Just used the freely available iPod touch Jailbreak on my iPod touch. It allows you to install many of the iPhone applications on the iPod touch! The only things missing now are the mobile phone and sms features.
Interesting thing is, the 1.1.1 firmware crack uses a tiff vulnerability in the safari browser on the ipod to enable arbitrary code execution (1.1.2 patched this, but it looks like there are new attack vectors for the 1.1.2 release).
Definitely gives iPod touch users a taste for what is to come when apple release the iPhone SDK early next year.
So what extra applications do you get?
- Weather - gives you a five day weather forecast (updated via wlan)
- Mail - provides you with a sweet pop3 client (works with gmail out of the box).
- Stocks - allows you to keep track of your share prices, gives you an idea of the iPhone market demographic).
- Notes - allows you to jot down text notes - this should have been included with the iPod touch
- Maps - this is a killer app - it is a standalone application that hooks in to google maps, you can specify two addresses and it will plot the route and give you detailed instructions. It also appears to do some neat caching, so you can make use of it when you are not connected to a wifi network.
Many of you may be thinking what the iPod touch provides that you don't already get with a standard iPod Video/Nano etc. here is a quick list of features: The unit has a much larger screen than it's cousins that you interact with by touching the screen.
You can sync your address book, calendar, music, movies and photos on to the unit. It has a built-in giroscope so it knows when the user has changed the orientation - this is great for viewing photos and browsing your music collection using Coverflow.
It uses solid state memory, so you no longer have to worry about HDD failure. It also has built-in 802.11g, allowing you to browse the web using safari, stream youtube videos onto the device, and purchase new music from the iTunes music store.
One thing I don't like is the inability to sync data from iTunes to your iPod using this wireless link - kind of stupid if you ask me!
Another thing I don't like is the inability to browse the filesystem directly and use it like a portable storage device - a feature I grew quite attached to on my old 4th gen iPod.
Anyways, it's definitely a next-gen gadget - and well worth considering when your HDD based iPod decides to give up the ghost (my fourth gen iPod decided to pack it in soon after the "slap" method was applied;).