MP3 Insider

The Apple iPod clinched an early success over the MP3 player market by making it dead-simple to load and manage music onto a portable device. Ease of use still defines Apple's products, but when you're talking about a do-it-all device like the iPod Touch, there's only so much you can do to keep things simple.

As Apple's hottest-selling iPod, there are a lot of newcomers to the iPod Touch who may be a little surprised at its complexity. Compared with the iPods of yesteryear, the Touch is practically a handheld computer.

Last week I gave you an overview of setting up an iPod Nano. This week, we're giving the third-generation iPod Touch the same video and slideshow treatment.

If you have your own tips to share, feel free to add them in the comments section.

How to set up an iPod Touch--photos

Jasmine and Donald are terribly tired of the Zune HD and iPod Touch, but there's nothing else to talk about (besides the wonders of fried food), so consider yourself warned. On the plus side, a cranky Jasmine is an entertaining one as she expounds upon the objectivity of spec-to-spec comparisons. Also up: Donald calls out some worthy Zune HD accessories, and several loyal listeners get to hear their musings read on the air.

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(Credit: CNET)

If the MP3 player market was a fault line, we'd have a boatload of busy seismographs on our hands. Certainly, two of the most exciting releases of the past couple weeks are the new iPod Touch and the Zune HD. Now, if you're curious how the two devices compare with one another, you could always read the deluge of articles available on CNET and around the Web, but we can certainly see how that might be a bit overwhelming. Soon enough, we'll pit the two players head-to-head in a knock-down, drag-out brawl (aka Prizefight). In the meantime, we've created a purely technical spec-to-spec comparison chart to tide you over.

(Credit: SanDisk)

Q: I would appreciate advice on the proper and easiest MP3 to purchase for my needs. The primary use will NOT be for music. What I need the MP3 player for is Church-related podcasts, as I enjoy listening to bible teachings from different sources. I also want to download a study bible to have available for bible study discussions.

I use a Sansa C250 and find the screen too small and difficult to find various podcasts. I have seen the iPod Touch and now I'm wondering about the Zune HD. What would be the easiest to use and yet have a reasonable price? Thank you!--Frank, via e-mail

A: Since you are really using the device only for podcasts and not much else (it sounds like maybe a little music here and there), I would not recommend something like the iPod Touch or the Zune HD. While they are easy to use, those devices are simply too feature-packed for your needs, and there's no reason you should pay for extras you're not going to use.

The most economical option for you is the SanDisk Sansa Fuze, and it handles podcasts quite well. A 4GB player, which can be found for about $50 or so, should be more than enough to suit your needs, as that will fit hundreds of podcasts with room left over for some music and maybe a couple video clips, should you choose.

Another little detail Apple forgot to mention about the third-generation Touch: The screen quality has improved.

(Credit: Donald Bell/CNET)

OK, I know a lot of you out there are beside yourselves with disappointment over the fact that Apple neglected to grace its latest iPod Touch with a video camera. I feel your pain. As a tech journalist and gadget nerd, I'd love nothing more than to gush about how the iPod Touch can record your toddler in HD or bring augmented reality to apps and games. Well, it can't.

It's annoying when wishes don't come true. To objectively write my review, I had to go though all my stages of grief. I stood on the roof of CNET and shouted, "I forgive you, Steve, for not giving the iPod Touch a camera." Well, not really--but I thought about it.

The truth is, the iPod Touch is still the best portable media player out there. No other product is going to give you games, e-mail, Voice Control, video rentals, Bluetooth, Internet radio, YouTube, podcasts, music downloads, video downloads, app downloads, voice memos, and the nearly limitless extensibility provided through apps (including subscription music) and third-party hardware. If you can't find something to love about the iPod Touch, you've seriously have a screw loose.

So, here's my full review of the third-generation iPod Touch. If it looks like the same score I gave last year, you're right...sort of. My score for the 8GB model is a half-star lower to reflect the fact that it lacks the same capabilities as the 32GB and 64GB models. Also take note that I haven't handed down an Editors' Choice award. It still might happen, but I want to see the full extent of what Zune and Archos are cooking up before I start handing out ribbons.

Are you still irate over Apple's unspectacular refresh of the iPod Touch and the unrealized potential of a Touch camera? Pour your pain into the comments section. Just be sure to read my affectionate Zune HD posts before calling me out as some kind of Apple-loving, commie, OK?

Apple iPod Touch (third generation)

If there is one unfulfilled dream the MP3 Insiders have, it's the ability to pry open every set of headphones and every MP3 player we ever get our hands on and see what's going on inside. That, and the option to perform "stress tests," aka dropping said devices out of a window at least 10 stories from the ground. Luckily, there are sites out there that indulge in such destructive festivities.

One of them is iFixit, which has posted a well-documented teardown of the third-generation iPod Touch. One of the more interesting details? This Touch includes a chip capable of transmitting an FM signal. (Feel free to speculate as to how much Apple is going to charge for activating this extra in the comments below.) Click the pic to check out the full story.

(Credit: iFixit)

Rhapsody forces my hand

(Credit: Jasmine France/CNET)

The retirement of the 1GB Shuffle wasn't the only thing that flew under the radar amid all the Apple-created chaos Wednesday: the company also rather quietly lowered the price of the OS 3.1 software update for iPod Touch owners.

Those who follow MP3 Insider know that I railed against the $10 price tag and refused to purchase the refresh. Unfortunately, I was forced to back down while trying to test the new Rhapsody app, which requires OS 3.1. Imagine my surprise when the price at check-out was a mere $4.95--still not ideal (that would be free), but much more reasonable.

According to Gizmodo, the price cut is a result of so few iPod Touch owners upgrading the software. Um, no kidding, Apple...because it was an absurd price point for those of us who already spent plenty of dough picking up the Touch to begin with. Better late than never, I guess.

If you were hoping for Apple to announce a subscription-based music service for the iPhone and the iPod Touch on Wednesday like I was, suppress your disappointment: early this morning, Apple approved Rhapsody for iPhone, and it's available in the iTunes Store.

It's the second such service Apple has approved, but the first, Spotify, is not available in the United States. (The Rhapsody application is not showing up in search results quite yet, but it is showing up within iTunes.)

(Credit: Rhapsody)

Rhapsody was a pioneer in subscription-based music, and I'm a big fan of the service; in 2005, it was the first one to turn me on to the thrill of chasing your whims and surfing randomly among genres, which you can't do with per-download services like iTunes.

In my most recent trial late last year (in conjunction with the Sonos multiroom audio system), I wasn't able to find any significant gaps--if anything, there was too much music, including more versions of the novelty song "Kung Fu Fighting" than I ever imagined--and there is some excellent curation and editorial work, particularly for indie rock artists.

The iPhone app is pretty straightforward: you can search for songs, surf genres and chart-toppers, and create queues and playlists. If you're a fan of Pandora, you'll also appreciate the Rhapsody Radio feature, which creates tailor-made stations built around particular artists or genres. As long as you have an active Wi-Fi or 3G connection, the music should keep playing without interruption.

It's a free download, but to use it, you'll need a Rhapsody to Go subscription, which costs $14.99 a month. That's not quite as good a deal as Microsoft's Zune Pass, which costs the same and gives you 10 permanent MP3 downloads a month, but of course that service requires a Zune, which means that it applies only to about 1.1 percent of the MP3 player market (according to a statistic that Apple snarkily included in its presentation Wednesday) and exactly zero mobile phones.

Apple appears to have seen the light, as it is now allowing subscription-based music to come to the iPhone. It makes my phone's 8GB storage size seem a lot less limiting.

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