Timeline: iPodding through the years

The iPod began life modestly, getting trotted out before the press in a small theater at Apple's headquarters. These days, it's a major attraction, drawing hundreds of reporters to a media event last month in San Francisco that featured appearances by the CEO of Disney and R&B singer John Legend. Here's what happened in between to make the iPod the rock star it is today.

October: At a press-only event at Apple's Cupertino, Calif., campus, Apple unveils the iPod, a 5GB hard-drive-based music player that will sell for $399. "To have your whole CD library with you at all times is a quantum leap when it comes to music," Steve Jobs tells the press. "You can fit your whole music library in your pocket."

November: The iPod officially hits retail shelves on November 10.

Amazon signs Sony download deal

The deal means Amazon is now the only company offering tracks from all four big music companies free of DRM.

This makes the Amazon store a more significant rival for Apple iTunes which has long had a commanding lead over rivals in the downloadable music market.

All the 3.1 million tracks in the Amazon store are free of DRM software. In contrast, only songs from EMI and some independent labels are available via Apple's iTunes without copy controls.

In February 2007, Apple boss Steve Jobs called on record labels to stop using DRM in a bid to boost the popularity of downloadable music.

The Amazon MP3 store, which launched in September 2007, is only available in the US. There have been no announcements about when or whether the service will be expanded overseas.

Songs prepared in the MP3 format can be played on any portable music player.

iPod update shuts out RealNetworks

Apple has quietly updated its iPod software so that songs purchased from RealNetworks' online music store will no longer play on some of the Mac maker's popular MP3 players.

The move could render tunes purchased by many iPod owners unplayable on their music players. For the last four months, RealNetworks has marketed its music store as the only Apple rival compatible with the iPod, following the company's discovery of a way to let its customers play their downloaded tunes on Apple's MP3 player.

Apple criticised RealNetworks' workaround, dubbed Harmony, as the "tactics... of a hacker", and warned in July that RealNetworks-purchased songs would probably "cease to work with current and future iPods". Apple offered no further statement on Tuesday, but confirmed that the software released with its iPod Photo will not play music purchased from RealNetworks' music store.