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.
The company developed a system software toolkit in
C++ for use on cell phones and other hand-held devices. They were acquired by
Sun Microsystems
Sun Microsystems, Inc. (Sun for short) was an American technology company that sold computers, computer components, software, and information technology services and created the Java programming language, the Solaris operating system, ZFS, the ...
in 2003.
Pixo OS and use in Apple's iPod
In 2001, Pixo was rehired by Apple to adapt their system software for use in the
iPod
The iPod is a discontinued series of portable media players and multi-purpose mobile devices designed and marketed by Apple Inc. The first version was released on October 23, 2001, about months after the Macintosh version of iTunes ...
. 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". 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.
On April 9, 2007, Apple
CEO
A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a central executive officer (CEO), chief administrator officer (CAO) or just chief executive (CE), is one of a number of corporate executives charged with the management of an organization especially ...
Steve Jobs
Steven Paul Jobs (February 24, 1955 – October 5, 2011) was an American entrepreneur, industrial designer, media proprietor, and investor. He was the co-founder, chairman, and CEO of Apple; the chairman and majority shareholder of Pixar; a ...
announced the shipment of its 100 millionth iPod, making the Pixo OS one of the most widely used
embedded operating systems.
With the 2014 discontinuation of the
iPod Classic
and the 2017 discontinuation of the
iPod Nano, which did not run
iOS,
Apple no longer sells a Pixo-based iPod.
References
External links
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*{{webarchive , url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070117072326/http://www.sun.com/smi/Press/sunflash/2003-07/sunflash.20030717.1.xml , date=January 17, 2007 , title=Sun Press Release announcing completion of acquisition
Bill Mogridge video interview of Paul Mercers involvement in the design of the iPod
IPod software
Sun Microsystems acquisitions
Software companies based in the San Francisco Bay Area
Software companies established in 1994
Software companies disestablished in 2003
1994 establishments in California
2003 disestablishments in California
Defunct companies based in the San Francisco Bay Area
Defunct software companies of the United States
2003 mergers and acquisitions