Third Generation IPod

Third Generation iPod: The third generation iPods were launched by Apple CEO Steve Jobs himself on 28 April 2003 as the "ultrathin" iPods. These iPods were slimmer and smaller than their predecessors were and had nicely curved edges. Except for the cheapest iPod, the rest came bundled with a charger called Dock Connector. This was used for charging the batteries. This was longer and flatter than the FireWire plug. During the course of third generation iPods Apple launched models with memory ranging from 10 GB to 40 GB. The noticeable change in third generation and the rest of the iPods is that unlike all the rest it did not have any buttons surrounding the central wheel. Instead, there were touch buttons right below the screen with backlighting which enabled easy use even in dark. Another feature that Apple introduced with the third generation iPod was that there were no separate iPods for Mac users and Windows enabled PCs. Instead, all iPods were now shipped with their hard drives formatted for Macintosh use and came along with a CD-ROM which featured a Windows utility which could reformat them for use with a Windows PC. These iPods also introduced Hi-Speed USB connectivity for the first time though they still could not be charged using this USB drive. As such, it was the third generation iPods, which actually started the iPod revolution sending the sales skyrocketing.

Fourth Generation iPod: The news of fourth generation iPods was released by Steve Jobs himself through press interview with Newsweek magazine. The fourth generation started what can be termed as the 'iPod craze'. iPod became a fashion symbol with various celebrities promoting the then latest iPod including the rock band U2. The fourth generation iPods came in 20 GB and 40 GB capacities. The major changes in the fourth generation iPods were the buttons, which were again like the second generation iPods surrounded the central click wheel. There were no backlights but the well-designed buttons took care of it. In addition, the battery offered a higher life of about 12hours and could now be charged via the USB port.

On 28th Oct 2004 iPod photo was launched which featured a 65k color screen and ability to store images in various formats like JPG, BMP, GIF etc. along with music files. By the end of June 2005, Apple removed all its monochrome iPods from production line and lowered the prices of most of the models by removing all the bundled up accessories except for the headphone and the USB cable. iPod also updated iTunes to version 4.9 during this time, which added podcasting capabilities to iPods, and iTunes.

Fifth generation iPod: The fifth generation iPods were unveiled on 12 Oct 2005 at the event "One more thing…" This iPod is generally referred to as iPod video. Fifth generation iPods are available in two models of 30GB and 60 GB memory priced at two, 99, and $399 respectively. For the first time the iPods were launched in two colors, white and black.

They can play movies in MPEG-4, H.264 and MOV formats in varying resolutions depending upon codec used and other specifications. Fifth generation models have a 65k (16 bit) color QVGA TFT screen. The videos on these iPods can also be seen on a TV using the USB cable however the quality may not be as good as those of normal TV programs because of the highly compressed formats used with iPods. The compression saves space but also has an adverse effect on the quality of image. The buttons are more or less the same except for a little resizing being done in order to make the diameter of the surrounding buttons a little smaller to about 1.5".

With the introduction of iTunes version 6.0.2 iPods are now not only podcast enabled but also vodcast (video –podcast) enabled where for a weekly or monthly fee one can see certain video programs. The latest iPods have certainly created a revolution in the music and media industry by opening up an avenue to exploit along with the traditional television, radio, and internet.

Sixth Generation iPod: Although not officially announced it is expected to be a multi-purpose touch screen device, which could either, act as a handheld PDA or a mobile phone or maybe even a camera fitted iPod… Well who knows what it may be like…? Nevertheless, it sure has left people guessing.