iPods, the new brand portable media player was launched by Apple Inc. in October 2001. iPod was a part of the company strategy to mark its existence in the digital electronic market. There were various complaints against existing audio players and Apple found existing digital music players merely “big and clunky or small and useless”. Decided to create one Apple set into its production and developed it in less than a year. It was unveiled on October 23, 2001.

It was Vinnie Chieco, a freelance copywriter, who proposed the name iPod. The first iPod demonstration to the public was held in New Jersey in March 1998, and its commercial use began in January 2000. Generally, iPod is associated with a host computer. Each time when an iPod gets connected to its host computer, iTunes gets synchronized to the entire music libraries or music playlists either automatically or manually. The songs are later transferred to the iTunes library.

But always there have been criticisms against iPods. Even lawsuits were filed against it for failing to meet the expectations assured through the advertisements. In 2003, Apple was sued for the shorter life of batteries, which was later settled by either a free battery replacement or a US$50 store credit. There was another criticism regarding the third generation iPod as they had a failed response in audio tests.

There have been allegations of short life span of iPods According to a survey held in 2005; it was found that the iPod had an average 13% failure rate. In late 2005, there were complaints from users that the surface of the first generation iPod is easily scratchable leading to a law suit.

But whatever may be the case, no doubt iPods have a large fanfare in the entertainment market. The claim by Apple “1000 songs in your pocket, ” has never failed to evoke a response among the users.

parmod gusain asked:

iPod is a new trends in the digital music player world. iPod is a brand of portable media players designed and marketed by Apple Inc. and launched on October 23, 2001. The product line-up includes the hard drive-based iPod Classic, the touchscreen iPod Touch, the video-capable iPod Nano, and the compact iPod Shuffle. iPod Classic models store media on an internal hard drive, while all other models use flash memory to enable their smaller size. As with many other digital music players, iPods can also serve as external data storage devices. Storage capacity varies by model.

Apple’s iTunes software can be used to transfer music to the devices from computers using certain versions of Apple Macintosh and Microsoft Windows operating systems. For users who choose not to use Apple’s software or whose computers cannot run iTunes software, several open source alternatives to iTunes are also available. iTunes and its alternatives may also transfer photos, videos, games, contact information, e-mail settings, Web bookmarks, and calendars to iPod models supporting those features. As of Sep 2009, more than 200,000,000 iPods had been sold worldwide, making it the best-selling digital audio player series in history.

The iPod line came from Apple’s “digital hub” category, when the company began creating software for the growing market of personal digital devices. Than, Apple decided to develop its own digital music player. The product was developed in less than one year and unveiled on 23 October 2001. Jobs announced it as a Mac-compatible product with a 5 GB hard drive that put “1,000 songs in your pocket.”.

The iPod line can play several audio file formats including MPEG-4, QuickTime Video Formats, MP3, AAC/M4A, Protected AAC, AIFF, WAV, Audible audiobook, and Apple Lossless. The iPod Photo introduced the ability to display JPEG, BMP, GIF, TIFF, and PNG image file formats. Originally, iPod software only worked with Mac OS; iPod software for Microsoft Windows was launched with the second generation model. Unlike most other media players, Apple does not support Microsoft’s WMA audio format—but a converter for WMA files without Digital Rights Management (DRM) is provided with the Windows version of iTunes. MIDI files also cannot be played, but can be converted to audio files using the “Advanced” menu in iTunes.

iPods with color displays use anti-aliased graphics and text, with sliding animations. All iPods (except the iPod Shuffle and iPod Touch) have five buttons and the later generations have the buttons integrated into the click wheel—an innovation that gives an uncluttered, minimalist interface. The buttons perform basic functions such as menu, play, pause, next track, and previous track. Other operations, such as scrolling through menu items and controlling the volume, are performed by using the click wheel in a rotational manner. Instead it uses a 3.5″ touch screen in addition to a home button, sleep/wake button and (on the second generation iPod touch) volume-up and -down buttons. The user interface for the iPod touch is virtually identical to that of the iPhone. Both devices use the iPhone OS.

iPod – Music in your pocket

Games in iPod

Video games are playable on various versions of iPods. The original iPod had the game Brick included as an easter egg hidden feature; later firmware versions added it as a menu option. Later revisions of the iPod added three more games in addition to Brick: Parachute, Solitaire, and Music Quiz. The games are in the form of .ipg files, which are actually .zip archives in disguise. When unzipped, they reveal executable files along with common audio and image files, leading to the possibility of third party games.

Laptop means Mobile Pc

File storage and transfer in iPod

All iPods except for the iPod Touch can function in “disk mode” as a mass storage devices to store data file. Generally, if a new iPod (excluding the iPod Shuffle) is initially plugged into a computer running Windows, it will be formatted with FAT32, and if initially plugged into a Mac running Mac OS X it will be formatted with HFS+.

Unlike many other MP3 players, simply copying audio or video files to the drive with a typical file management application will not allow an iPod to properly access them. The user must use software that has been specifically designed to transfer media files to iPods, so that the files are playable and viewable. Usually iTunes is used to transfer media to an iPod, though several alternative third-party applications are available on a number of different platforms.

Gadgets – New Gizmos of 21st Century

Md Shaffir asked:

Zen Portable Media Player

This sleek device is meant to play video and music on the go. The battery capable of playing for more than 22 hours of continuous audio playtime or up to seven hours continuous video playtime. The creative Zen Portable Media Center has 3.8 inch LCD display that delivers crisp and clear images and a removable /rechargeable Li-ion polymer battery, just a swap a fresh battery keeps it on the move.

- 20Gbyte of storage capacity that can stores up to 85 hours of movies,

- Store and listen up to 9000 songs

- Carry and enjoy up to tens of thousands of photos1

- Large, high resolution 3.8″ TFT LCD backlit for crisp and clear images

- Powerful Windows® Mobile operating system lets you easily sync, find and manage your digital entertainment

- Quickly transfer content from your PC to your ZEN Portable Media Center with its USB 2.0 interface.

- Built-in speakers means you can enjoy your movie or music.

Support Popular formats:-

- WMV

- WMA,

- MP3,

- JPG.