Post con tag ipod touch 4g
USBfever Privacy Screen Protector per iPhone 4
29 Nov
USBfever ha presentato un nuovo accessorio per i nostri iDevices: Privacy Screen Protector, con il quale potremo proteggere ciò che appare sul display da occhi indiscreti.
Si tratta di una pellicola trasparente che andrà applicata sullo schermo del nostro iPhone oPod Touch. Una volta applicata la pellicola, il display sarà visibile solo al diretto interessato: L’angolo di visuale, infatti, è di 60° sia nella parte superiore che inferiore. Fuori da questo angolo di visuale lo schermo apparirà completamente nero.
Inoltre:
- Protezione contro i graffi;
- Su misura per iPhone 4 e iPod Touch 4G;
- Non inficia la sensibilità del touch screen;
- Non si avranno più le impronte sullo schermo;
- Resistenza all’erosione;
- Non necessita di colla per il suo posizionamento.
Per chi fosse interessato all’acquisto, il prodotto è disponibile sul sito al prezzo di17,99$.
Tech&Hack
iPod Touch 4G smontato da iFixit
9 Set
Dopo aver smontato il nuovo iPod Shuffle i ragazzi di iFixit sono riusciti ad entrare in possesso di un iPod Touch 4G e hanno effettuato il loro consueto disassembly, vediamo le immagini relative all’apertura del dispositivo.
Come potete vedere la confezione risulta uguale a quello degli ultimi iPod Touch, vediamo l’interno del dispositivo nei dettagli dalle immagini dei ragazzi di iFixit:
Il disassembly è attualmente in corso ma ci alcune novità riguardanti il nuovo iPod Touch 4G, infatti la RAM montata sul nuovo Touch è di “soli” 256Mb, quindi la stessa dell’iPad, a differenza dell’iPhone 4 che ne monta ben 512Mb.
Invece per quanto riguarda il display, non supporta la tecnologia IPS che permette di vedere lo schermo del dispositivo senza perdita di colori da ogni angolazione.
Altre foto:
Durante il disassembly è stato trovatto nella parte alta della cover posteriore una parte vuota riempita da un pezzo di plastica trasparente, a cosa servirà?
Ecco l’iPod Touch completamente smontato al termine del disassembly:
Tech&Hack
iPod touch 4 generation review
8 Set
At Apple’s last event, Steve Jobs called the iPod touch the company’s "most popular iPod," and it’s easy to understand why. In just a few short years, the iPhone-with-no-phone has kept in lockstep with Cupertino’s halo device, benefitting from the same kind of constant hardware and software updating that has helped turned the iPhone into an iconic gadget. The touch has been right alongside the iPhone’s meteoric rise in popularity, becoming the go-to second-pocket slab for millions. There are good reasons, too. Apple boasts about gaming on the device — claiming it beats out both Nintendo’s and Sony’s offerings in sales… combined. While we can’t concede that the device is a dedicated game console, it most definitely games. And it’s still an iPod, an internet device, and a thousand other things thanks to Apple’s vastly populous App Store. Now the player has once again reaped the rewards of iPhone updates, boasting a new Retina Display, the A4 CPU, two cameras which allow for FaceTime calling and 720p video recording, and all the new features of the company’s latest mobile operating system, iOS 4.1. But despite all of the plusses, we still have to ask: is the little do-everything box still worth the premium price tag? We took a deep dive on the latest model and have the verdict, so read on to find out.
Hardware
If you own the last version of the iPod touch, the design of the latest version shouldn’t come as a major surprise. Instead of aping the iPhone’s new glass-sandwich looks, the touch hews close to its roots with a super thin profile made up of one part glass screen and one part all-metal back. The device still bears the smudge inviting chrome rear panel, and continues the trend of shrinking the thickness as far down as possible. We thought the iPhone 4 was crazy thin, but the new touch looks like a toothpick by comparison. In our large hands, we might even argue that it’s a little too small — but it should be just right for the legion of teens and tweens that will clamor for this come holiday time.
As with earlier version, hard buttons come in the form of a single home key, a power / sleep button (finally moved to match the iPhone’s placement at the top-right of the device, as opposed to the opposite side on previous versions), and two volume buttons on the left. Around back there’s now a small camera lens in the upper corner of the device, while a single, VGA shooter peers out from behind the glass on the front of the player. A quick note: we had a little trouble consistently finding the sleep button when using the device — it’s a bit buried in the housing.
All told, we think it’s break even in the looks department. The thinness is certainly welcome, but not a game changer. While we like the iPod touch design overall, there’s nothing present in the new version that makes it significantly more lust-worthy than previous generations.
Internals
Inside the new iPod touch is Apple’s A4 CPU, the same engine used to power the iPhone 4 and iPad (and that new Apple TV as well). We assume the device is sporting the same 512MB of RAM that the iPhone has, but we won’t know for sure until someone like iFixit gets their hands on it. The 3.5-inch capacitive touchscreen is called a Retina Display, which means it had equal resolution (960 x 640) and pixel density (326 ppi) as the iPhone 4, but it’s not the same IPS panel that you’re used to on the touch’s big brother. What does that mean in real world terms? Well in our testing we could see noticeable difference in viewing angles, but only at pretty extreme positions. We also felt like the touch’s display was slightly darker than the iPhone 4 screen. In general, we don’t see this as a major detractor for the device, but there’s no question that the iPhone 4 is sporting a qualitatively better display. It may be an "iPhone with no contract" in many regards, but not when it comes to the screen.
Aside from that you’ve got WiFi (802.11b/g/n to be exact), Bluetooth 2.1 + EDR, and Nike + support built in. No GPS here, and obviously no cell radios.
We’re a little confused by Apple’s reluctance to add a GPS chip to these devices. Since the App Store is litered with navigation software, and this could easily take the place of a TomTom or Garmin device, it seems like a short walk to paradise for the company. The touch checks a lot of boxes on the list, but true navigation is still blank, and we can’t really understand why.
Cameras
Just like Apple wanted, much has been made about the touch’s camera capability. It seems like the idea of a touch with cameras has been a long time coming (and based on what we’ve seen from case manufacturers since the last fall Apple event, we’re actually about a year behind schedule). But the cameras on this device aren’t quite the same pair that you get on the iPhone 4, and there should be no mistaking one for the other. The rear camera on the device is capable of 720p video, but that means that its maximum resolution is 1280 x 720 — and when it’s used for still photos, that resolution becomes 960 x 720 (that’s a 720p at a 4:3 ratio). Obviously this is not the same lens or sensor as the iPhone 4, and when we asked Apple about it, they said it was more a consideration of size rather than cost. According to Greg Jozwiak, using something closer to the iPhone 4’s sensor would have made the casing for the touch considerably larger. The camera is also fixed-focus rather than auto-focus, which means that tapping on the screen has no discernible result except for altering the white balance and exposure. Oh, and there’s no flash to be found. Around front, the phone sports a VGA camera (similar to that of the iPhone), but again this is a fixed-focus lens.
iPod touch (2010) camera shots
We really would have liked to see a higher quality shooter on the back of this device — maybe the iPhone 4 has spoiled us, but even something like 3 megapixels wouldn’t have felt out of place here. And we’re pretty sure Apple could figure out a way to keep this thing thin and light in spite of it.
In our side by side shots with the iPhone 4, it’s obvious that the touch’s performance for still images is far below that of its big brother. For taking quick shots (which don’t require tight focus), you’ll be fine, but if you want to grab printer-ready pics, the touch definitely will not be a reasonable stand-in. However, when it comes to video, the 720p performance was actually quite surprising, and the device seemed to have no problem capturing smooth HD content. See the clip below (and check the raw file here) for a look at what kind of results it can produce.
Sound quality
As with the new nano, the touch did seem to sound a little better than previous versions, but it’s not such an astounding difference that you should toss your last gen model in the garbage. Overall, playback seemed solid to us — at least it didn’t leave us wanting for quality. If you’re planning on using the external speaker for listening, however, you might want to reconsider. We can’t remember the last time we heard something so tinny. Of course, it’s not surprising considering the size of this housing. Even though it’s located in a similar spot as the iPhone 4’s speaker, the volume and quality of audio it produces is not even in the same vicinity. Still, how often will you use this?
Software
If you’ve used an iPhone or iPod touch with iOS 4, there will be few (if any) surprises here. The touch performs exactly like any other iOS device, though admittedly you’ll probably notice faster performance if you’re upgrading from an earlier model of touch. Our review unit was loaded up with 4.1, which means we had access to a non-beta Game Center, as well as some of those proximity and performance fixes Apple told us would be coming — though without seeing 4.0 on this device, it’s hard to spot the differences.
Overall, performance was silky smooth on the touch — games didn’t lag, and getting around in the OS was as painless as it is on the iPhone 4. Multitasking worked flawlessly, and for those of you using the device heavily as a media player, it makes juggling playback functions along with the other "stuff" the touch does dead simple.
The new touch does come equipped with FaceTime, though now instead of using your phone number (and SMS) to connect, it asks for your email address as an identifier. Unfortunately, only other 4.1 devices can make a connection with the touch, so we were only able to make a handful of calls. In general, the application worked as effortlessly as it does on the iPhone, though we still had some freezes and breakups even on our strong WiFi connection. Ultimately, we still see this as a side dish and not the main course for these devices. With the iPhone 4, we complained that without 3G options for FaceTime calls, the feature remains limited in use, and that’s now doubly true with the touch — unless you’re carting around a MiFi, you’re stuck mostly indoors (and probably at home) for these calls. One thing to note about FaceTime on the touch — on our device the volume seemed extremely low even when cranked up (in keeping with our experience for music playback), though the New York Times’ David Pogue told us his device sounded loud and clear. "Like an iPhone," he said.
As we said, Game Center is installed on the device, but no games seem to take advantage of the feature just yet. We did field a few friend requests, but all we could do was look at our list of contacts. We’ll likely take a longer look at this feature when it’s accessible to all iOS 4 users, but for now the most notable thing about the app is that Game Center looks nothing like any Apple product you’ve ever seen. That font!
Wrap-up
Reading through this review, it should be clear that there isn’t actually a whole lot to say about this device that hasn’t already been said. The new touch isn’t magical or revolutionary, or even unfamiliar. What it is, however, is a product without a peer; a media player that does far more than media playing. Besides the smaller screen real estate, the touch might be better compared to a tablet or netbook — it has many of the same functions (more, in some cases). So you’re not just dropping $229 (8GB), $299 (32GB), or $399 (64GB, also, ouch) on a music and video player — you’re buying into a mini-computer, a video camera, and a game system all with a massive ecosystem.
If you’re already carrying around a smartphone with the above functions, maybe the iPod touch doesn’t make sense, but for the legions of buyers out there who have yet to make the jump (or are stuck with an outdated handset), this device’s appeal is hard to deny. Don’t get us wrong, the touch isn’t without faults — the lack of GPS and a fairly low-quality still camera come to mind — but there’s nothing major here that gives us pause (and frankly, nothing else like it on the market). With the addition of HD video shooting, the new Retina Display, and a faster A4 processor, the touch has just gone from "nice to have" to nearly irresistible.
Tech&Hack
Recensione dell’iPod Touch 4G
8 Set
Quando Apple ha presentato il nuovo Touch, l’ha definito “l’iPod più popolare della nostra azienda” ed il motivo è presto spiegato. Con un potente hardware, un software in continua evoluzione e caratteristiche da far invidia a tutti gli altri produttori, l’iPod Touch è un prodotto davvero versatile che riesce a soddisfare le esigenza di diversi tipi di consumatori. E’ perfetto per i giochi, per le applicazioni, per internet, ed adesso ha anche un Retina Display, il chip A4, due fotocamera per le videochiamate FaceTime e la registrazione video in HD e tutte le altre funzionalità del Firmware 4.1. Prima di partire con l’analisi approfondita di queste caratteristiche, iniziamo con alcune foto dell’unboxing:
L’esterno
Il design del nuovo iPod Touch è rimasto sostanzialmente lo stesso anche se risulta molto più sottile del predecessore. La parte frontale è completamente invetro mentre quella anteriore è di metallo.
Per quanto riguarda i tasti fisici troviamo ancora il tasto Home, quello per l’accensione e lo spegnimento che questa volta sono stati spostati a destra proprio come l’iPhone, ed i due tasti per il controllo del volume. Sul retro troviamo la nuova fotocamera in grado di registrare video HD a 720p ed un altra piccola fotocamera frontale VGA per le videochiamate..
L’interno
L’iPod Touch 4G è molto simile all’iPhone 4 e proprio come quest’ultimo è dotato del chip A4. Si presume abbia anche 512 MB di RAM ma come al solito Apple non fornisce questo tipo di informazione e quindi toccherà aspettare il disassembly dei ragazzi di iFixit. Troviamo anche un Retina Display con la risoluzione di 960×640 pixel ed una densità di 326 ppi trattandosi come sempre di un 3,5″ ma è stato appurato che questo schermo non è esattamente lo stesso dell’iPhone 4 poichè non è dotato del pannello IPS. Questo significa che guardando il display dagli angoli, non si ottiene la stessa qualità d’immagine, inoltre, lo schermo risulta più scuro ed in definitiva si può dire che quello dell’iPhone è qualitativamente migliore. Resta comunque un buon display, sicuramente migliore dei modelli precedenti.
Troviamo anche un’antenna WiFi 802.11b/g/n, il Bluetooth 2.1 + EDR, ed il supporto a Nike+. Ovviamente manca del GPS rispetto all’iPhone.
Le due Fotocamere
La fotocamera sull’iPod Touch era veramente molto attesa, ma ovviamente la qualità non poteva essere paragonabile a quella dell’iPhone 4. La capacità di catturare video HD a 720p significa ottenere un filmato della risoluzione massima di 1280 x 720 pixel. Quando andiamo a scattare foto invece, la risoluzione scende e diventa di 960 x 720 pixel (ovvero resta sempre un 720p ma in formato 4:3). L’iPod non integra nemmeno la stessa lente ed i vari sensori dell’iPhone 4 e quando è stato chiesto il motivo di queste differenze ad Apple, la spiegazione è stata: “Le regioni stanno nelle dimensioni e non nei costi”. Una fotocamera da più megapixel infatti, è più larga di quella attuale e non sarebbe mai riuscita ad entrare nella nuova scocca. Tuttavia possiamo dire che i video sono ben fatti e godiamo anche dell’autofocus per migliorare l’esposizione dei soggetti. Ecco alcune foto scattate con l’iPod Touch 4G:
Ed ecco una foto comparativa di uno stesso soggetto, ottenuto prima con iPod Touch e poi con iPhone 4:
E’ chiaro che non si può fare un vero e proprio paragone tra le due fotocamere però a mio parere l’iPod Touch si difende abbastanza bene. Pretendiamo già tanto da un cellulare, non possiamo di certo fare lo stesso con un iPod, sopratutto quando è di uno spessore così ridotto ed ospita già tutto quell’hardware. Le foto non saranno sicuramente stupende però guardate cosa riesce a fare con i video HD:
Qualità Audio
Proprio come i nuovo Nano, anche l’iPod Touch 4G è sensibilmente migliorato nell’audio. La riproduzione musicale è molto migliorata, il prodotto è solido. Ovviamente la qualità migliore si ottiene con cuffie professionali e non con quelle Apple ma comunque si notano dei miglioramenti anche in questo campo.
Software
L’iPod touch riuscirà finalmente a fare le videochiamate Facetime grazie alla nuova applicazione che funzionerà con gli indirizzi email. Per questo motivo gli iPod Touch potranno videochiamare soltanto gli altri dispositivi con la stessa versione firmware, ed ovviamente tutte quelle future. Tutte le altre funzioni le conosciamo già benissimo e sono: Il Multitasking, le Folders e così via.
Le novità del Firmware 4.1 invece, sono tutte elencate in questa Guida iSpazio.
Aspetti negativi
Uno dei pochissimi aspetti negativi dell’iPod Touch è proprio il retro. Guardate quanto è bello in questa foto.. peccato che da qui a poco si riempirà di graffi
Il consiglio quindi è quello di utilizzare sempre un case, da non rimuovere mai, perchè “si graffia veramente con gli occhi”. Altro aspetto negativo è l’assenza di una radio FM.
Prezzi e Disponibilità
Nel nostro paese gli iPod Touch costeranno:
- 239€ per la versione da 8GB
- 309€ per la versione da 32GB
- 409€ per la versione da 64GB
e potrebbero essere disponibili già a partire da oggi.
Tech&Hack