iPod
iPod is a brand of portable media players designed and marketed by Apple Computer and launched in 2001. Devices in the iPod range are primarily music players, designed around a central scroll wheel . although the iPod shuffle has buttons only. The full-sized model stores media on an internal hard drive, while the smaller iPod nano and iPod shuffle use flash memory. The random-play capability of the iPod shuffle is reflected in its name. Like many digital audio players, iPods can also serve as external data storage devices. Apple focused its development on the iPod's unique user interface and its ease of use, rather than on technical capability.
As of October 2005, the lineup consists of the video-capable fifth generation iPod; the smaller iPod nano; and the display-less iPod shuffle. These models were updated in September 2006.
The bundled software used for transferring music is called iTunes. As a jukebox application, iTunes stores a comprehensive library of music on the user's computer and can play, burn, and rip music from a CD. It can also sync photos and videos.
The iPod is currently the world's best-selling range of digital audio players and its worldwide mainstream adoption makes it one of the most popular consumer brands, to the point that the name .iPod. has become a generic term for any .mp3 player. Some of Apple's design choices and proprietary actions have, however, led to criticism and legal battles.
User Interface
The iPods with color displays use high quality anti-aliased graphics and text, with sliding animations. These iPods have five buttons and the newer generations have the buttons integrated into the scroll wheel . an innovation which gives an uncluttered, minimalistic interface. The buttons are:
- Menu . to traverse backwards through the menus, and toggle the backlight on older iPods
- Center . to select a menu item
- Play / Pause . this doubles as an off switch when held
- Fast Forward / Skip Forward
- Fast Reverse / Skip Backwards
The other operations such as scrolling through menu items and controlling the volume are performed by using the touch-wheel in a rotational manner. These iPods also have a Hold switch at the top, which prevents accidental button presses. Newer iPods automatically pause playback when the headphones are unplugged from the headphone jack, but playback does not resume when the headphones are re-inserted. An iPod that has crashed or frozen can be reset by switching 'Hold' on then off, then holding Menu and Center (Menu and Play on the 3G iPod) for 6 seconds.
The iPod shuffle does not use a touch-wheel and instead has five buttons positioned differently to the larger models. It has a Play / Pause button in the center, surrounded by four buttons: Volume Up / Down and Skip Forward / Backwards.
Software
The iPod can play MP3, AAC/M4A, Protected AAC, AIFF, WAV, Audible audiobook, and Apple Lossless audio file formats. The fifth generation iPod can also play MPEG-4 (H.264/MPEG-4 AVC), .mp4 and QuickTime video formats, with restrictions on video dimensions, encoding techniques and data-rates. Unlike most other media players, Apple does not support Microsoft's WMA audio format . but a converter for non-DRM WMA files is provided with the Windows version of iTunes. MIDI files cannot be played, but can be converted to audio files using the "Advanced" menu on iTunes. Alternative open-source audio formats such as Ogg Vorbis and FLAC are not supported.
Each time an iPod connects to its host computer, iTunes can synchronize entire music libraries or music playlists and the user can choose for automatic or manual synchronization. Song ratings can be set on the iPod and synchronized later to the iTunes library.
iTunes Store
The iTunes Store (formerly iTunes Music Store) is an online media store run by Apple and accessed via iTunes. It was introduced on 29 April 2003 and it sells individual songs relatively easily and cheaply, with typical prices being US$0.99, EU.0.99, or GB£0.79 per song. iPods are the only portable music players that can play the purchased music. The store became the market leader soon after its launch[verification needed] and Apple announced the sale of videos through the store on 12 October 2005. Full-length movies became available on 12 September 2006.
Purchased audio files use the AAC format with added encryption. The encryption is based on the controversial FairPlay digital rights management (DRM) system. Up to five authorized computers and an unlimited number of iPods can play the files. Burning the files onto an audio CD removes the DRM, at a cost of reduced quality when re-compressed from one lossy format to another.
iPods cannot play music files from other competing music stores such as Napster or MSN Music which use rival DRM technologies like Microsoft's protected WMA or RealNetworks' Helix DRM. RealNetworks claims that Apple is creating problems for itself, by using FairPlay to lock users into using the iTunes Store. Steve Jobs stated that Apple makes little profit from song sales, but Apple uses the store to promote iPod sales.
File storage
All iPods can function as mass storage devices to store data files. If the iPod is formatted on a Mac OS X computer it uses the HFS Plus file system format. If it is formatted on Windows, the FAT32 format is used because Windows cannot access HFS filesystems. Unlike UMS/MTP-capable digital audio players, simply copying files to the drive will not allow the iPod to properly access them (although some third party iPod software allows this). Instead, the user must use iTunes or a compatible third-party software to load audio, videos, and photos in such a way that they are playable and viewable on the iPod.
An iPod formatted as HFS Plus is able to serve as a boot disk for a Mac computer, allowing one to have a portable operating system installed. The older iPods with FireWire ports could additionally function in FireWire Disk Mode. With the advent of the Windows-compatible iPod, the iPod's default file system switched from HFS Plus to FAT32, although they can be reformatted to either filesystem (excluding the iPod shuffle which is strictly FAT32).
iTunes cannot transfer songs or videos from device to computer (although iTunes 7 allows it for music purchased online). The media files are stored on the iPod in a hidden folder, together with a proprietary database file. However, the hidden content can be accessed on the host operating system by enabling hidden files to be shown. The audio can then be recovered manually by dragging the files or folders onto the iTunes Library or by using third-party software.
Additional features
The larger models also have limited PDA-like functionality and can display text files. Contacts and schedules can be viewed and synchronized with the host computer, and some built-in games are available including Brick, Parachute, Solitaire and Music Quiz. Brick (which is a clone of Breakout) was originally invented by Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak in the 1970s.
A firmware update released in September 2006 brought several new features to 5th generation iPods including downloadable games, adjustable screen brightness, and gapless playback.
Open-source alternatives
The iPodLinux project has a port of an ARM version of the Linux kernel alongside an interface called "Podzilla" that runs on all iPods, although only the first, second and third generations are officially supported by the developers. The iPod shuffle is not supported and the September 2006 iPods are incompatible.
An open-source firmware called Rockbox allows the iPod nano, mini, and all display-capable iPods after the third generation (except for the updated video iPods) to play Ogg Vorbis, FLAC, Musepack, WavPack, Shorten, and MIDI files, but not FairPlay-encrypted files. Rockbox also offers gapless playback and a more sophisticated equalizer but is in a testing stage as of September 2006.
Connectivity
Originally, a FireWire connection to the host computer was used to update songs or recharge the battery. The battery could also be charged with a power adapter that was included with the first 4 generations.
The third generation began including a dock connector, allowing for FireWire or USB connectivity. This provided better compatibility with PCs, as most of them did not have FireWire ports at the time. However, the device could not be charged over USB, so the FireWire cables were nonetheless needed to connect to the AC adapter. The dock connector also brought opportunities to exchange data, sound and power with an iPod, which ultimately created a large market of accessories, manufactured by third parties such as Belkin and Griffin. The 2nd generation iPod shuffle uses a single 3.5 mm jack which acts as both a headphone jack and a data port for the dock.
The fourth generation iPod allowed recharging via USB and eventually Apple began shipping iPods with USB cables instead of FireWire, although the latter was available separately.
As of the 5th generation iPod, Apple discontinued using FireWire for data transfer and made a full transition to USB 2.0, due to its widespread adoption. FireWire was then used for recharging only.
Related Sites (exchange links with this article)
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