AfterTek

Apple Inc. stated that it has sold 100 million units of its iPod, with the Cupertino, Calif.-based company declaring the product is “the fastest-selling music player in history.” Since the first iPod was sold in November 2001, the device has become a defining icon in the portable music world and can be seen everywhere.

The iPod has changed the way many music lovers acquire, store and listen to music, the company said. “Without the iPod, the digital music age would have been defined by files and folders instead of songs and albums,” musician John Mayer said in an Apple news release.

New Yorkers who usually cross the street while listening to an iPod or talking on a cell phone could soon face a $100 fine. New York State Sen. Carl Kruger says that three pedestrians in his Brooklyn district have been killed since September upon stepping into traffic while distracted by an electronic device. In one case bystanders screamed “watch out” to no avail.

Kruger says he will introduce legislation on Wednesday to ban the use of gadgets such as Blackberry devices and video games while crossing the street. “Government has an obligation to protect its citizenry,” Kruger said in a telephone interview from Albany, the state capital. “This electronic gadgetry is reaching the point where it’s becoming not only endemic but it’s creating an atmosphere where we have a major public safety crisis at hand.”

The debuting of Apple’s multipurpose iPhone was the talk of the tech world last week because of its advanced features and design and also for the dispute over its name. The device combines the functions of a mobile phone, an iPod media player and a wireless Internet communicator behind a touch-sensitive screen. A day after Apple Chief Executive Steve Jobs took the wraps off iPhone, Cisco Systems sued for trademark infringement.