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Overall Interface (8.00)
The iPod Touch is a bit of a departure from the typical iPod software. Instead of a series of menus of listed items, the Touch relies on a desktop-type operating system. The main applications are all laid out in a grid of thumbnails. If you click on an application, you'll boot it up; keep your finger held over an application and you can rearrange its thumbnail. Clicking and dragging with your finger will help you get through menus. Making a pinching gesture with two fingers will zoom out, the reverse gesture will zoom in. The button at the bottom will back you out of a nested folder.
Though slightly more complicated than other iPods, the Touch is arguably more intuitive. The system is a lot more visual, using pictures and icons instead of text-based navigation instructions. This means there might be a slight learning curve, as you learn the language of the Touch. Also, if you're not used to typing on a touch screen, the experience will feel slightly awkward at first.
Overall, the Touch's interface is a huge step forward for Apple. Before there was a bit of a disconnnect between the external appearance of the iPod and its software. Now the entire package is clean, organized, and good looking.
Personal Information Management
Address Book (11.50)
The iPod Touch can keep track of your contacts for you, even allowing you the pleasure of entering them in on the device yourself. While this is a standard feature on cell phones, it is very rare to see on media players. Given this, the iPod Touch's contact management system is about equivalent to a lower-end smart phone. You can set a contact's photo, first/last name, company, phone number, email, url, or address. There is also the option to add countless more criteria, such as prefix, phonetic name, suffix, nickname, job title, department, company, birthday, and date. You can also make a note for each contact.
Calendar (8.36)
The iPod Touch's calendar rivals that of a smart phone. There are three different views to choose from: day, week, and month. When you create an appointment, you can set a title, start/end time (or make the appointment an all-day event), and location. You can also set when the appointment will recur, set up alarms for your appointments, or jot down some notes on a particular event. Again, it's very rare to see a calendar app on a media player, let alone one with such a wide span of options.
Todo Lists (0.0)
The iPod Touch doesn't support todo lists natively. There are, however, a great many options in the App store.
Memos & Other Documents (0.0)
The iPod Touch has a very basic notes application. Notes are titled and organized by the text in their first few lines. Therefore, if you want to keep your notes in chronological order, you should save the first line of the notepad for the date. While the application itself is somewhat limited (seriously, Apple, still no copy & paste?), it's definitely a great tool to have at your disposal.
There is no other document software, such as Microsoft Word or Excel.
Games (9.00)
The iPod Touch, although not a great device for serious gamers, is the best media player for mainstream gaming. The thing has an accelerometer and a touch screen that's capable of multiple points of contact. Considering how popular the Wii and its non-traditional controls are, it seems as though the iPod Touch is on the path to stardom. Many of the games offered up in the app store are cheap/free and good for a quick-to-lengthy diversion. We wish the iPod Touch came with a game or two, but since the device has an App store client built-in, it's not that hard to fill your Touch with cheap/free aps.
 Extensibility (8.00)
iPods of all shapes and sizes are the most extensible media players out there right now, thanks to the App store. No longer do you have to be content with whatever the device came with. Now you can download koi ponds and bad Tetris clones. Some are free, some are not, and some cost $1,000 even. Right now the App store has many active contributors. If you want something to change a bit, or if you need some functionality that the device doesn't natively support, you can always turn to the App store.
Other Features (5.20)
The iPod Touch has a ton of other software features, many of which offer significant functionality. Just some of the cool programs that come free with the Touch include Safari (a web browser), an email client, a maps application, a weather application, and a calculator. The maps application, unlike the onen found on the iPhone, doesn't use an on-board GPS chip or talk to satellites, although if you are connected to a wifi network it will be able to approximate your location.The iPod Touch also has an accelerometer, which can work in conjunction with Nike's new fitness software, keeping track of how far you've jogged or how many calories you've burned.
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