Essential iPod Touch Accessories

Okay, so you finally scored yourself an iPod touch. For the new iPod owner, the choices of iPod accessories can be overwhelming and that is why I have come up with a list of must have iPod touch accessories.

iPod touch protective screens

First and foremost, the 3.5 inch screen display of the iPod touch is amazing. It has brilliant color contrast quality and watching videos on it is quite enjoyable, not to mention surfing the Internet. Apple says the screen is anti-scratch and I’ve seen demonstrations of people scratching their iPod touches with keys and nails. It comes through with flying colors. However, that still leaves the shiny silver back open to scratches. In my opinion, this is a must to get an iPod touch protective screen for the back. And quite frankly, I don’t like people’s fingerprints and oils smudging my fancy iPod touch. Since OEM protective screens are extremely cheap and come in pairs, I think this is a no brainer to get and to put on the front and the back of the iPod. That is for a cheap and perfectly acceptable solution but the screens themselves get scratched so you need to keep replacing them. For a life-time solution, get a full body guard like the invisibleShield or BodyGuardz. The material is a polyurethane film made for the military to protect helicopter blades. I think that’s quite sufficient protection for the iPod touch!

iPod touch cases

So now you have protected your iPod touch’s screen and back from scratches. But it doesn’t protect it from drops. For the extra peace of mind, I’d get an iPod touch case. I prefer leather cases but there are other types as well. Clear plastic cases, aluminum, and skins. It’s just added protection at discount OEM prices. There are of course, high-end cases as well to choose from but it really is up to you and your personal preference.

iPod touch travel charger, car charger, home charger

Another must have iPod touch accessory for me are travel chargers. I’m always on the go and I need my music so I have a charger in my car, office and different rooms of my house. And once again, iPod touch chargers are so incredibly cheap! Best of all, a lot of iPod touch accessories bundles include all that was mentioned above: protective screens, a case, car chargers, wall chargers. It’s your one stop shop for the most basic essential iPod touch accessories.

iPod touch earphones upgrade

One of the things that really annoy me about the iPods are the cheap earphones that come with them. They have poor sound quality and are uncomfortable to wear for a long period of time. To be honest, I think it’s an insult to the iPod touch to have such mediocre earphones. Another essential iPod touch accessory for me are the earphones itself. It must be upgraded. I would splurge on iPod touch earphones. After all, isn’t that what the iPod is about, listening to music? Why would anyone compromise the basic functionality of the iPod? I would recommend getting in-ear noise eliminating earphones. Bose is a recognizable name in the audio industry and provide quite nice earphones. V-moda is another quality brand name which offers both sound quality and a touch of style with a selection of colorful earphones to choose from. But the big daddy of them all are Shure earphones. In my opinion they are the best in the business. Review after review, they come highly recommended. If you can afford them, get them! You won’t be disappointed.

iPod touch dock station

I can’t imagine listening to my iPod in the house with earphones. Get an iPod touch dock station. You can connect the iPod to your home sound system and control it with a remote. Or you can get a dock station with external speakers itself. Some dock stations even come with an alarm clock, AM/FM radio. There is a great selection of dock stations to choose from and for me, it’s an essential iPod touch accessory.

That is my list of must have iPod touch accessories. All items can be had for extremely discounted prices at the Essential iPod touch accessories store.

In the past, I have talked about essential iPod touch accessories. Now let’s talk about cool iPod touch accessories.

The iPod touch is the little cousin of the iPhone but wouldn’t it be neat if you could make phone calls with the iPod touch? With a little hacking and an iPod touch accessory microphone you can.

What is great about the iPod touch is the fact that there are so many ingenious developers working to make it better. They do so by writing third party applications for the iPod touch. However, in order to install these applications, you need to “jailbreak” your iPod touch. It really isn’t that complicated and there are tons of information available on the net on how to do so. Therefore, I won’t go into the details. By jailbreaking your iPod touch, a wealth of new applications will be available to you. One of the applications available is a SIP-VOIP application that allows you to make calls with your iPod touch.

Once you have the SIP-VOIP application installed on your iPod touch, you need to sign up for a VOIP provider. There are free VOIP providers available on the Internet as well. I recommend making multiple accounts as they have limits on how many free minutes per month you are allowed.

Once you have an account, enter the such as the username and password and other pertinent details to the SIP-VOIP application.

Finally, to the good stuff. You need an iPod touch microphone in order to talk to other people. This iPod touch accessory is attached to the connector. You listen through your headphones. To make a call, you just put the numbers in the SIP-VOIP application.

The iPod touch microphone is definitely classified as a cool iPod Touch accessory!

In one of my earlier posts, I mentioned that a case is one of the essential iPod Touch accessories.

I think it is a given that a case is one of the first accessories an iPod Touch owner should get to protect their mp3 player.

However, given the amount of iPod Touch cases that are available and all at affordable prices, it really depends on what your style is. And yes, beyond giving protection to an iPod Touch, a case is about style as well.

There are lots of iPod Touch cases to choose from. Some are cases are made from silicone, plastic, nylon, aluminum, or leather. Personally, I prefer a high end look. My thinking is that an iPod Touch accessory should be befitting of the actual device itself.

A silicone skin won’t offer much protection and sometimes it’s a poor fit. They make me feel like I’m putting galoshes on my iPod Touch.

Depending on the plastic case, the look might detract from the sleek iPod Touch - and dropping it would probably crack the case as well. It doesn’t offer much cushioning protection for your iPod Touch.

I have seen some useful iPod Touch nylon pouches but that’s if you are willing to carry the pouch by hand or clip it to your belt or purse strap. The advantage is that you can have all your other iPod Touch accessories in the pouch with you – portable speakers, mini stand, cloth cleaner, etc. It’s certainly is a viable option.

Before my iPod Touch, I had lots of PDAs which I always protected with aluminum cases lined with neoprene. But if you’re getting an aluminum case or any other type of hard case for your iPod Touch, take into account the thickness it will add to the iPod Touch. Some cases can make it harder to get to the earphone jack, USB connector, and the power button.

For me, a snug iPod Touch quality leather case is ideal as it gives protection and stylish professionalism as well. These are usually slim and light weight. Make sure it has a belt clip with it as some leather cases don’t. I prefer a leather belt clip to the plastic ones that you have to screw on yourself as with other case types.

The iPod Touch case is an essential iPod Touch accessory. Look around and you’ll find that you don’t have to compromise protection and style with an iPod Touch case.

One of the more practical and convenient iPod Touch accessories out there is an FM transmitter.

What is an iPod FM transmitter?

It is an iPod Touch accessory that you can attach to your iPod so you can play the music through any FM receiver. You can do this by transmitting FM signals on an empty FM channel to be picked up by your car stereo for example.

The process is really simple so no need for non technical people to get scared. The instructions will basically tell you to find the channel you want to broadcast to on your FM transmitter display. Find the same channel on your FM receiver and you’re rocking!

Depending on the package you get, your iPod Touch accessory might come with just the FM transmitter, or it might come with a charger as well so you can play music through your car stereo while charging it at the same time.

You can keep your libary of music in your iPod and play it in the car without using the earphones to share it with your travelling companions. Even if you’re alone, it’s just a safer option not to be tangled in earphone wires or to have music blasting directly into your ears so you ignore traffic noise.

I must say that this is one of the more practical and convenient iPod Touch accessories out there.

When I got my iPod Touch, I opened the box and took a quick inventory of my iPod Touch accessories. I had a stand, a cleaning cloth and earphones. But funny enough, my earphones had no earbuds. I looked and looked. Come on now, would Apple be so cheap as to skimp on earbuds? Disgruntled, I went to the dollar store to buy some cheap earphones, took the earbuds off them and put them on my iPod earphones. This was a temporary solution.

Let’s face it, the iPod Touch is afterall, an awesome mp3 player but the earphones that comes with it just aren’t worthy. It kind of makes me think that Apple knows you’re going to replace them anyways so they aren’t even bothering with the earbuds.

For another great iPod Touch accessory, I’d recommend replacing your earphones with in-ear isolating earphones. These type of earphones are actually mini high fidelity speakers that plug into your ear sealing off ambient noise. The sound from the isolating earphones is delivered directly to your ear canal in crystal clear quality even at the lowest volumes. In fact, no more cranking up the volume to overcompensate for the surrounding noise you hear while using your old earphones. You seriously don’t need to be an audiophile to notice a huge difference - it’s that much better.

So set aside some money to get a decent pair of isolating earphones as a much needed iPod Touch accessory.

One of the fun things after getting an iPod Touch is trying to find iPod Touch accessories to go with it. The point is to get the maximum value out of it. There are some pretty cheap iPod Touch accessories around to be found online.

So whether you’re getting it for yourself or getting an accessory as a gift, I’d suggest looking into these essential iPod Touch accessories:

• iPod Touch case/skin – Some sort of iPod protection is a must. You don’t want to an accident to happen to your gadget. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve dropped mine. Depending on your level of activity, you might want to go with a simple silicon skin, a sleek hard shell aluminum case, a professional looking leather case or a sport armband carrying case.
• iPod Touch screen protector – The iPod Touch’s screen has an anti-scratch coating but so did my glasses when I bought them. After a couple of years my glasses started to get scratches. It’s just best to get a protective layer. It’s a few bucks to spend to protect your iPod Touch that’s worth a few hundred dollars. It sucks to watch a movie when there’s a big scratch on the screen.
• iPod Touch earphones - The standard white iPod earphones are just not acceptable. Since the iPods are the leading mp3 players in the industry, you’d think Apple would give you better earphones given their reputation for uncompromising quality. This is not the case. Do yourself the favor and get rid of those earphones as they do not do justice to the sound quality of the iPod Touch. This is a must upgrade.
• iPod Touch dock station speakers – Let’s face it, a big part of the iPod Touch is the wow factor. You want to show off your iPod Touch to your friends. Put the iPod Touch on display in a dock station with amplifier speakers. Turn up the music and have a party.
• iPod Touch travel charger – The P in iPod stands for portable. You want to have your iPod Touch with you on those long business trips. Get an iPod Touch universal travel charger so you never have to worry about plugs and prongs. And don’t forget, you’ll be mobile in the car as well so you need an iPod car charger. When you’re on the go stuck in traffic, charge your iPod Touch so it’s always ready to go.

These are my recommendations for essential accessories for new iPod Touch owners. As you can see, the list of iPod Touch accessories are all practical and can be found easily on the Internet.