The five applications Apple released in an upgrade for the iPod Touch are not free. They aren’t even reasonably priced. They are however overpriced at $20. I still bought the upgrade, not because I needed it, but because I must have the latest and greatest.

The apps included are maps ($.63), weather ($.15), stocks ($.12), notes ($.68), and the only one I use, mail ($.86). So I spent $20 on a mail application that I really didn’t need? I thought so, until I dug a little deeper and found features that make it worth it better. (Also included a break down of what they really are worth)

New “Hidden” Features:

• Web Clips- Like apps, but are slower and only work when connected to wifi ($.53)
• Custom Screen Layout- You can now put any app, anywhere, there’s even more pages ($.02)
• Location Lookup- Google maps can find your location, but good luck having it work on an iPod Touch ($.31)
• Document viewer- the iPhone can view common files like .doc and spreadsheets, and it’s now on the Touch ($1.oo)
• Minor tweaks- just looking at the interface you’ll notice minor layout changes, animations, and a few new buttons ($.47)

The upgrade should be priced at $4.77.

*The “estimation” is not based on anything and for good reason.