Rockbox is open source firmware for use on various digital audio players. It aims to replace the original firmware provided with extended functionality while remaining easy to use. The features vary between players¹ but Rockbox in general has:

• playlists on-the-fly
• games
• spoken menu support (for vision impaired or blind users)
• a longer battery life
• more accurate and precise "remaining batter" indicator

Rockbox is more easily updateable than the original firmware and bug fixes are released quickly.

Supported Hardware

Originally created for Archos range Rockbox has been ported to some iRiver players and can be used on the following:

• Archos range: Players, Recorder v1, Recorder v2, FM Recorder, Ondio SP and Ondio FM.
• iRiver range: H120, H140 and recently the H320 and H340.
• iPod Color/photo (4G) and Nano<\li>

Present developments

The port to the iRiver H3xx series is still only recommended for developers (February 2006). The iPod port is still in the early stages though notably on the 28th of January 2006 the landmark of sound playback on an iPod was reached (http://www.rockbox.org/mail/archive/rockbox-archive-2006-01/0543.shtml).

Links