Pixo
| Industry | Mobile software |
|---|---|
| Fate | Acquired |
| Successor(s) | Sun Microsystems |
| Founded | 1994 |
| Founder(s) | Paul Mercer |
| Defunct | 2003 |
| Products | Pixo OS |
Pixo was a company that developed infrastructure for hand-held devices. It was founded in 1994 when Paul Mercer, a software developer at Apple, left to form his own company.[1] The company developed a system software toolkit in C++[2] for use on cell phones and other hand-held devices. They were acquired by Sun Microsystems in 2003.[1]
Use in Apple's iPod
In 2001, Pixo was hired by Apple to adapt their system software for use in the iPod.[3] The use of the Pixo OS in the iPod was never formally announced, although the first-generation iPod's "About iPod" display includes a mention of Pixo, and a Connectix biography of their VP of engineering Mike Neil mentions his role as "lead architect on the Pixo OS that is used in ... the Apple iPod".[4] Apple acquired the Pixo OS shortly after shipping the iPod[citation needed] and removed mention of Pixo from the "About iPod" display with a firmware update to the first-generation iPod.
On April 9, 2007, Apple CEO Steve Jobs announced the shipment of its 100 millionth iPod,[5] making the Pixo OS one of the most widely used embedded operating systems.
References
- ^ a b Markoff, John (27 February 2006), "He Helped Build the iPod; Now He Has Built a Rival", The New York Times, http://www.nytimes.com/2006/02/27/technology/27mercer.html?ei=5088&en=7ca4508916893a7f&ex=1298696400&pagewanted=all, retrieved 4 January 2011
- ^ Stroustrup, Bjarne, C++ Applications, http://www2.research.att.com/~bs/applications.html, retrieved 4 January 2011
- ^ Yi, Matthew, "Little-known startup was behind iPod's easy-to-use interface", San Francisco Chronicle, http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2004/08/16/BUGTG878AR1.DTL&type=printable, retrieved 4 January 2011
- ^ About Connectix at the Wayback Machine (archived August 6, 2003)
- ^ 100 Million iPods Sold, http://www.apple.com/pr/library/2007/04/09ipod.html, retrieved 4 January 2011
External links
- Pixo.com website at the Wayback Machine
- Capabilities and features of the Pixo OS Platform 2.1 at the Wayback Machine (archived August 15, 2001)
- Sun Press Release announcing completion of acquisition at the Wayback Machine (archived January 17, 2007)
- Bill Mogridge video interview of Paul Mercers involvement in the design of the iPod
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
