Pixo

Pixo was a company that developed infrastructure for wireless systems. Paul Mercer left Apple in 1994 to found Pixo. The company developed a system software toolkit in C++ which was later adopted by Apple for use in the iPod. Apple continues to use Pixo OS technology in currently shipping modelsFact|date=July 2007. 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 [ [http://web.archive.org/web/20030806065941/http://www.connectix.com/about/bios.html About Connectix (at Internet Archive)] ] mentions his role as "lead architect on the Pixo OS that is used in ... the Apple iPod". Apple acquired the Pixo OS shortly after shipping the iPod and removed mention of Pixo from the "About iPod" display with a firmware update to the first-generation iPod. In 2003 Sun Microsystems bought Pixo inc.

On April 9, 2007, Apple Inc. CEO Steve Jobs [http://www.apple.com/pr/library/2007/04/09ipod.html announced] that Apple Inc. shipped its 100 millionth iPod, making the Pixo OS one of the most widely used embedded operating systems.

The Pixo application framework is written in the C++ programming language [ [http://www.research.att.com/~bs/applications.html List of C++ applications] , maintained by C++ creator Bjarne Stroustrup] .

References

External links

* [http://web.archive.org/web/*/http://www.pixo.com Pixo.com website since 1996] (at Internet Archive)
* [http://web.archive.org/web/20010815050140/pixo.com/products/products001.htm Capabilities and features of the Pixo OS Platform 2.1]
* [http://www.sun.com/smi/Press/sunflash/2003-07/sunflash.20030717.1.html Sun Press Release announcing completion of acquisition]
* [http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2004/08/16/BUGTG878AR1.DTL&type=printable SF Chronicle article on Pixo's involvement in Apple's iPod]
* [http://www.designinginteractions.com/interviews/PaulMercer Bill Mogridge video inteview of Paul Mercers involvement in the design of the iPod]
* [http://www.nytimes.com/2006/02/27/technology/27mercer.html?ei=5088&en=7ca4508916893a7f&ex=1298696400&pagewanted=all Interview with Paul Mercer and bio of his work]