Apple’s jewel in its iPod crown is, without a shadow of a doubt, the new fourth-generation iPod touch, revealed earlier today by the company’s charismatic CEO, Steve Jobs.

The new iPod touch 4G was perhaps the least surprising of this week’s announcements from Apple. The good old Apple rumour mill had been suggesting that the latest touchscreen media player would get front and back-facing cameras and Apple’s Retina screen for weeks.

iPod touch 4G: An impressive upgrade to Apple’s flagship iPod

Which is exactly what it did get. It is essentially an iPhone 4, minus the phone and SMS functions. Jobs himself stated this in no uncertain words in his presentation.

“No contract,” said the Apple CEO, while demonstrating the new iPod touch 4G, with the words “no contract” written in large letters on the big-screen slideshow behind him, at which point some elements in the assembled industry and media crowd tittered, as if Jobs had made some kind of naughty joke at the expense of O2 or AT&T.

Yet the new iPod really does have to be seen and played with to be fully appreciated. If you have yet to feast your eyes on the iPhone’s 3.5-inch, 960 x 640 pixel resolution ‘Retina’ display, then you have yet to appreciate the vibrancy and quality of the images that are now available on the new iPod touch.

iPod FaceTime: Sure to be a hit with students and teens

In terms of the overall form factor, Apple has stuck with the curved stainless steel back of the previous model, although has managed to shave around 15 per cent off the thickness and weight, so the new iPod touch is noticeably thinner and lighter when sat in the palm of the hand. We had, we have to admit, suspected Apple might go the whole hog and follow the boxier design of the iPhone 4. But after a very quick hands on play with the new iPod touch, we are more than glad they didn’t.

Of course, the main beneficiaries of a slightly slimmer iPod touch are going to be the peripherals companies, with reps from all of the well-known brands out in force at today’s Apple launch. And we can be sure to expect a slew of new cases and peripheral product announcements from all of them in the coming days and weeks.

Aside from the massively improved screen, the next biggest new feature on the new iPod touch is the introduction of two cameras, which allow 720p HD video recording and also allow you to use Apple’s FaceTime video-calling app, to talk to your mates and family with iPhones (or new iPod touches). This is sure to be a massive boon to students and younger users that either don’t want (or, more likely, are not financially able) to get tied into long-term mobile contracts, yet still want to use their iPod touch for instant messaging and video calling. It is, as we heard more than one punter mumble at today’s London showcase, a potential game-changer. Although whether or not it will cannibalise the demand for Apple’s iPhone 4 remains to be seen.

iPod touch 4G: Around 15 per cent thinner and lighter

There are a slew of genuinely brilliant camera apps on Apple’s App Store, along with numerous fun photo-manipulation apps that let you make your friends into zombies, ghouls, avatars and fatties. All of which have to date been limited to iPhone users. The introduction of a camera into the iPod touch mix opens up access to these great camera apps to a whole new audience. Which is also great news for the many third party app developers out there, as well as Apple. All we can hope is that the growth of the market can only continue to drive innovation and creativity in photo and camera app development.

In terms of the actual resolution of the video recording, from the brief demonstration we were given by an Apple rep, the recording quality does seem to be impressively clear. However, whether or not this is going to be completely satisfactory as your primary video-recording device when you are away on holidays or travelling remains to be seen. We’ll be sure to put that through the test when we receive our review unit to put through its paces.

The one thing that really left us wanting the new Apple iPod touch more than anything else was spending a few minutes playing Gameloft’s superb gyroscope controlled first person shooter, NOVA, one of the best iPhone 4 games developed to date. It is the closest you can get to that feeling of the accuracy of a mouse and keyboard control scheme with a traditional PC fps on a mobile device. Which is why Steve Jobs made a point of bringing the guys from Epic Games on the stage to show off their new title, codenamed ‘Project Sword’ and due for release later this year.

iPod touch 4G: The world’s best selling gaming handheld just got better

Apple is determined to build upon the huge success it has already had in the gaming market with the iPod touch and the iPhone. And the fact that the new iPod touch 4G will fully support Apple’s new Game Center which is a key part of iOS 4.1, is proof positive that the company (and its triple-A game development partners) have the hardcore gaming market clearly in their sights.

So, to recap, Apple’s new iPod touch packs in a lot of notably-improved tech and new features, including the Retina Display, the speedier A4 chip, FaceTime Video Calling, HD video recording, that 3-axis gyro, and the multiplayer goodness and more that is part of Apple’s new Game Center.

On top of all that, it’s marginally thinner and lighter than the last gen iPod touch and Apple claims that the battery will let you listen to up to 40 hours of music on a single charge. Impressive, if that turns out to be anywhere near the truth. Again, we’ll put that to the test in our full review, to follow very soon.

You will be able to pick up Apple’s new iPod touch within the next week for of £189 for the8GB model, £249 for the 32GB model and £329.00 for the 64GB model via www.apple.com/uk.

Hands on: Apple iPod touch 4G review via http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/techradar/portable-devices-news/~3/_NwbZa9WpqY/story01.htm”> TechRadar Portable Devices

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