PortalPlayer Articles on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog

The birth of the iPod

by Mike Schramm (Dec 9th, 2009)

Wired has an interesting look at the early days of the iPod, and what's most fascinating is just how fully formed the idea of the iPod and iTunes was. The idea itself originates from a company called PortalPlayer, where hardware designer Tony Fadell had the idea to create a player that could ...

Apple trying to keep iPod nano chip manufacturers a secret?

by David Chartier (Sep 18th, 2006)

I should have noted this when we found iLounge's 2G iPod nano dissection gallery, but it seems that Apple has (strangely) opted to take a step towards keeping their new iPod chip manufacturer's identity under wraps (strange because we already knew Samsung won PortalPlayer's old contract). As ...

PortalPlayer will 'fight' for iPod business

by Scott McNulty (May 3rd, 2006)

Gary Johnson, president and CEO of PortalPlayer, told analysts that PortalPlayer wants Apple's business and is willing to fight for it. He is referring to the recent news that Apple will tap Samsung to make chips for new iPod nanos (PortalPlayer will still supply chips for the rest of the iPod ...

Samsung wins PortalPlayer's old contract

by Dave Caolo (Apr 27th, 2006)

Well, that didn't take long. Just seven days after Apple announced that they wouldn't be buying iPod media chips from PortalPlayer anymore, Samsung has been identified as the succeeding manufacturer. Presumably, the chips that Samsung has been hired to produce will power future iPod nanos with ...

Apple, Portal Player parting ways

by Dave Caolo (Apr 20th, 2006)

Portal Player, the long time supplier of media chips for the iPod, has been told that Apple will be going with another vendor for mid and high end, flash-based players (the shuffle and nano, presumably). This is bad news for Portal Player, as the iPod has accounted for 90% of their revenue, EETimes ...

Apple going Mobile?

by Dan Pourhadi (Feb 15th, 2006)

Amphetameme.org poses an interesting question: Is Apple planning to deploy a fully mobile solution for the iPod and Mac product lines? The blog looks at various pieces of evidence -- like Apple's recent "Mobile Me" trademark, Apple's status as a mobile reseller, and PortalPlayer's (the ...

iPod chip manufacturer to make WiFi components

by Dave Caolo (Feb 8th, 2006)

Far be it for us to perpetuate completely unfounded and baseless Apple rumors, but here we go. Chip manufacturer Portal Player, the company that makes the audio chips for our beloved iPods, has announced their intentions to add WiFi and bluetooth support to their line of products (can you say ...