Neil McIntosh
Apple has unveiled a stylised, portable MP3 player that boasts what the company calls a “breakthrough” in storage space and industrial design.
The iPod, roughly the same size as a pack of cards and weighing 0,23kg, sports a large five gigabyte hard disk, enough to store 1 000 songs.
Apple also claims an entire CD of music can be transferred to the device in 10 seconds, or 1 000 songs in 10 minutes, thanks to its FireWire connection. That means the disk space can be used as portable storage space for digital cameras and other devices.
A rechargable battery gives 10 hours’ continuous playback, and can be recharged through FireWire. The iPod will also “sync” with new Apple iTunes2 software, also announced on Tuesday, which will mean the iPod’s MP3 collection will automatically update when it is plugged into an Apple computer.
“With iPod, listening to music will never be the same again,” Apple CEO Steve Jobs said at its launch. “Apple has invented a whole new category of digital music player that lets you put your entire music collection in your pocket.”
The new machine is at about 329, including VAT much more expensive than the most popular MP3 players.
But visually the iPod is as striking as you would have expected from the maker of colourful iMacs. Finished in brilliant white, similar to today’s iBooks, the facia is dominated by a 160 by 128 pixel backlit display and a large scroll wheel which controls the playlist. The on-screen display uses familiar Apple fonts and menu design. The software running the device will be upgradable to support future file formats.
The iPod is a further attempt by Apple to put its computer hardware at the centre of what Jobs calls the “digital lifestyle”.
A recent revision to the company’s iBook and Powerbook line of laptop computers saw FireWire ports included as standard. The ports, previously only available on higher-end machines, allow the iPod, digital cameras and other devices to be connected to the computer via a high-speed link. Hard disk sizes were also made substantially bigger, with sizes starting at 15 gigabytes, to accommodate the needs of multi- media files.