This is my iPod review from when I bought my iPod 5 months ago. iPod is a brand of portable digital media player designed and marketed by Apple Computer. Devices in the iPod family provide 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 shuffle and iPod nano use flash memory.

As of September 2005, the current lineup consists of the fifth-generation iPod which can play videos, the iPod nano which has a color screen, and the iPod shuffle, all three iterations which have been released during the current year.

In this i pod review I will talk about the bundled software used for uploading music, photos, and movies to the iPod is called iTunes. iTunes is a music jukebox application that stores a comprehensive library of the music on a user's computer, as well as being able to play and rip it from a CD.

The most recent incarnations of iPod and iTunes have video playing and organization features. Other forms of data can be added to iPod as if it were a normal data storage device.

Nano i Pod Review

Apple entered the market for "mini"-form-factor digital audio players in January 2004, with the introduction of the iPod mini, competing directly with players like Creative's Zen Micro and Digital Networks Rio Carbon.

The iPod mini had largely the same feature set as the full-sized iPod, but lacked support for some third-party accessories. Its smaller display had one less line than previous models, limiting the on-screen track identification to title and artist only.

i Pod minis used Microdrive hard drives for storage. The iPod mini was discontinued on September 7, 2005 after Apple announced it was to be replaced by the iPod nano, which was 62% smaller by size and included a color screen.

Software

iPods can play MP3, WAV, AAC/M4A, Protected AAC, AIFF, Audible audiobook, MPEG-4, and Apple Lossless audio file formats. The fifth-generation iPod can also play .m4v, .mp4 and .mov video file formats.

The Windows version of iTunes can transcode WMA files without copy protection to AAC, MP3, or WAV format for later transfer to an iPod, but WMA files with copy protection cannot be played in iTunes or be copied to an iPod. Reviewers have criticized the iPod's inability to play some other formats, in particular the Ogg Vorbis and FLAC formats.

Apple designed the iPod to work with the iTunes media library software, which lets users manage the music libraries on their computers and on their iPods. iTunes can automatically synchronize a user's iPod with specific playlists or with the entire contents of a music library each time an iPod connects to a host computer.

Users may also set a rating (out of 5 stars) on any song, and can synchronize that information to an iTunes music library. Apart from iTunes there are also several third-party applications available that can be used to transfer songs to the iPod. A feature that iTunes lacks, but most third-party applications have is an option to transfer songs from an iPod back to the computer.

In addition to playing music and storing files, the iPod has limited PDA functionality: the unit can synchronize a user's contacts and schedule with programs such as iCal and Microsoft Outlook. Also, Mozilla's Sunbird and Calendar support the use of iCal (.ics) format calendar files.

These programs may be used to update the iPod Calendar on any supported operating system, including Windows; originally, the files in Windows must be manually dragged and dropped into the Calendar directory on the iPod, but ever since the release of iTunes 5.0, Windows users were given the option to automatically synchronize their files to their iPod.

It can also display notes, and hence host simple games and store restaurant information. However, iPod has limitations as a PDA, since users cannot edit this information on the iPod but only on a computer.

iPods (with the exception of the iPod shuffle) also feature games. First and second generation iPods feature "Brick", a clone of the Breakout arcade game from Atari (originally created by Apple cofounder Steve Wozniak). third, fourth, and fifth generation include Brick, along with three other games:

• Parachute: a game in which the user controls a turret and attempts to shoot down paratroopers and the helicopters which release them.
• Solitaire: a simple card game resembling the Klondike solitaire card game.
• Music Quiz: an interactive music quiz featuring the user's own songs. The game plays a portion of a random song and prompts the user to identify it from a list of 5 (or of 4 on the iPod mini). A song drops off the list every few seconds. The faster the users choose the right song, the more points they get. Music Quiz became available through a free firmware update for third generation iPods released in October 2003 and later came standard with the iPod mini and fourth generation iPods. No record is kept of the score, and there is no limit on the amount of songs played; however, the songs repeat after the first 100.