iPods: All about the Apple iPod
iPod is a brand of portable digital audio/video player designed and marketed by
Apple Computer. (Hewlett-Packard previously marketed the product under the name
Apple iPod + HP, but announced on July 29, 2005 they would stop reselling it in
September 2005, when existing stock was projected to be depleted). Devices in
the iPod family offer a simple user interface designed around a central scroll
wheel. Most iPod models store media on a built-in hard drive, while the smaller
iPod nano and iPod shuffle use flash memory. Like most digital audio players, an
iPod can serve as an external data storage device when connected to a computer.
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The software that uploads music and photos to the iPod is iTunes. iTunes is a
music 'jukebox' application that keeps records of what music is where on the
hard disk, as well as playing and ripping it. The later versions of iTunes as
well as the iPod have video playing and organization capabilities. Other data
can be added to the iPod as if it were any other data storage device connected
to the computer.
Name
Apple Computer often refers to the player as iPod, without use of the definite
article the. Apple's web site reflects this usage (for example, "iPod
incorporates the same touch-sensitive Apple Click Wheel that debuted on iPod
mini"), which resembles Apple's use of the words Macintosh or iMac. The company
has other products with a lowercase "i" in front of the name. These include:
iSight, iChat, iTunes, iDVD, and iBook. When Apple first introduced the iMac,
the "i" stood for internet, meaning that the iMac shipped with everything you
would need for a connection, but it stuck, as the brand recognition associated
with it has positive effects on the sales of Apple products. Recently, some
media have started referring to the generation primarily born in the late 1980s,
and which in particular has made the iPod popular, as the iGeneration,
suggesting that the "i" family of products may have a far-reaching cultural
impact.
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History
Tony Fadell first conceived the iPod outside Apple. When he demonstrated his
idea to Apple, the company hired him as an independent contractor to bring his
project to the market, putting him in charge of assembling the team that
developed the first two generations of the device. Apple's Industrial Design
Group, working under the direction of Jonathan Ive designed the subsequent
incarnations.
Apple originally released the iPod on October 23, 2001 as a Mac-compatible
product, but the company later released a format compatible with Microsoft
Windows, before finally releasing a Windows version of the iTunes software that
updates the iPod. As of October 2004, iPod dominated digital music player sales
in the United States, with over 90% of the market for hard-drive-based players
and over 70% of the market for all types of players. The iPod has sold at a
tremendous rate, moving close to twenty million units in a total of four years.
Apple has posited that the iPod has a "halo effect", encouraging users of
non-Apple products to switch to other Apple products, such as to Macintosh
computers.
Patent disputes
In March 2005, Apple Computer faced two pending lawsuits claiming patent
infringement by the iPod and its associated technologies: Advanced Audio Devices
claimed the iPod breached their patent on a "Music jukebox" and Hong Kong-based
IP portfolio company Pat-rights filed suit on behalf of inventor Keung Tse Ho,
claiming that Apple's FairPlay technology breached their patent on " Protection
of software against unauthorized use". [1]
Apple's application to the United States Patent and Trademark Office for a
patent on "rotational user inputs", as used in the iPod's interface, received a
third "non-final rejection" (NFR) in August 2005.
Also in August 2005, Creative Technology, one of Apple's main rivals in the MP3
player market, announced that it too held a patent on part of the music
selection interface used by the iPod (U.S. Patent No. 6,928,433: "Automatic
hierarchical categorization of music by metadata", which Creative dubbed the
'Zen Patent', granted on 9 August 2005). [2]
Keung Tse Ho's issued patent: Protection of software against unauthorized use
Advanced Audio Devices' issued patent: Music jukebox
Apple Computer's application: Method and apparatus for use of rotational user
inputs
Creative Technology's issued patent: Automatic hierarchical categorization of
music by metadata
Capabilities
Software
iPods can play MP3, WAV, AAC/M4A, Protected AAC, AIFF, Audible audiobook,
MPEG-4, and Apple Lossless file formats. The Windows version of iTunes can
transcode WMA files without copy protection to AAC, MP3, or WAV format for later
transfer to an iPod, however WMA files with copy protection cannot be either
played in iTunes or copied to the iPod. Reviewers have criticized the iPod's
inability to play some other formats, in particular the Ogg Vorbis and FLAC
formats.
Apple designed the iPod to work with the iTunes media library software, which
lets users manage the music libraries on their computers and on their iPods.
iTunes can automatically synchronize a user's iPod with specific playlists or
with the entire contents of a music library each time an iPod connects to a host
computer. Users may also set a rating (out of 5 stars) on any song, and can sync
that information to an iTunes music library.
In addition to playing music and storing files, the iPod has limited PDA
functionality: the unit can synchronize a user's contacts and schedule with
programs such as iCal and Microsoft Outlook. Also, Mozilla's Sunbird and
Calendar support the use of iCal (.ics) format calendar files. These programs
may be used to update the iPod Calendar on any supported operating system,
including Windows; originally, the files in Windows must be manually dragged and
dropped into the Calendar directory on the iPod, but ever since the release of
iTunes 5.0, Windows users are now given the option to automatically sync their
files to their iPod.
It can also display notes, and hence host simple games and store restaurant
information. However, iPod has limitations as a PDA, since users cannot edit
this information on the iPod but only on a computer.
iPods (with the exception of the iPod Shuffle) also feature games . 1G and 2G
iPods feature "Brick", a clone of the Breakout arcade game from Atari
(originally created by Apple cofounder Steve Wozniak). 3G and 4G include Brick,
along with three other games:
Parachute: a game in which the user controls a turret and attempts to shoot down
paratroopers and the helicopters which release them. Parachute emulates the
Apple II game Sabotage by Mark Allen.
Solitaire: a simple card game resembling the Klondike solitaire card game.
Music Quiz: an interactive music quiz featuring the user's own songs. The game
plays a portion of a random song and prompts the user to identify it from a list
of 5 (or of 4 on the iPod Mini). A song drops off the list every few seconds.
The faster the users choose the right song, the more points they get. Music Quiz
became available through a free firmware update for 3G iPods released in October
2003 and later came standard with the iPod mini and 4G iPods. No record is kept
of the score, and there is no limit on the amount of songs played; however, the
songs repeat after the first 100.
iPod Linux and podzilla
In 2005, the iPod Linux project started in order to expand the amount of
software available (particularly games) and to add support for other media
formats such as Ogg Vorbis, and FLAC. The project has written an alternative GUI
for the iPod called podzilla. Podzilla comes with many applications built in,
including an sh-style text-editor called Sash, a calculator, a paint program,
and several games (including a tetris clone).
Once iPod Linux has been installed, the user can specify which interface he
wants to boot into; the default iPod UI or the user-installed podzilla. The boot
loader can be accessed by holding down the rewind button during boot. As of July
2005, iPod Linux runs with full functionality on first-generation through
third-generation iPods. Support for fourth-generation iPods is under
development; some users have reported bugs, especially when using the latest
iPod firmware.
To download iPod Linux and updates to it, visit
http://www.ipodlinux.org
Hardware
Except for the iPod shuffle, iPod nano and 5th Generation iPod, all previous
models of iPod offer FireWire connectivity, although Apple has recently stopped
supporting FireWire cables with iPods in favor of Hi-Speed USB (USB 2.0),
probably as a cost-cutting measure (most Windows-based PCs do not offer
FireWire). iPods can recharge their internal batteries using either FireWire
(all generations) or USB power (only 4G and higher) while connected to a
computer or to an iPod AC power adapter. Both USB and FireWire-based power
adapters exist. First and second-generation iPods had a standard Firewire
connection port. Newer iPods, iPod minis and iPod nanos use a proprietary 30-pin
dock connector to connect the iPod to a computer’s FireWire or USB port with a
proprietary cable. The iPod Shuffle has a USB connector that plugs into a
standard USB port for recharging and for data transfer.
The first three generations of iPod use two ARM 7TDMI-derived CPUs running at 90
MHz, while later models have variable speed chips with a peak of 80 MHz to save
battery life. iPods use 1.8-in (46-mm) ATA hard drives (with a nonstandard
connector) made by Toshiba. The iPod mini uses one-inch hard drives made by
Hitachi. The iPod has a 32-MiB flash ROM chip which contains a bootloader, a
program that tells the device to load the operating system from another medium
(in this case, the hard drive). All iPods have 32 MiB of RAM, a portion of which
holds the iPod OS loaded from the firmware and the vast majority of which serves
to cache songs loaded from the hard drive. For example, an iPod could spin the
hard disk up once and copy about 30 MiB of upcoming songs on a playlist into
RAM, thus saving power by not having the drive spin up for each song.
Earphones
All iPods come with earbud headphones with distinctive white cords, a color
chosen to match the design of the original iPod. The white cords have become
symbolic of the iPod brand, and advertisements for the devices feature them
prominently.
Like most headphones that come bundled with other hardware, the stock white
earbuds class as fairly low quality, and some users choose to replace them.
Users rate the substandard bass response as the most apparent negative
characteristic found in the standard headphones. They are also known to develop
a clicking noise at volume peaks, due to the membrane being displaced. This is
often easily solved by applying a small amount of suction to the problem
earphone.
The signature earphones have such good recognition characteristics that they can
become a liability — after crime in the NYC subway system rose immensely due
entirely to iPod theft, the New York Police Department issued a warning advising
iPod owners to replace the earphones, so as to not make themselves a target. However, most people do not take this advice.
Compatibility
The original iPod interacted only with Macintosh computers running Mac OS 9 or
Mac OS X, but on July 17, 2002 Apple began selling a Windows-compatible iPod,
with its internal hard drive formatted in FAT32 instead of the original HFS
Plus. Apple released a Windows version of iTunes on October 16, 2003;
previously, Windows users needed third-party software such as Musicmatch Jukebox
(included with Windows iPods before the release of the Windows version of iTunes),
ephPod, or XPlay to manage the music on their iPods.
An iPod with its hard drive formatted as HFS+ operates only with a Macintosh,
because Windows does not recognize HFS+, but since the Macintosh can handle
FAT32, an iPod formatted as FAT32 can operate with a Macintosh as well as with a
PC. HFS+ leaves slightly more space available to store data, and it allows the
iPod to serve as a boot disk for a Macintosh computer.
The iPodLinux project has successfully ported an ARM version of Linux to run on
iPods. It currently supports first through third generation iPods, and features
simple installers for Mac OS X and Windows. A SourceForge project exists for the
project, and copious documentation appears online.
The iPod uses standard USB and FireWire mass-storage connectivity, and therefore
any system with mass-storage support can mount it and use it as an external hard
drive. The iPod will also charge from any powered USB or Firewire port,
regardless of software support. A special database file serves to list the songs
available to play, however, so users require a program such as iTunes to upload
songs. As of 2005 only gtkpod offers such functionality for Linux and other UNIX
variants. Apple has not yet released a Linux version of the software used to
flash the firmware of the iPod.
Design
Jeff Robbin headed the iPod firmware team at Apple. His team integrated the core
firmware from PortalPlayer with the user interface library developed by Pixo.
(The founder of Pixo had worked on the Apple Newton, a personal digital
assistant formerly produced by Apple.) The Pixo libraries provide the user
interface, though the iPod photo has incorporated some visual elements from Mac
OS X, such as the animated Aqua style progress bar. The iPod nano's interface
also incorporates the "brushed-metal" effect, previously used in iTunes before
version 5.0, in its stopwatch and screen lock features. Until the release of
iPod mini, the user interface of all iPods used "Chicago", the font used on the
original Macintosh computer from 1984. The iPod mini uses the "Espy Sans" font
(previously seen in eWorld, the Newton, and Copland), while the color fourth
generation iPods (previously known as iPod photo) use Myriad Pro, Apple's
corporate typeface.
The source of this article is
Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. The text of this
article is licensed under the
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