Is that a Mac in your pocket?
Could iPods one day run Mac OS X? That's the speculation on the blogs ever since Apple dropped PortalPlayer as a chip supplier. Apple's move was a devastating blow for the company once known as the Intel of the iPod. So why did Apple drop PortalPlayer? One theory floating around the Web: Apple wants to turn the iPod into a portable computer. PortalPlayer's chips are good enough for just playing music, which is why Apple's keeping them in some iPod models. But for its newer iPods, it's turning to Samsung for a chip that VC advisor Pete Field observes is powerful enough to run Apple's Mac OS X operating system. Former Goldman Sachs analyst Michael Parekh agrees, noting that he made a similar argument for the iPod as a miniature, portable Mac last August.
Posted by Owen Thomas 2:40 AM 0 Comments comment | Add a Comment

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Most stock quote data provided by BATS. Market indices are shown in real time, except for the DJIA, which is delayed by two minutes. All times are ET. Disclaimer. Morningstar: © 2018 Morningstar, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Factset: FactSet Research Systems Inc. 2018. All rights reserved. Chicago Mercantile Association: Certain market data is the property of Chicago Mercantile Exchange Inc. and its licensors. All rights reserved. Dow Jones: The Dow Jones branded indices are proprietary to and are calculated, distributed and marketed by DJI Opco, a subsidiary of S&P Dow Jones Indices LLC and have been licensed for use to S&P Opco, LLC and CNN. Standard & Poor's and S&P are registered trademarks of Standard & Poor's Financial Services LLC and Dow Jones is a registered trademark of Dow Jones Trademark Holdings LLC. All content of the Dow Jones branded indices © S&P Dow Jones Indices LLC 2018 and/or its affiliates.