IPod

iPod is a brand of portable digital audio players designed and marketed by Apple Computer. (Hewlett-Packard also markets 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 is 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.

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.

Related Topics:
Tony Fadell - Jonathan Ive

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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.

Related Topics:
October 23 - 2001 - Mac - Microsoft Windows - ITunes - October 2004 - United States - Halo effect

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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". http://www.channelregister.co.uk/2005/03/10/apple_ipod_patent_lawsuits/

Related Topics:
2005 - Hong Kong - IP - FairPlay

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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.

Related Topics:
United States Patent and Trademark Office - Patent

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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). http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/4198360.stm

Related Topics:
August 2005 - Creative Technology - 9 August - 2005

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• 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