INDEPENDENT NEWS

Apple Presents iPod

Published: Thu 25 Oct 2001 11:50 AM
Ultra-Portable MP3 Music Player Puts 1,000 Songs in Your Pocket
October 24, 2001—Apple® today introduced iPod™, a breakthrough MP3 music player that packs up to 1,000 CD-quality songs into an ultra-portable, 6.5 ounce design that fits in your pocket. iPod combines a major advance in portable music device design with Apple’s legendary ease of use and Auto-Sync, which automatically downloads all your iTunes™ songs and playlists into your iPod, and keeps them up to date whenever you plug your iPod into your Mac®.
“With iPod, Apple has invented a whole new category of digital music player that lets you put your entire music collection in your pocket and listen to it wherever you go,” said Steve Jobs, Apple’s CEO. “With iPod, listening to music will never be the same again.”
Next Generation Player iPod represents the next generation of portable music players that store music on an internal hard drive, yet are only 20 percent of the volume of today’s hard drive-based players. iPod stores up to 1,000 CD-quality songs on its super-thin 5 GB hard drive, and features up to 20 minutes of shock protection for nonstop playback when running, biking or other activities.
iPod’s built-in FireWire® port lets you download an entire CD into iPod in under 10 seconds and 1,000 songs in less than 10 minutes—30 times faster than USB-based players.
iPod plays up to 10 hours of continuous music, powered by its rechargeable lithium polymer battery, and recharges automatically whenever iPod is connected to a Mac, using power supplied over the FireWire cable. Every iPod comes with a compact, FireWire-based power adapter for traveling. iPod’s high-capacity 5GB hard drive doubles as a portable FireWire hard drive for storing presentations, large documents, graphic images and digital movies.
iPod plays music in the popular MP3, MP3 VBR (variable bit rate), AIFF and WAV formats and can support MP3 bit rates up to 320-Kbps. Its upgradable firmware enables support of future audio formats. For CD-quality sound, iPod is equipped with a high-output 60-mW amplifier that delivers 20 to 20,000 Hz frequency response for deep bass and crystal-clear highs. iPod’s earbud-style headphones are built with neodymium magnets for enhanced frequency response and high-fidelity sound.
iPod also features a 160-by-128-pixel high-resolution display, with a white LED backlight to give clear visibility in daylight as well as low-light conditions.
Legendary Ease of Use Apple has applied its legendary expertise in human interface engineering to make iPod the easiest to use digital device ever. Simply rotate iPod’s unique scroll-wheel with your thumb or finger to quickly access your entire music collection by playlists, artists or songs. The scroll-wheel makes it possible to hold and operate iPod with just one hand and features automatic acceleration when scrolling through long lists so you can find your music in seconds. iPod also features customisable settings such as shuffle, repeat, startup volume, sleep timer and menus in multiple languages including English, French, German and Japanese. iPod can display song data in any of these languages, enabling users to mix and match songs from all over the world.
Auto-Sync
iPod’s revolutionary Auto-Sync feature makes it easy to get your entire music collection into iPod and update it whenever you connect iPod to your Mac. Simply plug your new iPod into your Mac with the supplied FireWire cable, and all of your iTunes songs and playlists are automatically downloaded into iPod at blazing FireWire speed. Then just unplug and go. Whenever you plug iPod back into your Mac it will be automatically updated with your latest iTunes songs and playlists, usually in seconds. There has never been a faster and easier way to always have your up-to-the-minute music and playlists with you wherever you go.
Pricing & Availability iPod will not be available in Australia or New Zealand until later this quarter and pricing for iPod has not been confirmed for New Zealand at this stage. An iTunes 2 CD, earbud-style headphones, FireWire cable, and FireWire-based power adapter are all included. iPod requires iTunes 2.
Apple ignited the personal computer revolution in the 1970s with the Apple II and reinvented the personal computer in the 1980s with the Macintosh. Apple is committed to bringing the best personal computing experience to students, educators, creative professionals and consumers around the world through its innovative hardware, software and Internet offerings.
NOTE TO EDITORS: For additional information visit Apple's PR website (www.apple.com/pr/).
Apple, the Apple logo, Macintosh, Mac, The Apple Store, FireWire, iPod and iTunes are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Apple. Other company and product names may be trademarks of their respective owners.
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Apple Announces iTunes 2
Best Digital Music Software Gets Even Better
October 24, 2001—Apple today announced iTunes™ 2, the next generation of its award-winning digital music software for the Mac® that has been distributed to over six million users. iTunes 2 adds the three most requested features from iTunes users: MP3 CD burning, an equaliser and cross fading.
But iTunes 2’s most stunning new feature is its seamless integration with iPod™, Apple’s new breakthrough portable MP3 player. When iPod is first connected to a Mac running iTunes 2, all the songs and playlists from iTunes 2 are automatically downloaded into iPod, and updated whenever the iPod is plugged back into the Mac. iTunes 2 will be available in early November as a free download at www.apple.com.
“The world’s best and easiest-to-use digital music software just got better,” said Steve Jobs, Apple’s CEO. “iTunes 2 seamlessly integrates with iPod to revolutionise the portable MP3 music experience.”
With its elegant user interface, iTunes was the first “digital jukebox” application to take the complexity out of managing digital music, making it fast and easy to rip MP3s, create playlists, burn custom CDs and store an entire digital music collection on a Mac. iTunes 2 seamlessly integrates with iPod, allowing Mac users to quickly and easily download their entire iTunes 2 digital music collection of up to 1,000 songs into an iPod in under 10 minutes.
New performance enhancements in iTunes 2 allow users to burn audio CDs up to twice as fast as before, and iTunes 2 can now burn and recognize MP3 CDs. While standard audio CDs are limited to 74 minutes of music, data CDs containing MP3 files can hold up to 10 hours of music on a single disc. These MP3 CDs can also be played on other Macs and PCs, and the MP3 format is now being recognized by an increasing number of consumer CD players.
iTunes 2 offers a richer audio experience with a new 10-band equaliser with over 20 presets, enabling users to customise audio settings to fit any style of music from classical to jazz, rock or hip hop. The new crossfader creates more graceful transitions between songs, providing smoother playback of songs mixed from different albums, and a new sound enhancer creates additional depth and richness in sound output.
iTunes 2 also allows users to:
Š pinpoint any song in seconds with a powerful real-time search engine;
Š quickly browse an entire music library by artist, album or genre;
Š create custom playlists with an easy drag-and-drop interface;
Š encode at up to 320 Kbps to ensure the finest MP3 sound quality;
Š burn CDs with one click and get perfect results every time; and
Š tune in and listen to hundreds of Internet radio stations.
Pricing & Availability iTunes 2 will be available as a free download from www.apple.com beginning in early November. iTunes 2 will be included on every new Mac system beginning in November. iTunes 2 will also be included as a free CD with iPod, Apple’s breakthrough MP3 music player when it ships. iTunes 2 requires an Apple system with Mac® OS 9.2.1 or Mac OS X v10.1 or later.
Apple ignited the personal computer revolution in the 1970s with the Apple II and reinvented the personal computer in the 1980s with the Macintosh. Apple is committed to bringing the best personal computing experience to students, educators, creative professionals and consumers around the world through its innovative hardware, software and Internet offerings.
NOTE TO EDITORS: For additional information visit Apple's PR website (www.apple.com/pr/).
Apple, the Apple logo, Macintosh, Mac, Mac OS, iPod and iTunes are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Apple. Other company and product names may be trademarks of their respective owners.

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