Apple Computer declared record shipments of the iPod player in the Q4 2005 and offered the iPod owners to get rid of two of the drawbacks the player has: the lack of radio and remote controller. The announcement adds pressure on third-party player makers and underlines growing popularity of the gadget by Apple.

“I’m really pleased to announce that last quarter we sold 14 million iPods. That is over a hundred every minute, 24/7 throughout the quarter. And it still wasn’t enough. We’ve now sold over 42 million iPods,” said Steve Jobs, chief executive for Apple during his keynote at Macworld conference.

A Morgan Stanley analyst who recently polled consumers in the U.S. said that Apple’s iPod music player and iTunes music store were continuing to gain popularity. In fact, according to the analyst, the iPod players were even more desired than cellular phones this holiday season. 

During his speech, Mr. Jobs also unveiled the iPod Radio Remote which allows to skip tracks and adjust the volume of their iPod as well as listen to FM radio stations while displaying station and song information for stations that support the Radio Data System (RDS) on their iPod screen.

“The iPod Radio Remote combines two great features in one elegant product,” said Greg Joswiak, Apple’s vice president of worldwide iPod product marketing. “The iPod Radio Remote is both the best remote control and the best FM radio listening experience for iPod.”

The iPod Radio Remote includes a pair of Apple headphones with a shorter cable, complementing the iPod Radio Remote and will begin shipping immediately for $49 (US).