Apple is sticking it to the consumer again, according to some iPod Touch owners. Steve Jobs announced at the Mac World conference today that Apple would be offering an upgrade for the iPod Touch to version 1.1.3, but the thing is that they are going to charge current owners US$20 for it.

While the firmware upgrade that will add Mail, Maps, Stocks, Weather, and Notes application are welcomed additions to iPod Touch owners, these were already existing applications that were stripped out of the iPhone to create the first version of the iPod Touch. It is hard to believe that Apple is requiring its users to pay for the privilege of adding these to their iPod Touch, and there are many disgruntled iPod Touch owners.

The new revision of the firmware, including the missing application, will be included in new purchases of the iPod Touch with no increase in the price. As one existing iPod Touch owner put it, if they wanted to make it fair to everyone, they should have raised the price of the iPod Touch for a limited time by $20 so that everyone was paying the same price.

iPod Touch owners might complain, but the added features of the new application really push the limits and abilities of the WiFi enabled iPod Touch. It is likely that most iPod Touch owners will spring for the additional applications, regardless of how they feel about Apple’s policy of charging for this firmware update.

iPod Touch owners will be able to download the 1.1.3 firmware update using iTunes for US$19.95, starting today.