When a number of iPod touch 5G users looked around in their iOS 6 settings a few days ago they noticed something not quite right, which focused on the lack of an ambient light sensor. We touched on this 3 days ago with a screenshot example, which showed certain settings missing and relieved some people that thought their 5th generation iPod touch had been broken.

Since this news broke we’ve heard from Apple’s VP of global marketing, Phil Schiller, and he commented directly on the reasons behind no ambient light sensor in the iPod touch 5G. This isn’t a problem that needed fixing; in fact it had been planned thanks to the new iPod touch having such a thin design.

Schiller explained in an email to one customer, thanks to this source, that the 5th generation has no “built-in automatic light sensor” thanks to being “too thin“. PR readers have already commented on this missing feature, and the majority don’t seem bothered by the lack of it.

Will you miss an ambient light sensor in the iPod touch 5G? Some people have also questioned the authenticity of these emails, and in fact if they came from Schiller in the first place considering he normally includes a “sent from iPhone” signature. We have contacted Apple in regard to confirming this email exchange, but are yet to receive a reply.

You can see an image above that shows how the settings look with and without the auto-brightness option. It is worth pointing out that there are a number of new gadgets hitting the market, including smartphones, which have left out certain specs and features thanks to becoming much thinner, so this might be a trend we see in 2013 until technology improves.

When taking a quick look at the new iPod touch 5th generation you can’t help but be impressed with the refresh that had been two years in the making, although a closer look from one blogger has revealed a missing feature that could impact the iPod touch 5G battery life and this won’t be known fully until users have been hands-on a little longer.

At the end of last week we took a look at two impressive iPod touch 5G reviews, one that spent some time looking at the main specs and another that put the new hardware through its paces. Both of these reviews had nothing extremely bad to say, and the iPod touch 5G price has pretty much met user expectations, so what is the problem that some people are starting to notice?

The iPod touch 5G removes one of our favorite features – one user that has taken some time with their review of the new iPod noticed something strange when looking for a feature that the old iPod touch had, which had been the ambient light sensor to help the device know how bright the screen should be for your current environment.

You can read their story in this article and what they first thought when discovering the iPod touch 5G had no ambient light sensor, which included looking at iOS 6 on an iPad and noticing that feature in the settings but on the 5th generation iPod touch it had been removed. You only need to go to “Sensors” and you’ll see no mention of this feature.

This news has been met with mixed reactions and some people can’t understand why Apple would remove a feature like this that’s common on their devices, although others never liked the light sensor or turned it off, so they’d not miss it anyway. Will you miss this feature on the iPod touch 5G?

If you are currently using the iPod touch 5G then we’d love to hear how your device is, have you experienced any problems? You can see a number of iPod touch 5G cases in an earlier article, although feel free to share your thoughts on the best type of case and colors for the new iPod in the comments.

This week will see early adopters receive their new iPod touch 5th generation, which were shipped last week, so these users and others might be wondering how good it’s going to be? If you’re not hands-on yet with the iPod touch 5G then you should see the two videos below on this page, which include a full review for almost 17 minutes and also an extreme drop/scratch test.

The first video features the iPod touch 5G review and takes a look at almost every aspect of the new portable media player, which includes highlighting the external design first and focusing on what different parts do. The display is obviously pretty similar to the iPhone 5 at first glance, although on the iPod touch 5G you’ll see some notable differences to the design and feel.

Apple’s refresh for the iPod touch delivers a small, thin, and light device but allows for the slightly bigger display. You’ll see a black area at the top of the iPod touch 5G back, which is for your antenna window that helps improve Wi-Fi and Bluetooth, so try to keep this uncovered when holding the device. The reviewer points out the wrap around Unibody right at the start of the review, and explains how the new iPod has a satiny feel.

If you’ve received your iPod touch 5G then you’ll notice the wrist strap that’s included in the box, which attaches via the silver circle on the back. This is obviously Apple’s attempt to make the 5th generation iPod touch a good point-and-shoot camera. With the improved camera, flash, and 1080p video recording we wonder why anyone would need a standalone camera again, unless you like optical zoom and DLSRs that is. Watch the first video for the full review and further insight.

The second video shows a drop test for the new iPod touch 5G, so take a look at this to see how well the new hardware handles drops that might happen under extreme circumstances. During their review the 5G iPod touch had been dropped a number of times in different ways, and between drops they took a look at how well the device held up.

Are you impressed with the new iPod touch 5G, and if you pre-ordered early has your device arrived yet? If you need a case then you might want to see our recent article on cases for protection that are in limited supply, and also see an article about how some people feel the device should’ve had more memory, which comes to us thanks to a teardown.

One person’s playtime with the new iPod touch 5G would be completely different to another gadget fan, and while we’d love to play with the new design just like we did with the iPhone 5, it seems that one popular repair website can only dream about performing an iPod touch 5G teardown. They have now pulled apart the new hardware and the results are in, but the internals are not making some fans happy.

The upset comes thanks to the iPod touch 5G memory found after iFixit pulled the device apart and explained how others can do the same, which is shown in this article in the normal step-by-step guide they’ve become known for. The 5th generation iPod touch contains just 512MB of RAM, which has surprised some people that claim the cost of moving this to 1GB would be extremely small and also could help greatly when it comes to mobile gaming.

Developers have often complained about the lack of memory in all types of hardware as they age, certainly seen with the PS3, and if Apple included double the 512MB of RAM, for a tiny cost, it could’ve increased the life of the iPod touch 5G by at least another year. Tests for the battery life haven’t been performed yet, but the device has certainly improved in terms of specs by moving to a 1030mAh battery from 930mAh seen in the previous generation.

Do you feel the money you pay for an iPod touch 5G deserves better specs? When it comes to the slightly larger battery it might be that this is needed for the A5 processor, which then means no improvement in battery life that could’ve been accomplished if Apple had made a little less profit per unit. Saying that they’re a business like any other, and we guess profit margin has to come on top of the list of priorities.

It is worth pointing out that iFixit score devices on how easy they are to fix, so seeing the score of just 3 out of 10 is not impressive, although most Apple fans let Apple deal with the repairing of their gadgets.

Are you happy with the expected iPod touch 5G battery life and memory revealed from the above teardown? There will likely be battery cases made for the iPod touch from brands such as Mophie, so at least any battery issue can be cured pretty easy. You can read about a few cases already arriving for the new iPod in our earlier article, although these don’t include any battery increasing options.

Finding iPod touch 5th generation cases will be much harder this close to launch, the iPod touch 5G is only just shipping, although it is possible to find protection for your portable media player but the choice will be limited right now. We’ve tracked down a few designs in a number of colors, which you can see some of the cases in the photos on this page.

We looked at iPhone 5 cases for Halloween just a few days ago and considering the new iPod touch 5G has a similar design, it is not surprising to find spooky cases for your new iPod as well. You can see a so-called Panda case in the image below, although we think it looks more suited to Halloween than showing you’re a lover of animals.

You can see more pictures and full specs for this 5G iPod touch case on this page at Love Cases, which basically shows the case is made from tough silicone, includes a key chain, and is designed specifically for your new iPod touch 5G. You’ll also see a number of other designs and colors here, which includes a brown iPod touch 5G case in the theme of a Monkey, Snap-On cases with stands, and also Barely There cases in a range of colors that help to keep the iPod touch 5G design almost untouched.

It is interesting to note that the official Case Mate website, found at case-mate.com, currently lacks any cases for the new iPod touch, so we find it strange that 3rd party websites are promoting them before the official website. You will notice that these cases are only available to pre-order right now on Love Cases, so this could be one reason why you won’t find them on Case Mate.

The new iPod touch has started to ship and notices have been sent out to those that pre-ordered early, so if that’s you let us know if you will be purchasing a case to protect your new toy, or do you prefer to keep all the new design revealed and don’t worry about the need for additional protection? It is also worth looking on eBay and Amazon for iPod touch 5G cases, and keep an eye on OtterBox as well although they currently lack cases for the new iPod.

Apple might have skipped a year with launching a new iPod touch, but the 5th generation model has finally arrived at a recent event and it seems that shipping notices are starting to arrive as well. Exactly one week today we reported that the iPod touch 5G still lacked a release date, and then 4 days ago we noticed that Apple were getting the new media player ready for shipment, so as expected we’re now hearing that these devices are leaving Apple on their way to customers.

The first iPod touch 5G pre-orders that saw a status change had been ordered around Sept 14, although this had only been a notice of the device “preparing for shipment” at the time, and today we know that many orders are seeing the iPod touch 5G being given a shipping and delivery date. Devices ordered a few days later than the earlier report are now seeing emails stating “one of your items has shipped“, which is a standard message Apple send out for all shipping notifications.

The shipping notices we have seen are for a range of models, which includes the 32GB iPod touch 5G in White and Silver. Most of the delivery dates we’ve seen are for around Oct 15, although if you’ve received a different date we’d love to know, so hit the comments if that’s you.

The notifications also included the new 7th generation iPod nano that will arrive in-hands within the next week, although it’s worth noting that these products are coming directly from China, so you can expect to be one of the first in the world to get hands-on with the iPod touch 5G or nano 7G. Some people looked into the delivery companies a little more and found out that the devices are coming from specific factories in China, which included Kunshan.

Apple has delivered one of the most radical refreshes of the iPod touch to date, and the 5th generation device will feature a display very similar to that on the iPhone 5, which means a screen of 4-inches that is notably taller. Considering that both the iPhone 5 and iPod touch 5G include the same taller Retina display, you should expect some shortages if you’re trying to get hold of one in the next couple of weeks.

Did you pre-order the iPod touch 5G, and if so is it on the way to you now? We’ll update PR readers over the next week, and especially after users give their reactions to the new hardware. When we hear about problems with the iPod touch 5G in the next few weeks it is always good to remember the percentage of issues, which is what Apple consider to see if problems are an expected number from overall sales.

Hearing that the new iPod touch 5G had finally arrived would have been music to some people’s ears, which is due to the iPod touch not being refreshed with a new 5th generation last year. The fact is we are almost at the point of release, although Apple still fail to deliver a date for when the new iPod touch will ship and currently only offer a month that you should expect the device to start shipping.

Apple are promoting the 2012 iPod touch as designed for “maximum funness“, and they aim to do this with a range of bright colors in a new design, which features not only a 4-inch Retina display similar to that on the new iPhone 5, but also many other improvements like the Dual-core A5 chip, and iSight camera with 1080p video. These new specs for the iPod touch 5G will make the device much more fun when needing to capture memories, which are backed up with more enhancements found with iOS 6.

The lack of iPod touch 5G release date is confusing some people that would expect something more specific by now, and this has led to thousands of people that have pre-ordered heading to forums asking when the iPod touch 5G will ship? Some 3rd party retailers have listed dates, like Play.com with a date of Oct 15, but the best advice is to wait until the shipping notices start to arrive, which will certainly be this month unless there are some unforeseen problems.

Did you pre-order the new iPod touch, and if so are you getting impatient with the wait for an exact release date? You can see the information on the official Apple store in the image above, which just details the month they expect to ship the new hardware. Keep connected to PR and we’ll notify you when the first devices start to ship, also you can count on detailed hands-on reviews to give undecided users more information before making the decision to purchase.

The iPhone 5 has been rumored to be running on a quad-core processor, which Apple may unveil at their event as the A6 chip. This will be the first time we’ve seen the elusive A6 chip in an Apple device, after the new iPad was still confirmed to be running on the Apple A5X chip which featured in the iPhone 4S and iPad 2 before it.

After so much talk about the iPhone 5 and even a smaller 7 to 8-inch iPad appearing at Apple’s event, we could have forgotten all about a new iPod Touch debut and the fact that it could mimic the iPhone 5 with a taller display in the region of 4-inches. Unsurprisingly though, reports are emerging that Apple won’t power the new iPod Touch with the same chip as the iPhone 5.

Instead we may even see the A5X passed down to the iPod Touch, which would still be a considerable upgrade in performance compared to the A4 chip that currently powers the 4th generation model. If Apple are planning to make more features changes from the iPhone 5 to the new iPod Touch, what should consumers expect to be cut next?

Siri would be a nice addition to the iPod Touch, but we still don’t see it happening since Apple has still yet to release Siri for the iPhone 4, essentially forcing an upgrade on consumers. The 4th generation iPod Touch didn’t feature a full Retina Display with IPS either so is this another key area that Apple needs to provide this time around?

It’s clear that there’s still a huge market for the iPod Touch for those that want a portion of the iOS features without phone functions. What would you like to see upgraded for the new iPod Touch though to secure your purchase?

The demand for an iPod touch 5G has been in place for well over a year, and last year we looked at some possible 5th generation iPod touch features, and even one year on these are still in-demand. This includes the normal improvements to camera, processor, memory, and display but in 2012 we need much more considering technology has moved on even further.

Apple iPod touch 5G features this year would be ramped up in a number of ways, and considering the outdated processor on the current iPod touch it would be nice to see a new Apple A6 chip as one of the specs, although we might have to settle for an A5 to cut costs. Last year completely skipped a new generation, so this year we’d welcome much more than 3G and would expect 4G/LTE inclusion if Apple ever decided to bring such features to the iPod touch 5G. We find it hard to understand why the iPad 3 has LTE, and Apple wouldn’t want this on a new iPod touch, especially considering this is one of the most wanted features by users.

Common iPod touch 5G features asked for by users last year included a finger print reader, better video camera, 3D display and even a 3D camera with up to 12 megapixels, 1080P video recording with increased battery life when shooting videos, and some people want more storage that would include options up to 128GB.

Now that we’re one year on it’s fair to say these are still features that are asked for, although some of these iPod touch 5G improvements will never arrive, and this is thanks to Apple moving away from certain abilities like having massive storage, which would be opposite to the cloud computing movement and iCloud.

You can certainly count on the latest iOS 6 with more than 200 new features, and this alone could bring some cool features that only work with new specs on the 5G iPod touch. We’ve recently seen product timelines for Apple that show possible product launches for Sept and Oct, which include a new iPod touch and iPod nano. It will be interesting to see what new features are included with these models that bring extras thanks to iOS 6.

We are likely days away from the iPod touch 5G release date, about time, although we’d love to know what features are at the top of your list?

Normally we would see Apple try their best to deliver what the majority of fans want in the way of specs, although when it comes to the iPod touch 5G (5th generation) it seems that giving users certain features could cause the device to become too much like an iPhone.

We touched on this very issue before when we looked at the expected new iPhone specs and also how they could be very similar to the iPod touch 5G, but since that article we’ve had a few emails from our readers explaining a need for making the new iPod touch 3G/4G capable for data. It is fair that only adding data, not cellular phone calls, would allow users to keep connected much easier and even allow 3G FaceTime calls with iOS 6.

The iPad does it so why can’t the iPod touch 5G? One of their reasons some people think it will happen is considering the iPad 3 now supports LTE/4G, which also allows for really fast cellular data. This is something that would make the next iPod touch very desirable for users that don’t need a phone so much, and considering the confirmed FaceTime over 3G it would take the abilities of an iPod touch to another level.

Major benefits for 3G/4G iPod touch include surfing the Internet anywhere, sending text messages over cellular data, and of course using Skype or other apps to make calls. It makes sense after looking at the iPad specs, but considering the size of the iPod touch is similar to the iPhone, could this make both the devices too similar?

What iPod touch 5G specs would you like to see? The latest model should see a release date at some point this month, and we’ve heard a few of our readers talk about a 2nd camera for 3G, but we’d love to know what you would like to see on the 5th generation iPod, so hit the comments and let us know. Do you think Apple would make such a move as adding cellular data to an iPod?

Our recent iMac 2012 article also featured an expected product launch schedule for Apple in September and October, which you can see in an image found here. If this is correct then we could see a new iPod before the Apple iPhone event. We are also hearing about a new design for the next iPod touch, which a leaked picture can be seen in this article.