Pixo was a company that developed infrastructure for hand-held devices. It was founded in 1994 when Paul Mercer, a software developer at

Apple An apple is an edible fruit produced by an apple tree (''Malus domestica''). Apple trees are cultivated worldwide and are the most widely grown species in the genus ''Malus''. The tree originated in Central Asia, where its wild ancestor, ' ...

, left to form his own company. The company developed a system software toolkit in

C++ C++ (pronounced "C plus plus") is a high-level general-purpose programming language created by Danish computer scientist Bjarne Stroustrup as an extension of the C programming language, or "C with Classes". The language has expanded significan ...

for use on cell phones and other hand-held devices. They were acquired by Sun Microsystems 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 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 Connectix Corporation was a software and hardware company, noted for having released innovative products that were either made obsolete as Apple Computer incorporated the ideas into system software, or were sold to other companies once they becam ...

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 Steve Jobs announced the shipment of its 100 millionth iPod, making the Pixo OS one of the most widely used

embedded operating system An embedded operating system is an operating system for embedded computer systems. Embedded operating systems are computer systems designed to increase functionality and reliability for achieving a specific task. Resource efficiency comes at the ...

s. With the 2014 discontinuation of the

iPod Classic The iPod Classic (stylized and marketed as iPod classic and formerly iPod Video or just iPod) is a discontinued portable media player created and formerly marketed by Apple Inc. There were six generations of the iPod Classic, as well as a sp ...

and the 2017 discontinuation of the

iPod Nano The iPod Nano (stylised and marketed as iPod nano) is a discontinued portable media player designed and formerly marketed by Apple Inc. The first generation model was introduced on September 7, 2005, as a replacement for the iPod Mini, usin ...

, which did not run

iOS iOS (formerly iPhone OS) is a mobile operating system created and developed by Apple Inc. exclusively for its hardware. It is the operating system that powers many of the company's mobile devices, including the iPhone; the term also include ...

, Apple no longer sells a Pixo-based iPod.

References

External links

* * *{{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