What Can the Apple iPod Touch Do?

Entertainment

Like the iPod Classic, the iPod Touch can play music and videos, as well as store and display photos. The "iPod" app allows you to listen to any audio file, including podcasts and audiobooks. The "Videos" app lets you download movies from the iTunes Store and watch them right on your device's high-resolution retina display, while the "YouTube" app lets you watch streaming videos online. "Photos" stores and displays the pictures that you take with the device's forward or backward facing camera, and "Photo Booth" lets you edit and add special effects to those photos. The iPod Touch also comes with a Game Center. In addition, several entertainment apps are available to download from the App Store, such as apps that teach you to play instruments or provide additional features for your cameras.

The iPod Touch can be very handy if you have a hectic schedule and want to keep it in an orderly, accessible place. The "Calendar" app lets you add upcoming events with various tags for thorough organization, and you can set reminders up to two days in advance. "Notepad" allows you to write down grocery lists, memos or thoughts that you don't want to forget when a pen and paper aren't handy. With "Voice Memos," you can dictate reminders or ideas, and with "Contacts," you can keep track of all the information you need to know about your friends, including their addresses and birthdays. The App Store features hundreds of additional organizational apps for organization and productivity, including "EverNote," "Dropbox" and "Remember the Milk."

On the iPod Touch's home screen, you will find apps such as "Maps," "Weather," "Utilities," "Stocks," "Nike + iPod," "Mail" and "Safari." Using the device's GPS system, "Maps" can tell you where you are on a map when you get lost, give you directions or search for the nearest point of interest. "Weather" gives you up-to-date forecasts for cities across the world, and "Utilities" provides a clock and a calculator. "Stocks" gives you updated information about the market, and "Nike + iPod" keeps track of your workouts. "Mail" allows you to set up your email account and send and receive messages, and "Safari" allows you to surf the Web.

In addition, the iPod Touch can also print and play media wirelessly via "AirPrint" and "AirPlay." It also provides VoiceControl, among other features, for the handicapped.

In addition to offering apps that bolster functions that the iPod Touch can already do, the App Store offers a variety of unique, targeted apps for a customizable iPod experience. For example, if you love astronomy, you can download an app that helps you explore the night sky, identify the stars and determine when celestial objects will be in view. NASA even has an app to let you track its scheduled launches. Whether you want to learn a foreign language, find the best nearby coffee shop, read Shakespeare or the news, unlock your car, figure out the name of the song you're listening to or find out if you're getting the best deal on an item you're about to buy, there's an app for it in the App Store.