Trigger Finger

Everyone knew it was coming, and though I still struggle to fill 8gb very often, double capacity iphones and touches have finally been announced by apple.

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So I was correct in my hopes/predictions of the launch of the iTouch.

But again I was dissapointed on several issues which seem to be needless limitations.

Why no email application? Sure you can use webmail in various forms but its nowhere near as convenient or slick as an intergrated application. Why no maps? Again web versions are available, but that slick implementation on the iPhone is far better.

Why no Weather gadgets etc??

There is no reason for not including these applications. None whatsoever. Its the same hardware, same binaries and same platform as the iPhone. The one saving grace is that these are software problems and thus can be either added by apple themselves, or more likely ported over by some clever hackers. Don’t get me wrong, it’s still a great product that met most of my expectations, but seriously crippled in it’s all round functionality as a all-in-one mobile device.

And while I am at it…. when are the damn Euro iPhones coming? I sure as hell aint buying the ipod touch till I can compare prices with the iPhone.

Ipod speculation is running rife with the upcoming 5th September press conference and for once I am excited about what they will announce. I have made no secret in the past of my absolute hatred of all Apple products (and don’t get me started on their magnetic attraction to the most obnoxious fanboys on the planet)… except the ipod.

Generally speaking their products are overpriced, overhyped dismally restricted affairs that would be panned universally if they were released by Microsoft. However, the ipod was truly revolutionary and still is the number one personal music (perhaps also Video) player on the market. I have had Rockbox running on it for the best part of two years (so I can play any format and not just those that Apple deem worthy) and has been the most used gadget purchase of my life.

So what is speculated at the moment?

• Touchscreen Interface – Bringing an iPhone-esque touch screen interface would open up incredible opportunities for this gadget
• MacOS-esque Operating System – Perhaps required in order to enable a touch screen interface. Also opens up lots of possibilities such as…
• A browser… which would be able to make use of the speculated….
• Wireless support.
• Rumoured to be called the ‘Touch’ or ‘iTouch’

There are other rumours but these four seem to fit together so nicely that we could really be seeing an iPhone without the ‘Phone’ being announced. A music-playing, widescreen-video-playing, wireless, web-browsing, portable device controlled by a touchscreen. It could be really-truly awesome, and the OS could open up all kinds of other applications and uses too. No doubt they will spoil it somewhat with some terrible restrictions and lack of open support, but still we could be seeing a true successor to the iPod announced tomorrow and I am sure I will be dissapointed