an answer. I wonder if they may add them eventually.

You can still use google maps (it's internet based app), your thinking about google earth. And for google earth to work properly you need an internet connection anyways.

Quote: (Originally Posted by jeremy3721)
I don't understand why Apple didn't include the email or notes application. Google Maps should be included for that matter.

I'm not complaining, just looking for an answer. I wonder if they may add them eventually.

Because in order for the email to work properly you need a media plan from a cell phone company. The mail program actually grabs the email for you and lets you know whent there are updates. It just wouldn't work with the iTouch plain and simple.

You can check mail though.

I think the lack of constant online access (EDGE network) is also why Google Maps was eliminated.

Actually, that's not entirely true. The e-mail client will work fine over WiFi, and only the Yahoo "Push" e-mail has any kind of carrier dependency in it.

All other e-mail access is handled via normal IMAP calls. I have an iPhone that is almost never actually ON a cell phone network (no AT&T roaming in Canada on my particular plan), and e-mail comes in over WiFi with no issues as long as I'm in range of a WiFi access point.

The bottom line is that the Mail and Google Maps applications were probably not included just to differentiate the iPod touch from the iPhone. The only reason the iPod touch even includes a browser, IMHO, is that it was a necessary requirement to get WiFi access in most public places, since you need to sign-on through a browser page.

If you need the advanced "Internet Communications Features" then Apple basically expects you to buy an iPhone. The iPod touch is still primarily a media player, which means that it's going to remain focused on media-related features, like YouTube and the iTunes WiFi Store.

Mail is not an iPod feature (or a "media player" feature in the broader sense), it's a feature typically found on smartphones, which is what the iPhone is.

Quote: (Originally Posted by jhollington)
Actually, that's not entirely true. The e-mail client will work fine over WiFi, and only the Yahoo "Push" e-mail has any kind of carrier dependency in it.

Which to me is the really useful part. Otherwise it's jsut an email interface and you might as well just go out to the web to check your mail.

That is just my opinion of course.

Actually, the real advantage of the built-in mail client is that it actually downloads and stores your mail, and you can read it and manage it offline, though a much more iPhone-friendly interface (rather than zooming in and out all over the place in the browser).

Further, the offline use is indispensable for a mail-enabled device. I can have a booking confirmation just sitting in my inbox for reference purposes, without having to worry about digging through a web client for it, or even having to get access to the web when I'm out and about.

The "push" in the case of Yahoo just means instant real-time delivery. The iPhone mail application can also automatically check your mail every 15 minutes without user interaction, and will therefore still notify you of new mail as it comes in. For most people, a 15-minute polling interval is really more than adequate.

Quote: (Originally Posted by yacoub)
Because e-mail would be really really useful. =P

I wonder if you can at least check web-based e-mail clients like GMail and Yahoo Mail and Hotmail/MSN Livemail. But more important would be being able to check Outlook Web Access - but that requires IE so probably not. A shame since that would allow the device to be truly useful as more than just a music and video player.

OWA doesn't require IE. I'm looking at it in Safari 3 right now. (That said, M$ *does* have a slightly nicer interface that is only supported on IE, but the thing works, at least with Exchange 2007 and 2003.

Quote: (Originally Posted by jeremy3721)
I don't understand why Apple didn't include the email or notes application. Google Maps should be included for that matter.

I'm not complaining, just looking for an answer. I wonder if they may add them eventually.

I myself was wondering why they took out Notes, that's a major deterrent for me. I don't want to rely on Wi-Fi for Google Docs just to jot down a shopping list. Which brings up a few questions:

1) Will iPhone apps eventually be available on iPod Touch? Dragging the Notes app from there would be great, and the iPod Touch home menu seems to be deliberately empty looking...which brings me to the second question...

2) Are downloadable apps available for iPhone? If so, it would be logical to assume the same thing would apply for the Touch. The interface seems like it would work similar to the Dashboard Widgets for Mac OSX. Even third-party games could be added, which would be SWEET.

The answer to the first question is that it's highly expected that hackers will be able to figure out how to take these apps from the iPhone and install them on the iPod touch, but nothing is certain about that right now.

Apple may offer downloadable applications for the iPhone and iPod touch, but at the moment they do not offer anything more than what is already there. More likely, they will just bundle additional applications with future firmware updates, however.

That having been said, there are a few applications that have been created for the iPhone by unsupported, unofficial third parties. These require some hacking to get onto your iPhone, and of course are not in any way supported, but they do work.

Thanks! I just checked YouTube to check on iPhone third party apps. The screen is limited to 16 apps total, but I can visualize a firmware update allowing a user to scroll through more icons.

I'm going to have FAITH that Apple is eventually going to release a future firmware update to make additional apps possible. The Touch's almost bare 7 app menu keeps eating at me!

Yes, all the more evidence that the iPod touch was really just a simplified downscaling of the iPhone... The iPhone menu looks quite nice by comparison, whereas the iPod touch menu just looks very spartan....