I’ve been using my iPod touch (upgraded to the 2.0 firmware) at a number of hotspots during the past week. I’ve also been carrying a variety of Windows Mobile WiFi enabled devices. One of the things that has become very clear to me is that the iPod touch acquires access points much much faster than any WiMo device I’ve tried. I’d say that that the iPod touch is generally ready to roll in under 10 seconds. WiMo devices seem to take 30 to 60 seconds just to acquire an access point and then be ready to use (browse, email, etc.). That, of course, is when a WiMo device acquires any signal at all. I’ve run into several public access points where the WiMo Pocket PC (Professional Edition) could not even lock into the WAP. The iPod touch, on the other hand, was working within seconds.

Since the Safari web-browser on the iPod touch is so much better than Internet Explorer on the Pocket PC or Smartphone, it is a no-brainer decision to use the iPod touch when wandering about hot spot areas.