Apple to turn down iPod volume
Posted by Dennis Sellers 
Dec 23, 2007 at 10:42am
Fears that music fans will deafen themselves with a highest volume setting equal to a chainsaw have led Apple to develop an automatic-volume control, the first time that the company “has explicitly expressed fears over the risk the device poses to hearing,” reports the Telegraph.
Currently, iPods can reach volumes of more than 100 decibels (dB)—equivalent to standing 10 feetfrom a pneumatic drill. At that volume, experts claim there is a risk of hearing damage after just 15 minutes notes the Telegraph. A new patent reveals that the next iPods and iPhones could automatically calculate how long a person has been listening, and at what volume, before gradually reducing the sound level.
The device will also calculate the amount of “quiet time” between when the iPod is turned off and when it is restarted, allowing the volume to be increased again to a safe level, notes the Telegraph. However, it’s not clear whether iPod owners will be able to switch off this automatic volume control.
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Dennis Sellers
Dennis has been a newspaper editor/reporter (seven years) and teacher (seven years). He has over 10,000 magazine, newspaper and online articles to his credit. He has also covered the Mac and tech industries for over a decade for such online publications as MacCentral, MacMinute and now MacsimumNews.
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