A while back, someone suggested that I write about the iPod Touch, and whether it is a “replacement tool for Windows Mobile and Palm – now that new apps have been added?”
I’ll give the bottom-line view first: this is one of the neatest devices I have ever owned, and I have sure owned a bunch of gadgets: over 20 Pocket PCs, Palms, and Smartphones. (I’ve also been a judge in the 2006 and 2007 Smartphone and Pocket PC Software Awards.) The pictures shown herein just do not do the Touch justice: the screen is far more stunning than a picture conveys. Additionally, even before the 2.0 update, the Touch could function very well as a PDA. With the 2.0 update, it is even better. Use of the iPod Touch is booming, and will only continue to increase in the next few years.
Anyway, in what follows I will break the discussion into three parts: built-in software, add-on software, and hardware. (By the way, we talk about the Touch being a great PDA, which means that the iPhone is, too.)
Built-in Software
The Touch comes with the following applications, many of which are Mac OSX tools that have been adapted for a hand-held form factor:
- Top Row: Safari Browser, Calendar, Mail, Contacts
- Middle Row: YouTube viewer, Stocks viewer, Maps viewer, Weather viewer
- Bottom Row: Clock, Calculator, Notes, Settings
And, along the very bottom of the screen are the traditional iPod applications: Music, Videos, Photos, and access to the iTunes store (via WiFi). The 2.0 version also added an application for connecting to the App Store.
What’s really cool is
- Everything on the top row syncs to a Mac, as does everything on the very bottom row (the typical iPod stuff)
It’s my understanding that some of the top row (at least the Calendar and Contacts) sync in Windows machines with Outlook, by syncing through the iTunes software. I have not tried this out, but am told it works. Maybe some of you can elaborate in the comments.
Now, for me, this means that my Safari bookmarks sync, my iCal data syncs, Mail syncs, and my Contacts data syncs. And the operative word is syncs: that is, I can make changes on the Touch and they are reflected back to my iMac. The Touch is not a “read-only” device. I doubt that I will use it to make new calendar entries very often, but it is nice to have the capability.
Cool, huh? This alone makes the Touch usable as a PDA. It lacks a built-in Tasks handler, but pretty much everything else is there.
- Note: Although there is not yet a built-in Tasks app for the Touch, the Pro version of Remember The Milk has a great interface on the Touch. As long as you are connected to WiFi, you have a very useful Tasks application with it. This works for the 1.1+ versions of the Touch, as well as for the 2.0 versions.
- For the 2.0 version of the Touch, there are third-party applications you can use for task management. I describe one of them below, in the discussion of add-on software. With this app, the Touch functions as a complete PDA, giving you everything you would expect from one.
And, as long as you have access to WiFi, you can use Google Calendar on the Touch. Again, it is not read-only, and additions made on the Touch are added into your online Gcal (deletions are not yet supported, unless I am just overlooking the way to do them).
By the way, I love having Safari on the Touch. It is becoming a primary interface for me in using Twitter, checking my Gmail, skimming through Google Reader, and more. Without moving off the couch I can easily keep up with my daily communications stream. And, the Touch interface for browsing is fantastic.
Now, to the middle row: I love the YouTube app. Of course it is just a web interface into YouTube, but it has a lot of functionality, including the ability to search for videos and to bookmark them.
I actually like viewing the YouTube videos more on the Touch than on a computer: The screen resolution and size is just perfect, and, as Thomas notes in the comments below, the Touch uses the h.264 codec instead of Flash for YouTube access, which gives it fantastic viewing clarity.
Now, while the Stocks, Google Maps, and Weather viewers just latch into data at Google and Yahoo, they are classy. Leave it to Apple to present simple data in such a classy interface. I use the weather and stocks apps a lot during the days, and it just about eliminates my “need” to watch any TV news.
For the bottom row: the Clock is great, and even has alarms, timers, and stop watch applications. The calculator is very functional, and the Notes app is pretty darned neat. You can use the Touch’s built-in keyboard to leave notes to yourself.
As to the iPod functions: they are great. Listening to music is as good as ever, and it is a very practical movie-viewer. If I were traveling much I’d have a dozen movies loaded on it.
Add-on Software
I recall all the excitement in March when Apple announced the developer-beta of the 2.0 firmware. Even at that time, a lot of applications had been developed, including a number that are highly suited to professionals. For example, from MacWorld’s coverage of today’s Apple announcements, is this:
10:56 PT: Next: Epocrates. “Every doctor knows about Epocrates.” Now Glenn Keighley from Epocrates. Shows a drug lookup UI, so doctors can find a drug, tap to view information about the drug. They used SQLite to store their drug data, and used the iPhone’s high-resolution screen to show drug images for the first time on any mobile platform.
Now there are hundreds of apps available. I discuss one of them but one today, because it is such a cool PDA app: Todo from Appigo. You can see its icon on my first page of apps on my Touch:
There are a lot of things I like about this app. First, populating it with tasks was easy: I easily set it up to sync with my Remember The Milk Pro account. (It can also sync with Toodledo.) Secondly, I love its interface. It is so easy to make any type of change to existing items, and it is easy to add new items or to delete ones you decide you no longer want to do.
Here is a screen shot of its primary editing interface for one of my tasks:
And, if you want to change the date, the interface for that is really slick, too, offering up a pick list of Today through a week later (and all days in between), or this handy “other date chooser:”
By the way, on this date chooser, the Month, Day, and Year spin independently, so you can quickly go to any date desired. It is really slick!
Just to check things out, I made changes to several tasks and re-synced back to RTM: worked great!
And a couple of other things I really like about this app: you don’t have to be connected to WiFi to use it (except to sync), and it is cheap ($9.99).
Lots of other PDA apps are already available, and more great ones are on the way (for example, eWallet will soon be available for the iPhone and Touch). I discuss some additional apps in my article A Few More Thoughts on the iPod Touch. And, I discuss a really cool app in my article Use an iPhone or iPod Touch to Control Your Mac or PC (discusses Mocha’s VNC Lite).
Hardware
Did I mention that the device is stunning? Yes I did, but it bears repeating. The screen is gorgeous.
The device is incredibly thin. It feels very comfortable in the hand and is easy so to use.
The only downside I have found with the Touch, as compared to previous iPods, is that the lack of a scroll wheel. I don’t miss it when I am using the Touch at home, but I miss it in the car, which is where I have typically used the scroll wheel to skip parts of a tune or to replay a tune, and so on. You cannot use the screen-interface that effectively while driving. But, in time I got accustomed to this.
The only downside I have found with the Touch as a PDA is its lack of a copy-and-paste utility. Perhaps one will be added via a third-party app. This is not something I have a frequent use for, but would really like to have it for occasional use.
The battery life has been very good in my opinion, and I use the WiFi a lot.
By the way, the iPhone and Touch are similar in many ways, except that the iPhone has even more: a phone, camera, and bluetooth. So, if you are thinking of getting an iPhone, I don’t think you will be disappointed.
Obviously I am pleased with the Touch. Feel free to ask about anything I forgot to mention or haze over, and fellow Touch users, please chime in with your thoughts and tips.
GREAT review, Bruce. Not sure if you’d seen it or not, but if you click and hold on any of the icons on your home screen, they all start to wobble and you can rearrange them. You may know that, but wanted to mention it because the arrangement in the rows you mention is no longer static (where it was prior to the 1.1.3 firmware).
The Windows syncing via iTunes/Outlook works well, from what I hear, which is good for the Windows users. Also wanted to point out that the YouTube interface is great and it uses the h.264 codec instead of Flash, which makes the quality great and it streams well (same codec used for the Apple TV store).
In the Fortune article referenced in your One Link article recently, one of the interesting things that came from Steve was something like 90% of users do not CREATE content on their mobile phones, they CONSUME it. I found that interesting, as I tend to create content on mine, but I realize I’m in the minority. So, having a seamless sync experience is crucial. The ability to do that now with iCal and Address Book (and in the future with Exchange) is a GREAT feature on the iPhone/iPod Touch.
I personally wouldn’t jailbreak my device either. Theoretically, jailbreaking doesn’t harm your phone and you can revert back, but not unlocking. However, why take the risk when the new software will be out so soon (relatively speaking)? I would rather have a stable phone with the new software in a few months than having any issues down the road, but that’s just me. Same reason I don’t install the major Mac OS X updates until others have tried it out for a few days.
Lastly, regarding the lack of tactile feedback, that was my biggest concern as well. If the whole screen is touch with limited or few buttons, it makes things like pausing without looking hard to do. That is one benefit of a phone or device with more buttons. I personally miss the scroll wheel too, but have gotten used to the new iPod interface controls.
I wonder if Nuance (owners of Dragon Naturally Speaking) will release their Mobile Voice Control product for the iPhone/Touch or if anyone will create something similar? MVC works as a subscription service ($6/month), so I don’t really like that aspect. They must do the transcription remotely and send back commands. However, something that allows you to control the iPhone with voice commands would definitely be useful and mostly mitigate the tactile feedback barrier for me.
Glad to hear that you’re liking the Touch so much. I’m really looking forward to hear more about your migration to only using the Apple tools (iCal, etc.) and how it all works with your Touch. If the Touch replaces your Windows Mobile PDA, I will be very impressed.
I’m still torn, as I love my BlackBerry as a phone/PDA-lite and my Windows Mobile device as a PDA, but the new Exchange ActiveSync support may have me replacing both with a single device…
Thank you for the compliment, Thomas. I appreciate it very much.
Gosh you bring out lots of good points (typical for you). I did find out about the “wiggly” by accident, actually. But, it is a neat capability.
I used to be one who demanded a good data-entry PDA, and would fit your profile more than the norm that Steve Jobs talks about in the Fortune interview. But, over the past couple of years, I’ve gotten to where I more and more just jot something on a piece of paper and enter it on the computer later … it’s just so much quicker for me. But, like you, I do like to have the ability to enter data on my device of choice, and I appreciate that Apple has accommodated that so nicely (with such a fantastic and intuitive interface, I might add).
Glad you mentioned Dragon Speaking. That would be a good combo.
Your comments reminded of one thing I forgot to mention: the responsiveness of the Touch. Apps open instantly.
I am falling more in love with the device each day and will surely get an iPhone later this year (awaiting 3g, etc).
I also like my BlackBerry, and still use my x51v a lot (I’m reading an ebook right now with it). But, I can easily see an iPhone becoming my primary portable device. I would likely eBay my BlackBerry, although I might keep it as a backup, but would hold on to the x51v until it croaks, or until someone comes out with an ebook reader for the iPhone/Touch.
Thanks again for adding in some great info Thomas!
Well Bruce . . . I picked up the Touch (32GB version) this last Friday night and have been in “gadget heaven” all weekend. My only regret is that I did not purchase this sooner. What an unbelievably responsive interface! I cringe to think of all the time I have wasted trying to get things to work/sync on Windows Mobile and Palm platforms. My Asus A626, Palm Treo 650 and Zune 80GB are going on the eBay chopping block this next week. This Touch does all the things these 3 other devices attempted to do (except for the phone, which I carry around a Razr for, hardly know I’m carrying it) and does them well.
I have wi-fi capability, extremely nice web browser, can sync my calendar and contacts with Outlook, that I have to use at work
and can check all my email accounts with the slick Gmail application. I have all my music, videos, photos and access to iTunes. And the YouTube app runs flawlessly. I’m going to try your RTM tip and that should pretty much take care of all those other devices were doing for me. With the 3rd party apps this should prove to be a device that could almost replace my laptop full time when I leave the office. How cool is that?
Thanks for pointing me to Mconnick’s twitter site. I’m still trying to wade through all of his Touch tips and URL’s to fantasic iPhone/Touch friendly websites. While the 2nd place Nokia n810 offered bluetooth, GPS capabilities and Skype, I think sacrificing those for all the other offerings of the Touch have been well worth it.
Steve, I am delighted to see how pleased you are with your decision to get a Touch, my friend. They are truly fantastic devices and I look forward to them being even better with the availability of third party apps via the next firmware update.
Glad you like Mconnick’s twitter feed and his blog. He has some fantastic tips for the Touch, and I really should allocate some time to just reading through all of them.
Hi, thanks for this interesting review.
The main reason I do not have an Ipod Touch yet is because it doesn’t have a speaker (am I right ?) How do you hear the calendar/tasks alarms ?
The 2.0 software update is supposed to bring WPA authentication to access Wireless access points. Have you tried this feature ?
Hi Thibault,
You know, I don’t know how it does it, but the Touch beeps when I have new mail. It’s not a loud beep, but it is audible. It does not seem to do it, though, for the calendar appointments, which is a bummer, although you can do okay without one if you really stay on top of your calendar. Like you, I would like to have the alarm capability on it, but I can live without it. Ultimately I think I will just go ahead and the get the iPhone, so I can have the alarm capability and not have to carry another extra device. (Will probably ebay my BlackBerry Curve.)
I have not tried the WPA authentication. I use wireless connectivity but I live far enough out in the burbs to not have to worry with the security (at least for the time being). And, the last time I tried setting up wireless with my DSL connection, I had all sorts of hassles without adding the WPA hassle to it. No doubt it works, though, or we would have already heard complaints from folks, but I have not personally tested it out.
Thanks for your answer.
An alternative to the lack of alarm is to use the SMS feature on google clandar. I think one can setup appointments on the Touch, synchronize with google calendar and receive alarms on any mobile phone.
Another solution is of course to get an iphone but unfortunately it is not available in each country/company at a reasonable price.
The SMS is a good idea, Thibault. I had not thought of that.
Yes, I understand the problem with iPhone availability and pricing. Hopefully both problems will go away in time.
Thanks for bringing up the alarm problem and possible workaround.
My reply is to Bruce and whomever wants to listen. WPA works fine. I’ve also used the VPN feature to tunnel into work account. Also works great…in fact, third-party VNC has allowed me to take over remote computers with my ipod Touch and access files, network resources, etc…
Amazing. Love this gadget. Only wish I could afford the iPhone.
Thanks for mentioning some of its “extra” capabilities, Ron. I briefly describe the use of VNC Lite on the Touch in this article. Remote control capability is really pretty slick.
Yes, an iPhone would be nice but I am pretty happy with my BB for calls and the Touch for everything else.
Hi!
regarding the calculator, you can download and install an app of HP12C…which is a greate calculator!
regards
Is the Wi-Fi free, or do you have to pay-as-you-go for services?
Amie, My Wi-Fi at home is routed off of my DSL connection. As for the free Wi-Fi, lots of places have it. I typically do not use Wi-Fi when away from my house, although I suppose I could tap into it at Barnes and Noble or Starbucks or other places I frequent.
I just bought the ipod touch. I am very upset because right after I bought it they came out with the model with the volume controls on the side and the speakers. I was wondering if there is an app available on the ipod touch that is similar to Word, Excel and PowerPoint?
I seem to recall that Documents To Go is now available for the Touch and iPhone. I’ve used their software for years on my Palms and more recently on my Windows Mobile Smartphones. It handles the Office apps well.
So glad I stumbled onto your blog! I am getting my DH a new Touch for Xmas and I was sure he would love it – now I want one too, lol!! Really though, clear and easy to understand review of the touch – thanks!!!
Time for an update. I was feeling a little cramped in 16 GB of storage, and decided the alleged improved battery life and added built-in speaker had some potential as well, so I picked up a gen 2 iTouch. I’ll be selling my gen 1 unit next week on eBay. According to what I’ve read, the gen 2 version is capable of using the microphone that’s built into the new $79 Apple earbuds. I haven’t gone that route yet – I’m not fond of either the sound or the fit of the Apple buds (although I understand the ones with the mic are better quality than the standard supplied iPod buds). The speaker is pretty interesting – there’s no obvious opening for the sound to escape, but it’s quite audible. You can listen to music w/o phones now, but the sound quality is about what you’d expect from a tiny little piezo component. OTOH, system beeps and alarms are much more audible. I don’t see any musical reason for Apple to have included a speaker in gen 2 – it seems more like another step in the direction of making the iTouch a more capable PDA. I’m very interested to see how software developers will make use of it. Skype, anyone..? Jott..? Speaking of Jott – I found a similar service (also free) that works on the iTouch. It’s called Reqall. They have a really nice (free) client available for the iTouch and it’s available in the iTunes app library now. Worth a look. I agree with your assessment of Apipgo ToDo. It’s a great client for Remember The Milk, and well worth the $10 cost. The developers at RTM have been working on an iPhone/iTouch client of their own for a while now. They’re pretty creative folks, but I don’t see too much they could do to improve the client experience beyond what Apipgo has done. Maybe add support for smart tags? One last surprisingly useful addition – there’s also a free RDP client available for the iTouch. I tried RDP on my old Dell X50v Windows Mobile device – horrible. It was like trying to eat steak through a straw. Totally frustrating, and nearly useless, so I didn’t have high expectations for RDP on the iTouch. Surprise! Due largely to the easy pinch, zoom and scroll capability, RDP is actually very usable. I had a trial by fire a few weeks ago – keeping a watchful eye on a problem Netware NFS gateway server during a long, boring meeting. I RDP’ed into my desktop box which was running KVM/IP software connected to the problem Netware server’s console and was able to restart and manage the server after an abend via RDP on my iTouch.
Hi capo … what a fantastic update! Thank you for sharing. Yes, it sounds like Apple really is aiming the Touch more and more toward being a great PDA. In my view, it already is a great one. Glad you went the 2.0 route … really sounds neat.
All my best
Bruce
Bruce Keener 09.21.08 at 11:07 pm
I seem to recall that Documents To Go is now available for the Touch and iPhone. I’ve used their software for years on my Palms and more recently on my Windows Mobile Smartphones. It handles the Office apps well.
Bruce I am responding to your message. Thank you for the great advice, but I looked the Appple application store and I did not see Documents To Go. Would this be available at an office supply store or at their website?
Hi Precious Knight.
I just did a quick search and found the following post that mentions that the Documents To Go people are working on a release for the iPhone:
http://www.theiphoneblog.com/2008/09/17/documents-to-go-is-coming-to-the-iphone/
This link also references a link on the Documents To Go site that confirms that Dataviz is porting DTG to the iPhone. However, they haven’t finished porting it yet and they do not give an expected production date for it. Sorry that I assumed that they had already finished doing the porting (they are normally pretty quick in delivering products once announced). Hopefully they will have it ready soon. Note that you can have them notify you by email when it is ready.
Hi,
I am considering getting the Touch to replace my PDA but have some doubts. Could you tell me how the Touch would compare to a PDA when it comes to entering data? I feel that with a PDA it is easier and faster since you have a stylus and graffiti to work with, as opposed to having to type everything out.
I have also heard that one is limited on creating recurring appointments in the Touch calendar. I guess it could be done in Outlook and then synced to the Touch.
Hi Hector,
I do somewhat miss the stylus input methodology, because I have used it for about 9 years. But, the text entry on the Touch is workable … it takes a little getting used to, but with practice it is not bad at all. As to the recurring appointments, I have not run across that, but your solution sounds like a winner to me. I do have several recurring appointments that I did set up in Outlook, many of them having been there for a long while (weekly activities, birthdays, etc), and they sync just fine.
I too am looking to use the touch as a PDA and am finally leaving Palm. I have been using the Treo 650 and it is no longer being supported through my carrier Bell (Canada). i have a year left on my contract so i cannot switch to Rogers and get the iphone. i thought why not use the touch as a PDA and get a slim light phone with 3.2mpeg camera and go from there. I love the stylus and have now heard that Apple has come out with one or the ability to use one…Could someone confirm.
Jeremiah
I’ve not seen any releases from Apple regarding a stylus but I have seen one advertised by a third-party vendor. I do not recall who the vendor was, though.
My own experience has been that you get accustomed to doing without the stylus, and it also becomes one less thing to have to deal with. For me a stylus was most useful on a Pocket PC, for handwriting recognition. I often used my fingers on the Palm for the the menus and non-graffiti activities, because it was so quick and easy. My hunch is that you won’t really miss the stylus. But, others may be able to chime in with different input, and with specifics on a stylus.
Hi Jeremiah
Regarding the use of a stylus you have several options:
http://www.crunchgear.com/2008/08/14/iphone-stylus-handles-dragging-sim-eject-tool/
http://www.crunchgear.com/2008/10/01/crunchdeals-pogo-stylus-half-off-today-only/
http://www.crunchgear.com/2007/12/01/stylus-for-iphoneipod-touch-costs-25-defeats-purpose/
http://www.engadget.com/2008/12/17/writesense-digital-pen-tech-for-capacitive-touchscreens-announce/
… but the device/interface is not indented to be used with a stylus. At least give your finger a chance ! That’s what I will do when I’ll get my iPod touch.
@Jeremiah – after using the Touch for almost 8 months I find myself heavily sighing when I break out my “old” Nokia N810 for something and have to locate the stylus and calibrate the screen, etc. I don’t think you will miss that bloody stick at all.
Jeremiah and others who may be interested in a stylus: my brother got an iPhone recently and recommends the following stylus : http://www.thinkgeek.com/gadgets/cellphone/a31f/
I currently use a Palm T/X and am considering a Touch. Here are some important Palm T/X features that are not on the Touch. On all other fronts the Touch is superior.
1. Memos (notes) by category. Some third party apps on the Touch do have notes but none that I have seen do the three memo functions in the Palm: by category, sync, and search (find) see #2 below. I use Memos for all kinds of data – prescription lists, electronic gadgets serial numbers, passwords for web sites, shopping lists etc.
2. A global search (Find) function. This is my most important missing feature on the Touch. I often search the entire palm device – Calendar, Contacts, Memos, to-do list, for subject matter.
3. SD card for memory expansion. I suppose I could just buy a 32 gb Touch and forget about the expansion card.
Maybe some of you have work-a-rounds for number’s 1 and 2.
Hi Peter,
You raise good points on what the Touch lacks at this point. However, I just noticed the following rumor:
“On another note, Mac Soda received whispers early this morning from a potential source who claims that iPhone 2.3 will hit us at MacWorld as well, with Copy and Paste, Push Notification, and Email Search finally arriving.”
That quote is taken from this link. Steve Rubel thought highly enough of the rumor to post it on Twitter, so it could well be true. Bottom line is that it looks like functionality is being added to the iPhone (and Touch) with almost every update, and the updates have been pretty often (compared to typical cycles for software updates). I doubt that you’ll see a good Notes app come to the Touch, one that syncs with Outlook, anytime soon, and email search is not as handy as global search, but the Touch is playing catch-up pretty well and is better than a typical PDA in some respects.
Hopefully others will chime in with their thoughts, too … I just wanted you to know what is likely coming soon for the Touch.
I own an iPod Touch 2g 32GB and I do love it’s functionality and smooth UI. It does resemble a PDA very very much and I hope Apple would enable text editing, or use iPod Touch 2g as a mass storage drive. So far, my iPod has been detected as a digital camera and that’s about it. I just wish Apple would be less strict about their products being compatible with other things that are not their property.
I also want to buy a touch to use as a PDA instead of Palm, but don’t want to purchase Outlook. Currently have Outlook express and Vista. Does anyone know of a way round this?
Thanks
I bought a 2nd Gen iPod touch as I wanted to use it as PDA and retire my SONY Clie PDA. I like the sleek design, intuitive user interface and many features such as the AppStore etc. etc. However, battery life is a big disappointment as I usually have to re-charge it everyday and I am not even using it heavily. Not acceptable for a PDA (although I know it’s not meant to be a PDA).
I also did not yet get used to the on-screen keyboard and miss handwriting recognition, especially for Japanese characters. I also don’t like the childish font that is used for the Notes – just a minor complaint. I will keep using the iPod touch primarily as a PDA and hope that I will be able to tweak it and solve the issues that I explained. At the moment, my Clie with all the apps is still the better PDA for me and I will use the iPod and Clie in parallel.
Hi AndyJapan,
The Clie is hard to beat as a PDA. Interesting that you mention the comparison. Just yesterday I switched back to using my Pocket PC for my PIM activities. The Touch was doing okay for it, but I really missed the handwriting recognition features of the Dell x51v. Plus it is just lightening fast. But I used the Touch as a PDA for a full year, so it sure can serve as one for those who are interested in it.
Thanks for the comment!
I’ve been using a Nokia N73 as a PDA for over a year – syncs well with the Mac, believe it or not! However, a job change has meant the calendar is now creaking at the seams. So it was time for a change.
Been using the iPod Touch 16GB version and it is going really well. Love the intuitive interface and the tight integration with Mac environments. I’m using Concrete’s To Do List for task management (pretty neat) and everything else is based on eMail and Calendar. OK, the calendars need to be set up on iCal, but that’s a small price to pay when running multiple projects (as I have to!)
Small problem is the battery life. I need to recharge every couple of days and I’m not a heavy user, maybe she’s on for an hour a day?
But the big thing is the security. Enabling a pin is dead easy to set up and really easy to use.
Overall, a worthy successor to the Apple Newton (mine’s still in the loft AND IT STILL WORKS!!!!)
Hi Ross,
Cool blog you have.
Glad you are liking the Touch as a PDA. Battery life has not been much of a problem for me, but, being retired, I probably don’t put any PDA through the paces like working professionals do. Sounds like the battery life issue, although annoying, is at least tolerable for you, which is good.
@Ross
I recognized that switching ‘Fetch New Data’ off is improving battery life.
Goto Settings / Fetch New Data and switch Push to Off and Fetch to Manually. I also switched off Auto Brightness and EQ (under Music). Not sure if this has any impact.
I also found a company (Radius) who is selling a charger jacket. I will have to take a look at it as this might be an useful accessory.
http://www.radius.co.jp/products/ipod/ra_lb411.html
Thanks, AndyJapan. Yes, making some adjustments to the settings can improve battery life.
Figured it was about time for a visit… I’m finding more and more ways to use my 2G iTouch as a PDA. At this point, it’s easily as useful as my previous Palm and WinMo devices ever were. I don’t find battery life to be much worse than my last PDA, a Dell Axim. I bought a Griffin TuneFlex for car use – it holds the ‘Pod in an easy to see angle, doubles as a charger and comes with a steering wheel mounted wireless remote. You’re probably aware that WebIS finally released Pocket Informant for the iPhone/iTouch. It’s a 1.0 release and a little sluggish, but I’m sure they’ll be releasing regular updates and will address the issues. I dumped Remember The Milk and started using ToodleDo – for my ToDo list. Appigo makes a great little app that syncs with both and works very well on the iTouch. I also use their Notes app which also syncs with ToodleDo. Apple’s Contacts app is okay for me and syncs nicely with Google. I’ve been playing with mindmapping a bit too – while the limited screen real estate on the iTouch is a problem there, I bought an app called Headspace – it does mindmapping in 3D. Of course there’s Twitterific (a twitter client), Amazon’s iPhone Kindle app, an RSS feed reader, my Bible, Pandora, a weather app, a full screen clock (Apple’s clock app is somewhat lame) a few favorite games and a few thousand songs. If you’re into it, now there’s Skype for the iTouch. I have to carry a cell phone for work, so Skype is overkill for me. To sum it up – I like my iTouch. I’m looking forward to OS 3.0 this summer. I wonder what the next generation iTouch will offer…?
capo! You made my day. Really glad you visited, sir.
I like your list of apps. Like you, I’ve switched from RTM to Toodledo (nicer interface in my view) and I use Appigo’s ToDo app (not their Notes app, yet).
Glad you’re liking the Touch. Me too. What a great device. I’m actually thinking about getting an iPhone when they come out with the next version, just so I will one less device to carry around (still using the BlackBerry for a phone).
It has been really good to hear from you. Stay in touch!
Just to say, thanks for the blog Bruce.
This has really helped me decide that a 32gig Touch is the way to go. I also have been using PDA’s for over 10 years, the last 5 years windose 2003 which I found very unstable & must have soft reset 1000,s of times. Paid over £600 ($1200) back in 2004 for it and the operating system struggled when pushed. It brought it home to me when my wife showed me a free astronomy application on her Touch that was just as good one I had paid for on the PPC. The thing froze one too many times and I’m afraid to say my fist went through the screen and it’s now in the bin. My only concern is are the wifi’d features such as weather reports and maps as potent in the UK as the US. Will keep an eye on this blog for further articles.
Thanks again, TJ
Hi Tim,
Glad this was a good article for you. Lots of folks are coming to the same conclusion: that the Touch/iPhone makes a great PDA. I’m very happy with mine.
I do think I would experiment with another alternative, the T-Mobile G1, mostly for kicks, but the T-Mo signal level is pretty crappy here in the Atlanta burbs (great in the city, not in the burbs). One of my favorite geeks, Gina Trapani at Smarterware (and Lifehacker) seems to like the G1 better than the iPhone. But, I would have to see it myself to be convinced. Regardless, the Touch/iPhone works great for me.
Hi Everyone,
What a great source of information you all are!
I decided to get an itouch today to use as a PDA based mainly on this review! Quick question- and you may or maynot know the answer- I am an aesthetician ( I do facials and waxing) and need to schedule appointments anywhere from 15 mins to 2 hours in duration. I was wondering if any of you have tried a scheduling program where you could also make notes on a client, include pictures and search appointment history. When I was at the Apple store the guy helping me showed me their appointment program, which you could indeed do all of these things in. It wasn’t until I got home that i realized that this program was specific for Apple employees and the guy at the store said he wasn’t sure what app i should use, but thought that one like what they had was available…..so…hmm….anyone used a scheduling app where you can include detailed client information and search for client history/future appointments?? Thanks so much!
Andrea
Andrea, I waited a few days before replying in hopes that someone would identify a solution for you, but it is beginning to look like the app you want is yet to be developed. I know that I searched the iTunes store Business Apps section, looking through several pages, trying to find something that would work for you … all to no avail. Hopefully someone will get around to developing such an app soon, as it sounds very useful.
Hi Bruce!
Thanks for your response. I have tried the saisuki calander app, and with several adjustments (like listing the type of appointment in the location box, and including the client’s phone number is the appointment type box next to their name) I have been able to work with it. You can search all previous appointments by keyword, and make notes on each appointment- so while not ideal, it is working for me. I can sync it with google calander so that i have no fear of loosing my information.
There is currently an app available called iSession that is made exactly for scheduling client appointments, but it is only able to make one hour sessions. I have contacted the developer and He is working on making it possible to adjust the time blocks. I will keep you guys posted if anything better comes out, as i think a program like this would be great for many people.
Thanks again!
Andrea,
Thank you so much for updating us on this. Glad to hear that there are workable solutions. Although it sounds like neither app is perfect for you, it also sounds like the developer will come through for you on the iSession app. It’s also good to know you can sync with Google Calendar. I recently set up to use Google’s exchange service for iPhones to sync Google Calendar and Google Contacts to my Touch’s built-in calendar and contacts apps, and it’s great to be able to do that.
Thanks again. It’s always good to learn about a useful app for the Touch. I look forward to hearing back from you about any further developments.