If you need concrete proof as to why the iPod is so popular, this is it! There's just something about it that makes you want to go and buy it, and it doesn't matter if you already have five other mp3 players. It's evident that the Touch draws heavily from the design of the iPhone. And you can't really blame them either. Why mess with a design that has drawn worldwide acclaim? What's not instantly visible is that it's a lot thinner than the iPhone (just 8mm) and still manages to cram in Wi-Fi, playback for music, movies and photos, an excellent web browser, clock, calculator, calendar and contacts. I wonder why Apple chose to exclude an email app, or the weather widget–both of which are found on the iPhone.

The interface is so responsive and intuitive that you'll be showing it off to all your friends. If you want better sound, you'll have to ditch those ubiquitous white earbuds. We paired the Touch with a pair of Bose in-ear headphones (Rs 5,625) and it was love at first sight! You could also get yourself a good set of earphones from Sennheiser or Creative for similar results. Battery performance was impressive too, with the device clocking in about 18 hours of music or 5 hours of video on a full charge.

My biggest gripe is that it just makes data transfer much harder than it needs to be. You have to use iTunes to do all the transfers and it doesn't show up as an external drive either. Furthermore, since the iTunes store doesn't operate in India, you can't get an account and can't update album artwork. That means the fantastic CoverFlow doesn't work as intended. If you hold out a bit, you might be able to get your hands on the 8GB iPhone for about the same price as the 16GB Touch. Now that makes the decision all the more difficult. But as far as iPods go, it's certainly evolved, polished and worth a look just for the fantastic interface, responsive touchscreen and coolness factor.