The iPods have been a market hit since their launching in 2001. With the appearance of the new iPod video on the market in 2005, the iPod became even more popular, as it achieved high umbers in sales and an increased interest from the public. The sales of the iPod video were, in general, better than the expectations. Considering the fact that the new product brought, indeed, something new to the market, which was never tested before and the customers were used to the idea that iPod stands for music and, in a smaller part, it stands for photos, the sales surprised the producers just like the product surprised the customers and the users.

Basically, the iPod video present 2 variants of the device: the 30 GB model and the 60 GB one, which both play QVGA H. 264 videos. Over the last holiday season, the sales were very high, as people seamed to be more interested in purchasing such an item before taking the summer vacation. Due to this fact, the new iPod video turned out to be a great choice of spending the time during the holiday. In fact, the last holiday season brought a 30 % increase of the sales, which is a consistent amount. Even more, the new iPod video turned out to be an excellent Christmas present, as the sales indicate the fact that the sales of the iPods increased significantly before this important religious holiday. Another sales hit in the history of the iPods was the Apple iPod + hp, which was launched in the year 2004. In the first months of 2006, Apple reported sales of 565 million dollars, which was the highest number in the company’s history. In fact, Apple managed to ship 6, 16 million iPods during the first months of 2005, meaning a 66 % increase over the same period of time in 2004.

The new range of iPods are supposed to be even more improved and have a new variety of features and new

Satellite radio is one of the biggest improvements in broadcasting since the introduction of FM. Satellite radio signal can be broadcasted for more than 35,000 kilometers (22,000 miles) with complete clarity and high quality sound. You will never get static interferences while listening to over 100 radio channels. The idea behind satellite radio has appeared in 1992, when the United States Federal Communications Commission granted a spectrum of the S band (the 2.3 GHz frequency) for Digital Audio Radio Service. The license to broadcast in that band was allocated to Sirius Satellite Radio and XM Satellite Radio in 1997. Now there are three companies that provide satellite radio in the world: Sirius and XM in Northern America and WorldSpace in Asia, Europe and Africa.

Each of these companies offer different broadcasting systems, since the radio signal of each is proprietary. This means that you will have to buy different hardware depending on your subscription to one of these companies. However, there are three components common to all satellite radio services: the satellites, the ground repeaters and the radio receivers. Different satellite radio companies broadcast the radio signal in different ways. For instance, XM satellite radio uses geostationary satellites which have orbits that are synchronized with the movement of Earth. These satellites are located above the equator. In order to allow subscribers to receive crystal-clear signal despite obstacles such as buildings, hills or bridges, XM satellite radio service has installed a network of repeaters antennas that receive the radio signal from the satellites and retransmit it to the subscriber’s receiver Sirius, on the other hand, uses satellites that have unique elliptical orbits around Earth. These kinds of orbits allow satellites to get higher in the sky than geostationary satellites and this prevents loss of signal.

The trend that the Apple company set for their packages is redefined with every new appearance of a product. Actually, the permanent search in finding the right package and aesthetics and adapting the box to both the product and the customers` needs is focused on discovering a more compact way of packaging and, at the same time, with an expressive, yet subtle artistic touch. Due to the characteristics of the product, the packaging of the video iPod tries to be both practical and aesthetic, in order to symbolize somehow the visual characteristics and quality of the new product.

The original package of the iPod was a 6" cube box. The box was supposed to be removed out of the sleeve, after which, it was unfolded as a flower. The first iPod package reflected the image that the company was trying to promote: exuberant style, expressive elements, brisk and intense colors and sounds. After the appearance of the next types of iPods, this image of the product changed into a more mature one, an image which was expressed through the campaigns, the package and the general design of the product.

The main color of the iPod video is plain black, which is rather risky, yet original, considering the fact that the main aspect that the device has is the video, meaning colors, motion and diversion. Still, there are various silver accents on the box, which represent the Apple logo and text. Still, the color of the box fits with the colors of the actual iPods: black and white, just like the iPod nano. By choosing these colors and this style of packaging, Apple wanted to create a more sophisticated and stylish look of the new product; together with this, the ads for the product changed to a more series and mature tone.

The shape of the box differs, as well, from the first flower-like box of the first generation of iPods: this iPod`s video box is rather flat and square, more stylish and more serious looking.