Ipods are a type of portable media player, which was launched in October 2001 by Apple Corporation, and since then it has become one of the most successful consumer electronic products. It is one of the best small electronic gadgets designed in a long time and the best selling MP3/MP4 player in the market today. The unique advantage of the Ipods lies in its tremendous sound quality, ultra sleek and compact design and user-friendly interface, which has made it a big hit.



With its first release in October 2001, there has been a continuous improvement in Ipod technology. They started with an MP3 player having mechanical scroll wheel and four buttons, upgraded to touch sensitive wheels with options of 10 GB and 20 GB hard disks for media storage. Further these devices were upgraded with touch sensitive bottoms and also provided with USB connectivity to enable downloads from internet using computer. Later on more storage capacity option was added with a 20 GB and 40 GB hard disk option and a click wheel. Now the latest models are coming with video capability MP4 players and 60 GB memory storage capacity.

Ipods are engineered and designed in the most innovative fashion to give them a cool look. Youngsters and people with active lifestyle prefer them to be the part of their essential accessories. Since they easily fit into your pocket or palm of your hand, you can carry them wherever you go. Ipods are fitted with removable lithium rechargeable batteries, which can run for about 8 to 20 hours before requiring a recharge.

There are so many types and styles of Ipods available. One can choose from a wide range depending upon their budget and usage. The least priced model is the Ipod shuffle. It is perhaps the smallest MP3 player available in the market. With its most compact size of about one and a half inch and sleek design it can easily be clipped on to your collar, sleeves or can be worn as a badge. It can store up to 240 songs and is priced very competitively at around $80. However, it doesn`t have features of organizing songs in sequence and the songs are randomly picked and played by the device.

A better and improved version is the Ipod nano, which can store up to about 2000 songs and comes with a storage capacity ranging from 2 GB to 8 GB. It has a super slim design and its thin lithium batteries can play music for about 24 hours before needing a recharge. These Ipods are most convenient for journeys and are priced at about $150. Then there are many high priced versions with storage capacity of about 80 GBs, which can store about 20000 songs, 25000 photos and about 100 hours of video. They are priced as high as about $350.

There are so many internet sites now offering downloads for Ipods. There are some free sites as well as sites charging some membership fee to enable you to download videos and songs and even games to your music player. iTunes is one such website offering varieties of downloads for Ipods. In order to get most out of your Ipod, you must take care to update the latest software in it with the help of internet or the Ipod vendor. You must keep it turned off when not using it. Turning off the equalizer and the back lighting will save its battery power and enhance battery life. You should always try to load compressed songs in compact audio format in order to minimize space usage.

Ipods are becoming a fashion statement for today`s youngsters and its popularity is increasing day by day all over the world.