Apple iPod Touch (Fourth Generation, 2010 Version)

The Apple iPod Touch, since its release in 2007, has ruled the portable-media-player waves like Britannia. It's by far the best designed, most feature-packed, and easiest-to-use media device on the market. But now that Apple's iPhone and iPad have so successfully edged in on its domain, does the iPod Touch still have a viable place in the media-consumption market? We would answer that question with a resounding yes. To an extent, the new iPod Touch is the iPad, but even more portable. And it's the iPhone, without the worry of reception issues (and not, entirely, without the phone). To put it simply: The 2010 iPod Touch is as close to perfection as any portable media player has come yet.

That may sound like a bold statement, but look at what the iPod Touch can do. The iPod started off merely as a music player, and the iPod Touch's siblings, the iPod Shuffle and iPod nano, still serve basically that purpose alone. The iPod Touch, however, has morphed into a music player, a video player and recorder, a tiny tablet, a gaming device, an organizational tool, and much more. And with its connection to the Apple App Store, it can serve an endless panoply of purposes, all navigated by a super-streamlined interface on a gorgeous. multi-touch screen. What's most impressive of all: This functionality all fits into a sliver that easily tucks into your back pocket, leaving nary a bump. And in this iteration, we get a slimmer design, a better screen, a faster processor, and excellent new features that include an HD video recorder and the ability to make video calls.