iPhones, iPods, and iPads forum: iPod Touch 4th gen - refuses to restore

First problem occurred - 12-14-12
Tried syncing and updating apps on iPod Touch... I got this message...

Some of the apps in your iTunes library were not installed on the ipod touch because one or more errors occurred.

The dialogue window reported 7 total warnings. Each said...

The app "(app name)" was not installed on the iPod "touch" because an unknown error occurred (0xE800002D)

I deleted the apps from the iPod and synced the iPod without problem as one forum suggested.

More problems occurred - 12-15-12

I tried syncing the ipod again.

iTunes cannot sync apps to the iPod "touch" because the apps installed on the iPod could not be determined.

I deleted the apps that failed to sync from the iPod. I then backed up the iPod. After it backed up without problem I tried to restore the iPod to factory condition. I again received the message

The iPod "touch" could not be restored. Could not send a message to the device.

A suggested possible solution is update iTunes to latest version so I did...

iTunes was updated to the new iTunes 11. When I attempt to restore iPod touch I again get the message...

The iPod "touch" could not be restored. Could not send a message to the device.

I tried resetting PRAM as suggested in an apple discussion. I also removed all other USB devices before resetting PRAM. When I attempt to restore iPod touch later on, I again get the message...

The iPod "touch" could not be restored. Could not send a message to the device.

more of the same problems occurred tonight - 12-16-12

I bought a new 30 pin cable as suggested in one apple discussion. When I tried restoring the iPod I got the message...

The iPod "touch" could not be restored. Could not send a message to the device.

I have been searching the apple forums for several days, but they only offer bits and pieces of solutions (which I have tried). I can't find a specific fix for this issue. Has anyone experienced this before? What did you do when you can't initialize/restore an iPod??? Is the answer to manually put the iPod in recovery mode and then restore? (this is something I have yet to try)

Could this be a hardware issue? (this is a gently treated, 1 year old device, but it is used everyday)

I'm running 10.6.8 on a mid 2010 macbook pro with 4 gigs of RAM. I plan on upgrading the OS soon, but first want to get peripheral issues taken care of first.

iPod Touch is 4th gen with ios 6.1

Thanks all