But IS this the third generation touch?

Apple themselves have never referred to it as such and don't even refer to it as being new hardware. They seem to have been very careful NOT to tag it as third generation in fact.

I would suspect that the speed boost and opengl es 2.0 support were meant for a third genration device with camera (hence the missing 16gb version from yesterdays show) but, that the 32 and 64 gb touches we saw yesterday were hastily bought into production when the camera modules had to be removed. Presumably the 16gb versions with camera were already in full production and so couldn't be shown.

If anything this is the touch 2nd generation refresh. I expect something to materialise very soon which WILL be tagged as touch third gen.

"During a press conference covered by consumer blog Mac|Life, Apple compared the figure favorably to the number of software titles available on competing portable platforms. The Nintendo DS currently hosts a library of 3,680 games worldwide, while Sony's PlayStation Portable claims a lineup of 607 titles."

This means nothing. How many of those titles are actually decent compared to those on the DS and PSP?

Thanks for that comment, Peter - it's obviously partly upgraded but I can see your semantic issues there, so we've just called it 'an upgrade' in the story now.

@Alaxander - I totally agree. Of the 3000+ on the DS I own 20ish. What is 21,000+ going to do for me? Cause me a headache of finding something I want seeming the platform is widely ignored in the review sector and a whole bunch of people that normally don't play games very much giving mediocre stuff high marks...

It isn't quantity Apple, it's quality. The system needs to grow up a lot, in terms to quality and professionalism, before I'll consider it a gaming platform in the slightest.

@Adam

They system is fine and a great gaming platform. Yes the market place could use some usability tweaks.

Perhaps the gamers out there need to do some growing up themselves and realize that gaming isn't jsut about what Microsoft, Sony and Nintendo are doing.

There quite a number of quality and professional games in the service. just because you haven't taken the time to look for them, does not mean they don't exist. Just because IGN and Gamespot don't review them, does not mean they are not legitimate games.

There are quite a number of sites that review iPhone games regularly and recommend some really nice ones. You should try pulling your head out of the sand and take a look.

I think Steve Jobs is smoking crack if he thinks that the huge mountain of shoverlware on the iTunes App Store makes the iPhone better than the DS or the PSP for gaming.
99% of them 21,178 so-called " titles" that Apple is boasting about are pure garbage.
Zero X 21,178 is still Zero.
Who the heck wants to play serious games on a device that has no buttons, in which your thumb covers 40% of the playing screen surface anyway?

@Ephriam - I like how it is the consumer that needs to get with the picture... that seems like backward thinking there. Ign = 40 games reviewed or 40/21178 = 0.19% reviewed. only 1 scored above the 8's. Metacritic = ZERO! Gamerankings = ZERO! As awesome as Apple thinks they are there is an industry already out there and they need to at least attempt to join part of it if they want to be taken seriously...

Now if you want to cash in on some cheep impulse purchases, sure keep on the track you are on.

I agree with Kevin. You want to blow some time during a meeting maybe the iPhone can do it. You want to game, you get a gaming device.

I believe that there are quality titles on the iPod no doubt, but at best no more than on the ds or psp. And more likely there are a lot less. Apple are trying to infer that there are 10 times as many games on the ipod, which is statistically correct, however I think what people are saying is that if you take out all the rubbish the three systems are not as far apart as they'd like you to think.

Let me ask this, where is the iPod's MarioKart? Where is their Liberty City Stories? I'm not suggesting it's not a real console with-out GTA or Mario, but I've never seen anything of the same calibur, although I stand to be proven wrong.

Entertainment Business 101: Larger audience = larger potential for profit = better chance for watered-down content. Soccer Mom's/business professionals/social teenagers/kids > core gamers. It's a hard pill to swallow but such is the bumpy road to main-stream-ville. Another bitter truth: their opinion rules the roost, not ours. Therefore, they care much less about the tactile button debate.

Legitimate "gaming platform" or not. "Money" is being exchanged. Ask yourself why the industry is posting losses now when we did just fine during the last recession. What's different? Hint: facebook, Myspace and the iTunes App Store. Hold on to convention too tightly in this business, and you'll quickly find yourself in a money-strapped niche, mumbling to yourself about the good ol' days and wondering why everyone's buying this new "crap".

@ Matt Allmer
"Entertainment Business 101: Larger audience = larger potential for profit "

You might want to look at these estimates of total iTunes App Store revenue from Lightspeed Venture Partners’ Jeremy Lew :
Quote:
Apple’s App Store Revenue No More Than $45 Million
He got estimates that indicated there is about one paid application for every 15 to 40 free applications, so that suggests that about 25-60 million paid applications have been downloaded
......................
After multiplying $2.65 by 25-50 million paid applications, the total revenue from paid applications is around $70-$160 million. Apple only gets 30 percent of that figure, so according to Lew, Apple made around $20-$45 million during the first one billion application downloads at the App Store.
Unquote
http://appadvice.com/appnn/2009/05/apples-app-store-revenue-no-more-than-45-mill
ion/

At the higher end total Appstore revenues of say $45 million since the Appstore was launched, Madden NFL 10 sales in August 2009 alone, blows that $45 million total Appstore sales out of the water, with plenty of room to spare to go have dinner.

@ Matt Allmer
"Another bitter truth: their opinion rules the roost, not ours. "

Thankfully, it doesn't.
Vastly more money is made on console games than on the Appstore. We are talkin over 500 times more money at least. It's not even close.

@ Matt Allmer
"Legitimate "gaming platform" or not. "Money" is being exchanged"

Money to the tune of a "great big whopping" sum of $45 million since launch?
You call that money?
ODST alone will make 4 times that on day one of sales this month.

@ Kevin. Touche, my good man…

Comparing revenue between iTunes apps and a console game (like ODST) is like saying the local, junior high school football star can't compete in the NFL: the observation is self-evident. But what happens when maturity is a non-factor? Better yet, what if potential IS a factor? There would be some of us who would give said junior high-er our pudding cup every day at lunch in hopes that, one day, we get the hook-ups after he collects his signing bonus.

iTunes, Facebook, MySpace are young pieces in the gaming industry pie. Bets are being placed on the future, not the present. And companies like Apple, Facebook, Microsoft, Nintendo, even Sony are positioning themselves now because when the light comes on and everyone realizes the potential, it's too late. The early bird is already back in his nest—wing contently resting on a round belly.

Not to mention, as the article states, these outlets are pulling money away from conventional, core titles. So, straight numbers don't paint the whole picture. Publishers are realizing this, which is why games like Madden are released for the iPhone/Touch platform. Folks are not doing this looking for larger revenue but for the future, potential for larger revenue.

And again, my "opinion" comment refers to the future of the market. The first developer/publisher to create that killer, must-have, casual title will be a very rich group of people because they catered to the preferences of a very large audience. Others will follow in droves. Nintendo, so far, has the best playbook on this.

Lastly, regardless of revenue amount, money IS being exchanged. Enough to catch the attention of many of us who prefer console titles—including myself. Give me Assassin's Creed II and Mass Effect 2 over Fieldrunners and Flight Control (almost) any day but my paycheck might one day be traced back to soccer moms' PayPal/Apple accounts across the world. That would be perfectly fine with me because I know games like ACII and ME2 aren't going anywhere.