Voice-nav MP3 Players & HD-based Video

[emit]

May 16, 2003
FCC Approves Spectrum Leasing
By Roy Mark

Reversing a 40-year-old policy, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) voted 4-1 Thursday to allow wireless carriers to lease their assigned spectrum to others, creating a long discussed secondary market in airwaves.

The decision to allow wireless carriers to enter into spectrum leasing agreements affects both mobile and fixed services, including cellular, personal communications services (PCS), specialized mobile radio (SMR), and local multipoint distribution service (LMDS).

The FCC has long maintained that wireless licensees with "exclusive" rights to their assigned spectrum could not lease the spectrum to others in order to assure there would be no interference with competing services, but under Powell the agency has been moving toward a more market driven approach to airwave management.

"Today's action is one of the most important spectrum reform decisions by this Commission in the last decade," Powell and Commissioner Kevin Martin said in a joint statement. "For years, the Commission has rhetorically praised the concept and possibilities created by secondary markets in spectrum. Today that rhetoric turns into reality. Our decision unlocks value trapped for too many years in a regulatory box."

The new rules allow wireless carriers to enter into spectrum leasing arrangements without obtaining prior FCC approval so long as the licensee retains both legal and working control of the license.

A second option allows carriers to enter into long-term or short-term leasing arrangements where the licensee retains legal control of the license while working control is transferred to the lessee for the term of the lease. That option will require FCC approval under a streamlined process.

While praising much of the FCC's decision, Commissioner Michael Copps voted against the measure, saying the agency does not have the legal authority to take such action.

Section 310(d) of the Communications Act states that no "station license or any rights thereunder shall be transferred, assigned or disposed of in any manner ... except upon application to the Commission and upon finding by the Commission that the public interest, convenience, and necessity will be served thereby."

"Developing a secondary market in spectrum holds great promise. But I keep running into the same problem and I cannot make it go away. I do not see how the law allows us to effectuate these policies. I must therefore respectfully dissent," Copps said.

Copps added, "Today we allow licensees to transfer a significant right -- the right to control the spectrum on a day-to-day basis -- without applying to the Commission and without the requirement of any Commission public interest finding. How can this be legal under Section 310(d)?"

The majority interpretation of the law, however, was that Congress said licensees can not transfer "any rights" under a license that it did not mean this phrase to include the right to control all use of the spectrum on a day-to-day basis.

The decision to allow spectrum leasing drew the immediate praise of the Cellular Telecommunications and Internet Association (CTIA), the principal trade group of the cell phone industry.

"Permitting secondary markets for spectrum will deliver to carriers improved access to the airwaves, increasing their flexibility and bringing down their costs, which should ultimately result in lower prices for consumers," said Tom Wheeler, president and CEO of CTIA. "Football teams aren't done after draft day. They continue to meet their changing needs through trades and late season's acquisitions. Wireless carriers deserve, and will now receive, similar flexibility."

[emit]

Subject: WLAN users and the industry
From EDIGlong
PostID 254463 On Friday, May 16, 2003 (EST) at 12:25:16 PM

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Open Season on Wireless LANs
Send this Article
Print this Article Talkback
Related Stories

By Jay Wrolstad
www.NewsFactor.com,
Part of the NewsFactor Network
May 16, 2003

When individuals access a public WLAN at a coffee shop across the street from a library, for example, the laptop is configured to connect to the nearest, or strongest signal. The user cannot tell if that network is located in the coffee shop or the library.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

NewsFactor's CIO Today Magazine. Now in print. Sign up today for your FREE subscription. It takes just two minutes and think of the benefit! Each information-packed issue provides practical purchasing strategies for technology decision makers. Strategies that could save hundreds of thousands of dollars each year. Click here for your FREE subscription.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------



Wi-Fi-based wireless local area networks are spreading like wildfire among homeowners, businesses small and large, and such public entities as libraries and government offices. But most users pay little attention to security, inviting penetration of their networks by anyone within range (about 300 feet) of an unprotected access point.

And such intrusions occur all too often. In fact, ''war driving'' is becoming an increasingly popular practice among mobile computer geeks. War drivers cruise the streets with laptops rigged for WLAN broadband connectivity searching for open access points.

Typically, they mark a new find with graffiti that flags the spot for other Wi-Fi users. All most of these war drivers are interested in is getting free Internet use. However, leaky WLANs also give network intruders with more nefarious motives easy entry.


ADVERTISEMENT

Accidental Break-Ins

A law wending its way through the New Hampshire legislature could have broad implications for anyone operating a wireless LAN by offering a measure of protection for war drivers and would-be hackers. In effect, the legislation puts the onus on businesses and consumers to protect themselves.

New Hampshire state representative Richard Kennedy said he was prompted to introduce HB 495 after a friend accessed a local government WLAN -- and its files -- while trying to link up with a network located across the street.

''It's illegal in our state to cut into a computer network, just like it's illegal to tap a phone line, but people are connecting to wireless networks by accident all of the time because they are everywhere,'' Kennedy told NewsFactor. ''We needed to clean up the law.''

Tell It to the Judge

Consequently, the New Hampshire measure stipulates that the owner of a wireless computer network is responsible for securing such network, and that ''negligent or inadvertent'' access is ''an affirmative defense'' to prosecution.

The bill provides that those charged with unauthorized access to a WLAN can escape legal responsibility simply by claiming they believed the owner of the network granted access, or that they could not have known that access was prohibited.

That pretty much gives the green light to war drivers, who need only tell the judge, ''The access point was open, so I assumed it was okay to use.'' It boils down to a question of good faith. ''If you send a request to an access point and get approval, you have every reason to believe that access point is available,'' said Cory Doctorow, outreach coordinator for the Electronic Frontier Foundation.

Network Sharing

''As long as there is no notice stipulating that access is restricted, and as long as the individual is not trying to crack an encryption code or taking other extraordinary measures to connect, it should be legal,'' Doctorow told NewsFactor.

The EFF, a defender of digital rights, is an ardent supporter of community WLANs, which have sprung up in San Francisco, Boston and New York City, as well as many other locales. Participants willingly leave their access points open for others to use, in the belief that they are contributing to the common good. And some ISPs allow their customers to invite the public to use their access points, Doctorow pointed out.

Good Intentions

War driving has gotten a bad rap, Doctorow contends. A better moniker might be ''wireless network mapping,'' since most practitioners are not malicious by nature.

When sites are located, they often are marked with symbols written on the sidewalk or a nearby building in a practice known as ''war chalking.'' The marks can indicate the signal strength as well as security features at a specific access point.

The term ''war driving'' is derived from the 1983 film ''War Games,'' a cult favorite among hackers. It is a global phenomenon that certainly has attracted thousands of participants, although obtaining an accurate head count is virtually impossible since they prefer to operate with anonymity.

Tough To Control

While obtaining free access to bandwidth is not in itself a problem, reaching into the internal traffic on a business server, for example, could be a serious invasion of privacy .

The pending New Hampshire legislation raises some intriguing questions. ''Suppose I deploy a wireless LAN without security,'' says IDC analyst Abner Germanow, ''but it is used for malicious purposes. Do I have any legal recourse against the person who used it? Can I even track down that person?''

When individuals access a public WLAN at a coffee shop across the street from a library, for example, the laptop is configured to connect to the nearest, or strongest signal. The user cannot tell if that network is located in the coffee shop or the library, he noted.

Wi-Fi Industry on Notice

Because most WLANs involve sharing airspace and airwaves, multiple parties often are sharing a physical network, each with different policies for its use, Germanow said.

The New Hampshire proposal is intuitive, according to Aberdeen Group analyst Dana Tardelli. He compares unprotected WLANs to a car that is parked with the key in the ignition and the doors unlocked -- an invitation to thieves.

''This could serve as a wake-up call for both WLAN users and the industry. If you have an access point, and you don't want other people on it, you have to take measures to secure it,'' Tardelli told NewsFactor. And if a Wi-Fi system is difficult to secure, people will not buy it, he added.

Leading the Way

Equipment vendors can do a better job of educating the public and/or shipping their products with default protection measures, Doctorow agrees. ''Manufacturers should be held to a higher standard,'' he said.

New Hampshire is the first -- and so far, only -- state to address this legal gray area. The bill got the nod from the New Hampshire house and is under review by the state senate. If signed into law, it is scheduled to take effect in January 2004. Doctorow expects that the courts will affirm the law and hopes that others will follow the ''Live Free or Die'' state's example.

[emit]

EDIG/Odyssey 1000 featured in mass PC Magazine email: ============================================================
------ ProductWire ------
------ First Looks Update ------
------ for the week of May 16, 2003 ------
------ www.pcmag.com/firstlooks ------
============================================================

For all stories, log on to www.pcmag.com/firstlooks

The First Looks section of PCMag.com keeps you on top of the
newest high-tech products. Check out what we covered this week.

In This Week's Issue:

* Pentax Optio 550
* Argus DC3810
* ViewSonic NextVision 2000M Media Center
* e.Digital Odyssey 1000
* 30GB Apple iPod
* nVidia GeForceFX 5900 Ultra
* Product Bulletin

============================================================
************ Sponsored by Dell DHS ************

Free Ground (3-5 Day) Shipping
with the purchase of any new
Dell Home System. Offer expires 5/21.

Click for offer details:
eletters.pcmag.com/redir/ZD_redirect_05122003_1.html

***********************************************************
============================================================

Surprises Abound with Pentax

The 5-megapixel Pentax Optio 550 digital camera comes with a
surprisingly full feature set at a refreshingly low price.

www.pcmag.com/article2/0,4149,1091093,00.asp

============================================================

A 5-Megapixel Camera at a 3-Megapixel Price

The Argus DC3810 pushes the limit with loads of features at
a low price.

www.pcmag.com/article2/0,4149,1091095,00.asp

============================================================

A Media Center PC We Can Live With

The ViewSonic NextVision 2000M Media Center is making headway
in the Media Center world, offering a better design and a
higher-quality picture than its predecessors.

www.pcmag.com/article2/0,4149,1089616,00.asp

============================================================

Odyssey Takes on iPod

The e.Digital Odyssey 1000 may be the only MP3 player that
comes close to the hugely popular Apple iPod.

www.pcmag.com/article2/0,4149,1087484,00.asp

============================================================

The Ultimate Listening Experience?

The new 30GB iPod packs more storage into a smaller size,
and with iTunes 4.0, you'll need all the space you can get.

www.pcmag.com/article2/0,4149,1084612,00.asp

============================================================

nVidia Takes On ATI-Again

Does the nVidia GeForceFX 5900 Ultra (previously code-named
NV35) have what it takes to reclaim the top spot in the 3-D
graphics market?

www.pcmag.com/article2/0,4149,1078540,00.asp

============================================================

PRODUCT BULLETIN: The Mitsubishi XL5950: An Anti-Theft Projector

Other new products include Google Alert 2.0, Mach5 Mailer
3.3, NEC MobilePro 900, Presto! PageManager 6.0, and more.

www.pcmag.com/category2/0,4148,904456,00.asp

============================================================
Upcoming Events
============================================================

REGISTER NOW for CeBIT America

See if you qualify for complimentary admission to the all-new
CeBIT America, the leading global information and
communications technology trade show. June 18-20, Javits
Convention Center, New York City. Strictly business-to-business.

Click below to register:
www.cebit-america.com

============================================================
Elsewhere on Ziff Davis Internet
============================================================

eWeek.com

Dell Earnings Jump 31%

www.eweek.com/article2/0,3959,1090272,00.asp

============================================================

Security SuperSite

New Worm Covers All The Bases

security.ziffdavis.com/article2/0,3973,1088932,00.asp

============================================================

Wireless SuperSite

iLoo II: This Time It's Porcelain

wireless.ziffdavis.com/article2/0,3973,1081786,00.asp

============================================================
eNewsletter Information
============================================================
============================================================
PC Magazine Print Subscriptions
============================================================
Subscribe at 77% off the newsstand price -- choose
traditional print or our new digital format.
www.zdmcirc.com/zdmcirc/default.asp?LK=NLTEXT&I=ibmp

Give a gift subscription:
give.pcmag.com

Help with your subscription:
service.pcmag.com

Copyright (c) 2003 Ziff Davis Media Inc. All Rights Reserved

[emit]

Posted by: Jeau
In reply to: None Date:5/15/2003 7:39:34 AM
Post #of 35744

SRS Labs and Samsung Electronics Sign Global Technology Licensing Agreement




Samsung yepp(TM) Digital Audio Players Featuring SRS WOW(TM) Audio Technology
Are First Products Under New Agreement

SANTA ANA, Calif., May 15 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ --
SRS Labs, Inc. (Nasdaq: SRSL), a leading provider of innovative audio, voice
and ASIC technology solutions, today announced that it has signed a technology
licensing agreement with Samsung, the number one electronics manufacturer in
Korea. The new collaboration includes the license of SRS Labs' patented
WOW(TM) audio technology across multiple Samsung product lines and divisions.
The first product line to feature WOW is yepp(TM), Samsung's flagship, flash-
based, digital audio players. WOW creates a natural and expansive audio
experience with rich, deep bass over smaller speakers or headphones, such as
those found in portable digital audio players.
The small cylindrical design of the yepp portable player looks much like a
tube of lipstick. In addition to the featured WOW audio technology, the
player includes an FM radio, USB socket to connect to a personal computer and
real-time encoding function that enables users to record both radio and audio
from an external device connected via a mini jack. A single AAA battery
provides approximately 15 hours of playback. The YP-55 began shipping in
South Korea on April 20 and is available in two versions. The 128MB model
(YP-55H) retails for $172 USD and the 256MB version (YP-55V) retails at
$205 USD. In a recent article, Samsung said it expects sales of the player
will contribute to around 60 percent of the estimated 200,000 players it aims
to sell in South Korea in 2003. Shipments to the United States and other
overseas markets will begin in the next few months.
"Samsung is a benchmark for quality in Korea and I am very proud that our
technology and brand have demonstrated its value and become standard features
in Samsung's new digital audio players," commented Steven Kim, SRS Labs' sales
manager for Korea. "We have worked closely with Samsung over the past few
years to develop SRS technology solutions for their products. Through our
efforts and close collaboration we re-engaged Samsung to use SRS Labs
technologies, which has led to significant new opportunities. The initial
result of this agreement is Samsung's adoption of our WOW technology in this
exciting new product."
Digital audio player is a term used to describe a device that plays back
compressed digital audio files in any one of several formats, including MP3,
Windows Media Audio (WMA) and Advanced Audio Coding (AAC), and are available
in portable, car and home form factors. Over the past few years, most digital
audio players primarily played MP3 files and at a hefty price tag of over
$200 for only 30 minutes worth of songs. Today's players take full advantage
of recent technology innovations, such as longer battery life, more storage
and more audio functionality. These tangible user benefits and dropping
prices have resulted in a resurgence of the digital audio player market.
According to InStat/MDR, the worldwide market for portable digital music
player unit shipments (including solid state and revolving media products)
will be robust over the next five years, growing from about 7.2 million in
2002 to almost 30 million in 2006.
"Our SRS WOW technology is the ideal solution to provide CD quality audio
for the compressed audio file format on portable digital players," said Ted
Franceschi, executive vice president and general manager for SRS Labs. "Our
WOW audio enhancement unlocks the highs and lows that tend to get muddy when
digital audio is compressed and the power of the WOW brand provides an
assurance to consumers around the world that they are enjoying the highest
quality audio experience."

About WOW
SRS WOW is an award-winning, patented, playback enhancement technology
that improves audio dynamics and bass performance of any mono or stereo audio.
It provides a stunning improvement when used with smaller speakers or
headphones that are not capable of achieving a high fidelity experience,
especially when the audio has been digitally compressed into formats, such as
MP3 and WMA. Hardware and software products that feature WOW include mobile
phones from Sharp, Microsoft's Windows(R) Media Player series software
products, car CD receivers from Kenwood, as well as televisions from Sony and
Sharp. To date, over 300 million hardware or software products have been
shipped or downloaded that include the powerful WOW audio feature.
WOW provides digital audio player manufacturers with the ability to
instantly improve their product's overall sound quality. It delivers an
incredible headphone listening experience to any music genre providing the
perception of deep, rich bass and an amazing 3D listening experience. WOW has
been designed with product manufacturers in mind and includes many
customizable settings that can be adjusted and optimized to for a particular
product application or can be extended to the user interface or product
controls to allow the consumer to set their preferences. Features include
available sampling rates from 8 to 44 kHz, headphone or speaker selector,
choice of eight speaker size settings based on the low frequency cut-off of
the drivers, choice of mono or stereo input modes and more.

About SRS Labs Inc.
Celebrating a decade in audio technology innovation, SRS Labs has become a
recognized leader in the advancement of audio and voice technology. The
company works with the world's top manufacturers to provide a richer
entertainment experience through patented sound techniques. SRS technologies
can be heard through products ranging from televisions, DVD players, cell
phones, car audio systems and computers. The company also offers hardware and
software tools to professionals and consumers for the production and broadcast
of content featuring SRS technologies. SRS Labs' wholly owned subsidiary,
ValenceTech, is located in Hong Kong and provides custom ASICs and standard
ICs to leading manufacturers worldwide. Based in Santa Ana, Calif., the
company also has licensing representation in Hong Kong, Japan, Europe, and
Korea. For more information about SRS Labs, Inc. please visit
http://www.srslabs.com . The information on the above-referenced websites is not
incorporated by reference into this press release.

Except for historical information contained in this release, statements in
this release, including those in paragraph three and five are forward-looking
statements and projections (which include statements concerning plans and
objectives of management for future operations) that are based on management's
belief, as well as assumptions made by, and information currently available
to, management. While the Company believes that its expectations are based
upon reasonable assumptions, there can be no assurances that the Company's
goals and strategy will be realized. Numerous factors, including risks and
uncertainties, may affect the Company's actual results and may cause results
to differ materially from those expressed in forward-looking statements made
by or on behalf of the Company. Some of these factors include SRS Labs'
continued relationship with Samsung and its inclusion in future projects, the
general market conditions concerning the semiconductor business, the
acceptance of new SRS Labs' products and technologies, the impact of
competitive products and pricing, the timely development and release of
technologies by the Company, general business and economic conditions,
especially in Asia, and other factors detailed in the Company's Form 10-K and
other periodic reports filed with the SEC. SRS Labs specifically disclaims
any obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statement whether as a
result of new information, future developments or otherwise.

For further information please contact: investors, Tami Yanito,
ext. 3093, [e-mail] , or media, Jennifer Drescher, ext. 5010,
[e-mail] , both of SRS Labs, Inc., [phone].



SOURCE SRS Labs, Inc.
Web Site: http://www.srslabs.com

[emit]

May 12, 2003
HP Pitches New ProCurve Products
By Michael Singer

Hewlett-Packard (Quote, Company Info) Monday expanded its product offerings from its ProCurve Networking division.

Designed to compete with products from networking gear makers Cisco Systems (Quote, Company Info) and 3Com (Quote, Company Info) as well as targeting wired and wireless networking managers, the Palo Alto, Calif.-based computer and printer maker unveiled its Secure Access 700wl Series, Enterprise Access Point 520wl and Universal VoIP Infrastructure and Power Over Ethernet lines to better address voice, video and data applications.

The company also introduced a Switch 5300xl series blade based on the proposed IEEE 802.3af standard for supplying Power over Ethernet (PoE) cabling. HP says it expects to deliver the 5300xl series standards-based PoE blade and external power system with up to 15 watts per port in second half of the year.

HP ProCurve Networking also plans to introduce 802.3af-compliant stackable switches with integrated power with 7.5 watts per port and fully loaded external power supplies and power management this fall.

"Enterprises are looking for more effective ways to communicate with both wired and wireless networks," John McHugh, vice president and general manager, HP ProCurve Networking Business said in a statement. "By making it easy for enterprises to extend their network and ultimately their brand to guests, the HP ProCurve Virtual Lobby provides appropriate access based on guests' unique needs while ensuring the experience is more productive and powerful."

HP says its ProCurve Secure Access 700wl platform lets network managers control wireless access by user, by location and by time of day. The series is compatible with any VPN client. HP says the equipment should be available this summer.

The Switch 5300xl series upgrade includes support for Web-based user authentication enabling the network to detect a Web browser's launch, compare the user/client information to an authorized user list and allow approved guest users to log onto the network. Supporting both wired and wireless functionality without the need for special client software, the Switch 5300xl series upgrade also supports authentication of a broader range of client devices for RADIUS authentication.

On the VoIP (define) front, HP says its Universal VoIP Infrastructure and Power Over Ethernet now supports multi-vendor interoperability testing

The company's new Enterprise Access Point 520wl enhancement comes with both 802.11a and 802.11b support. HP ProCurve intends to support the 802.11g standard when the IEEE standards body ratifies it.

HP's ProCurve products are based on its Networking Adaptive EDGE Architecture, which is also the basis of the Intel Itanium 2 processor, which HP helped develop in the 90s.







News Archives

[emit]

May 13, 2003
Verizon's Bold Wi-Fi Push
By Colin C. Haley

Verizon (Quote, Company Info) this morning activated 150 Wi-Fi (define) hotspots (define) in New York, part of a plan to bring wireless Internet access to its subscribers throughout the Big Apple and differentiate itself from cable broadband rivals.

In all, the telecom plans to have 1,000 access spots in the city by year's end. Users can access the Internet through Wi-Fi compatible laptops, PDAs or pocket PCs within 300 feet of the hotspots.

The first hotspots (which will costs Verizon about $5,000 each to deploy) are in busy neighborhoods, including: the Upper East and Upper West Sides, Columbia University, Midtown, Union Square, Gramercy Park, Greenwich Village/NYU, Wall Street and Battery Park.

The company's Web site has a complete list. In addition, Verizon Wi-Fi-enabled public phones are identified with hotspot signs in red and black.

"Free access to our data network through emerging Wi-Fi technologies gives our customers benefits they can get from no other provider and makes our broadband service uniquely competitive," said James A. Otterbeck, a Verizon senior vice president.

"Uniquely competitive" is a subtle swipe at cable companies, who vie with Verizon for home and small business broadband services. By offering complementary Wi-Fi access to its DSL customers, Verizon believes it will have an edge over Comcast and others.

During a conference call with reporters, Verizon executives it would like to use New York as a template for deployments in its other major markets. The company, which serves most of the East Coast, will use feedback from New York to determine which services are most attractive.

"We're going to learn and we're going to grow." said Verizon executive Larry Babbio.

Verizon said its Wi-Fi service in New York will be the largest run by any carrier in a major city. It will however compete with several public hotspots. New York's Downtown Alliance recently launched three such sites in Manhattan and four more are expected to go live later this month.

For Verizon, it's the second bold move in the broadband market this month. Earlier, it slashed the price of its digital subscriber line (define) home service to $34.95 per month, forcing competitors to follow suit or risk being undersold. Business package prices have also been cut.

In addition to price cuts is a partnership with Microsoft that will provide DSL users with MSN 8 software.

[emit]

Microsoft, HP Show Path to PC Renaissance
By Thor Olavsrud
May 6, 2003

Microsoft (Quote, Company Info) and Hewlett-Packard (Quote, Company Info) snuggled up to each other Tuesday, using their already close partnership to show manufacturers a new future in PC manufacturing where vendors work with Microsoft from the ground up when developing new PC technologies.
The result is ''Athens,'' a PC prototype which takes a page from Apple Computer's (Quote, Company Info) book with deep integration of hardware and software designed around the end-user experience.

''The hardware industry and Microsoft are leading the next wave of PC development by creating unprecedented levels of synergy between hardware and software,'' said Microsoft Chairman and Chief Software Architect Bill Gates during his keynote at the 12th annual Windows Hardware Engineering Conference (WinHEC) in New Orleans. ''The result will be innovative products that improve the way our customers work, communicate, learn and are entertained. The 'Athens' PC prototype is just one example of the amazing things that are possible when hardware and software companies collaborate deeply on new designs.''

Co-developed with HP, Athens is an effort to converge communications -- like voice, video and text messaging -- into a consistent, streamlined design which makes Windows-based machines easier to navigate while eliminating hiccups.

Athens features integrated telephony functionality with a wireless handset and headset that form a centralized communications unit; a wide, high-DPI flat panel display intended to make working with multiple documents on the screen more comfortable; more consistent system controls; and improvements like quite operation, ''appliance-like availability,'' and high quality audio.

The machine's media and device ports, as well as disk drives, are all positioned on the display, where they are easy to access, while a single cable serves up power and data to the screen. Athens also features a wireless mouse and wireless keyboard.

''In a world where technology is increasingly commoditizing, the need for innovation that solves real business problems and creates a richer customer experience is stronger than ever,'' said Carly Fiorina, chairman and CEO of HP. ''Just as we did with the Tablet PC and the Media Center PC, HP and Microsoft are creating a new standard of joint innovation in hardware, software and product design. The Athens prototype PC will empower business customers with an entirely new class of business technology that provides a seamless and natural experience for communications and collaboration.''

Gates also held up a new set of cross-product navigation controls, code-named ''Xeel,'' as an example of the fruit that deep integration between hardware and software can bear. Xeel, which aims to build on the navigation innovations of the mouse wheel, is a cluster of hardware components and software interactions which are intended to simplify content navigation and work consistently across Windows-based devices, from Tablet PCs and Pocket PCs to Windows Powered Smartphones, Windows Powered Smart Displays, and the new Smart Personal Objects Technology (SPOT).

Gates also used his keynote to announce new pricing and packaging for Windows CE .NET 4.2, the company's embedded operating system, in an effort to make it more suitable for low-cost commercial and consumer devices. The new license, Windows CE .NET Core, is available for an estimated retail price of $3. Gates said the company has also made a free, noncommercial distribution license for the operating system available. That license is intended to help embedded partners, developers and device manufacturers share device images.

''Smart, connected devices are playing an increasingly significant role in everyday life and are a key part of our 'Digital Decade' vision,'' Gates said. ''Our new low-cost Windows CE .NET Core license is a rich platform that enables manufacturers and developers to quickly utilize Windows CE across a broad range of these devices, and our free noncommercial license and tools will help foster innovation.''

Intended for low-cost devices like gateways, entry-level VoIP phones, industrial automation equipment and consumer electronic devices like CD players, digital cameras and networked DVD players, Windows CE .NET 4.2 Core features a real-time operating system kernel, file system, networking and communications technologies, multimedia capabilities and an application development platform.

The Windows CE .NET 4.2 Professional license, geared for devices with a richer user interface like set-top boxes, advanced VoIP devices, handhelds and digital media players, includes value-added components like Windows Messenger, WordPad, the Remote Desktop Protocol and Internet Explorer 6. Additionally, those who purchase a professional license can obtain viewers for Office documents like Word, Excel, PowerPoint and PDF and image viewers for an additional cost.

The noncommercial distribution license is included in the free Windows CE .NET 4.2 Emulation Edition and Evaluation Kit. It includes the full Platform Builder tool and complete operating system components

[Tinroad]

DivXNetworks Launches First Ever DivX(R) for Mac Video Encoder

World’s Leading MPEG-4 Compatible Video Technology Now Offers Highest Visual Quality and Performance for Mac Users

SAN DIEGO, CA -- (MARKET WIRE) -- 05/05/2003 -- DivXNetworks, Inc., today announced the release of the DivX® 5.0.5 Video Codec for Mac, available at www.divx.com/divx/mac. The new release offers the first ever DivX video encoder for the Mac OS, enabling Mac users to easily create DVD-quality video at 1/10th the size of MPEG-2.

“Mac users and digital video enthusiasts have been waiting anxiously for this release, and we’re excited to bring the best video codec in the world to the platform of choice for professional video content creation,” said Kevin Hell, chief marketing officer and managing director at DivXNetworks, Inc. (www.divxnetworks.com). “DivX for Mac offers unparalleled visual quality, better than real-time encoding speed and superior playback performance that is ideal for the multimedia Mac environment.”

DivX for Mac OS, a QuickTime component that runs on Mac OS 8.6 through Mac OS X, is available with an optional MP3 encoder to ensure cross platform audio compatibility. The new release empowers Mac users to create, distribute and watch full screen DVD quality video, offering the highest level of compression with advanced encoding tools and interlaced video support.

DivX 5.0.5 for Mac is available to consumers in two versions. DivX Pro 5.0.5 for Mac, an advanced application for professional users, is available for a small one-time charge. A standard version of the Mac codec is also offered for download free of charge. To download DivX 5.0.5 for Mac today, visit www.divx.com/divx/mac.

About DivXNetworks

DivXNetworks is a consumer-focused video technology company positioned at the center of multimedia convergence. The company’s core offering is the DivX® video codec, the world’s most popular MPEG-4 compatible video compression technology with over 80 million users worldwide. Often called “the MP3 of video,” the patent-pending DivX video technology offers DVD-quality at 10 times greater compression than MPEG-2 files, enabling full length films to easily fit on a CD or be delivered over broadband connections. DivX video technology powers a range of applications that span the convergence value chain, from a secure IP-based video-on-demand solution to next-generation consumer electronics products and video software applications. DivXNetworks is headquartered in San Diego, California, with a satellite office in Los Angeles. For more information, visit www.divxnetworks.com.

[Tinroad]

Intel has released software that lets computers read lips, a step forward that could lead to better voice-recognition applications. The Audio Visual Speech Recognition (AVSR) software tracks a speaker's face and mouth movements. By matching these movements with speech, the application can provide a computer with enough data to respond to voice recognition commands, even when these are given in noisy environments.

29 April 2003
Lip-reading computers are born

New open source software from Intel enables computers to read users' lips – a great leap forward for voice recognition applications.

The accuracy of many current speech recognition applications degrades when there is background noise – in public places, for example.

Intel has developed Audio Visual Speech recognition (AVSR) software that uses face detection algorithms to help computers track a speaker's mouth movements.

The software synchronizes video data with speech identification to enable much more accurate speech recognition.

"Intel wants to develop technology that allows computers to naturally interact with the world the way humans do," said Justin Rattner, Intel senior fellow, Enterprise Platform Group and director of Intel's Microprocessor Research Labs.

"Human recognition is seldom based on a single type of information. We make decisions by combining information from a variety of sources."

The AVSR software has been released as part of Intel's OpenCV computer vision library – a royalty-free toolbox of code for researchers, designed to increase innovation in the field.

http://www.internet-magazine.com/news/view.asp?id=3379
http://www.intel.com/research/mrl/research/avcsr.htm

[emit]

Note bold -
MPEG4/divx compete with WM9 in a sense utilizing broadband hardwire wirless emits/works off-within wifi-hotspots and wlan/pan. Gona be interesting... I could see our Divx IFE contracted to FOX via this system.



TANDBERG Television and Microsoft Collaborate on Breakthrough Windows Media 9 Series Solution for Broadcast Content Delivery

TANDBERG Television to Develop Dedicated Real-Time Hardware Encoder For Windows Media 9 Series; Joint Demonstration Over DVB Broadcast System at IBC 2002

SOUTHAMPTON, England, and REDMOND, Wash. -- Aug. 29, 2002 --TANDBERG Television and Microsoft Corp. today announced they will collaborate to offer professional broadcast solutions supporting Windows Media (TM) 9 Series for the telecom and professional broadcast industries. TANDBERG Television is developing a dedicated, real-time hardware-based encoding platform for Windows Media, based on Windows Media Audio and Video 9 Series. TANDBERG Television and Microsoft also are collaborating at a number of levels, including engineering, sales and marketing. The results of this cooperation will be demonstrated for the first time at IBC2002 in Amsterdam, Netherlands, Sept. 13-17.

"There is a huge need within the broadcast and broadband industries for delivery platforms that offer the highest-quality audio and video at the lowest data rate to save bandwidth costs and enable greater subscriber reach," said Gwyn Pugh, CEO of TANDBERG Television. "Windows Media Video 9 Series is a technology breakthrough that, when integrated with our real-time implementation, makes the delivery of broadcast-quality video at bit rates as low as 1 Mbits per second a reality."

With the transition from analog to digital accelerating, the broadcast and broadband worlds are increasingly driven by a common goal: to deliver the best quality at the lowest cost. This new cooperation between TANDBERG Television and Microsoft will give operators the flexibility to use Windows Media 9 Series either as the basis for an end-to-end IP-based broadcast and video on demand (VOD) network, or enhancing existing DVB- and MPEG-based broadcast networks with higher quality at lower data rates, compared with current standards-based compression technologies. The technology also provides a low-latency encoding solution required by the professional broadcast industry.

"TANDBERG Television's encoding expertise and its strong track record as an innovator and standards setter is legendary in digital broadcasting," said Will Poole, vice president of the Windows Digital Media Division at Microsoft. "Our collaboration will help realize the value of broadcast and broadband convergence and enable professional broadcasters and operators to benefit from the cost-efficiencies and high-quality of state-of-the-art video compression delivered over standards-based transport."

Today's standards-based digital broadcast infrastructures such as DVB will be able to seamlessly take advantage of the high-quality compression capabilities of Windows Media and TANDBERG Television's innovation. Windows Media 9 Series can be delivered via an MPEG-2 transport or IP-based transport. The new encoding solution will provide real-time compressed audio and video at full broadcast-quality resolutions for direct to home (cable, satellite, terrestrial), broadband (xDSL/fiber to the home (FTTH)), contribution (backhaul) and business TV (private network) operators.

TANDBERG Television's lab tests of Windows Media Audio and Video 9 Series technology over the past six months have put the codecs through their paces, measuring their performance with real-world content. The evaluation has shown that at low to medium bit rates for most types of content, the quality is significantly higher than that of MPEG-2 and MPEG-4, opening the door for the growth of broadcast-quality video delivery over networks such as ADSL. Windows Media 9 Series can successfully scale up to higher bit rates (e.g., 5-12 Mbits per second) for applications that need contribution- and distribution-level performance.

At IBC2002, TANDBERG Television and Microsoft will showcase a technology demonstration of Windows Media 9 Series content being delivered live over an end-to-end DVB broadcast system at their respective stands (TANDBERG Television, Stand No. 1.421, and Microsoft, Stand No. 4.161). A combination of file transfer and live streaming of real-time broadcast-quality video over both satellite and terrestrial networks will show how the broadcast industry can integrate open standards with new technology innovations.

Launching in Hollywood and available for public beta release on Sept. 4, Windows Media 9 Series is an end-to-end platform that delivers a dramatically improved playback experience, and unmatched audio and video quality, to a broad spectrum of customers. Windows Media Audio 9 Series provides compression improvements of 20 percent over previous versions, and Windows Media Video 9 Series offers up to 50 percent improvement for high-bit-rate content compared with Windows Media Video 8. Windows Media Video 9 Series also can now offer decoding at HD resolutions.
About TANDBERG Television

About Windows Media

Windows Media is the leading digital media platform, providing unmatched audio and video quality to consumers, content providers, solution providers, software developers and corporations. Windows Media offers the industry's only integrated digital rights management solution and the most scalable and reliable streaming technology tested by independent labs. Windows Media Technologies includes Windows Media Player for consumers, Windows Media Services for servers, Windows Media Tools for content creation and the Windows Media Software Development Kit for software developers. Windows Media Player, available in 26 languages, is the fastest-growing and now leading media player. More information about Windows Media can be found at http://www.microsoft.com/windowsmedia/.


TANDBERG Television (Oslo, Norway, Stock Exchange "TAT") is a market leader in the provision of open solutions for the digital broadcasting of audio, data and video across various networks including cable, satellite, terrestrial, IP and telecom. The company has proven systems integration and global support capabilities as well as sales and 24-hour support and monitoring operations in Asia, Australia, Europe and the United States. TANDBERG Television's customers include major broadcasters, network operators and convergence players around the world including Australian Broadcasting Corp. (ABC), BBC, BSkyB, FOX Sports, NBC, NTL, Telenor and StarTV. More information can be found at http://www.tandbergtv.com/.

[emit]

We know WM 9 is geared to sink TV to PC...

Gateway tried it with 'Destination Sytem' but no tv channel carriers to hd/stb with headset multiple channel-video and VOD / Audio. hooked to all's immediated cravings... lol

Media2go

With Equator, our stounch WMA etc record, and Divx ...
and HP, MS could be our OEM -

not a tivo,moxi,replay, mediastation, ... remember samsung called it 'ZapStation'
Zap... as in instant... truecool experience for wireless.


Note bold -

Tipping point
Matthew Miller, Special Projects Editor -- 4/17/2003
CommVerge - mpeg4 the next wave


For years, the owners of the world's phone networks have dreamed of the revenues they could reap by using their copper local loops to deliver an alluring trio of services: telephone, broadband Internet access, and television.

The last item on that wish list is the one that really sets their hearts aflutter. TV service, telco companies reason, would pry couch potatoes—and their fat monthly payments—away from the cable companies, not only enriching the telcos but also impoverishing their archrivals.

But like most dreams, the vision of so-called 'telco TV' has proven difficult to grasp in the harsh light of day. Even the preliminary step, rolling out simple data service via DSL, resulted in well-publicized struggles. And bandwidth-intensive video would seem to present a far stiffer challenge.

Yet sometimes dreams do come true. And today, telco TV seems to be building real momentum.

The number of people who get their TV service from their phone company is small—about 100,000 worldwide—but growing rapidly, according to market researcher In-Stat/MDR (a corporate sibling of CommVerge and EDN). In fact, the number should hit seven figures in 2004 and 16 million in 2006, according to Michelle Abraham, senior analyst.

In an interesting twist, rural residents are enjoying the fruits of this trend before their urban counterparts. Many small, independent phone companies have already found that selling TV service improves their bottom lines. And it's only a matter of time before larger carriers—even the behemoth RBOCs (regional bell operating companies)—become TV suppliers as well (see the sidebar, 'Rural roots').

Getting there
In terms of technology, telco TV is eminently feasible, and emerging equipment promises to make it even more so. Standard ADSL affords ample bandwidth to deliver broadcast-quality TV to a home, says Jeff Schline, manager of digital-TV market relations for VideoTele.com, a division of Tut Systems. Schline's company and others, including Optibase, Minerva Networks, and Harmonic, make video head-ends, which carriers use to stream TV out over their networks.

A video stream in MPEG-2 format, including overhead and audio, consumes between 2.7 and 3.2 Mbits/sec of bandwidth, Schline says. A typical DSL link, even when it's already carrying Internet-access service, can comfortably deliver two such streams concurrently. That's vital because it allows two TVs in the same home to show different programs at the same time. Advocates say the user experience is indistinguishable from television service delivered via a digital cable system.

But of course, many households have more than two TVs. One way to appease such customers is to use a fatter pipe, such as VDSL (very high speed DSL) or fiber-to-the-home. Some companies are taking this approach. However, most carriers favor a second option, better video compression, because it allows them to leverage the investments they've already made in DSL. As a result, a broad transition from MPEG-2 to MPEG-4 is now getting underway.



'I think the industry recognizes that MPEG-4 is the next wave.'
—Mark Carpenter, VideoTele.com/Tut Systems


For example, at the recent NAB (National Association of Broadcasters) show (April 5 to 10 in Las Vegas), VideoTele.com debuted an MPEG-4 enabled version of its Astria video head-end. The system can send a broadcast-quality video stream, including overhead and audio, in 2 to 2.5 Mbits/sec of bandwidth. That's a 22 percent reduction compared with MPEG-2, a difference that can translate into delivering three concurrent channels instead of two, Schline says.

The system employs MPEG-4 ASP (Advanced Simple Profile), a standard recently made concrete by the ISO (International Organization for Standardization). Further ahead, carriers will be able to upgrade the DSP-based Astria system to support another MPEG-4 standard, MPEG-4 AVC (Advanced Video Codec). Also known as H.264 and MPEG-4 Part 10, MPEG-4 AVC delivers even better compression; it promises to crush video to half of its MPEG-2 size.

VideoTele.com's Astria system also transcodes video from MPEG-2 to MPEG-4 in real time. This capability is critical because it allows a carrier to grab MPEG-2 streams from a satellite or local feed and immediately send them out to subscribers in MPEG-4 form. The platform also ensures that the outgoing streams conform to a constant bit rate, which helps network engineers sleep at night because they can know with certainty that users won't experience reception hiccups.

At NAB, VideoTele.com demonstrated the Astria system with an MPEG-4 set-top box provided by Kreatel. Other vendors, such as Pace Micro Technology and Samsung, have sworn to provide MPEG-4 customer-premise equipment as well, according to Mark Carpenter, the company's vice president of marketing.

Changing channels
'I think the industry recognizes that MPEG-4 is the next wave,' Carpenter says. It maintains high quality while reducing bandwidth demands. And conserving bandwidth, the argument goes, will become even more critical in the future as video-on-demand, multichannel sound, interactivity, and high-definition programming become more pervasive. :)hiend-e

On the other hand, one shouldn't conclude that MPEG-4 has already been anointed. First of all, much of the market is waiting for equipment based on MPEG-4 AVC to appear before committing. Capital-challenged companies are apparently reasoning that it's better to wait for higher bandwidth efficiency tomorrow than to invest in a half-measure today, according to In-Stat/MDR's Abraham. Secondly, a rather wealthy and influential company in the Seattle area is pushing its Windows Media 9 technology as a compression scheme for TV distribution. And when Microsoft talks, people listen; some equipment suppliers, notably Tandberg Television, are on board to provide Windows Media-based products.
``````````````````````````````

OK here's wher it get goooood- bold again

Compaq Demonstrates End-to-End Digital Media Solutions for Content Creators, Distributors and Consumers at NAB98 Conference

Compaq Joins with Industry-Leading Software Vendors to Deliver New Class of Integrated, Standards-Based Digital Media Products

LAS VEGAS, April 6, 1998 - Expanding its presence in the digital media market, Compaq Computer Corporation (NYSE: CPQ) today announced in the U.S. that it will showcase in its first-ever exhibition at the National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) conference a new class of high-performance, standards-based, hybrid computing solutions designed to support the creation, distribution and consumption of digital content. Compaq and its digital media allies - including Adobe Systems Inc., Alias/Wavefront, Microsoft Corp., Pinnacle Systems and Softimage, among others - will demonstrate at Compaq booth #S1862 new best-of-breed solutions that significantly reduce the cost of producing, storing, delivering, receiving and viewing digital programming. In addition, Compaq customer Paul Sidlo of ReZ.n8 will give a presentation of the high-end graphics his company created using Compaq Professional Workstations for the recent Winter Olympics.

"As a leading provider of industry-standard consumer and commercial personal computers, servers and Windows NT-based workstations, Compaq is joining forces with key independent software and hardware vendors to develop and deliver a wide range of solutions that meet the flexibility, reliability, low maintenance and investment protection needs of today's media enterprises," said Les Crudele, Vice President and General Manager, Workstation Division, Compaq Computer Corporation. "This full complement of solutions enables our demanding customers in the digital media industry to minimize their dependence on costly proprietary computing systems in favor of easy-to-use, standards-based platforms that provide the power and performance to support the most advanced digital media applications."

The Compaq booth at NAB98 will showcase a comprehensive range of powerful, integrated and standards-based hardware and software solutions designed to provide end-to-end support for creators, distributors and broadcasters and consumers of digital content. Highlights will include previously unreleased animation and nonlinear editing (NLE) solutions running on Compaq's industry-leading Windows NT-based platforms, including Professional Workstations, ProLiant servers and network storage, as well as a demonstration of digital TV technology.

Adobe® Premiere® 5.0 Introduction

Compaq will demonstrate on Compaq Professional Workstations the first public showing of Adobe Premiere 5.0, a powerful new digital video editing tool for video studios, industrial video professionals, event videographers, and multimedia and Web developers. Running on Compaq Professional Workstations, Premiere 5.0 provides advanced professional video editing capabilities including an offline editor, studio-quality audio tools, and support for long-format editing to meet the requirements of the most demanding broadcast video and post-production workflows. In addition to Premiere 5.0, Compaq will also showcase Adobe's Dynamic Media products which have been optimized for its Professional Workstations.

Alias Maya 3D Animation Demonstration

At NAB, the Compaq booth will also include a demonstration of Alias/Wavefront's 3D software, Maya, running on Compaq Professional Workstations. The Windows NT-based version of Maya is the latest development for Alias/Wavefront's next-generation 3D animation software product, Maya. Maya is a dramatically new approach to character animation that also strengthens the company's leadership position in visual effects technology.

"We are extremely pleased to be working with Compaq on this landmark event for the company, our first implementation of Maya on Windows NT," explained Penny Wilson, president of Alias/Wavefront. "We have been working closely with Compaq to maximize performance of Maya running on the Professional Workstation 6000 series. We're looking forward to delivering a powerful solution to our mutual customers in the digital content creation market."

Softimage Announces SOFTIMAGE®/3D Version 3.8

Softimage Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Microsoft Corp., today announced version 3.8 of its 3D modeling, animation and rendering software package, SOFTIMAGE/3D, at NAB98. Compaq will demonstrate SOFTIMAGE/3D version 3.8 - the product designed to function as the heart of a powerful animation studio, incorporating all the tools necessary for true end-to-end 3D production - on a Compaq Professional Workstation in the Compaq booth. SOFTIMAGE/3D Version 3.8 extends the current animation toolset - already the industry standard for animation - by providing even faster access to and control of animation data. Version 3.8 also incorporates a host of new games tools, including next-generation polygon reduction, improved color reduction, and a new DirectX-based ASCII file format import/export tool.

Microsoft NetShow Theater Server Demonstration

Also in the Compaq booth, Compaq is demonstrating a new video server solution that offers breakthrough levels of cost-per-stream for broadcast-quality video applications. The solution combines the latest version of Microsoft NetShow Theater Server and high-performance Compaq ProLiant video server systems to deliver broadcast-quality, MPEG video streams through high-bandwidth networks such as switched Ethernet and ATM to standard PC clients and set-top-boxes. NetShow Theater Server is based on NetShow technology and provides a high-performance, fault-tolerant system for delivery of broadcast-quality video on high-speed networks scaling from a few to thousands of streams. This combination of industry-standard, scalable Compaq ProLiant servers and Microsoft's Windows NT-based video-streaming software has been fully tested and optimized to deliver unmatched performance and ease of installation for corporate training and communications, distance learning, video-on-demand, interactive video kiosks and numerous other applications. The Compaq ProLiant servers' Highly Parallel System Architecture offers the ultimate in video-streaming performance as well as flexible configurations ranging from standalone servers for small applications to rack-mounted systems containing terabytes of video content storage. NetShow Theater Server is currently in beta 3.

Pinnacle NLE Solutions

Additionally, Compaq and Pinnacle Systems will demonstrate two NLE solutions on Compaq Professional Workstations. The first is a dual-stream editing solution based on the Compaq Professional Workstation 6000, the Pinnacle ReelTime product, and Adobe Premiere 4.2. This solution will demonstrate the ability to perform 130 real-time transitions with no rendering required. Compaq and Pinnacle will also demonstrate a single-stream editing solution based on the Professional Workstation 6000, Pinnacle's miroVideo DC30 plus and Adobe Premiere 5.0.

Digital TV and Convergence

Also being shown in the Compaq booth is a technology demonstration of a Digital TV-enabled Compaq PC. The demonstration shows a prototype Compaq PC receiving video programs using the new ATSC digital television system and video formats proposed by Compaq, Microsoft, and others.

ReZ.n8 Presentation

In addition, Paul Sidlo, president of innovative graphics company ReZ.n8, will demonstrate how his company used Compaq Professional Workstations to create many of the televised graphics included in the CBS television coverage of the 1998 Winter Olympics in Nagano, Japan. ReZ.n8, a world leader in conceptualizing, designing and producing state-of-the-art computer graphics, animation and special effects, provided many of the televised graphics and simulations for the CBS Winter Olympics viewers. These simulations included, in the United States coverage, televised animations depicting intricate figure skating technical requirements and 3D simulations of ski races and bobsled runs. END

````````````````````````````
Remember CPQ / MS like and use fonix

JUST more to come,... and what the content providers/owners
want... technology such as this is will fulfill.

emit...

[emit]

Why my 04-05 range... Divx/WMA both el
be signing contracts with studios - see near bottom

http://www.investorshub.com/boards/read_msg.asp?message_id=899398

emit...

[emit]

More Likely This could be e.Digital centric -
http://www.equator.com/main/index.html?1

For such things as this -
Finally, Microsoft said it will collaborate with HP on the development of future Smart Display applications for the home.
http://www.microsoft.com/presspass/press/2003/jan03/01-08CES2003OverallPR.asp

who knows -


emit...

[emit]

IMHO handheld devices will work in conjunction with a major home sterio unit supliers or something along these lines
http://www.investorshub.com/boards/read_msg.asp?message_id=924420

emit...

[emit]

Early Summer - HP

The current focus of our partnership is developing a custom MP-3
player headset incorporating our patented MicroOs 3.0, and a unique
wireless infrared interface.


Ultimately another major OEM will be the end customer of this
particular product.


Shipments are expected in to begin in early summer and the initial
shipments are worth over one million dollars to Edigital.
We look forward to releasing further details as permitted by HP and
the other major OEM involved in the project.

e

[emit]

May 2, 2003
Students to Pay in RIAA Song-Swapping Suit
By Erin Joyce and Ryan Naraine

Four college students have agreed to pay damages ranging from $12,000 and $17,500 each in order to settle lawsuits brought by the recording industry against operators of what it called "Napster-like internal campus networks" that aid in the theft of copyrighted songs.

The settlement, announced Thursday, was in connection with lawsuits filed in early April by the Recording Industry Association of America against the students.

The student operators charged were Daniel Peng of Princeton University, Joseph Nievelt at Michigan Technological University and Jesse Jordan and Aaron Sherman from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, which is based in Troy, New York.

The actions were part of the RIAA's campaign to seek the cooperation of college administrators and system administrators to eliminate peer-to-peer file-sharing networks from campuses.

One of the four students, 18-year-old Peng of Princeton, is expected to pay $15,000 to the recording companies over a period of years, without admission of guilt, according to Drinker Biddle attorney Howard Ende, who represented the student in the settlement.

In addition, Peng has agreed "not to knowingly infringe by use of the Internet the record companies' copyrighted works, except under certain specified circumstances," and will shut down his file-sharing site called Wake.com.

Peng's file-sharing Web site, Wake.com, was billed as a search engine that helped students and faculties access and share information offered by members of the Princeton University community, will be shut down, as will other, similar sites operated by the defendants, according to a settlement announcement.

"I don't believe that I did anything wrong," Peng said in a statement. "I am glad that the case has been settled amicably, and I hope that for the sake of artists, the larger issues can soon be resolved."

Nievelt, of Michigan Tech, is also expected to pay $15,000 to the recording companies in payments spread out over a few years. The other two defendants, Jordan and Sherman of RPKI, are expected to pay $12,000 and $17,500 each, also in payments spread out over a few years.

The RIAA alleged that the students also shared thousands of copyrighted-protected songs on software known variously as Flatlan, Phynd or Direct Connect. "All of them work much like Napster, centrally indexing and processing search requests for copyrighted works. And they permit users to download any of those works with the single click of a mouse," the trade group said.

Having already issued a warning about file-swapping at workplaces, the RIAA is expected to turn to battling file-swappers who use the high-speed networks of Fortune 500 companies.

"More of these lawsuits are coming. The RIAA wants to show it isn't bluffing about going after specific individuals to send a message to the world at large," a legal source with knowledge of the RIAA's plans told internetnews.com in early April.

Outgoing RIAA chief executive Hilary Rosen has already testified in Congress about the "growing epidemic" of file-sharing within campus networks, warning that a "substantial portion" of the 2.6 billion files that are downloaded illegally every month comes from college computer systems.

Melissa Klipp, an intellectual property attorney with Drinker Biddle, which represented Peng, said in a statement: "While we understand the recording industry's dilemma, we do not believe that heavy-handed litigation against 18- year-old college students is the proper way to resolve the RIAA's problems."

She said the technology at issue is available universally through operating systems purchased throughout the country and the world. "As reflected in the MGM v. Grokster opinion issued from the Central District of California last week, American courts are viewing these situations more realistically."

Last week, a federal court in California ruled that two popular P2P networks, Grokster and Morpheus, could not be held liable for piracy by third-party users.

The judgment frees the networks from being sued by a slew of big-name media companies, including AOL Time Warner, Vivendi Universal, Sony Corp., Viacom Inc., News Corp. and Walt Disney Co.

But the day before that ruling, a federal judge also ruled that Verizon must reveal the names of two Internet customers the RIAA claims have illegally downloaded hundreds of copyrighted songs from the Web. The case is under appeal

[emit]

IMVHO - It's becoming a reality.

Subject: RE: Great point SGE...Thx Tin
From SGE1
PostID 251198 On Thursday, May 01, 2003 (EST) at 1:15:10 AM
Response To: Tinroad PostID 251180

I had obviously overlooked that.... One thought however: could it be that with Apple's commitment to AAC and MusicMatch and PressPlay using WMA (if I recall correctly), is there a possibility for ''codec wars'' (and DRM wars) which could be to our benefit? There's a mess of other codecs out there (at one point a couple of years ago I had counted up to ten...codecs that is!), most noteable perhaps being QDX (the one that fits itself to available memory - thus best for a flash device). This could, maybe, make things a little more interesting for us....

SGE

September 19, 2000
LETTER FROM THE PRESIDENT
Dear Shareholder:

...BEGINNING OF EXCERPT...
"Regardless of the outcomes of well-publicized music industry copyright infringement lawsuits, our flexible Internet music player and jukebox designs will benefit end users by including support for a variety of popular music formats, including MP3, AAC, WMA, ATRAC3, and ePAC, as well as popular Digital Rights Management Systems and a variety of different storage media.
Our flexibility helps us take advantage of confusion in the marketplace and gives us a competitive edge in a dynamic new industry in which 32 million units are expected to sell by 2003, according to Forrester Research.".
...END OF EXCERPT
````````````````````````````````````````````````````


12-11-2002

Thank you for your e-mail, Tim. Per our engineering department, all of the
players are firmware upgradeable to accommodate new audio codecs, DRM
systems and additional functionality.
http://www.investorshub.com/boards/read_msg.asp?message_id=624732


Best regards,

Robert Putnam
Senior Vice President

emit...

[emit]

Retail Downloads May Spur Portable Sales

By Joseph Palenchar
TWICE
2/10/2003

LOS ANGELES— The country's top record-store chains want to drive authorized music downloading into the mass market, and if they succeed, they could ignite already hot sales of portable digital devices and encourage audio suppliers to develop digital devices that would be compatible with their service.

Motivated by declining CD sales, the chains announced plans to develop download and streaming services through joint majority ownership of a startup company called Echo. The company will use its owners' buying power to negotiate the download and streaming rights to music, ''choose a codec and digital rights management [DRM] technology, and develop some of our own technologies,'' said Echo CEO Dan Hart.

''We'd like to have something out by the end of the year,'' Hart said. ''The first order of business is licensing. We expect we can do that in six months.'' Echo won't offer services, however, until it gets licenses from the five largest music companies and from some major independents, he said.

To the investing retailers, Echo will offer both ''the basic technologies that retailers can rework on the front end'' and ''a complete product'' on a turnkey basis, but ''price, brand, and marketing will be left up to the retailer,'' Hart said. Each retailer could market the services under their own brand name or under an Echo co-brand.

Echo's license agreements will include Internet radio, interactive streaming and download services, which will allow for locking songs to a hard drive as well as transfers to portable devices and burning to a disc.

The music retailers believe their retail experience will translate into more effective marketing and promotion programs than those undertaken by the two music-company-backed streaming/download services [Pressplay and MusicNet] and by the handful of authorized services developed by third parties. Third parties include download pioneer Liquid Audio, whose assets are being sold to Anderson Merchandisers, the music distributor that wants to expand the distribution of downloaded music via retailer Web sites. Its packaged-media accounts include Wal-Mart.

''All have done various experiments, but they haven't worked out on a mass-market scale with consumers,'' said Hart. ''Everything so far has been an experiment. We recognize that it's time for a more concerted effort.''

The effort will succeed, he contended, with ''the right product, aggressive marketing, and getting better pricing with the labels.'' Echo will get better pricing, he continued, because ''we will provide more value, which will give them more royalties.''

The investing retailers sell more than 40 percent of music software to consumers in units and dollars. The retailers are Best Buy, owner of the Sam Goody and Suncoast record chains, Hastings Entertainment, Tower Records, Virgin Entertainment, Wherehouse Music (in Chapter 11), and Trans World Entertainment, operator of FYE, Coconuts, Strawberries, Spec's, and Planet Music.

Major music companies will participate, he contended, because of Echo's credibility with them. Music retailers, he said, ''have no interest in undercutting CD sales but are interested in getting additional revenue.'' Labels, he continued, ''might be suspicious that [third-party download services] are interested in digital music at the expense of CD sales.''

The legitimate download market has also been held back, he continued, because music companies have only recently begun licensing content for download/streaming services. More important, ''there has been no real advertising effort to explain the value proposition [of authorized paid-for services] to consumers.''

For paid-for services to succeed, he added, operators must ''offer value to compete with free alternatives.'' Echo's owners will be able to achieve that through a variety of potential strategies that complement the old model of downloading music to a PC, he said. The strategies include in-store kiosks where consumers can download music to hard-drive music portables via fast 480Mbps USB 2.0 connections from an in-store server.

''Projecting technology out 18 months, it would take weeks of downloading at home to fill a 100GB portable,'' he said. ''In a store, you could fill it with hundreds of songs, walk out, and listen.'' Echo could offer the kiosk technology or turnkey kiosks to retailers, he noted.

Retailers could also package compressed-music portables preloaded with content, promoting some models as ''jazz MP3 players,'' he said. Retailers could also use downloads in promotions that could package two free downloads with the purchase of a CD.

Best Buy already offers downloads of about 200,000 songs from its Web site using technology and licensed songs available through Ecast and Liquid Audio, but ''we want to collaborate to get more licenses to be more competitive than we have in the past,'' said a spokesperson. The service hasn't been interrupted by Liquid's impending asset sale.

P.J. McNealy, Gartner research director, agreed that Echo could be more competitive than existing services such as MusicMatch's RadioMX, Listen.com's Rhapsody and Full Audio.

''They're in a good position because they understand music buyers already and how to market to them,'' he said. ''The marketing efforts to date haven't been that great.''

The marketing efforts of other services, he added, have been ''held back'' because ''they all had to write big checks to get distribution licenses.'' In addition, the marketing deals struck with various ISPs have been uneven, he said. ''Some ISPs just put up a link.''

Echo owners' success, however, ''will come down to licensing deals, pricing, and how they differentiate themselves. They have certain advantages, but it remains to be seen what deals they will get.''

Whatever Echo's future, McNealy expects authorized download services to grow in popularity this year because music companies have begun to offer broader licenses that allow for disc burning and transfers to portable devices. ''Two years ago, they started with streaming, then locking downloads to a hard drive, and now only recently are we seeing transfers,'' he said. ''Labels saw each fail before they offered broader terms.''

Echo's Hart agreed the music-company-sponsored services Pressplay and MusicNet will get more aggressive, too.

[emit]

Subject: RE: To all: inre to brokages
From EDIGlong
PostID 249370 On Thursday, April 24, 2003 (EST) at 9:55:10 AM
Response To: rwrf PostID 249360

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

What Is An Infra Red Data Transmission System ?

Free Space Optical communication systems are wireless connections through the atmosphere communicating by light wave transmission. Infra red systems work basically the same as fiber optic cable except the beam is transmitted through open space rather than glass fiber. The carrier used for the transmission of this signal is infra red and is generated by either a high power LED or a laser diode. The systems operate by taking a standard data or telecommunications signal, converting it into a digital format and transmitting it through free space. Infra red is well suited for communicating at high data rates and is a cost effective solution for satisfying the increasing bandwidth requirements of high performance networks.

Is It a Proven Technology ?

Over the last few years the product range has grown to include systems that can satisfy a number of applications that include LAN/Network connections, PABX extension, last mile connection to metropolitan fiber rings and PCS and cellular traffic backhaul. ICS has installed products for customers in every major market in North America and around the world, in a wide variety of different climates and applications. US customers include Sprint PCS, Nextel, Boeing Aerospace, New York City, US Department of Defense and many more.

Are These Laser Systems Infra Red ?

Laser systems operate in the infrared region of the light spectrum. The laser light transmitted across the link is at a wavelength of 780nm and 980nm.

What Is The Data Rate And Throughput ?

Infrared systems provide full channel speeds from T-1 (1.544Mbps,DS-1) to 1.25 Gigabit Ethernet. Our systems deliver uncompressed data rates at full duplex and they are transparent to the network.

What Are The Benefits Of Using Laser Communication Technology ?

Full channel speeds
No license requirements
No right of way permits required
Highly secure
Compatible with copper or fiber interfaces
No bridge or router requirements
Cost-effective, rapid pay back
No recurring line costs
Internal or external mounting
Excellent availability
Fully portable
Resistant to temperature and climatic changes
Zero latency over all distances
Transparent to networks or protocols

Are Special Permits Or Licenses Required ?

No. There are no requirements for FCC licenses, radio interference studies or right of way permits. The result is one of the many advantages of using infrared, rapid installation.

How Much Maintenance Or Adjustment Is Required ?

When installed correctly, infra red transmission systems require very little maintenance, however, an annual maintenance contract is suggested. ICS Certified Dealers provide pre-install site survey, installation and on-site maintenance services.

How Easily Can Infra Red Systems Be Installed ?

The units are light and easily installed. They must be firmly fixed to a rigid structure to minimize movement. Normal installations take less than one day.

How Secure Is Laser Based Communication ?

Laser transmission is quite secure for several reasons.

Laser transmission has a narrow optical beam path which is not accessible unless viewing directly into the transmitter path. Any potential eavesdropping will result in an interruption of the data transmission, which alerts your personnel.
The existence of laser beams cannot be detected with spectrum analyzers or RF meters.
Various proprietary transmission protocols are used which provide additional security.
Laser systems have been used for many diverse applications requiring confidential communications including financial, medical and military networking.

What About Performance Availability ?

When correctly installed infrared laser transmission links can achieve an operational availability of 99.9% plus.

Can Infra Red Systems Transmit Through Glass ?

Infra red systems can transmit through glass, however, the physical properties of the glass including reflective coatings need to be considered and applications need to be evaluated carefully and on a case by case basis. Please contact ICS to discuss your application.

Can Infra Red Systems Be Used For Temporary Or Back Up Use ?

Yes. The units weigh a maximum of 29 pounds and can be simply relocated as required. Laser links are ideal for rapid deployment, moving as you relocate, providing service when faced with cable installation delays, disaster recovery for cable cuts by backhoes, or for occasional use.

Do These Systems Create A Safety Hazard ?

All systems utilize a single broad area, wide-divergence beam (in both directions) and meet FDA/CDRH Class 3b laser classification. All systems are Class 3b, safe for unintentional viewing with the naked eye, directly at the faceplate. IEC: All systems are Class 1M safe for viewing with the naked eye, directly at the faceplate. All laser safety compliance documentation is externally compiled by expert sources. Copies of laser safety certification documentation are available on request.

What Types of Applications Does Infra Red Laser Transmission Fit ?

The world wide user base is wide and varied. There is no one key factor other than the need to efficiently and cost effectively transfer information between sites at high speed. Users currently include: hospitals, power stations, manufacturing, retailers, educational institutions, private medical facilities, banking, airport, motor racing, military, telecommunication utilities, Internet providers, and more.

[emit]

TWIRLTM - Two-Way Infrared Link - Embedded firmware for bi-directional data transfer using high-speed infrared.

Subject: Edig & Infrared (patent #US05839108)
From egbert
PostID 238242 On Wednesday, February 19, 2003 (EST) at 10:31:24 PM

Included in Abstract of edig patent US05839108:
''Alternative forms of data input and output also include implementation of a barcode reader and an infra-red transceiver for the transfer of data to and from the device.''

emit...

[emit]

don't look wireless to me,, lol

http://www.globalsources.com/gsol/GeneralManager?&catalog_id=2000000003844&catalog_id=200000....

Pretty functional - you guys stating fade off frequency
using fm or this...

wierd man


Believe infra-red emittions fer me...
loaded in a dock - batch-bufferer from hd as needed like pjb's do.

Just don't seem right - waves that close to the brain.
Askapachy pilot.

BT20
http://www.globalsources.com/gsol/GeneralManager?pointview=on&suplrview=off&prodview=on&...

Visions of Divx -
http://www.globalsources.com/gsol/GeneralManager?&catalog_id=2000000003844&design=clean&...


Ya gotta get this cataloge - Unbelievable....

yet plug, DGN, Eastech, Maycom, RemoteSolutions,hango into search.... hmmm

they carry few Samsung parts....

This doesn't look wireless to me - lol
http://www.globalsources.com/gsol/GeneralManager?&catalog_id=2000000003844&design=clean&...

look at car mp3

ATL is/tied to Eastech.... how ugly, but looks like some new flash players.
Wonder if this is us... pretty bad we don't even know
http://www.globalsources.com/gsol/GeneralManager?&catalog_id=2000000003844&design=clean&...


emit....

emit...

[emit]

Long Distance Wi-Fi
By Adam Stone

Those in the 802.11 world know the trade-off: You get great speed with Wi-Fi, but only over limited distances.

But, suppose you could deliver actual Wi-Fi -- not another standard like 802.16a, AKA WirelessMAN -- over a distance of several miles without a line of sight. What kind of business opportunities would that open up?

Executives at one wireless player say they can do just that, and analysts are intrigued by the possibilities offered by such an approach.

"We operate within the 802.11 standard, but we push the standard to the limits, and we are getting it to go distances that it has never gone before," said Jerry Dix, president of 5G Wireless Communications <QUOTE NASDAQ:FGWC> in Marina Del Rey, CA. He claims to be sending a signal eight to ten miles at full 802.11 speeds.

Dix said his firm has developed proprietary "enhancements" to 802.11 that make these distances possible. These same enhancements eliminate the need for a direct line of sight.

Charles Kalil did not believe that claim when he first heard it. As information systems manager for the City of Garden Grove, CA, he had previously tried another wireless solution in the hopes of connecting the city's six fire stations, eight police substations and diverse other civic buildings -- only to be sorely disappointed. "What they promised us simply did not work," he recalled.

Kalil nonetheless decided to give 5G Wireless a limited test run, and allow the firm to make a quarter-mile Wi-Fi leap to connect two city buildings late last year. That worked fine, so he asked 5G to link up two new buildings that were just being added to his network, at a distance of two and a half miles. That connection achieved speeds of up to 3 megabits per second.

The next building was a two and a half mile jump with no line of site, and again 5G achieved the same results. Then Kalil went for a four-mile hop, and when that one worked too, he figured it was time to give 5G the citywide contract. Today, Garden Grove has eight sites connected with Wi-Fi, and Kalil said he expects to eventually put 20 sites on the network.

Dix said the ability to expand 802.11 in this way opens up a range of potential markets for his firm, such as California's many marinas, or the ranches in the isolated areas of the state. His firm also is looking to land contracts with other municipalities where there is a need for high-speed connectivity at a low cost. "Because we are able to put on more subscribers per tower, we can pass that savings on to our users," said Dix.

That has, in fact, been Kalil's experience.

"Our police substations are leased buildings in commercial areas," he explained. "When we looked at trying to get DSL, the rates we would have gotten would not have been residential rates. They would have been business rates, which were quite expensive, and they would have been slower speeds. So we looked at cable, but cable does not have the penetration into the business areas."

Connectivity using T1 lines would have cost $200 a month per location, whereas for the 5G Wireless solutions he pays just a $30 monthly maintenance fee. "We are paying dialup prices, and getting the speed of two T1s," he said.

Analysts see considerable potential in this kind of expanded-Wi-Fi implementation.

"It makes Wi-Fi a much more useful solution," said Eddie Hold, a wireless analyst with research firm Current Analysis in Sterling, VA. "The problem with most Wi-Fi implementations right now is that they are really focused on a small hotspot. So if you can enhance it far beyond that distance, then the cost-effectiveness of it becomes much more attractive."

Hold said that a long-distance Wi-Fi solution could change considerably the nature of the Wi-Fi market.

"It is quite feasible that we are getting into a market where you will see people building out Wi-Fi in large residential areas, and at that point you have something that is potentially competitive to DSL," he said.

That is just the kind of future that Dix has in mind.

"I believe that 802.11 has not really seen its full potential yet," he said. "It is our belief that it is going to become an integral part of hauling three to ten miles without an great enhancements. That is happening right now."





April 16, 2003

[emit]

Press Release Source: Philips


Philips Adds High-End Features to its Complete DVD+R/+RW Reference Design
Tuesday April 8, 1:14 pm ET
Nexperia(TM)-based system solution includes network connectivity, multi-format media processing and time shifting


SAN JOSE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--April 8, 2003-- Royal Philips Electronics (NYSE:PHG - News; AEX:PHI) announced today it has added enhanced functionalities to Philips Nexperia(TM) DVD+R/+RW reference design. By seamlessly integrating Philips Nexperia(TM) media processor (such as the pnx1300 or pnx1500) with the pnx7100 MPEG CODEC at the heart of the system solution, Philips is offering consumer electronics (CE) manufacturers the ability to differentiate its end products based on a single flexible platform. In addition to the easy-to-use DVD+R/+RW recording functions, additional high-end features on the end device may include the ability to connect to the Internet and process multiple media formats like MPEG-4 and DivX.
With the rapid penetration of DVD recorders into the market, CE manufacturers are increasingly seeking ways to differentiate their products from those of competitors. To address this need to differentiate for next-generation DVD+R/+RW video recorders, Philips is combining its single-chip pnx7100 MPEG CODEC with its family of media processors to provide customers with advanced DVD capabilities. Philips Nexperia media processors (pnx1300/pnx1500) include an Ethernet controller for Internet connectivity -- the first step to any connected home. The media processor then offers compatibility with all of the leading multi-format streaming media standards such as MPEG-4, H.264 and DivX.

"Since Philips is an established leader and at the forefront of driving high-quality DVD technologies, it continues to drive innovation with its DVD+R/+RW product offerings for the connected home," said Jeroen Keunen, general manager for consumer and multimedia, Philips Semiconductors. "Philips is offering manufacturers the flexibility to develop a single high-end DVD+R/+RW platform for the consumer A/V market that is equipped to support emerging standards and advanced features without adding costs to the high-volume system."

Philips Nexperia DVD+R/+RW reference design is based on a front-end solution built around the Nexperia pnx7850 processor and an OPU manufactured by Philips. The back-end solution is built upon the Nexperia pnx7100, a single-chip AVG (Audio, Video, Graphics) MPEG-2 CODEC. Philips Nexperia family of media processors is powered by a high-performance TriMedia(TM) CPU core with additional instructions for optimized MPEG video processing. Fabricated in a low-power 0.13-Micron process, it is a power-efficient, high-performance, multi-format media processor for a variety of CE applications. Philips has seamlessly combined both the pnx7100 and pnx1300/pnx1500 onto one platform.

Pricing and Availability

A demonstration of the DVD+R/+RW platform complete with Philips Nexperia media processor will be shown in April 2003 in Tokyo, Japan and Seoul, Korea.

Samples of the Philips Nexperia DVD+R/+RW system solution with media co-processor are available now for select customers. Volume production is also available now. The pnx7100 sells for US$35 depending on volume and customer.

About DVD+R/+RW

The DVD+R/+RW standard is a compatible, rewritable DVD format developed by the DVD+RW Group -- an organization of industry-leading electronics manufacturers including Dell, HP, Microsoft, MCC/Verbatim, Philips, Ricoh, Sony, Thomson Multimedia and Yamaha.

About Royal Philips Electronics

Royal Philips Electronics of the Netherlands is one of the world's biggest electronics companies and Europe's largest, with sales of $30.1 billion (EUR 31.8 billion) in 2002. It is a global leader in color television sets, lighting, electric shavers, medical diagnostic imaging and patient monitoring, and one-chip TV products. Its 170,000 employees in more than 60 countries are active in the areas of lighting, consumer electronics, domestic appliances, components, semiconductors, and medical systems. Philips is quoted on the NYSE (symbol: PHG), London, Frankfurt, Amsterdam and other stock exchanges. News from Philips is located at www.semiconductors.philips.com.

Nexperia(TM) is a trademark of Koninklijke Philips Electronics N.V

[emit]

A Tender Morsal..

Certain Demise?

The music industry is bracing for a future that will involve the death of CD stores and the rise of MP3 players.

By GREG KOT CHICAGO TRIBUNE
Published: April 14, 2003, 06:42:16 AM PDT

When it was introduced, the compact disc helped bail out the music business: Domestic sales of the new technology zoomed from 800,000 copies in 1983 to 288 million by 1990, and continued to surge by the hundreds of millions through the '90s.

But with March marking the CD's 20th anniversary, the boom is over.

Compact disc shipments in the U.S. plunged nearly 9 percent last year to just more than 800 million, according to the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). The statistics confirm a downward trend that has been gaining steam since 2001, and continues this year, with CD sales down more than 6 percent from their already slack 2002 pace.

The ripple effect is only beginning as the music industry braces for a future that will involve the death of CD stores and the rise of wireless, pocket-size MP3 players that will enable consumers to access thousands of hours of music at the touch of a button. The only real question is how long it will take for those scenarios to become reality.

"You'll see CD sections in stores decline quickly over the next few years because they will be replaced by technology that provides dirt-cheap storage and the ability to basically access and play any type of music anytime, anywhere," says Mike Dreese, CEO and founder of Newbury Comics, a New England record-store chain.

"Wireless technology basically will create a world where we can have anything we want all the time." The death knell is already ringing for CD stores, some retailers and industry observers say. In January, two major chains -- Warehouse Entertainment and Value Music -- filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. And nearly 500 music specialty stores nationwide have been shut down in recent months.

"Brick-and-mortar specialist CD stores are done in five years," Dreese says. "Stores like Tower or Sam Goody or Virgin are fast becoming anachronisms."

Not so fast, says Dan Hart, CEO of Echo, a joint venture of retailers (Best Buy, Tower Records, Virgin Entertainment, Warehouse Music, Hastings Entertainment and Trans World Entertainment) that is licensing songs from labels and plans to begin offering in-store downloads this year. Internet retailing was one of the few growth areas for music stores last year, with sales up 8.4 percent to 8.1 million units, according to Nielsen SoundScan.

"There's no question CD sales are declining, but the phase-out of retail will take longer than people predict -- it'll be more like 30 years rather than five," he says. "There is a whole generation of people out there educated to using CDs as their primary music format."

But even Hart says that to retain a role in the marketplace, CDs will have to evolve.

For two decades, record companies bathed in profit, thanks to the compact disc. The rise of the new digital technology prompted many labels to reissue their long-neglected back catalogs on CD: Bands like The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, Aerosmith and The Who made millions of dollars for their respective labels simply by having their past albums transferred to the new digital format, sometimes several times over.

The shelved work of artists such as Bob Dylan, Eric Clapton and Robert Johnson was repackaged in multi-CD box sets and sold millions of copies.

But in the past three years, the bottom fell out of the CD market.

Why the sudden decline in what had been an industry staple? The RIAA blames Internet piracy: file-sharing by consumers is proliferating, with millions downloading free MP3 music files daily through services such as Soulseek and KaZaa. MP3 files are digitally encoded files that can be downloaded from the Internet, posted on a Web site, sent via e-mail or stored on a computer hard drive, then played back or transferred onto blank CDs. KaZaa alone claims more than 9 million monthly users. Six of the leading free file-sharing applications were being used by 14 million consumers a month in a recent comScore Networks analysis.

Sales of blank CDs soared past the 1 billion mark worldwide in 2000 and increased 40 percent last year. Illegal CDs -- often manufactured and copied on personal computers from free Internet downloads -- are now routinely sold for a few dollars in school lunchrooms and on playgrounds, and are available on street corners from New York to Hong Kong. "When 23 percent of surveyed music consumers say they are not buying more music because they are downloading or copying their music for free, we cannot ignore the impact on the marketplace," says Hilary Rosen, president and CEO of the RIAA.

But there are other pressing issues: the $18.98 retail price of most CDs, when the industry is phasing out less expensive options, such as CD singles and cassettes; the dearth of credible acts at a time when the music industry is more interested in quarterly profits to satisfy corporate shareholders rather than long-term artist development; and the rise of a generation of consumers for whom music has become demystified and devalued.

"I wish people would realize what value music plays in their lives and would remunerate artists accordingly," says singer-guitarist Bob Mould, who now releases his music on his own Web-based record label, "but if people want music to be free, it'll be free."

Industry slow to respond

The industry's reluctance to accept that scenario has cost it dearly, observers say, causing it to fall behind in figuring out ways to exploit the new technology to its advantage. "The relationship between artists and labels has been ruptured over such issues," says entertainment attorney L. Londell McMillan. "Is music worth $10? Is it worth nothing? Something in between? While the artists and labels are bickering, the money is going elsewhere." The industry has belatedly responded to the crisis by introducing a variety of Internet subscription services, which essentially try to induce consumers to pay as little as a few dollars a month for something they can readily get for free through rogue services on the Web.

"How we compete with 'free'" is the big question facing the music industry and its nascent subscription services, says Pam Horovitz, president of the National Association of Recording Merchandisers. "The solution is to make something better than free."

The industry is putting its future in the digital clutches of value-added CDs, replete with so many extras (DVDs, bonus CDs, artwork and graphics) that to download all the data on a personal computer would tax most hard drives.

"People will still want to go to stores to browse and hold the things they are considering to buy," Echo's Hart insists. "In addition, stores can provide a faster connection to the Internet, so that consumers can transfer tens of thousands of gigabytes to their iPod player in minutes. It'll be like going to the filling station for music consumers."

Retailers will still have a role in the music world, Dreese insists, but only if they diversify. Newbury, he says, is transitioning into licensed goods. In the same way, the music industry will survive if it starts focusing on building artists who can generate multiple revenue streams.

"It's the Tiger Woods model of marketing," he says. "Tiger Woods doesn't make nearly as much money on golf as he does on everything else he does: endorsements, speaking engagements, commercials. The role of the record label is going to be as a venture capital brand-building organization. It'll be perfectly reasonable for them to approach the next Avril Lavigne and say we'll give you a million dollars upfront, but we want a revenue split of all future movies, concerts, endorsements and merchandise."

In the CD-free future, music will be marketed everywhere. "You open a can of Coke and it plays a song," Dreese speculates, "which makes the can a collectible."

It means the major labels will be in the business of selling only the most mainstream artists, those capable of achieving Jennifer Lopez-like cross-promotional revenue levels. Artists of lesser stature will be able to use the Internet to direct-market to their fans.

Some of those fans will still be demanding CDs. But those die-hards will find themselves in an increasing minority, says Bruce Lehman, president of the International Intellectual Property Institute: "Consumers are saying, 'I want to get rid of all my CDs. I want a service that by pressing a button, I hear music through any device in the house.'"

As retailers and record companies struggle to meet that demand, artists and consumers stand to thrive. "The end of CDs doesn't mean the end of music," Dreese says. "On the contrary, it means there will be more music more widely available at a more reasonable price than ever before. In three to four years, we'll have a better consumer experience and a more profitable artist experience."

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS The music industry is bracing for a future that will involve the death of CD stores and the rise of MP3 players.

[emit]

e.Digital Odyssey 1000 Advertised with Hughes via SRSLabs on all Microsoft Media Players via its SRS(WOW) button -
http://www.srswowcast.com/about_us/WMPTechnology.Asp

FWIW enjoy,! Dan Hart.... :)

emit...

[emit]

HP's GPRS Jornada Bites the Dust

ComputerWire Staff

By Tony Cripps

Hewlett-Packard Co has admitted that its GPRS-enabled Jornada 928 PDA has been phased out. The device, one of only a few to run Microsoft Corp's Pocket PC 2002 Phone Edition software, was labeled "an experiment with mixed results" by an HP spokesperson.Neil Dagger, iPaq and wireless business manager for HP personal systems group told ComputerWire that the Jornada 928, described by HP as a wireless digital assistant (WDA), had been removed from HP's mobile device portfolio having reached the end of its intended lifespan. The device was the only one of HP's in-house-developed Jornada devices to avoid being culled at the time of HP's takeover of Compaq. A number of web sites specializing in sales of PDAs have recently listed the 928 as discontinued. It is unclear whether the device's demise applies to all territories.HP will not replace the 928 with a similarly GPRS-enabled PDA in its Compaq-originated iPaq range, said Dagger. On-board wireless connectivity options for future HP mobile devices will concentrate on Bluetooth personal area network (PAN) and 802.11 wireless LAN (WLAN) technology, already common features of the iPaq range.Instead, HP will concentrate on continuing development of the iPaq's trademark slide-on "sleeves" to enable GPRS or other wireless wide area network (WWAN) connectivity options, whether made by HP or third parties. HP's decision to move away from hybrid phone-PDA devices is an interesting one in light of moves by vendors such as Palm Inc, with its Tungsten W, to include enterprise-targeted hybrid devices in their ranges. However, it also highlights the dilemma faced by corporate IT buyers - whether to purchase single converged phone-PDAs or two-piece arrangements where PDAs can use the GPRS access in mobile phones over a Bluetooth connection."Our strategy with the iPaq is not to integrate GPRS," said Dagger. "Users have social lives and they don't want to take a big data device with them [outside office hours]."Dagger said the 928 "experiment" had been an interesting one for HP, helping it forge relationships with mobile operators, but he said the device had suffered some technical problems.Despite its apparent about-turn regarding WDAs, Dagger admitted that HP could potentially re-enter the smart phone market, this time with a device based on Microsoft's handset platform, Windows Powered Smartphone."We've got no immediate plans but we continue to look at Smartphone," said Dagger. "We're worried about user reaction. We don't want to launch something that's a solution looking for a problem."




11 April 2003

[emit]

A new set of test tools from Extended Systems aims to facilitate the implementation of the IrFRM Point and Pay Profile in mobile devices and terminals.

MCommerceTimes.com staff

April 01, 2003

Extended Systems has released a set of test tools for mobile device manufacturers and point-of-sale terminal vendors who want to implement the infrared financial messaging (IrFM) Point and Pay Profile.

The IrFM Point and Pay Profile enables users to perform wireless financial transactions between an IrFM-enabled mobile device, such as a cell phone or pager, and an IrFM point-of-sale terminal located, for example, on a coke machine or pay phone. The standard was developed by the Infrared Data Association (IrDA),

Extended Systems said its new XTNDAccess IrDA Test Suite would help device and terminal manufacturers address IrFM interoperability issues and speed up time to market by providing a way to ensure that products are compliant with IrDA's IrFM test specification v1.0, as well as the OBEX (Object Exchange) test specification v 1.01. The test suite features a graphical user interface and 138 completed test scripts covering all requirements for both IrFM and OBEX. The company said users can also customize existing test scripts and add new ones.

"The XTNDAccess IrDA Test Suite allows developers to easily test, debug and submit their products for IrFM certification with complete confidence in the results," said David Hofacker, business unit manager of Extended Systems' Universal Mobile Connectivity Group.

The test suite is available now for a list price of $7,500.

[emit]

To All -

The wireless post are to eximplify the groth of wireless - untill we get news on how O1K may either dock or twirl or wifi to to Eclipse,STBs, and/or stereo's.

We know Softeq/HP will use infrared...

but imvho and via mgmt other wireless apps are in-the-works.

emit...

[emit]

Broadcom, Dell Begin Shipping 802.11a/g WAN Tech

Mark Hachman

Broadcom claimed it has begun shipping the first three-chip 802.11a/g hybrid chipsets, which Dell Computer will include in its line of Latitude notebooks.

Although the "g" standard remains unfinished, vendors like Broadcom are satisfied that the IEEE committee has settled upon a technical implementation. Barring interference and channel limitations, an "a/g"-enabled notebook should run at 54 Mbits/s, using either the 2.4-GHz or 5-GHz spectrum band.

While Dell is already providing a "g"-only, no-cost upgrade to some its Intel Centrino-based notebooks, the company will begin allowing customers on Monday to configure their notebooks for 802.11a/g for an additional $69, according to Broadcom executives.

"The 'a/g' story is future-proofing at its finest," said Jeff Thermond, vice-president and general manager of Broadcom's home and wireless networking business units.

Compatibility, however, still remains a sticking point; Broadcom has succeeded in winning notebook designs, but rival Atheros Communications has convinced router manufacturers to adopt its chips. Until the "g" standard is finalized, however, neither vendor's chipset can be assured that they will interoperate with the other.

Atheros has yet to formally announce an 802.11a/g chipset, although the company said it was sampling an "a/b/g" chipset in the middle of last year. D-Link and Netgear have taken Atheros' discrete 802.11g component and built it inside their wireless router and PC Card solutions. Meanwhile, no other top-tier PC maker besides Dell has integrated 802.11a/g. Hewlett-Packard's Compaq 2100 and 2500 use a discrete 802.11g chip from Broadcom.

Broadcom has received WiFi certification for both 802.11a and 802.11b compatibility and interoperability, Thermond said.

Analyst group Gartner last month said that it was advising its enterprise clients to hold off on using 802.11g because of the interoperability gulf between vendors. However, analysts at the firm also anticipated the standard would be passed without incident, and that "a/g" chipsets will be the direction the industry will go.

"By the end of the year 'a/b' will be a non-starter," said Ken Dulaney, a Gartner wireless analyst. "By that time you'll see 'a/g', and by the same time 'b' and 'a' will be mature."

Gartner predicts that 6.9 million or 33 percent of the 23.3 million wireless chipsets shipped this year into the adapter market (including discrete PC Cards and cards for PDAs) will be integrated directly into PCs.

Just under 70 percent of the chipsets to be shipped this year will be 802.11b, with "a"-only chipsets representing 19 percent of the mix, Gartner predicts. Discrete 'g' chipsets will represent just 4 percent of the 802.11 adapter market, while any-flavor of dual-band adapter will represent about 7 percent of the market. By 2007, however, the firm predicts that dual-band chipset adapters will represent about 69 percent of all units sold.

Home WiFi hardware sales are expected to increase in 2003 by very healthy 160 percent, to 6.8 million units, according to research firm In-Stat/MDR. "Long term, 'a/g' is going to be the chipset of choice," said Gemma Paulo, an In-Stat/MDR wireless analyst.

For many home users, however, a 54-Mbit 'a/g' chipset and possibly even a discrete 'b' implementation will be overkill, Dulaney pointed out. That's because many home users download information from the Internet over a 1.5-Mbit broadband connection—a theoretical figure in many cases.

"'A/g' will only go into the enterprise," Dulaney said. "There's kind of a joke here that's going on. All these vendors are preying on the consumer, who thinks that just because they see 54 Mbits on box it's better than anything else.

"Unless they're transferring a lot of heavy-duty video files around the house, I don't see the point," Dulaney added. "Unless 'g' is free, it's a waste of money."

Security, however, will likely be a perpetual concern, and was the most-talked about issue when clients discussed using WiFi in the enterprise, In-Stat/MDR's Paulo said. Broadcom's new 'a/g' chipset includes support for the Cisco Compatible Extensions security feature developed by Cisco. The chipsets also support AES encryption, plus WEP, the foundation for the forthcoming 802.11i standard.

"If you buy today, the customer will be able to expect that (wireless) will be current for the life of the notebook," Thermond said.





Monday also marks the third anniversary of WiFi compliance testing, the WiFi Alliance is expected to announce. The industry group said that 677 WiFi (802.11-compliant) products from 113 companies have received certification since testing began in March 2000, including 12 dual-band products.







©Copyright 2002 Ziff Davis Media Inc. All Rights Reserved. Reprinted with permission of ExtremeTech.

8 April 2003

[emit]

802.16 Wireless To Take On DSL, Cable

Mark Hachman

As expected, Intel and a host of other wireless companies said they would more heavily promotoe the 802.16 metropolitan wireless standard through the WiMax industry group.

As expected, Intel and a host of other wireless companies said they would more heavily promotoe the 802.16 metropolitan wireless standard through the WiMax industry group.

The Forum's members intend to set out to develop the 802.16 specification as a wireless alternative to DSL or cable modem. Unlike 802.11a, 802.1b, or 802.11g, the 802.16 technology is seen as a high-speed wireless backbone, to link client sites which may then form a WAN out of 802.11b-enabled PCs.

"Truly the biggest competitor Proxim has today is not other wireless competitors, but the leased line market," said Jeff Orr, a product manager at Proxim.

The WiMax Forum's members now include Airspan Networks, Alvarion Ltd., Aperto Networks, Ensemble Communications Inc., Fujitsu Microelectronics America, Intel Corporation, Nokia, OFDM Forum, Proxim Corporation and Wi-LAN Inc.

The distances that 802.16 technology will travel probably won't be as rosy as first predicted, probably between 20 to 35 miles, industry members said. Maximum data rates will likely be about 70 Mbits, or about 5 bits per channel per hertz, said Margaret LaBrecque, president of wiMax and a member of Intel's wireless initiatives group. However, signal frequencies can range from between 10 to 66-GHz, and between 2 to 11-GHz using the additional bandwidth tacked on by the 802.16a draft specification approved in January.

Fujitsu Microelectronics hopes to have a system-on-chip solution for 802.16a by mid-2004, a spokesman for the company said. Intel did not announce plans to produce silicon, but sources at wireless infrastructure firms said that Intel's future entrance into the 802.16 market is likely.

WiMax will also work group also will work with the European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI) to develop test plans for HIPERMAN, the European broadband wireless metropolitan area access standard. No complementary wireless MAN industry body has been announced in Japan.

An 802.16e mobility standard is also being developed to allow roaming basestations, although such development is most likely years down the road, given that the standard has yet to be finalized.

©Copyright 2002 Ziff Davis Media Inc. All Rights Reserved. Reprinted with permission of ExtremeTech.

9 April 2003

[emit]

Make sure you are part of the world's largest Wi-Fi business event!
802.11 Planet Spring 2003 Conference & Expo is coming to the World
Trade Center in Boston June 25-27. Register by June
11th and save $100. For more information visit
http://nl.internet.com/ct.html?rtr=on&s=1,3ko,1,568s,j910,a50o,eu5j

Featuring 802.11 Network Sponsors Proxim and Nomadix,
and Premier Sponsors Verizon, PCTEL and Rocksteady Networks.

Don't Miss These Keynote Speakers:

* Jawad Khaki, Corporate Vice President, Windows Networking and
Communications Technologies, Microsoft Corporation
* Angela Champness, Senior VP and General Manager LAN Division,
Proxim
* Joel Short, Chief Technology Officer & Senior Vice President,
Nomadix

Conference highlights include:

Workshop Day (June 25)
* Technical Intro to 802.11
* Build a High-Gain Antenna
* Turnkey Home WLAN Installation
* Design Basics for Large Wireless LANs
* WLAN Certification Prep
* WLAN Security
* Site Survey Techniques

Conference Day 1 Tracks (June 26)
* The Roaming Landscape
* Analyst Views
* Securing The Network
* Last-Mile WISP Clinic

Conference Day 2 Tracks (June 27)
* Hotspot Central
* Technology Trends
* Building the Network
* Special Interests

To view the complete agenda please visit
http://nl.internet.com/ct.html?rtr=on&s=1,3ko,1,568s,j910,a50o,eu5j

According to Jupiter Research, domestic Enterprise Wi-Fi device
sales will triple by 2006 to reach $2.3 billion. Join 802.11
industry experts and business innovators at 802.11 Planet Spring
2003 Conference & Expo 2003 to exchange ideas and strategies and
chart new paths through this transforming technological landscape.

For information or complete details on exhibiting or any sponsorship
opportunity, please contact Tim Walsh at [phone] or
[e-mail].

For more information and to register today please contact Lillian
Potter at [phone] or [e-mail].

802.11 Planet Spring 2003 Conference & Expo is officially
endorsed by the Wi-Fi Alliance, sponsored by Verizon, PCTEL,
Rocksteady Networks, Texas Instruments and VeriSign, hosted
by 802.11Planet.com, 802.11HotSpots.com, EarthWeb.com and
internet.com, and produced by Jupitermedia Corporation.
Featuring 802.11 Network Sponsors Proxim and Nomadix.

Sponsors and exhibitors to date include Agilent Technologies,
AirMagnet, Airwave Wireless, ARC International, Atheros
Communications, AT&T Wireless, Avnet Wavelength Design
Solutions, Berkeley Varitronics Systems, Birdstep Technology,
Bluesocket, Broadband Wireless Exchange, Cirond Technologies,
Cushcraft Corporation, Etenna Corporation, eWeek, Fortress
Technologies, Funk Software, GRIC Communications, Hewlett-Packard,
Hotspotzz, IEEE Computer Society, Intermec, Intersil Corporation,
iPass, NetNearU, Newbury Networks, Nextel, Nomadix, PCTEL, Proxim,
Reefedge, Rocksteady Networks, Spirent Communications, Texas
Instruments, VeriSign, Verizon, Vernier Networks, Vivato, VOCAL
Technologies, WiDeFi, Wi-Fi Alliance, Wireless Communications
Association International, Wireless Valley Communications, University
of Wisconsin - Milwaukee and zeeWAVES Systems.

[emit]

Subj: RE:Suggestions [#938241]
Date: 4/8/2003 5:01:58 PM Central Daylight Time
From: [e-mail]
To: [e-mail]
Sent from the Internet (Details)





Thanks for your suggestion. We will forward to the Product team.


--Original Message--

Ticket ID:
First Name: Tim
Last Name: xxxxx
Email Address: [e-mail]
Phone Number:
Drop Down:

----------------------------------------------
Contents:

Dear MP3.com

Have you seen the new e.Digital Odyssey 1000 - they're back in stock and have many more features than iPod...

The Treo 15 is nice, but O1K blows everything away. Also.. MP3.com has a partnership with you for 'The Download'

Please review the O1K and get it up on your hardware links.

Respectfully,

Tim xxxx - Paducah, Ky


Browser:
Mozilla/4.0 (compatible; MSIE 6.0; AOL 8.0; Windows NT 5.1; Q312461)

[emit]

Okay gern - Does this mean we could/should expect an 20th CenturyFox announcement utilizing DivxCodec for our IFEs...
Hmmm; maybe other airlines and other movie studios also.

If Equator/edig work divx into MS/XP Media-Entertainment foree i just pointed out... well well well - b 1 wayof doing it.

DVD Players To Play Downloaded Video In '03

By Joseph Palenchar
TWICE
4/2/2003 6:46:00 AM

Printer-Friendly version

E-mail this to a colleague


Austin, Texas - DVD players available late this year in the U.S. will play recordable data CDs burned with DivX-encoded video that was downloaded by PC from the web, Cirrus Logic claimed.

With DivX, a two-hour video would fit on a single CD in S-VHS quality, the company noted. Two or three major suppliers are expected to make the units. The players will be priced at about $150, Cirrus said.

The DVD players will incorporate a DivX controller and decoder on a single Cirrus board, whereas other chipmakers have developed two-board solutions that will boost the price of DivX-capable DVD players to at least $200, said Cirrus marketing VP Terry Ritchie. Production quantities of Cirrus's silicon will be available in mid-summer.

DivX is an MPEG-4 based codec developed by DivX Networks of San Diego to offer DVD-quality at 10 times greater compression than MPEG-2 files. The codec enables full-length films to fit on a CD and be delivered over broadband connections. MPEG-4 is scalable to offer HDTV quality at higher bit rates.

Cirrus said its platform could be used in future network-enabled DVD players and PVRs to stream or download DivX video from the web. He projected early-2004 availability of DVD players equipped with RJ-11 or RJ-45 connections to stream authorized DivX content from web sites on a pay-per-view basis, turning DVD players into 'mass-market settop boxes.' DivX-enabled PVRs could download and store movies for viewing at any time during a prescribed limited 'rental' period. Digital-rights-management technology would prevent Internet redistribution but allow sharing on the home network.

Future commercial DVD disc could contain Web links to download or stream additional content in DivX form, he added.

Currently, DivX's content is limited mainly to clips, independent films, anime, cartoons, The Bishop's Wife with Cary Grant, and X-rated videos.

[emit]

Didn't think we'd attend the IFE conference because of this.... last night on Tom Brokaw's national news their SARS 'ecconomic impact' segment specificaly mentiond MP3 players -

ya'll catch it -..... they're getting noticed :)

''Technology companies throughout the region have been among the hardest hit. Stocks of Taiwan Semiconductor and other Asian high tech firms have been hammered since reports of the SARS epidemic began spreading. ''
http://www.msnbc.com/news/894372.asp#BODY

emit...

[emit]

April 3, 2003
Windows Media 9 Goes Indy
By Thor Olavsrud
Continuing its push to make Windows Media 9 Series the de facto standard in digital media, both on and beyond the PC, Microsoft (Quote, Company Info) Thursday unveiled an alliance with independent film exhibitor Landmark Theatres, under which Landmark will equip each of its 53 theaters across the United States with digital cinema playback systems based on Microsoft's technology.

The Redmond, Wash.-based software giant said the deal marks the largest digital cinema theater circuit installation to date in the U.S. It also brings the efficiencies of digital distribution to independent film whereas most digital installations to date have focused on the largest screens and multiplexes, which are geared toward Hollywood blockbusters.

"Landmark's mandate has always been to build an alternative infrastructure dedicated to the enhancement and proliferation of independent film," said Bert Manzari, executive vice president of Landmark Theatres. "We exhibit over 250 films a year, and all too many of these films succeed or fail due to market economics rather than artistic accomplishment."

Currently, theatrical films cost the same to release whether released by a major studio or an independent with far less capital behind it. Microsoft said that the digital alternative is a "major breakthrough in these economies," by allowing the films to be mastered and distributed digitally, driving down costs and thereby helping enable greater diversity and access to the marketplace for independent filmmakers and distributors alike.

Landmark President and CEO Paul Richardson took a role as a featured presenter at a symposium on digital cinema at this year's Sundance Film Festival, and said the technology has generated a great deal of interest across the board.

"What has impressed me most is the enormous breadth of interest in digital cinema that has been generated since the festival," he said. "I've been contacted by key distributors, investment bankers and members of the creative community, all of whom want to know when we can deliver a complete solution to digital distribution. I believe that we will look back at this moment as one when we were able to fundamentally change the business model in a way that will allow far more of these films to compete successfully."

Jim Steele, president of Digital Cinema Solutions (DCS) -- which will deploy Microsoft's technology on its 'Cinema System' architecture for Landmark -- added, "The independent film space has largely been ignored by digital cinema. The small, current base of digital cinema installations targets the largest screens and multiplexes focused on mainstream Hollywood blockbusters. The program announced today by Landmark and Microsoft will change all that because it creates a nationwide network of independent digital cinemas, effectively solving the 'chicken and the egg' problem for the independent film community by allowing them to move forward for the first time with wide-scale digital distribution.

DCS will equip 177 of Landmark's screens with the Windows Media 9 Series technology and its 'Cinema System,' which has been used to power the BMW Films Digital Cinema Series in 25 theaters since November 2002.

DCS's system utilizes a networked PC architecture which plugs into existing theater infrastructure. Windows Media 9 Series then allows distributors to send films to theaters over private networks, on CD-ROM or on DVD-ROM, all protected with Microsoft's Windows Media Digital Rights Management (DRM) technology.

Microsoft said the films, encoded in Windows Media 9 Series, will provide high-resolution, theater-quality experiences, with up to 7.1 channel surround sound.

The companies expect to complete the network rollout by the end of the year.

[emit]

per prior post -

note bold MS XP Entertainment... gona be big

Also added value coming via ID3tags/data as with
iBiquity's Eclipse's abilities...

Shame, the auther didn't take into accout HD-Echo retail
insturmental persuasions via kiosks...

Now look what MS is doing via Theaters already...

-CONSTRICTION- is good, it clearafies ability

emit...

[emit]

April 4, 2003
Online Music Singing the Contraction Blues
By Ryan Naraine
http://www.internetnews.com/ec-news/article.php/10793_2176161_2

What was once a minor buzz about strategic moves in the online music sector is now hitting a crescendo over whether a shakeout is looming and which companies will be left with all the chips.

With the bigger players -- Microsoft (Quote, Company Info), AOL , RealNetworks (Quote, Company Info), Apple (Quote, Company Info) and Sony Music -- all putting their cards on the table, the hedge-betting has set tongues wagging about possible acquisition deals coming down the pike.

RealNetworks set the train in motion with its minority investment in Listen.com, which runs Rhapsody, a competitor to Real's own MusicNet. Within days, Pressplay backer Sony acquired a minority interest in MusicNet, a clear sign of things to come.

RealNetworks declined details on its Listen.com investment but well-placed sources tell internetnews.com the cash-for-equity transaction included an option for Real to buy the company outright and analysts expect that deal to be the first in a series of acquisitions that will leave the fee-based music services in the hands of a select few.

Greg Lee, research associate at Raymond James & Associates, is impressed with Listen.com's Rhapsody service, which offers custom radio stations for $4.95 per month and a $9.95 monthly plan that allows unlimited streams and access to burn songs for 99 cents. Yet, despite being what he described as a "top-shelf service," Lee doesn't believe Rhapsody can survive the inevitable shakeout.

'Forget the service, it's about marketing'
"This business is about marketing. Getting the content and the licenses has become easier and easier but, unless you have that marketing power of an AOL or an MSN, it's really tough to companies like Listen.com and FullAudio," Lee explained.

Like Listen.com, FullAudio has integrated a strong radio hook in its revamped MusicNow service, which hawks unlimited tethered downloads and streamed songs for $9.95 per month.

For Chicago-based FullAudio, the likely buyer would be Microsoft, a company it already has a tight relationship with. Once RealNetworks uses its buyout option on Listen.com, industry watchers say Microsoft will then acquire FullAudio and merge it into Pressplay, which is co-owned by Sony and Yahoo .

That scenario would leave MusicNet in the hands of AOL and Sony; Listen.com as a RealNetworks subsidiary and Pressplay and FullAudio as Microsoft-owned entities. All would have the five major record labels (including Sony) as minority stakeholders.

Confused yet? Right, that's exactly the state of play until all the hedging of bets plays itself out, analysts explained.

FullAudio chief executive Scott Kauffman declined to comment on the likelihood of Microsoft gobbling up his company. "We're a venture-backed company and our job is to build asset value for our investors. We're ten days into launching a new service and that's our priority. As we start to build a roster of consumers who first sign up and then renew their membership, we'll create a very attractive business," Kauffman told internetnews.com

But, because FullAudio's MusicNow service is exclusive to Microsoft Windows Media Player, and with the software giant's public mission to turn the Windows XP operating system into a full-scale multimedia entertainment platform, it's a logical bet FullAudio is already being courted by Microsoft.

'Contraction is inevitable'
Jupiter Research digital music analyst Lee Black agrees contraction is inevitable. "Can Listen.com or FullAudio survive for another year? No. They need to have that powerful distribution arm. They both have compelling features and they're both selling at an acceptable price range but it has not quite panned out because they don't have that portal backing," Black said.

"The struggle is to sign up customers. They already have the licenses and the technology infrastructure. The struggle to get customers will be tough without a portal partnership. Portals come with a huge amount of traffic and loyalty. And, portals come with integrated billing, which is crucial," he added.

Raymond James & Associates' Lee agreed. "If the product is great and no one knows about it, it'll eventually fade away. They really can't compete with MusicNet and Pressplay, which are marketed on AOL and MSN. If AOL is running advertisements throughout their network and put a big ad on the AOL main page for MusicNet, how can Rhapsody or FullAudio compete with that?," He argued. "They (AOL) have the money to subsidize with free trials for a while so that's tough to beat. That's why I believe contraction is inevitable."

FullAudio's Kauffman dismissed any suggestion that his MusicNow service is devoid of any marketing muscle, pointing out its close association with Microsoft's WMP as one area where the service has a big-name outlet. "We market through channel partners, Microsoft being one of them. We have all the marketing muscle of those channel partners, including EarthLink," he said. FullAudio provides the backend technology that powers EarthLink's digital music service.

"Our marketing costs, in many respects, are shared with our channel partners," he explained.

Lee is unconvinced FullAudio can survive the shakeout. "My estimate is, a year from now, we'll see everything being centralized. There will be about three or four big music services, all owned by the bigger companies," Lee said. Even the new entrants to the market, like Apple with its planned service for Mac users, will be brand-name firms with a built-in marketing arm.

"Apple is in an unique position. They have a rabid fan base of Mac users who will purchase their music subscriptions just because it has the Apple brand," Yankee Group analyst Ryan Jones said in a recent interview.

Even Roxio Inc., which is planning a legitimate comeback for the Napster brand, already has a user base available with which to market the service. The company is a big player in the CD and DVD burning software market, and would build a marketing plan marrying software to services.

Don't rule out Roxio (Quote, Company Info) from the buying spree, Greg Lee warned. "It's a possibility that Roxio will be busy on the acquisition front. They can slap the Napster name on any of the existing services and create something big. The Napster brand is very valuable. It's a name people associate with music downloads," he added.

"Roxio has a decent amount of cash on hand. If they really intend to get a service out there, they would acquire someone just to get the necessary licensing deals."

Is the price right?
While the labels and services are sticking to the $10 per month price point running alongside 99 cent per song downloads, some analysts are questioning whether that's a comfortable price for consumers. AOL's relaunched MusicNet is offering 20 streams and 20 downloads for $3.95 per month and an $8.95 per month plan for unlimited tethered downloads. A pricier $17.95 per month option on the AOL service will allow users to burn 10 songs to a CD. Pressplay, by comparison, also offers radio stations and unlimited tethered downloads for $9.95 per month in addition to song downloads that allow for CD burning.But that price tag is still out of the reach of the music fans they're targeting, according to consultant Kurt Hanson, publisher of the popular RAIN newsletter. "I'm not convinced that adults are sold on a subscription model for music purchases. Clearly, there's a segment of young people that have embraced that model but the target market isn't rushing to sign up, especially at those price points," Hanson said.At $1.00 per song download, Hanson argues it's cheaper to go to a retail store and pick up a CD that comes with all the frills like lyric sheets and album covers. "When I buy a CD, I have the right to put it on my hard drive, on a playlist and I can even take it in my car. If I buy the digital download, it's the same price but I don't get the opportunity to burn it unless I pay extra. The pricing is similar but they're offering less value," he argued.Hanson believes the labels must concede further on pricing and make it "significantly lower" if they expect adults to be reaching for their credit cards at the online music services.Greg Lee agrees. "I expect more tweaking with the prices. We have seen that people aren't readily willing to pay 99 cents to download a song. (The labels) are ignoring the fact that song download is available for free, even if it's illegal," he said. Like Hanson, Lee argues that the current pricing structure works out to the same as walking into a retail store and picking up a 20-song CD. "There has to be a volume discount or a package to hook buyers. That price just isn't going to fly," he argued.Barely breaking even
The problem for the music services is that the record labels control the pricing. For instance, sources say, the licensing deals are structured to ensure the labels as much as 78 cents for every $1.00 song downloaded and burned. The subscription services, which must cover bandwidth, storage and other overheads, are finding it tough to breakeven, even at $1.00 per song. The licensing deals are sometimes tiered in a way that the music services pay as much as 78 cents on the $1.00 download on newer tracks and a little less on older songs. The weighted average is between 73 cents and 78 cents per song. When the services price the download/burn at 99 cents each, they're lucky to eke out 2 pennies per track, one insider explained.Because of that, the subscription services aren't rushing to adopt the download-and-burn model, preferring to concentrate on hawking the on-demand listening option.FullAudio's Kauffman refused comment on the licensing terms set by the labels but conceded the download/burn model hasn't taken off. "Our target audience has not shown a high tendency to burn songs. That's not a key driver in the market," he explained.Some believe the labels are content to keep the price high and wait out the ongoing litigation against the illegal file-sharing services which offer free alternatives. With the well-chronicled victory over Napster and similar lawsuits against Kazaa before the courts, the thinking is that the recording industry is willing to spend big until the P2P networks are outlawed.The labels are gambling. They're waiting out the eventual demise of the 'illegals' and pushing the development of the subscriptions services simultaneously. If they lower the prices on the music services and the illegal networks disappear, it will be tough to increase the prices. They might end up undercutting themselves," Lee said."If consumers get comfortable with, say, 25 cents per song, it'll be impossible to get it back to a buck. I think the labels are dragging their feet to protect their interests." Still, Lee believes the labels must concede on a price break. "The $1.00 per song price tag is excessive. I think it has to be less than 50 cents if they are to attract critical mass. I'd be interested in the results of the Rhapsody 49 cents-per-song promotion with Lycos. I think you can get the volume if you price it attractively."Jupiter Research's Black disagreed, noting that research showed the $10/month 99 cents per song price had gained traction with consumers. "If someone's been downloading a lot of free stuff, of course they will expect the price to be less. But, $1.00 per song is right there in terms of what consumers are comfortable with," he said."On or offline, $1.00 per song is typically a decent price. People pay $1.00 for a ringtone. It's still only a buck," Black said.Instead of just slashing prices and killing the golden goose, Black suggested the music services might want to offer creative bundling. "You don't want to lower your price but you can keep it at $1.00 and sell two or three downloads for that price. Keep the price point high, but increase volume," he said. Amidst the disagreements over pricing and strategies, the analysts all agree music subscription will be a game only for the big boys. "When you have such a small group of players, there's a lot of shuffling that can go on behind the scenes. That's what we are going through now. I think it'll all clear up within a year," Black said.When the music stops, it'll be a case of who's able to grab the last remaining chair.

[emit]

Fujitsu Ten Licenses Digital's HD Radio™ Technology

April 3, 2003

LAS VEGAS, NV - National Association of Broadcasters Show -April 3, 2003 - iBiquity Digital Corporation, the sole developer of HD Radio™ technology, announced today that Fujitsu Ten Limited (TSE:6702) of Japan has licensed HD Radio technology for integration into automotive components. Fujitsu Ten’s aftermarket ECLIPSE brand is one of the top five sellers in the hi-end category of aftermarket automotive receivers.


iBiquity Digital’s HD Radio™ technology transforms today’s radio experience by allowing AM/FM broadcasters to seamlessly transmit digital quality audio as well as integrated wireless data alongside today’s analog-based broadcasts. HD Radio digital receivers, such as those being developed by Fujitsu Ten, will enable consumers to receive digital signals with improved audio fidelity that matches existing CD quality. HD Radio technology will also allow for the development of additional on-demand interactive audio and wireless data services.

“HD Radio technology integrated into Fujitsu Ten receivers will prove to be a powerful combination for supporting the automotive industry’s desire to implement the best electronics available in the market,” said Bob Struble , President and CEO, iBiquity Digital Corporation. “We are pleased to be working with Fujitsu Ten as HD Radio technology continues its growth as the product of choice for next generation digital radio technology.”

Fujitsu Ten is a global supplier company providing a large assortment of technologically advanced vehicle electronic products to OEMs and aftermarket retailers.

About Fujitsu Ten Limited
Fujitsu Ten Limited in Kobe , Japan can be accessed through the World Wide Web at www.fujitsu-ten.co.jp. Fujitsu Ten is a global supplier company providing a large assortment of technologically advanced vehicle electronic products to OEMs and aftermarket retailers. Its renowned manufacturing capability is also applied to its aftermarket audio system branded ECLIPSE. For ECLIPSE products, visit our web site at www.eclipse-web.com.

About iBiquity Digital Corporation
iBiquity Digital is the sole developer and licenser of HD Radio technology in the U.S. , which will transform today’s analog radio to digital, enabling radically upgraded sound and new wireless data services. The company’s investors include 15 of the nation’s top radio broadcasters, including ABC, Clear Channel and Viacom; leading financial institutions, such as J.P. Morgan Partners, Pequot Capital and J&W Seligman; and strategic partners Ford Motor Company, Harris , Texas Instruments and Visteon. iBiquity Digital is a privately held company with operations in Columbia , MD , Detroit , MI , Redwood City , CA and Warren , NJ . For more information please visit: www.ibiquity.com.

[emit]

Microsoft is making a new WLAN standard—originally from the Wi-Fi Alliance—available as a free download at its site.

A new wireless LAN security solution for Windows XP is now a free download at Microsoft's Web site. Based on the Wi-Fi Alliance's new replacement for its Wired Equivalent Privacy (WEP) solution, Wireless Protected Access (WPA), this security offering is designed for both home and business users of Windows XP. There are no similar downloads for Windows 9.x or 2000, since the software is aimed at wireless features these operating systems do not have.

[emit]

Wireless Advice: Let's Get On With It

By Stephanie Stahl


Just get over it." That's the advice John Parkinson, VP and chief technologist for Cap Gemini Ernst & Young's Americas region, sometimes gives CIOs who worry that giving employees mobile devices and wireless access to data will cause them to lose too much control of the computing environment. With the technology that's available, the networks being deployed, and the convenience wireless technology offers to the business worker, resistance is futile. It's best to embrace it and invest in the tools to make employees more productive while also setting appropriate security measures and policies.


The last time I wrote about my personal excitement about being able to work remotely from Starbucks, I was told by several readers to chill out, enjoy life, and stop being a workaholic. So, let me offer this disclaimer right up front-I have a life, but I still want the convenience of getting my E-mail or connecting to other apps whenever I want or need to. It will, in fact, make my life much easier. The same could be true for a salesperson, a doctor, or a supply-chain manager.


Fortunately, the mobile and wireless market is poised for growth. It's gone through what seems to be a regular phenomenon: hype, overhype, and disappointment. More recently, Parkinson says, it's gone through an unobserved surge in demand. So now it's time for the boom. Hardware continues to advance, with multiple PC makers installing new mobile-chip technologies from Intel and AMD and a new generation of data-ready phones hitting the market; software development will get a boost from huge R&D investments from Microsoft and others in mobility platforms and development tools; and Wi-Fi networks are making their way into more airports, hotels, restaurants, coffee shops, bookstores, and office buildings.


So, what's holding you back?


Stephanie Stahl, Editor ([e-mail])


http://informationweek.com/




©Copyright © 2003 CMP Media LLC

4 April 2003

[emit]

It doesn't take a genius to see that the
onward outcome of efforts like Lu/Verizon's wlan,
Ibm/intel/at/t's cometta, and retail efforts as of the
likes of Echo' will inevitably end in a/many a secure
handheld interactions, via hotspots n personal
hd-auto home stb's.

DiCoMo, T-Mobile n Samsung have half done it CDMA/Java -
Now Divx-MPEG4 wireless -
802,twirl,wifi via,dockable pjb's ppc,cell and kiosks.

Let MTV get behind Echo !

JMA... Hit us witha a star - to download with purchase
of a Odyssey 1000.

emit...

[emit]

Retail Downloads May Spur Portable Sales

By Joseph Palenchar
TWICE
2/10/2003

LOS ANGELES— The country's top record-store chains want to drive authorized music downloading into the mass market, and if they succeed, they could ignite already hot sales of portable digital devices and encourage audio suppliers to develop digital devices that would be compatible with their service.

Motivated by declining CD sales, the chains announced plans to develop download and streaming services through joint majority ownership of a startup company called Echo. The company will use its owners' buying power to negotiate the download and streaming rights to music, ''choose a codec and digital rights management [DRM] technology, and develop some of our own technologies,'' said Echo CEO Dan Hart.

''We'd like to have something out by the end of the year,'' Hart said. ''The first order of business is licensing. We expect we can do that in six months.'' Echo won't offer services, however, until it gets licenses from the five largest music companies and from some major independents, he said.

To the investing retailers, Echo will offer both ''the basic technologies that retailers can rework on the front end'' and ''a complete product'' on a turnkey basis, but ''price, brand, and marketing will be left up to the retailer,'' Hart said. Each retailer could market the services under their own brand name or under an Echo co-brand.

Echo's license agreements will include Internet radio, interactive streaming and download services, which will allow for locking songs to a hard drive as well as transfers to portable devices and burning to a disc.

The music retailers believe their retail experience will translate into more effective marketing and promotion programs than those undertaken by the two music-company-backed streaming/download services [Pressplay and MusicNet] and by the handful of authorized services developed by third parties. Third parties include download pioneer Liquid Audio, whose assets are being sold to Anderson Merchandisers, the music distributor that wants to expand the distribution of downloaded music via retailer Web sites. Its packaged-media accounts include Wal-Mart.

''All have done various experiments, but they haven't worked out on a mass-market scale with consumers,'' said Hart. ''Everything so far has been an experiment. We recognize that it's time for a more concerted effort.''

The effort will succeed, he contended, with ''the right product, aggressive marketing, and getting better pricing with the labels.'' Echo will get better pricing, he continued, because ''we will provide more value, which will give them more royalties.''

The investing retailers sell more than 40 percent of music software to consumers in units and dollars. The retailers are Best Buy, owner of the Sam Goody and Suncoast record chains, Hastings Entertainment, Tower Records, Virgin Entertainment, Wherehouse Music (in Chapter 11), and Trans World Entertainment, operator of FYE, Coconuts, Strawberries, Spec's, and Planet Music.

Major music companies will participate, he contended, because of Echo's credibility with them. Music retailers, he said, ''have no interest in undercutting CD sales but are interested in getting additional revenue.'' Labels, he continued, ''might be suspicious that [third-party download services] are interested in digital music at the expense of CD sales.''

The legitimate download market has also been held back, he continued, because music companies have only recently begun licensing content for download/streaming services. More important, ''there has been no real advertising effort to explain the value proposition [of authorized paid-for services] to consumers.''

For paid-for services to succeed, he added, operators must ''offer value to compete with free alternatives.'' Echo's owners will be able to achieve that through a variety of potential strategies that complement the old model of downloading music to a PC, he said. The strategies include in-store kiosks where consumers can download music to hard-drive music portables via fast 480Mbps USB 2.0 connections from an in-store server.

''Projecting technology out 18 months, it would take weeks of downloading at home to fill a 100GB portable,'' he said. ''In a store, you could fill it with hundreds of songs, walk out, and listen.'' Echo could offer the kiosk technology or turnkey kiosks to retailers, he noted.

Retailers could also package compressed-music portables preloaded with content, promoting some models as ''jazz MP3 players,'' he said. Retailers could also use downloads in promotions that could package two free downloads with the purchase of a CD.

Best Buy already offers downloads of about 200,000 songs from its Web site using technology and licensed songs available through Ecast and Liquid Audio, but ''we want to collaborate to get more licenses to be more competitive than we have in the past,'' said a spokesperson. The service hasn't been interrupted by Liquid's impending asset sale.

P.J. McNealy, Gartner research director, agreed that Echo could be more competitive than existing services such as MusicMatch's RadioMX, Listen.com's Rhapsody and Full Audio.

''They're in a good position because they understand music buyers already and how to market to them,'' he said. ''The marketing efforts to date haven't been that great.''

The marketing efforts of other services, he added, have been ''held back'' because ''they all had to write big checks to get distribution licenses.'' In addition, the marketing deals struck with various ISPs have been uneven, he said. ''Some ISPs just put up a link.''

Echo owners' success, however, ''will come down to licensing deals, pricing, and how they differentiate themselves. They have certain advantages, but it remains to be seen what deals they will get.''

Whatever Echo's future, McNealy expects authorized download services to grow in popularity this year because music companies have begun to offer broader licenses that allow for disc burning and transfers to portable devices. ''Two years ago, they started with streaming, then locking downloads to a hard drive, and now only recently are we seeing transfers,'' he said. ''Labels saw each fail before they offered broader terms.''

Echo's Hart agreed the music-company-sponsored services Pressplay and MusicNet will get more aggressive, too.

[emit]

March 24, 2003
Demand for Digital Content Booming in Korea
By Hyun-Sun Park, eWEEK Korea

SEOUL, South Korea—Advancements in mobile phone technology and the widespread adoption of broadband access are fueling a boom in digital content here, according to industry experts. In spite of the global downturn in IT spending, the South Korean market for digital content last year exceeded $3 billion, up 38.5 percent from 2001.

The impressive numbers were reported last week by Korea's Ministry of Information and Communication as part of a survey of more than 2,000 local digital content businesses. The survey predicts that the Korean market for digital content will hit $8.3 billion by 2006.

In 2002, there were 32.6 million cell phone subscribers in Korea, according to the survey, representing nearly 100 percent of the adult Korean population. Typical mobile phones sold in Korea these days feature 40 polyphonic ring tones, a 65,000-color TFT-LCD display that offers crisp images, a built-in digital camera and even camcorder functionality. By the end of last month, about 10.5 million subscribers owned color phones, a number that's expected to increase by 50 percent by the end of this year.


Koreans now use their mobile phones not only for voice communication but also for data communication. Teenagers and young adults in particular like to use their cell phones for entertainment. At any time of day, young people can be seen playing games and taking pictures using their color cell phones in Korea's subways and streets. All of this is evidence that the Korean market for multimedia services is growing sharply, according to the survey. In the online music market, mobile phone ring tones make up about 77 percent of total sales. The mobile gaming industry is also expected to grow fast as a result of the growth in wireless telecommunication service, in particular SK Telecom's upcoming rollout of IMT-2000, Korea's standard for next-generation wireless service.

Amid the recent rapid growth in the color mobile phone market, mobile handset manufacturers such as Samsung Electronics and LG Electronics are aggressively marketing cutting-edge handsets. Parts makers such as Samsung SDI are also helping to build the market for the high-end mobile phones with cameras, developing 65,000-color OLED screens that allow for vivid, high-definition images. Today, many phones offer STN-LCD and TFT-LCD screens with 65,000 or 260,000 colors on the main display inside the handset, supplemented by a smaller external monochrome STN LCD or 256-color OLED display.

Mobile phones are not only fueling the market for digital content, they are also driving the online payments market, experts say. Koreans are more frequently using their cell phones to buy products or services or to transfer money without the need for credit cards or online banking accounts, using built-in payment applications. The most popular type of mobile phone financial transactions are direct money transfers (25.5 percent), followed by payments for digital content (21.7 percent).

Meanwhile, as the broadband Internet infrastructure matures, the online video industry is experiencing rapid growth. The digital satellite broadcasting and video-on-demand movie industries, major drivers of the Korean digital content sector, recorded 147.9 percent growth year over year, according to Ministry figures.

Korea also leads the world in high-speed Internet penetration, with about 10 million households signed up for cable modem or VDSL services. VDSL, which offers speeds of up to 20M bps, is available for about $20 per month. Recently a 50M-bps VDSL service, which lets consumers download a 90-minute movie in just 20 seconds, was rolled out. 100M-bps VDSL service is slated to be launched by the end of this year

[emit]

Are U Ready - Hell-ya

DivXNetworks Adds Kevin Hell As Chief Marketing Officer And Managing Director
Former Palm And Gateway Executive Brings Senior Strategic Marketing And Product Management Experience To Leading Video Convergence Company

"Thanks to the superior technology and significant global brand equity of DivX video, DivXNetworks is uniquely positioned to play a strong leadership role in the convergence marketplace," said Mr. Hell. "The DivX phenomenon has already started making the transition beyond the PC into next-generation consumer electronics devices, and the next year will see the explosion of DivX technology across a range of new products and applications. I am very excited to join the great team at DivXNetworks to help manage the growth of the company moving forward."

Gota luv it

leterrip

emit...

[emit]

A wide range of DivX-certified consumer electronics devices, from portable video players to DVD players and set-top boxes, are scheduled to hit the market in 2003.

http://www.investorshub.com/boards/read_msg.asp?message_id=879604

hell ya -

emit...

[emit]

Several dvd players have adopted divx, but note bold
we'll soon see recording to handheld-hd - per underlined via wireless.

Intervideo Introduces Divx/AC3 Compatible Windvr 3

By Vipul Shah
DT: 12/03/2003
[e-mail]


Today at CeBIT 2003, Hanover Germany, Intervideo, Inc. announced release of WinDVR 3, the newest ver sion of its digital video recorder for computers. WinDVR 3 lets users record TV shows directly to CD or DVD that can be watched later on a PC or a consumer DVD player. In fact, users don’t even have to be there to record, WinDVR 3 will even wake your computer up when it is time to record a show and then shut down all by itself when it’s done.


Divx encoding feature was missing link in DVR market and it was not addressed by any major player, With WinDVR 3 Intervideo will be able to get into this segment. Divx is very popular video codec used for high quality video files for transporting on CD or via net. Quality of video can be very close to DVD. Control over file size is possible without sacrificing quality in Divx.

Apart from Divx, WinDVR 3 also adds DV device support for camcorders and Multi-monitor and TV output options.

emit

[emit]

I wanta Puck, a mp90, a magicvoice, a cQuence would be cool...
Love my Odyssey-300

edig's inovative abridged/knockoff ofn into the ipodic
pjb Big Market, + wirless adaptations que's 8kflash file.

Bet we beat creative t/divx - imo creative's our US
Basher umpthifier... flpy,sblue,etc.,

edig/divx/eq/pp/ms to interplay dvd/divx - handheld-headsets
the twirl-ir could wlan hd's in an entertainment/civil
hotspotic system - akin to cometta and Echo = future

Auto-HD via iBiquity emitting aac wirelessly

my opinion - buy e.Digital and: 'You Will Be There'

stick around - defy ridicule

emit...

[Justin]

Classic MP6410 Originally was $99.99 Sale $79.99 Now front page of Sunday Circular is $59.99 stores up to 2 hours of Tunes, MP3 digital audio player
Here is a picture of the new classic.
http://www.circuitcity.com/frame1.jsp?BV_SessionID=@@@@1932428739.1049049054@@@@&BV_EngineID=ccd...

[emit]

Wi-Fi Everywhere, Intel Hopes

By Larry Greenemeier with Robin Gareiss


The same week Intel launched its Centrino mobile-chip technology, which includes the Pentium M low-power processor and a radio chip for wireless networking, Hilton Hotels Corp. and McDonald's Corp. touted new high-speed wireless initiatives. By mid-April, 50 Hilton hotels and resorts throughout North America will offer wireless Net access. The Hilton New York already has access points in its lobby, bar, and restaurant and will charge users $1.99 for the first 10 minutes of wireless access. "We're providing a service that guests now expect," says John Flack, VP of shared operational services for Hilton's IT department. McDonald's is giving one free hour of Wireless Fidelity access to Extra Value Meal buyers, but it also plans to use the technology to share information immediately with hundreds of its mobile employees. Intel CEO Craig Barrett says wireless mobile computing will improve employee productivity and alleviate some of the stress associated with working away from the office: "After 20 years of talking about it, this is really the most tangible example of the convergence of computing and communication."


http://informationweek.com/

[Mattu]

Here's what I'm looking for. eDig Player might work.

I want someting to ride with a motorcycle that can be used with the helmet communcations. Basically, it needs a line out/headphone jack. they all have this obviously.

1. Needs to be able to get FM radio
2. I'd like for it to be rechargeable
3. Rugged/can take a beating
4. As compact as possible, as in, shirt pocket

Odyssey fit this criteria? If not, any others?

I actually haven't bought the helmet communications stuff (2-way radio, audio, etc), so I might find one with all of the above in it, but I doubt it.