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Domain: designchain.com

Stories and comments across the archive that link to designchain.com.

Comments · 7

  1. Oh I wouldn't say that. by Ayanami+Rei · · Score: 1 · on How Sony's HD Audio Player Falls Short

    Apple outsourced most of the hardware and firmware design, (aside from the iTunes components) and they don't even manufacture them.
    see here
    and here.

    It wasn't even Apple's idea to unify the player and the store.
    As time progresses, Apple will become more of a software company and a brand. That may not be a bad thing, but credit where credit is due: Apple knows how to _identify_ a good product.

  2. A closer look at iPod design by line-bundle · · Score: 4, Informative · on The Secret Behind the iPod Scroll Wheel
    This links give a better idea of apple's ipod design.

    Electronics Design Chain

  3. Re:For all those that keep asking..... by AusG4 · · Score: 1 · on Apple Releases Rendezvous for Linux, Java, Windows

    Actually, yes.

    Going to "Setings->Legal" on my iPod clearly shows the PortalPlayer logo, as well as legal jargon about PortalPlayer technology being used, and PortalPlayer's involvement in the iPod's guts is well documented.

    Why not read first?

  4. This has always been known ... by phoxix · · Score: 4, Interesting · on iPod May Not Have The Horsepower For Ogg [updated]

    http://www.designchain.com/coverstory.asp?issue=su mmer02

    Nothing new folks ... that article is almost 2 years old now?

    Sunny Dubey

  5. Re:Licensing Issues by ManxStef · · Score: 1 · on HP Working With Apple To Add WMA Support To iPod

    I think you hit the nail on the head there. If you look at the technology the iPod was built on you'll find it already supports WMA by default (it's the PortalPlayer PP5002 platform) - Apple must've disabled this in the firmware.

    Like you said, they weren't going to let this happen as it'd have spoilt the Mac exclusivity that the iPod originally enjoyed and hamper adoption of their favoured codec, not to mention having to pay a per-player licence to Microsoft. They'd have to have had a massively good reason to keep WMA in, and there wasn't one. Simple as that!

  6. Re:iRiver sure, but what about Apple? by phoxix · · Score: 4, Informative · on iRiver Adds Ogg To Audio Player Firmware

    I can't believe people ask this question over and over again

    Apple's Ipod uses dedicated MP3 decoder and controller chip from PortalPlayer ...

    You can read all about the innards at: Inside The Apple Ipod Design Triumph

    I'm not even an Ipod fan and I know this

    Sunny Dubey

  7. iPod "Thrown Together" From Commodity Parts by meehawl · · Score: 1 · on Microsoft Launches Portable Music Player
    Apple, of course, is completely the opposite, and one of the reasons people buy things like the ipod is the great design (aesthetic, ergonomic, and otherwise).
    I suspect you don't really know where the iPod came from. Apple hardware boffins did not design the iPod internally, they bought several publicly available commodity technology blocks and integrated them.

    The advantage was that they could get to market quickly with the iPod, once Archos and Creative showed them there was a market in HD-based players. But Apple's failure to design any custom ASICs or advance or protect the iPod technology mix since then is problematic. The iPod's power consumption is way high, their battery life stinks, and Apple finds it difficult to raise its iPod margins. Also, like IBM with the original IBM-PC, they can not really block others from doing the aggregation.

    MS can also employ industrial designers to pretty up the outside of a commodity box, you know... Don't get too cocky.
    While PortalPlayer's Maia is restricted from discussing how Apple managed its iPod design chain, he was able to describe how systems houses in general work with the audio subsection designer. A drawback for Apple, and other systems houses relying on reference designs, is protection of its product and market space. When fundamental parts of the design are done by others, there is an almost certainty that competitors will eventually ship products using the same basic technology. Obviously, a company like PortalPlayer makes the same silicon, firmware, tools and reference designs available to many other companies.