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i sent this e-mail to RP on 10/4/00:
Robert- thought you might find my post of today interesting; if i have misstated something I would appreciate if you could let me know. thanks. XXXXXXXXXXXX
yesterday, i posted about the PVA info posted on the Intel website and tried to make a connection with Fonix. Sentinel pointed out to me that RP had previously told him when he raised Fonix that edig was more IBM-centric. This actually correlated to what RP had already told me but I called him yesterday afternoon and he essentially repeated the same thing again and again used the term "IBM-centric". I thought to myself what the #### does that mean and must admit that I began wondering if this was just a bunch of mumbo jumbo. I swore to myself that i wouldn't try to do anymore dot-connecting knowing that the odds of such were very low at best. I also made the assumption that when RP said IBM-centric that it did not mean that IBM was working with edig directly since I knew that if true his comment would no doubt violate NDA not to mention SEC regs. BTW, I should mention that when I brought up Fonix, RP said in the same breath with "IBM-centric" that edig was working "WITH MAJOR COMPANIES". Again, I pretty much dismissed this in my own mind with that's nice but as J11 would say WHERE'S THE F@#$%ING PRODUCT. Now with that hyperbole out of the way, I hope I can put this in context with what I think is going on.
The PVA Arrives
September 22, 2000
An emerging category of wireless Internet client devices is designed to make the in-vehicle wireless Internet experience feature-rich and easy to use. It is called the Personal Vehicle Assistant, or PVA. Similar to its hand-held PDA counterpart, the PVA is a Web-enabled wireless Internet consumer electronic device with the power to make a wide range of Internet services available anywhere, at any time.
For PVA users, these services can include two-way voice communications, e-mail, personalized news, navigation, traffic data and roadside assistance services, in addition to a wide spectrum of personal productivity and entertainment applications. For ergonomics, the PVA will enable hands-free operation with a basic user interface as simple as a car radio.
The PVA makes drive-time more productive:
Navigation applications will take the guesswork out of reaching new destinations, while real-time traffic notification systems will help drivers arrive at their destination sooner.
Personalized information services will keep drivers and passengers up to the minute with the latest news, financial and business data.
A new set of "m-Commerce" applications may be used to reserve hotel rooms, purchase event tickets, make restaurant reservations, or even automatically pay highway and bridge tolls.
Emergency services will be available, such as roadside assistance and automatic collision notification systems. In addition, voice-activated communications will keep drivers in touch, all while the driver keeps his or her eyes on the road.
Entertainment opportunities will enhance the drive-time experience, with MP3 digital audio for drivers and DVD movies for rear seat passengers.
Intel's Role
Intel has made a major commitment to the expansion of the wireless Internet, including technologies and industry investments that support innovative PVA product development. Intel's Wireless Communications and Computing Group is working to develop and enhance the wireless Internet experience for end users.
One way to enhance PVA capabilities is through higher integration and lower total system cost. To meet these goals, Intel has made technology investments in the areas of signal processing, baseband, control and application processing, as well as power and memory management.
Intel is also working to support the industry with investments in leading-edge companies. Many of Intel's industry alliances stem from the establishment of Intel Wireless Competence Centers, which focus on developing partnerships with world leaders in wireless communications. These centers underscore Intel's efforts to help fuel the worldwide cellular and wireless Internet explosion.
This combination of Intel technology, industry investment, and product innovation is providing wireless Internet device manufacturers, content providers and operators with the solutions they need to deliver the next generation of wireless Internet devices, from office to home, and on the road in-between.
Watch this Space — Very soon Intel will announce dramatic advances in telematics, including highly integrated PVA platform solutions. Check back often for the latest announcements.
http://www.intel.com/design/wireless/telematics/pva.htm
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FROM IBM WEBSITE: (not sure, but posted around end of Aug. 00)
VoiceTIMES announces PVA survey results
IBM Voice Systems presented a Technology Concept Demo at Mobile Insights 2000 (MI2000) that featured a voice-enabled IBM WorkPad handheld computer. This concept demo was dubbed the "PVA" (Personal Voice Assistant). The PVA demo was created as a concept demo, designed to demonstrate voice recognition technology in a handheld device. IBM made no promise to announce the PVA as a product, nor did IBM make any guarantee to announce a voice-enabled handheld device in the future.
The PVA demo was voted best of show. The demo showcased award-winning IBM Embedded ViaVoice technology that was used to activate standard PDA tasks such as Address Book, To-do List, Memo, Calendar, etc. Attendee feedback demonstrated that smart handheld devices (SHDs) such as PDAs (Personal Digital Assistants) can be used more effectively when users are able to interact with them using voice commands.
The IBM PVA Demo showcased voice input and Text-To-Speech (TTS) output. It was shown on a lab-built cradle that housed a microphone, speaker, battery and the LRCC (Low Resource Command and Control) IBM ViaVoice Speech Engine. A Palm III or a Palm V could be snapped into the cradle through the onboard serial port. The hardware shown was conceptual in nature and was designed only to demonstrate the function and capabilities of voice-enabling.
Download PVA Voice Command Demo
Market Research
In order to gain insight into market preferences and requirements for a device like the PVA, VoiceTIMES, with IBM's help, hosted a web-based survey prior to and during the MI2000 Show. The survey captured users' demographic data and asked users for input regarding the features and functions that would make a handheld device more efficient for the user. The highlights of the results are being posted in 'VoiceTIMES' News, supporting the VoiceTIMES objective of furthering the development of voice technology.
Why did VoiceTIMES conduct this survey and how was it conducted?
The speech-enabled IBM WorkPad started as an IBM technology research project that resulted in a working demo. It was believed that this enhancement would be attractive to mobile users, giving them the ability to 'voice-command' the normal Palm application functions in addition to, or instead of, using a stylus. The demo also showcased IBM's leadership and expertise in distributing voice recognition technology to smart handheld devices.
IBM conducted focus group market research in January. There appeared to be interest in a 'voice-enabled' PDA. That market research was shared with VoiceTIMES and VoiceTIMES decided to launch an investigation of voice-enabled handheld devices. The most common concerns were pricing and product life cycle. After the focus groups were conducted, quantitative data was necessary to understand the marketplace for this technology advancement.
Selected Survey Results
Three 'Concepts' were discussed:
an 'Add-on' device to a current PDA (i.e., Palm III or Palm V), an 'embedded' version that had the speech technology built-in to the device, a smartphone with onboard PDA-type functions.
The survey was targeted primarily to mobile end users. Responsdents consisted of 45% mobile enthusiasts, 45% general end-users, and 10% speech-enthusiasts from the IBM E-voice web-site.
57% of the respondents were currently using a PDA (1/3 were Palm III/V users), reflecting the targeting of mobile enthusiasts.
Demographics indicated that most current PDA users were 'early adopters', and have a high education level.
The most common intended uses for a voice-activated device were looking up phone numbers and making calendar entries.
Immediate access to information was PVA/PDA enthusiasts' leading desire for voice-activated usage, while 'being able to contact others' was the leading desire for smartphone users.
Most participants agreed that 'hands-free'/'eyes-free' operation was the feature that they found most important. The top four chosen activities were lookups and additions to phone numbers and calendar activities.
Translation and web-surfing were the least useful activities studied.
Pricing:
Initial pricing analysis showed that voice adds considerable value, and that end-users are willing to pay for it. There is a broad range of pricing options that end-users would find acceptable. There was considerable overlap in both product functionality and price acceptability between voice-enabled PDAs and Smartphones.
Most participants would prefer to purchase a speech-enabled handheld device from an OEM was the 1st choice, and from e-stores as 2nd choice.
Final Message
Adding voice to PDAs and Smartphones is the next 'natural' step for enhancing smart handheld devices, and it supports the VoiceTIMES vision to expand Voice Technology.
VoiceTIMES’ objectives
Members will take the lead to establish a cohesive strategy for integrating voice into the mobile enterprise environment. Members will identify the technologies required for mobile enterprise solutions. Members will be the driving force to develop and engineer mobile devices to enterprise computing. Members will offer the most complete products, service and solutions for mobile enterprise applications.
VoiceTIMES membership
Contributor/Promoter Members
IBM (founder)
Dictaphone
e.Digital
Intel
Norcom Electronics
Olympus
Philips
Lanier Worldwide, Inc.*
Adopter Members
NEC Electronics, Inc.*
Wavemakers*
Advanced Recognition Technologies, Inc.*
VXI Corp., Voice It Division*
Interactive Products, Inc.*
DAP Technologies LTEE*
Integrated Data Communications*
ZyDoc.com Corporation*
* indicates new VoiceTIMES members
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September 12, 2000 - e.Digital Corporation today announced the appointment of Robert Jecmen to its Board of Directors. Mr. Jecmen retired from Intel Corporation in August after 24 years of service. Mr. Jecmen was managing Intel's Mobile PC business as Vice President of the Intel Architecture Group when he retired. During his tenure as general manager of Intel's Mobile PC Group, a series of industry leading mobile PC building block products were introduced which tripled the performance of mobile PC's while offering unique power management features. These new capabilities helped stimulate unprecedented growth in the mobile PC industry over the past two years.
"I look forward to helping e.Digital grow as a leader in the rapidly changing portable digital audio industry," stated Mr. Jecmen. "Accessing and enjoying secure audio content off of the Internet is on the verge of explosive growth. e.Digital is well positioned to capitalize on this growth opportunity with its range of leadership digital audio technologies, products and partnerships."
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Intel/IBM automotive market
ORLANDO, Fla., Jan. 25, 2000 - IBM and Intel Corporation announced today they are collaborating on in-car computing products for the automotive industry. The companies said they are working on new in-car computing platforms -- also known as In-Vehicle Information Systems -- that will enable automakers to provide consumers with a variety of wireless and Web-based services such as navigation, communication and information. It is anticipated products based on this collaboration may be offered by automotive OEMs next year.
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Anyway, I believe Intel will be issuing news next week re its mobile computing platform. I couldn't find it right off. Would someone please post. From what I see, it doesn't appear that Intel or IBM will be putting out the actual products themselves but rather they will be providing solutions for OEMs to do so.[major companies] Whether edigital will be specifically mentioned? probably not. But if edigital is smart it could put out its own press release for people to put two and two together.
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11/99 edigital newsletter:
"Our Intel relationship has taken some interesting turns in new technology and new OEM relationships. Our business is built on relationships, and a part of our business is honoring confidentiality of new product plans, launch dates and proprietary information. Due to our Non-Disclosure Agreement with Intel, we are not at liberty to discuss details of these new technologies and relationships at this meeting. During the coming calendar year, we expect to unveil what we have been working on over the last several months."
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suffice it to say as i have many times before that i think this will turn out to be such things as--
1 motorola iRadio
2 delphi/ibm bose PC infotainment in Cadillacs
3 a voice command PDA (PALM, NEC, Sharp Zaurus?)
4 a voice command cellphone
5 xybernaut wearable PC
i am 99% positive about items 1 and 2- this took a lot of coordination and development from a great # of companies- remember that in light of RP's comment: "Regarding the Intel project, he said they worked on it
with several other companies, and that it was a success"
iRadio is due to commence beta testing THIS QUARTER and the Bose infotainment was announced to be included in the current Sevilles but was delayed in December and is now expected in the 2nd half of this year.
EETimes: Digital audio players to add speech recognition features
By Margaret Quan , EE Times
Feb 22, 2001 (1:48 PM)
URL: http://www.eetimes.com/story/OEG20010222S0054
MANHASSET, N.Y. — Speech recognition capability will be the newest whiz-bang feature added to next-generation digital audio players and jukeboxes that store songs on a disk drive, according to consumer electronics OEMs and Sensory Inc., a speech technology provider. Speech recognition will be used to add command and control features that help consumers navigate through the thousands of songs that can be stored on digital audio players equipped with hard-disk drives, suppliers said. A speech engine would recognize a set of prefabricated commands that control the searching, playing and listing of stored songs.
Portable MP3 players that rely on flash memory to store a small number of songs accounted for the lion's share of digital audio player shipments in 2000, but players with hard-disk drives are a growing segment. Several manufacturers, including Hango Electronics of South Korea, have introduced or announced plans for drive-equipped audio players and jukeboxes that store tens of gigabytes worth of music, far more than flash-based players.
Some of these companies are talking with Sensory about plans to add speech recognition to their audio jukeboxes and portables, said Erik Soule, director of marketing for Sensory (Santa Clara, Calif.), which sells speech recognition chips and software for toys and consumer electronics.
Deals with OEMs are "weeks, not months" from release, said Soule, who declined to name companies that have signed contracts for Sensory's technology.
Those contracts could involve Sensory's Voice Activation software, designed to add speaker-dependent or speaker-independent recognition capabilities, speech prompting, and verification to embedded consumer electronics systems. Sensory also offers speech recognition microcontrollers for use in toys and other goods.
Logical step
Speech recognition is "a logical way to navigate through the anywhere from 2,000 to 4,000 songs" stored on a hard-disk, said Fred Falk, president and chief executive of e.Digital Corp. (San Diego), a developer of DSP-based digital audio player reference designs that it licenses to manufacturers.
E.Digital will embed speech recognition into its next-generation hard-disk-based digital audio player reference platform, scheduled for introduction in the third or fourth quarter, Falk said. The company licenses its speech-recognition technology from a company it wouldn't identify.
The reference design will implement non-user-dependent speech recognition, and will allow any user to push a button and say a word in a song, name an artist or album title, prompting a search through the song database and then to list or play the first song it finds.
That capability uses software that's been designed for desktop or laptop computers and ported to a DSP in the portable player design, Falk said.
The e.Digital reference platform includes a digital signal processor from Texas Instruments Inc. (Dallas) and supports several digital audio formats, including MP3, AAC, Microsoft's Windows Media Audio and Q-Design's QDX codec.
The speech-enabled audio player will be e.Digital's second audio platform with disk-based storage. The company completed its first design last year and licensed it to several consumer electronics OEMs, including Hango of South Korea and Eastec of Taiwan.
Request Multimedia Inc. (Troy, N.Y.), which sells a home stereo MP3 jukebox over the Web, has a speech-enabled jukebox player on its product road map, but its introduction may be a year or so away.
"We are considering a number of different [speech technologies]," said Steven Vasquez, Request Multimedia's chief executive. "Some are ready for prime time, and some are not."
In addition to speech recognition features, Request is optimizing navigation for music searches and adding connectivity for certain portables. The AudioReQuest-II MP3 unit, which stores over 10,000 songs on a 30-Gbyte Quantum hard drive, can load music from CDs and PCs, and record from audio cassettes, LPs and radio. The player includes Ethernet, USB, and parallel connectivity ports, and will be available this fall for $1,600, the company said
Subject: ZapMedia Betting On Convergence
From cksla
PostID 14521 On Thursday, September 21, 2000 (EST) at 6:38:32 PM
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September 21, 2000 ZapMedia Betting On Convergence
by Dan Mitchell
Companies currently offering set-top boxes operate in a fragmented market, with each box touting a different set of features. Eventually, nearly all makers of set-tops will simplify choices for consumers by competing head-to-head with the same products and services, tying together all home-entertainment devices and letting consumers digitally store and organize video and audio.
That, at least, is what Atlanta-based ZapMedia is counting on as it prepares to introduce a product it calls the ZapStation. The box, due out this Christmas, is designed as a sort of hub for home entertainment. In addition to connecting to the Internet, it sports a hard drive and DVD/CD player, a remote control and a wireless keyboard. It plays MP3s and streams Internet audio and video. The device is designed to let users record, store, and organize digital movies and music.
It all sounds a bit like a high-end personal computer. But don't tell that to ZapMedia CEO Ken Lipscomb. ''We're looking ahead to a post-PC world,'' he said. Indeed, eschewing the PC is a big part of the company's marketing line. The ZapStation is meant to display video on the television, and send audio to stereo speakers. The aim is to take Internet content off of PCs and put it on appliances people are used to. ''People want to enjoy their media in an environment to which they are accustomed,'' Lipscomb said.
One thing the ZapStation can't do -- yet -- is retrieve and store television programming. That service has been dubbed ''personal video recording,'' a moniker that belies the real functionality of the features offered by the two dominant players in the market -- TiVo and ReplayTV. Personal video recorders act like a VCR, but go much farther. They essentially allow viewers to watch what they want, when they want -- the closest thing yet to video on demand -- by automatically capturing and storing pre-selected shows as they are broadcast.
So far, TiVo and ReplayTV aren't offering features like those offered by the ZapStation. Neither offer Internet connectivity, but ''it's a safe bet that they will soon come up with similar products,'' said Milosz Skrzypczak, an analyst with the Yankee Group.
ZapMedia wants to offer TiVo-type features in the ZapStation ''within the next 12 months,'' Lipscomb said. The timetable seems ambitious, considering a whole new level of technology must be added, not to mention securing necessary partnerships with TV listing services and cable companies. Still, it appears likely that in the near future, set-top makers will all offer mostly similar services, competing only on ease-of-use and the quality of service.
For now, ZapMedia's needs are more modest. The company's partners are those that will help it simply get a product to market. Its biggest investor by far is Gannett, which publishes USA Today and owns dozens of newspapers and TV stations around the country. Gannett in June took an equity stake in ZapMedia worth $270 million. The media giant will give ZapMedia $250 million worth of advertising over the next decade, and about $20 million in cash. ZapMedia will make Gannett its preferred news provider.
Earlier this month, ZapMedia announced it had secured a fresh funding round from Harman International, a maker of consumer electronics, Eastern Asia Technology, and two Atlanta-based venture capital firms. It seems likely that Harman and East Asia will assemble the boxes.
Besides the Gannett money, ZapMedia has raised $28 million in its 17-month history.
Crucial but missing partners are Internet enablers. The company plans eventually to provide its own service a la WebTV. But in the meantime, it needs deals with existing ISPs. Lipscomb said the company is now ''in discussions'' with at least one big ISP.
Most of ZapMedia's other partnerships are with Internet content companies such as Movieflix.com and Max Broadcasting.
The company won't make much money from sales of the ZapStation device itself. The box is priced at $599, but with rebates and other promotions, most consumers will pay a lot less than that. ZapMedia plans to make most of its money by directing users to partner ecommerce sites, through advertising, and by taking a cut of user subscriptions to services offered by content partners.
ZapMedia could also make money licensing its proprietary back end to other vendors. It helps that the software is cross-platform and written in Linux. And unlike, say, WebTV, it supports Java. If the software proves successful, ZapMedia could become a platform used widely by all kinds of set-top makers and consumer electronics manufacturers. Indeed, TiVo, ReplayTV, or even both, could conceivably end up using the so-called ''ZapMediaEngine'' in their own respective boxes.
But for now, that's only one of many possible outcomes. ''What form convergence will take is anyone's guess right now,'' said the Yankee Group's Skrzypczak. About the only thing he's sure of is that ''a device with a lot of features will have an edge over devices that do only one thing.'' And in that, at least, ZapMedia could find its edge.
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remember all the Gannett brief stories re Treo and think about potential linkup between treo and this; as others have noted- eastech connection as well
Intel, SignalSoft and PacketVideo Demonstrate Location Based Movie Trailer Application At Intel Wireless Competence Centre
Live interworking of SignalSoft and PacketVideo Wireless Video Location Technology
BOULDER, Colo.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Feb. 7, 2001-- SignalSoft Corporation (Nasdaq:SGSF - news), the platform and applications developer of Wireless Location Services®, today announced a ground breaking development to its location based services demonstration at Intel's Wireless Competence Centre in Sweden. The demonstration, which will remain running at Intel's centre, shows how applications from SignalSoft's suite of software products integrate with PacketVideo technology within a wireless network to provide multiple location based video services.
By integrating location based services from SignalSoft, wireless video technology and applications powered by PacketVideo, the demonstration allows a user to view movie trailers playing at the nearest cinema to the user's location on a personal digital assistant (PDA) powered by an Intel® SA1110 processor, connected to GSM networks.
This development builds on the existing demonstration of SignalSoft's technology in Stockholm. This demonstration system allows mobile users, who have elected to be located, in Stockholm to be positioned on a map display as they move around, using SignalSoft's local.info(TM) product to access details of the nearest cinema, ATM, florist, post office, hotel or restaurant, including directions with high quality maps. The information is also linked to video clips that can be played by the mobile user on the PDA through PVPlayer(TM), PacketVideo's wireless multimedia delivery system. Using this technology, users may soon be able to check how exciting a bar or nightclub is by accessing a web cam in that place, or tourists walking around the city may get short reportages on sites of interest and compare hotel rooms.
Leif Persson, Director of the Intel Wireless Competence Centre in Kista, Sweden, said, ``This is a demonstration of both advanced technology and applications. One of the reasons that we at Intel established our Wireless Competence Centre was to be involved in the development and hosting of demonstrations such as this. Having a team dedicated to developing wireless applications, based at one of the world's wireless industry centres of excellence, allows us to explore solutions such as SignalSoft's and PacketVideo's that integrate mobile, video and Internet technologies across multi-vendor platforms.''
David Pearce, Director of Marketing, EMEA for SignalSoft Corporation, added, ``This is a great demonstration of the types of services that we'll all take for granted as being available to us in a mobile environment in the near future. It shows that the enabling technology is available today. As organizations build services and applications on this technology, consumers benefit from having access to more and better services when mobile; and network operators benefit from providing more services for their customers to use.''
According to Lauren Cole, Chief Operating Officer of PacketVideo's Applications & Services Division, ``PacketVideo is pleased to be working with Intel and SignalSoft to demonstrate a truly compelling location-based wireless application. The ability for consumers to obtain targeted information based on their location will significantly impact consumer behaviour and demonstrates the types of services we believe will drive the market forward.''
About Intel
Intel, the world's largest chipmaker, is also a leading manufacturer of computer, networking and communications products. Additional information about Intel is available at: www.intel.com/pressroom. (INTC)
About SignalSoft Corp.
Founded in 1995, SignalSoft Corp. (Nasdaq:SGSF - news) is the software developer of Wireless Location Services®, a product suite that enables location-based wireless services for information, billing, safety and tracking. SignalSoft's operating platform and related applications transform raw location data into revenue sources that help differentiate wireless carriers and build customer loyalty. SignalSoft's technology also helps drive m-commerce (mobile commerce) in the wireless marketplace. Some of the largest U.S. operators, including AT&T Wireless, Cingular, Sprint PCS and other wireless operators in Europe and Asia-Pacific, are SignalSoft customers. SignalSoft has also established industry partnerships worldwide with a broad range of location technology, content, Internet and network equipment companies through their local.info(TM) Alliance program. SignalSoft is based in Boulder, CO, and has offices in the United Kingdom, Canada and Singapore. For more information about SignalSoft and its products, please call 303/381-3000 or visit the company's Web site at www.signalsoftcorp.com.
About PacketVideo
PacketVideo is the global leader in wireless media. The company's commercially available, MPEG-4 compliant encoding, distribution and decoding software enables content providers and mobile operators to deliver multimedia to mobile users over any digital wireless network. PacketVideo has received numerous industry honours, including the Red Herring 100 and Wireless Week's Top 20 Firms for 3G.
Founded in 1998, PacketVideo is a global company based in San Diego, California, in the heart of ``Telecom Valley.'' PacketVideo's investors include Credit Suisse First Boston, Intel Capital (Nasdaq:INTC - news), Motorola, Inc. (NYSE:MOT - news), Nexus Group LLC, Philips (NYSE:PHG - news), QUALCOMM Incorporated (Nasdaq:QCOM - news), Reuters Group PLC (Nasdaq:RTRSY - news), members of the Rockefeller family, Siemens Mustang Ventures, Sonera (HEX:SRA)(Nasdaq:SNRA - news), Sony Corporation of America (NYSE:SNE - news), Texas Instruments (NYSE:TXN - news), Time Warner (NYSE:TWX - news), and others. To learn more, visit www.pv.com.
re voice commands
IBM Gets Into Telematics and Satellite Radio ....Jan.09.2001
IBM Press Release:
Motorola integrates IBM software into telematics system
Motorola will license Java technology and voice recognition software from IBM for use in its Telematics iRadio system -- an in-vehicle platform for carmakers that combines entertainment, information, navigation, emergency calling and communication into one system.
Telematics is an automotive communications term that refers to in-vehicle and off-vehicle electronic systems that help drivers maximize safety and security with emergency calling, anti-theft and roadside help, real-time navigation/traffic avoidance, hands-free telephoning, expanded entertainment options and e-mail.
The Motorola iRadio system uses IBM's VisualAge Micro Edition Java technology. A key feature of the Java technology is that it enables new applications and services to be added and enhanced remotely without inconveniencing consumers.
Motorola is also using IBM Embedded ViaVoice Multiplatform Edition for voice recognition and text-to-speech capabilities. IBM's ViaVoice enables drivers to use voice commands -- as an alternative input to faceplate controls -- for accessing information such as weather, news and sports, as well as selecting a favorite radio station or other iRadio system applications.
Commercial availability of the Motorola iRadio system will begin in early 2001. Automotive products incorporating iRadio technology are expected to be available in vehicles within 18 to 24 months.
By: cksla $$$$
Reply To: 608374 by redwing99 $$$$ Wednesday, 7 Feb 2001 at 10:47 AM EST
Post # of 672520
redwing- here are some of my words re the Cadillac Seville; i have also had extensive posts regarding edig/telematics and the motorola iRadio.
By: cksla $$$$
Reply To: 608323 by wolfpackvoltare $$$$ Wednesday, 7 Feb 2001 at 1:23 AM EST
Post # of 608418
wolf---http://ragingbull.lycos.com/mboard/boards.cgi?board=CLB00154&read=18295
http://ragingbull.lycos.com/mboard/boards.cgi?board=CLB00154&read=18302
For 2001 General Motors is offering Bose Infotainment systems in some of its vehicles, notably its higher-end cars and sport utility vehicles. GM's philosophy on this system is, "hands-free and eyes-free to watch the road." The Infotainment systems itself offers cell phone, OnStar (remote, computer-controlled navigation, vehicle diagnosis and roadside assistance system), email, voice mail, Web browsing, vehicle navigation and other computer-based access technology, all for in-car use. The system has voice-recognition capability for personal security and everything is hands-free for maximum safety. Those who have the need for a "mobile office" or who feel they need to be in constant communication will find this system irresistible.
Other manufacturers are offering similar systems to the Bose Infotainment. Some are hands-free and some aren't, and some, like Mercedes-Benz, offer total voice command for everything, including the climate control and audio systems.
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INFOTAINMENT WITH BOSE AUDIO SYSTEM
A significant addition to the 2001 Seville is the Infotainment with Bose audio system. The system integrates complete full-function color map-based navigation with radio, CD-ROM, compact flash memory and audio playback.
The system is voice-controlled, which supports the Cadillac philosophy of "eyes on the road, hands on the wheel." Drivers can interface with the system’s many features, including:
E-mail capability – Have your e-mail downloaded and read to you. The system provides a link to the Internet, allowing downloading of text files. This particular feature will be test-marketed in several areas of the country to gauge customer interest.
Cell phone integration unit – Docks a portable cell phone and allows cell phone control via voice recognition or front panel keypad.
Infrared port – This function allows handheld devices such as personal data assistants to exchange information with the system.
CD/CD-ROM – Plays music CDs, reads CD-ROM databases such as maps and allows software upgrades.
Voice memo recorder – Voice messages may be recorded, stored and played back at a later time.
Voice recognition – Occupants can activate the system through voice command.
Navigation – Drivers can select a destination and have turn-by-turn directions read to them, as well as see a color map of the display.
Importantly, except for displaying station information in radio mode or navigation turn-by-turn information, the screen menus for e-mail and browser capability are disabled unless the vehicle is stopped – a built-in safety feature to help minimize the time drivers’ eyes are off the road and hands off the wheel.
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http://ragingbull.lycos.com/mboard/boards.cgi?board=CLB00154&read=18298
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and last is the reason we heard no intel/edig pr in late 2000 like FF/RP thought- Cadillac after originally planning to have the infotainment in the initial run of the 2001 Cadillac Seville has delayed it; i spoke to a cadillac dealership today and asked when; the salesman did not know but said usually would be added to a later run which probably will be may/june; he was going to see if he could find out more specific info.
http://ragingbull.lycos.com/mboard/boards.cgi?board=CLB00154&read=18321
By: BusyBump $$$$
Reply To: None Saturday, 5 May 2001 at 10:55 AM EDT
Post # of 672511
A Brief Talk w/Robert.
I'm sorry I haven't been able to contribute anything to the board for a long
time. I am still dealing with a major medical problem with my wife and caring
for our 6 children.
I asked Robert just one question. (Excuse me if this is all old information
as I am atleast a month behind.)
I asked: "What is the main reason for the recent runup in the share price?"
His answer: " The Bloomberg article out of Taipei about Intel ordering $61
mil worth of music players demonstrated that things are percolating in this
industry. It showed that the major companies are interested in this field and
are scrambling to be a part of it. The PC manufacturers and those in related
areas realize that the old days of selling PCs are over. They are looking for
alternate sources of revenue and they see it in the handheld and wireless
devices. Edig is intensely involved with many product platforms and people
are aware of it."
I commented, "Well. it seems pretty obvious....the
connection....Intel/Eastech/music player/ Edig!"
He answered, "You know I can't comment on that at this time."
I acknowledged that, after which he continued, " The term "MP3 player" has
become a generic term for any and every music player as far as the general
public and the media are concerned. The use of that term in the Bloomberg
article doesn't mean that Intel is ordering $61 mil of purely MP3-type
players. There may be some of those in the order but that term doesn't
accurately indicate what the order consists of. We will have to wait more
information."
I think the implication was clear enough....the connection is all too obvious
and the share price reacted accordingly.
I would look for some announcements soon that will clarify the situation.
Hopefully, those announcements will involve Edig.
all the best to all of you.
http://ragingbull.lycos.com/mboard/boards.cgi?board=CLB00154&read=18299
http://ragingbull.lycos.com/mboard/boards.cgi?board=CLB00154&read=18300
http://ragingbull.lycos.com/mboard/boards.cgi?board=CLB00154&read=18301
http://ragingbull.lycos.com/mboard/boards.cgi?board=CLB00154&read=18302
http://ragingbull.lycos.com/mboard/boards.cgi?board=CLB00154&read=18303
Communiport Infotainment System Will Help Direct 2001 Cadillacs
TROY, Mich. -- April 6 -- Delphi Automotive Systems will help 2001 Cadillac owners "think outside the box" with a new Infotainment PC radio system offering, company officials announced today.
Delphi's Communiport(R) brand communication system, to be offered as an option on the Cadillac 2001 Seville and DeVille models, will allow the vehicle's occupants to travel outside the ordinary by bringing a wide range of new information, connectivity and navigation services into the vehicle.
"We are delighted to provide the Communiport system for the new Cadillac Seville and DeVille," said Jeffrey J. Owens, general director of engineering for Delphi Delco Electronics Systems. "The Infotainment system brings a new flow of information age technologies into vehicles to form a confluence of added features and benefits for consumers."
Continuing to set industry standards in utilizing innovation to distinguish its vehicles from other luxury cars, Cadillac selected the Communiport Infotainment PC radio that offers a full map turn-by-turn navigation system, e-mail, Internet access, voice memo and integrated hands-free telephone and address book. Infotainment PC is powered by the Microsoft Windows CE(R) operating system.
"The influence of new information and services in vehicles is driving a new wave of revolutionary technologies that is reinventing consumer's experience in commuting in motor vehicles," Owens said. "The interest in these products by manufacturers is very high."
The Communiport system is commanded by voice recognition and features text-to-speech technologies to read messages or e-mails. In addition, the system includes an Infrared Data Adapter (IrDA) port to exchange information with hand-held devices like personal digital assistants. The system includes a compact flash slot to expand memory and hot keys to instantly access frequently used features.
Delphi can be found on the Internet at http://www.delphiauto.com .
=========================================================LUXURY COMPUTING? CADILLAC TO OFFER CAR PC
Cadillac put convergence on wheels last week, with the announcement that it will offer a PC option on its 2001 model year Seville and DeVille cars. Cadillac dubs the Bose manufactured device an "infotainment radio." The computer's functionality will be integrated with beefed-up OnStar services.
The infotainment radio will provide consumers with several potentially useful features, including email, cell phone docking and system integration, an infrared port for data exchange with wireless devices, voice memo recorder and navigational assistance. Most notably, the system will be voice controlled. According to a company statement, the radio even "allows cell phone control via voice recognition or [the] front panel key-pad."
The OnStar service, which was made standard in every 2000 Cadillac, will be spruced up with a new feature called Virtual Adviser. It'll integrate with the Bose radio and offer users Internet data including stock quotes, news headlines, sports scores and email, all hands-free.
Pricing details haven't been released yet, and according to a Cadillac spokesperson, aren't likely to be until this summer. The company will be demoing the system in New Yorknextweek, so we'll keep you posted as technical details become clearer.
-- Nathaniel Wilkins
http://www.etown.com/news/article.jhtml?articleID=2390#caddypc
here is the real reason why FF/RP have had to bite their tongues regarding edig's completed work with Intel--
Automakers struggle with speech recognition technology
By Charles J. Murray, EE Times
Dec 1, 2000 (1:26 PM)
URL: http://www.edtneurope.com/story/OEG20001201S0109
PARK RIDGE, Ill. — The in-car PC boom that was supposed to be in full swing by now hasn't happened, and it may be delayed another 12 to 18 months as automakers and vendors run up against hurdles in implementing speech recognition systems. The holdup is a disappointment for manufacturers that have invested millions in the development and promotion of in-car PCs. But because speech recognition systems are critical to addressing potential driver distraction issues, carmakers want them to be as close to perfect as possible. And they're not there yet, say industry observers.
Voice-recognition systems, such as Clarity's, are key to enabling next-gen auto electronics. "When we sign nondisclosure agreements and talk to automotive vendors, they all acknowledge that there are problems with speech recognition in vehicles," said Fred Nussbaum, vice president of business development for Clarity LLC (Troy, Mich.), a maker of software-based speech-capture systems. "They're not going to talk about it publicly, because there are a lot of legal ramifications, but the problems are there."
Software makers and industry analysts say those problems are a key reason why Cadillac has delayed the introduction of its Infotainment system from fall of this year until late 2001, and why Visteon Corp. (Dearborn, Mich.) has yet to put its ICES (information, communication, safety and security) technology into a production vehicle.
Industry analysts also blame the lack of a good speech system for the dismal performance of Clarion's AutoPC. Clarion had expected to be selling the system at a rate of thousands per month by 2000 but has sold just 3,500 units in two-and-a-half years.
"Speech recognition is definitely a hurdle," said Thilo Koslowski, a senior analyst for the Gartner Group's e-business automotive service. "Manufacturers have to be very careful about deploying systems that are not 100 percent reliable because they could face lawsuits from consumers."
Eyes on the road
The race to create more effective speech systems is seen as critical for automakers. Several of them, most notably Ford and General Motors, have espoused an "eyes-on-the-road, hands-on-the-wheel" philosophy as they work to incorporate new electronic capabilities into automobiles. That philosophy is seen as especially important now, in light of the recent passage of state laws restricting drivers' use of cell phones while under way.
But automakers say they can't bring eyes-on-the-road, hands-on-the-wheel techniques to vehicles unless they have good speech recognition systems. That's why General Motors has forged partnerships with General Magic Inc. (Sunnyvale, Calif.) and Nuance Communications (Menlo Park, Calif.) to work on voice recognition systems. It's also why Ford Motor Co. has allied itself with speech recognition developer Lernout & Hauspie (Leper, Belgium), which filed for Chapter 11 protection this past week following management missteps.
'Technical issues,' GM says, have delayed the rollout of Cadillac's Infotainment system for at least a year. Automakers say they plan to continue to work on speech recognition systems, but they deny that there are problems. "The technology is where we expected it to be," said Ed Chrumka, advanced technology manager for OnStar.
Indeed, OnStar representatives point out that the company's Virtual Advisor, an off-board speech-based service that provides e-mail, news and stock quotes, is coming out as scheduled at the end of this year. Delivery of the system has already begun in the Northeast, and industry analysts said they are impressed by it. "In the testing that we've done, it performed at a very high level," said Dawn McGreevey, an automotive analyst for Gomez (Lincoln, Mass.), an Internet system quality-measurement firm.
But in-car PCs, which use on-board electronics, have not fared as well. Cadillac's much-ballyhooed Infotainment system, which was now supposed to be available on the Cadillac Deville, is at least a year behind schedule. A General Motors spokesman declined to comment on reasons for the delay, except to say that there are "technical issues."
Similarly, a Visteon spokeswoman said that its ICES system is in development programs with several OEMs but would not say when it will reach production. At the 1998 Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE) conference in Detroit, however, Visteon and Ford predicted that the first units would be in vehicles by 2000.
Automotive engineers and software makers do acknowledge that equipping car systems for speech recognition has proved a more formidable task than had been expected.
"There's an overriding perception that speech recognition has no moving parts and is easier to implement than it really is," said Ron Risdon, vice president of business development for Conversational Computing Co., which makes the Conversay speech technology product. "Over-optimism is very prevalent."
Wall of sound
The crux of the problem is that vehicles, unlike desktop PCs, are subjected to a wide variety of noises that can confuse software-based speech recognizers. Compounding the problem is that in-car speech recognition is often done by remote servers over cellular links. "Working with speech recognition over a cellular link is like doing magic," said a senior engineer who works for a major automaker. "You have to worry about more than just the noise generated by the vehicle. There are about 20 different sources of noise." The road, wind, defroster, fan, radio, windshield wipers and backseat occupants are just a few.
If speech recognition is done over a cellular link, the system also must deal with such issues as line echo, electrical interference and poor signal strength.
Automotive engineers say that the problems aren't insurmountable. "It's not a matter of whether the technology is mature," said Chrumka of OnStar. "It's more an issue of the application of the technology in variable environments."
Software makers say that the problems are magnified at higher vehicle speeds. Most voice recognition systems currently claim accuracies of 90 to 95 percent, but some say that such claims are averages, which hold true at 30 mph but not at higher speeds. At 70 mph, for example, some engineers say that the accuracy figure dips to about 70 percent. If occupants crack open a window, turn on the radio or blast the air conditioner, the accuracy figures drop even more.
"Even if you have 90 percent accuracy, one out of every 10 phone digits that you dictate are going to be wrong," said Jim Wargnier, vice president of engineering at Clarity and a former engineer for OnStar and for Delphi Automotive. "At 70 percent it's going to be extremely frustrating for customers, even if they have a great user interface."
Some engineers disagree with the 70 percent accuracy figure, even for high-speed applications. It's greatly exaggerated, they say, and automotive engineers have found ways to deal with high speeds. "As cars go faster, wind noise rises, but any good speech recognizer changes itself to accommodate that," said Scott Pyles, director of product management for Lernout & Hauspie's automotive products.
Some engineers also say unexpected noises are of greater concern than high speed. "The issue isn't steady-state noise," said Chrumka. "The big things that affect voice recognition are the variables — kids in the back seat, windows opening and closing, pops and cracks in the cabin."
Automakers are concerned about even the subtlest lack of accuracy because it could place greater "cognitive load" on the driver, who theoretically should be free to concentrate on traffic and driving conditions. "It should only take you so long to dial a cell phone, tune the radio or turn on the air conditioner," Wargnier said. "There are a lot of legal ramifications for those companies if there are problems or if they place too much cognitive load on the driver."
Stories of drivers' struggling with voice recognition systems are already commonplace, even though the technology has been available for only a short time. Such stories are a concern among industry analysts as well as automakers.
"If you want to change the radio station but you have to repeat the command 10 times in order to make it happen, that's a big problem," said Gartner's Koslowski. "Even though the system is voice-controlled, you still end up concentrating too much on changing the radio station, and that affects your driving."
Some believe the dilemmas facing automotive speech recognition may be a result of hardware rather than software. "It may be a particular problem having to do with the processing power inside the car, as opposed to the speech technology," said Bill Meisel, president of TMA Associates, a speech industry marketing and consulting firm. If that's the case, Meisel said, the problem would be more focused on in-car PCs, such as the Infotainment system or ICES.
"Server-based systems processing voice over wireless connections would be less prone to problems, because they can have as much memory and as much speed as they need," Meisel said. Such systems as OnStar's Virtual Advisor use off-board, server-based processing.
Loud and clear
Kurt Sievers, automotive marketing manager for Philips Semiconductors, said his company has had success running voice recognition on its Hello IC in moving vehicles. "The usage scenario is difficult, but it has been done," he said.
The company has demonstrated recognition over a 300-word vocabulary for command and control apps that can, for example, use voice to turn the volume on a radio up or down. "We've had it on a test track at 120 kilometers an hour with the window open, and it still recognizes the driver's voice," Sievers said.
There are strategies to deal with voice recognition in a car with multiple passengers, said said Corado Giorgetti, director of business development at ALST, an Israeli joint venture between Altec-Lansing and STMicroelectronics that was created to develop speech DSP technology. For example, audio systems can be set up to "listen" preferentially to the person behind the steering wheel and treat other voices as "noise" to be canceled, he said. But it is not yet clear how successful such strategies are.
Separately, ST has developed a specialized 24-bit DSP-based chip called Euterpe that can perform the functions of voice recognition, text-to-speech rendition, noise and echo cancellation, and biometric verification on audio data streams. At present, the ST system is good for command and control, according to Paolo Gonella-Pacchiotti, car multimedia business unit director at the company. "We are moving toward continuous speech recognition," he said.
Some software makers, such as Clarity and Conversay, believe the solution lies in the use of specialized software and better microphones. Clarity, for example, offers a technology known as Clear Voice Capture, which extracts the voice signal of interest. The company says the technology provides an improvement over noise suppression systems, which have difficulty with signals that have components overlapping with voice signals.
Similarly, Conversay offers filtration techniques that separate speech signals from noise signals and narrowly focus on the speaker. The system employs two microphones — one on the passenger side and another on the driver side — and is focused more on distributed speech, for which processing power is split between the client and server.
Engineers are also reportedly looking at microphone technology as a way to boost accuracy. But the best, the so-called "array" microphones, cost between $100 and $180, and that's beyond the acceptable limit for automotive applications.
Many in the industry are unconvinced by automakers' claims. "The reality is that today's systems are still failing in a lot of different modes," said Nussbaum of Clarity. "But the technology will get better before it reaches the market. Right now, we just don't know when that will be."
BOSE as in the bose audio in the ibm/delphi infotainment system--Imaj
The IBM Infotainment system consists of 3 * 12" LCD screens built into the seats of the vehicle in front of the 3 passengers. This gives the passenger access to : radio, audio player, video player (multiple videos with 3 seat cinema mode), fax, phone, e-mail, calculator, satellite mapping, local information, word processing, Web browser, calendar and is controlled by mouse or speech using a specially written version of IBM ViaVoice. The video is based on Mpeg II (DVD equivalent) and passes true 6 channel AC3 digital surround sound audio to the 15 speaker BOSE audio system
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
intel and telematics from Oct.'96-
any of this sound familiar????
Car-Based Infotainment The first developer's conference for the initiative will take place in the first half of 1997, and Intel says its partners will have car PC products by the end of next year. According to Intel officials, DVD (Digital Versatile Disc) technology will be the core of new car-based infotainment centers aimed at passengers. The company is also focusing on speech recognition apps that would allow drivers and passengers to interact with apps without the need of a keyboard. And according to Intel's white paper on the Connected Car PC initiative, a marriage of "the Internet with existing radio data broadcast technology can mean that information and entertainment content can be downloaded in small packets of text-based data, then converted to voice."
http://www.core.binghamton.edu/~crsovr/webdoc16.htm
========================================================
Cadillac's Infotainment system:
a first for production cars
When Cadillac unveiled its Infotainment system a few weeks ago, it became the first automaker to incorporate a PC in a production vehicle.
For Cadillac, the distinction didn't come easily, however. Starting in September, 1998, GM gave its engineers significantly less time to develop the system for production than to the three or four months that it would normally take. That meant that the giant automaker couldn't simply design the system from the ground up, as it ordinarily would. Instead, its engineers had to work closely with Delphi Automotive Systems, which developed much of the hardware, and Microsoft, which supplied the Windows CE operating system. It also teamed with makers of application software, hardware drivers, and interface software, so its engineers wouldn't waste time learning what others already knew.
The resulting system is indeed a PC, but it's one that doesn't incorporate the normal PC input devices, such as a mouse or keyboard. Instead, it employs a simple voice-activated interface. By talking directly to the in-dash voice—GM engineers refer to it as "Veronica"—drivers can use simple commands to activate the phone, radio, e-mail, navigation system, or other features. Drivers who forget the correct commands simply ask, "What can I do?" and Veronica offers advice.
Engineers from e-GM, the GM division responsible for web-related products, say that the interface will be the key to the system's success. "We had to rethink how we made interfaces and then we had to simplify everything," says Karenann Terrell, director of e-vehicle product management for e-GM. "It wasn't so much an exercise in engineering as it was in behavioral sciences."
Design News 10/02/2000
Excuse me, are you talking to me or your PDA?"
Pervasive computing is quickly moving from the world of science fiction into our homes and businesses. Computers seem to be embedded just about everywhere we look. This trend will continue and pick up steam as devices get smaller and the interface to these devices fades into the background. Speech is the interface that is jump-starting this effort, since it is the ultimate in ease-of-use, and eliminates the keyboard and other bulky hardware devices.
This leading-edge technology has been integrated into a PDA or IBM WorkPad device -- called a Personal Voice Assistant (PVA). Speak-to-Me, a new PDA development specialist is currently working on enhancing the feature set of PDA's, as we know them today by implementing IBM’s Via Voice technology along with other enhancements and applications for the PDA market for 2001.
Embedded ViaVoice supports a variety of real-time operating systems and microprocessors, making the development of robust mobile speech solutions easy and practical.
Thanks to the exponential growth in computer processing power, coupled with advanced speech recognition technology, it has become feasible to develop Palm-size devices that can handle voice-to-text transcription and that can understand questions or commands.
IBM has developed a hardware jacket that fits Palm devices by using the devices serial port. The jacket itself has a 133 MHz processor and extra flash memory for speech processing. The sleeve also has a microphone and a speaker and uses IBM's Via Voice speech recognition technology. Using its translation application, you can speak an English phrase into the device's microphone and a synthesized voice reads it back in your choice of five languages. Using voice commands, you can also navigate any WorkPad/Palm application and have text read back to you. The unit also stores 30 minutes of recorded audio files in 4MB of flash memory, making memo's a breeze. Then when you sync the unit with your desktop PC, IBM's ViaVoice engine on your desktop automatically transcribes the audio clip and uploads the transcript to the handheld. Soon speech-to-text dictation will be available on the device itself. Speak-to-Me will bring these palm products to market in the near future.
http://www.quiettouch.com/contents/speaktome/speaktome.htm
a 2nd reminder-IBM demonstrates voice recognition on Palm PDAs
By Ephraim Schwartz
PALM DESERT, CALIF. -- As mobility moves the market for processing cycles off the desktop and into the palm, IBM on Tuesday took a major step in offering a useable interface for devices with limited keyboards. The company announced an embedded version of its ViaVoice speech engine for handhelds and other nontraditional form factors.
At the Mobile Insights 2000 conference here, Big Blue demonstrated its speech recognition and text-to-speech technology on a Palm III personal digital assistant. The Personal Speech Assistant (PSA) prototype shown on stage was attached to the back of a Palm III, similar to other Palm III add-ons. Inside the PSA unit was the Embedded ViaVoice software, optimized for both the Palm OS and an NEC embedded processor.
In the demonstration, billed as only a technology demo, IBM official David Barnes made numerous voice-command and control calls to the unit which responded by verifying appointments, taking short messages, and translating selected words into Spanish and Japanese.
Barnes reiterated that IBM is not interested in making the hardware but that its speech division will license the embedded speech SDK (software development kit) to developers working on almost any platform.
The SDK includes recognition for 500 words, enough for most command and control functions, as well as unlimited text-to-speech capability for reading emails.
As part of the unit, flash memory was used to store longer voice episodes, which according to Barnes could then be hot-synced via the Palm cradle to a desktop that included a full version of ViaVoice. The desktop version would convert the voice WAV files to text and automatically send it back to the Palm.
The Embedded ViaVoice for Multiplatforms SDK, now in beta, will ship by the end of the second quarter, according to Patricia McHugh, director of New Business Development for IBM Voice Systems, in West Palm Beach, Fla.
IBM would not say with which OEMs the company is working to create products, but the company was willing to say that a number of PDA as well as car manufacturers were interested.
At the end of the demonstration, the audience was invited to a tent behind the auditorium where a car was equipped with the in-car prototype of the embedded SDK.
IBM Voice Systems division, in West Palm Beach, Fla., is at www.software.ibm.com/speech.
InfoWorld Editor at Large Ephraim Schwartz is based in San Francisco.
a reminder-Palm Speech Recognition A Step Closer
07 July 2000 08:00 EST
We have brought you numerous stories in the past of IBM and Lernout & Hauspie, trying to bring speech recognition to the Handheld. PC World has posted photos of two mysterious prototypes.
IBM has developed a hardware jacket that fits Palm devices by using a serial port. IBM showed the prototype jacket that works in tandem with its own line of WorkPad handheld computers. The jacket itself has a 133-MHz processor and extra flash memory for speech processing. The sleeve also has a microphone and a speaker and uses IBM's ViaVoice speech recognition technology.
Using its translation application, you speak an English phrase into the device's microphone and a synthesized voice reads it back in your choice of five languages. Using voice commands, you can also navigate any WorkPad application and have text read back to you.
The prototype stores 30 minutes of audio files in 4MB of flash memory. Then when you sync the handheld with your desktop PC, IBM's ViaVoice engine on your desktop automatically transcribes the audio clip and uploads the transcript to the handheld. However, IBM representatives say a beefier model could be built that would handle speech-to-text dictation on the device itself.
L&H is building an all-in-one device with an Intel 206-MHz StrongARM processor, 64MB of flash RAM, and a stylus that doubles as a microphone. It says the PDA can recognize 25,000 words, letting you dictate e-mails and navigate and update your personal information manager's calendar with voice commands.
http://www.palmlounge.com/displaynews.cfm?newsid=6887
Fred Falk-edig SHM-11/00 re voice technology:
One of our central efforts has been and continues to be product development for the speech technology market.
Our work on an advanced speech-to-text and text-to-speech reference design for Intel has been completed. The implementation and/or marketing, as well as the release of
information about the details of the design is at their discretion. We continue to work with Intel to further increase their market for flash memory. With the assistance of our board members, we have targeted specific initiatives and projects within Intel to develop other revenue-generating opportunities in emerging areas that utilize flash memory or other Intel technology. We believe we can be successful in these areas. We have strengthened our staff and continue working with OEM customers to target
opportunities in the world of digital dictation and other speech technology products. This includes developing products that unite speech-to-text functions and voice recognition features with the convenience of handheld platforms. Our core MicroOS-enabled architecture supports these applications and many others that take advantage of the growing demand for sophisticated handheld speech technology products. As the speech-to-text and text-to-speech market matures and reaches levels where OEMs are ready to use it in consumer products, we believe there will be increased demand for our design and development services.
The voice recognition software market is expected to grow to 12 billion dollars over the next five years, according to a recent article in "Red Herring" magazine. Among other
applications, voice recognition software will be incorporated into handheld products that perform all kinds of functions… from voice-activated inventory and delivery tracking to surfing the wireless Internet and placing orders via voice on web-enabled wireless phones. According to a recent study by ResearchPortal.com, over 56 million North Americans are expected to be using their cell phones in this way by 2005.
We are already working with OEMs to create and market a variety of products geared toward portable voice technology customers, and we expect a continuing revenue stream from current and future products serving the dictation and speech technology markets.
REPOST: IBM'S SLED- WHO LET THE HUSKIES OUT!!
IBM Guides Partners Into a Mobile Future
IBM's voice recognition, custom wireless shopping, and data conversion tools will power partners' end products.
Tom Spring, PCWorld.com
Tuesday, February 27, 2001
ATLANTA -- You may use some of IBM's most interesting technology without realizing where it comes from. Voice recognition, wireless communications, and some invisible middleware that connects disparate applications are likely to appear in products marketed in the coming months by IBM partners, who are checking out the selection here at the annual IBM PartnerWorld 2001 confab.
IBM may seem like a monolith, but it's humbly willing to let its partners promote its software, services, and hardware under their own names. After all, IBM allies were responsible for a third of its $88 billion in revenues last year, according to Lou Gerstner, IBM chair and chief executive officer.
Talk to Your PDA
Some of the most interesting offerings come from the mobile and wireless fronts, such as a conversion tool made by IBM's WebSphere division. This trans-coding service can turn Web pages on the fly into a format readable by a Palm handheld, a pager, or a mobile phone with a microbrowser. A similar service lets you make a spoken request for information, such as a stock quote or driving directions, using a mobile phone; a wireless service returns a text reply to the device of your choice.
An embedded version of IBM's voice recognition software ViaVoice is being steered toward mobile devices. IBM is suggesting that embedded ViaVoice be used to voice-enable personal digital assistants. You need only bark orders at your Palm or your mobile phone to get access to PDA staples like an address book, a calendar, or a date book. The version on display here recognizes 500 words and works in unison with a "sled" that snaps on to the back of a Palm III.
Another service, aimed at helping you keep your eyes on the road when driving, is the IBM Voice Dialer System. IBM uses this technology in-house today. Employees call a toll-free phone number and simply say the name of an IBM colleague, and the dialer system connects the call.
Modified E-Shopping Tested
Already in use in the United Kingdom is an IBM system sure to be a hit with the coupon-clipping crowd. IBM and the Safeway grocery store's British operations are field-testing a new shopping technology that lets shoppers order groceries from the comfort of their homes.
Using a loyalty card to profile shopping habits, Safeway compiles a list of groceries that shoppers are likely to want. It delivers that list wirelessly to a Palm device. The same Palm is also equipped with a barcode scanner for scanning and identifying items that have a universal product code.
Next, consumers page through the list, checking what they want. Then they upload the list to the Safeway computer system, with a credit card number for payment. When shoppers visit the store, they're met with the groceries bagged and ready to take home.
IBM Offers Partners a Share
Although most of the consumer products that use such emerging technologies will bear a name other than IBM, Big Blue is working at the back end as well, tying the technologies to a host of IBM infrastructure servers and software. It sees the proliferation of wireless and handheld devices as a huge new market, as desktop computer sales flatten. IBM's focus on middleware, as well as "integration and infrastructure," feeds both itself and its partners.
And IBM is putting its money where its vision is. Gerstner told partners here that IBM will invest $4 billion in helping its business partners, most importantly service providers, to build that infrastructure and its resources.
Wireless Industry Explosion
The next revolution in the information-based economy is the development and deployment of new wireless products that communicate with the Internet-giving users updated, personally-selected information-and communicate with each other-creating constantly shifting personal area networks. We continue to upgrade and modify MicroOS so that the technologies we have developed will work in a wireless environment with standard and emerging communications protocols such as Bluetooth, WAP (Wireless Access Protocol), CDMA2000 (Code Division Multiple Access), TDMA (Time Division Multiple Access), GSM (Global Standard for Mobile Communications), iDEN (Integrated Digital Enhanced Network), HSCSD (High-Speed Circuit-Switched Data), and the 3G ("Third Generation") wireless platform. International Data Corporation, a market research firm, estimates that nearly 62 million people will use wireless devices to access the Internet by 2003-an increase of about 728 percent over current levels
6/27/00 edig newsletter
Motorola, PacketVideo Plan Streaming Wireless Apps
Mike Mayor
January 08, 2001
Schaumburg, Illinois-based Motorola said its partnership with PacketVideo will deliver streaming media capabilities that will be supported in Motorola's iDEN phones.
A new agreement between Motorola, Inc. (NYSE: MOT) and PacketVideo Corporation aims to bring full-motion video and audio content to mobile devices, including Internet-enabled wireless phones, smartphones, handheld devices, wireless personal digital assistants (PDAs) and laptop computers. The partnership was announced at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, Nevada.
The agreement calls for the companies to combine technologies that will help developers design streaming media applications, including news clips, sports highlights, movie trailers and video e-mail for Java-enabled wireless devices.
Please note that this material is copyright protected. Therefore, it is illegal to display or reproduce this article for any commercial purpose, including use as marketing or public relations literature. To obtain legal reprints of this article, please call a sales representative at +1 (818) 528-1100 or visit www.newsfactor.com/reprints.shtml.
Planning for iDEN
Plans call for Motorola and PacketVideo to deliver these capabilities based on the Java 2 Platform, Micro Edition (J2ME), which will be supported in a future release of Motorola's multiple communications handset for iDEN networks, the companies said.
Motorola said its iDEN phones, expected to be available this spring, will combine the capabilities of a Web-ready digital wireless phone, a text pager and a two-way radio.
Designed for Wireless OSes
San Diego, California-based PacketVideo develops encoding, distribution and decoding software that allows content providers and mobile carriers to deliver media capabilities to mobile users over most digital wireless networks.
PacketVideo's products include an end-to-end platform for streaming wireless media known as "PVPlatform." The PVPlatform's components, including PVAuthor, a streaming media encoding platform, and PVServer, a scalable streaming video technology that operates on Solaris and Linux platforms, are designed for flexibility, so designers can embed them into most wireless operating systems.
Streamlining Strategies
According to Warren Holtsberg, corporate vice president of Motorola Ventures, the venture capital arm of Motorola, the agreement with PacketVideo fits in well with the company's strategy of developing new functions for its line of wireless devices.
"Motorola's collaboration with PacketVideo represents our focus on next-generation wireless applications that will enrich the experience of the user," Holtsberg said.
As part of the agreement, Motorola Ventures announced it will make a multimillion-dollar equity investment in privately held PacketVideo
REPOST PART THREE--The magician's underwear has just been found in a cardboard suitcase floating in a stagnant pond on the outskirts of miami.
Son, I saw what you and Jennifer were doing in the back of the Suburban. I definitely think it is time that you and I had THE TALK. Yes, I have lots to tell you about the subject of telematics.
Telematics Overview
"Telematics" in its broad sense is the combining of computers and telecommunications, rather than the more recent connotation of "automotive telematics." For our purposes, I will examine the more limited connotation, that is the use of wireless communications to extend voice, data and Internet services into vehicles.
Telematics refers to the consumer products, services and supporting systems that deliver information, communications and entertainment to in-vehicle and mobile devices. The nuts and bolts of telematics are straightforward. Integrate one of the current location-based technologies (satellite- or network-based){GPS} with a wireless communications system. Combine these technologies with a call-center response operation that can match latitude-longitude readings with various informational databases (i.e. emergency response agencies, roadside assistance providers, hotels, restaurants, etc.).
Such technology offers many safety-enhancing solutions. Safety is the one thing that must be designed into all Telematics products. Any product intended for use by drivers while the vehicle is moving should not require drivers to take their eyes off the road, or provide additional distractions beyond those already present in the vehicle. For this reason, speech recognition is very important.
Telematic Applications
Telematics first began as an embedded, in-vehicle electronic systems used for improving safety. Telematic devices would provide, among other applications, navigation information, linkups to service companies for roadside assistance, protection against theft, and wireless Internet connections for accessing email. Some of the first uses of telematics included:
1]Automatic emergency call and response upon airbag deployment.
2]Driving directions, based on a driver's current location.
3]Roadside assistance that pinpoints the disabled vehicle.
4]Remote control of vehicle's electrical functions.
Lock or unlock doors.
5]Stolen vehicle tracking.
6]Readily available customer assistance.
These were the first telematics applications which began appearing a few years ago in some models. The Lincoln Rescu was the first automotive telematics system developed in 1995 in partnership with Ford Motor Company, Motorola, and ATX Technolgies. In addition to the Lincoln Rescu, other auto manufacturers developed similar systems such as the BMW Mayday, Mercedes Benz TeleAid, General Motors OnStar, the Jaguar Assist, and the Infiniti Communicator. However, the common denominator was that each of them was essentially the same system designed by Motorola.
"The operating system is going to be transparent, you're going to buy your car based on the applications," said Tom Houy, manager for client systems marketing at IBM's [IBM] Voice Systems division. Automotive makers, whether Cadillac [GM] or Hyundai, are most concerned with safety, security and potential applications that will diagnose car problems, Houy said. For that reason, IBM is developing a telematics voice system that will allow users to retrieve data using vocal commands while they concentrate on driving.
"Voice is probably going to be the most chosen way to enter data and get information out of the system," Houy said. "To look at information, you have to get away from driving. That's why voice will be critical." IBM's voice-integration system, which is still under development, will combine location-based and personalized applications, such as access to weather forecasts and stock quotes and to e-mail capability, with car maintenance information and emergency roadside service.
Many consumers spend hours each week stuck in traffic, telematics will become more important over the next few years. Especially since work and home are slowly integrating, thanks to technology. Playing on the inevitable human thrust toward that integration, Intel [INTC] and Motorola [MOT] are fine-tuning their telematics products to cater to that reality. "The car up to this point has really been an island," said Brian Gratch, Motorola's director of marketing for in-vehicle communications. "Telematics is really emerging at its core as a security and safety issue, and it's really evolving to information and entertainment feature."
Motorola's Role in Telematics
Telematics is more than combining wireless communications and GPS location technology. It requires the skill to integrate automotive equipment standards, server support, a wide variety of content, live customer support and more -- and deliver them in a way that's relevant to drivers.
The global automobile manufacturers needed a large reliable company with experience in communications, electronics and computing. Motorola had such experience and has taken a leadership position in Telematics, capitalizing on expertise across key platforms: automotive electronics, wireless communications, computing and networking.
As a result, Motorola has provided automotive solutions to most of the world's leading auto manufacturers. Motorola is one of few companies with access to the proprietary vehicle data bus within many auto manufacturers' carlines, making it the fitting choice for developing on-board computing solutions across all makes and models. In recent years, combining its automotive insights with cellular technology and global positioning systems has allowed Motorola to develop Telematics systems for today’s cars. At the same time, Motorola has formed alliances with a broad array of technology and content providers to continue to develop further telematics applications and solutions for the networked car of the future.
Such future Telematics applications include:
Synchronizes with Personal Digital Assistant (PDA) devices to allow out-of-office information downloads.
Enhanced service center and network supports "car meetings" and other tasks.
Incorporation of real-time traffic information to enhance navigation effectiveness.
Remote vehicle diagnostics.
Development of "Personal Area Network," allowing seamless integration of car with other communication and computing platforms.
Automatic handoff between hands-free car phone and portable handset.
Wireless updates of all calendars, contact lists, etc.
Synchronization with local merchants and service providers for information "push" and e-commerce.
Secure access to private data networks, including office e-mail systems.
Customized information and entertainment on demand.
News, financials, weather and sports.
Audio books.
Music and games.
Voice-activated Web searches and information retrieval, plus e-commerce capabilities.
Over-the-air reprogramming of on-board computer.
You can find a few future telematics scenarios at this Motorola webpage:
http://www.motorola.com/ies/telematics/html/indextf.html
Motorola- beyond Safety Telematics
The question is will Motorola land contracts beyond the safety telematics and, if so, what connection does it have with e.digital? Clearly, Motorola will have significant impact on future telematics as well. Three prime examples are Motorola's work with GM's Onstar, MBZ, and Jaguar:
Motorola and Jaguar Combine the Art of Performance With the Joy of Convenience--http://www.motorola.com/ies/telematics/html/indexfq.html
Motorola, OnStar In-Car Devices To Be Widely Available In 2001 GM Cars
http://www.allnetdevices.com/wireless/news/2000/05/18/motorola_onstar.html
Motorola displays iRadio in Mercedes Benz
Unveiled at CES 2000, Motorola's iRadio was hooked up in a Mercedes.
http://www.prismadesignintl.com/Siradio1.html
http://kewlstuff.editthispage.com/stories/storyReader$211
The complete iRadio system is scheduled to begin beta testing any day and go into full production next year. However, Motorola has effectively been bringing out components of iRadio in stages. Last August, although the iRadio prototype was still a year away from the market, Motorola executives were beginning to talk about its advantages. "It's an Internet appliance for the vehicle," said Brian Gratch, director of marketing for the Chicago-based Motorola. "This is something optimized for the driving experience. At 50 miles per hour, this thing has to always work, rain or shine, for years."
Inside iRadio is a global positioning system, a cellular transceiver and automotive grade software. Simple versions of the futuristic device just started to appear in Mercedes Benz showrooms in 2001 models. But the telecommunications equipment won't be included in just high-end cars.Motorola is selling the components of iRadio to GM, Ford and Nissan as well as to BMW and Jaguar. "They're all incorporating the early functions of the radio," Gratch said in an interview with Boston.com.
http://digitalmass.boston.com/news/daily/08/10/iradio.html
Motorola's iRadio
The Motorola iRadio™ Telematics System is a revolutionary concept in in-vehicle information and entertainment primarily via wireless Web access. It brings to the car the recent explosion of information & entertainment previously enjoyed only at home and work. 60 years ago, with the first car radio, Motorola enabled the delivery of AM/FM radio into the automobile. Today, with the Motorola iRadio™ Telematics System, the driving experience is enhanced by the wireless Web to offer a total end-to-end telematics solution. The system is designed to leverage the digital convergence of entertainment, information and content and would be made available to end users through OEMs and audio manufacturers.
Offers driver-friendly, hands-free telephony and state-of-the-art voice recognition and text-to-speech technologies
Easy-to-use interface for music, Internet, e-mail and more
Integrates server-based (via the Internet) navigation and traffic information with wireless connectivity enabling you to have the most up-to-date information possible
Server-based real-time data keeps you connected virtually anywhere. Check stock quotes. Call up sports scores. Review your e-mail. Play your favorite song. Find the best route, the nearest gas station or a new restaurant down the road. The Motorola iRadio™ Telematics System makes it easy to control what you want to hear or locate, the moment you want to.
Complete with voice recognition and text-to-speech technologies, iRadio telematic system will enable drivers to capture music on demand, access turn-by-turn navigation and listen to real-time traffic reports. Users will also be able to download audio books, access their voicemail and e-mail and receive the latest news and weather information. Bluetooth and infra-red technology allows seamless connection to cell phones, PDA's and other consumer electronic equipment.
Drivers will be offered a range of service levels from basic to premium packages, much like ordering cable TV. A personalized Web page will enable the iRadio system to be configured anywhere drivers and passengers have an Internet connection -- at home or in the office. Users can access their personal profile from multiple vehicles and support multiple profiles in one car. As an end-to-end solution, Motorola's iRadio system includes a Java computing platform, an automotive application framework and the latest user interfaces and applications. These features will enable service providers, automotive OEMs and audio manufacturers to ultimately deliver iRadio to vehicles and end users.
In developing the iRadio system, Motorola has established several key long-term alliances with companies including IBM, Navigation Technologies, BCI Navigation and Command Audio. "The new enhancements to Motorola's iRadio system combined with our strategic alliances further reinforce Motorola's position as the leader in Telematics," said Marios Zenios, corporate vice president and general manager, Motorola Telematics Communications Group. "We are at the forefront of Telematics today as we continue to offer the in-vehicle technology drivers demand."
Motorola's iRadio system pricing is expected to be similar to that of mid- to high-end car stereo systems, with final cost determined by OEMs and audio manufacturers, and the level of services requested by motorists. Consumer testing of the Motorola iRadio system will begin in early 2001 and individual components are expected to be available in vehicles within 18 to 24 months.
Motorola, IBM, and Telematics
September 1999
On 9/14/99, Motorola announced a relationship with QNX Software Systems Ltd., IBM, and Embedded Planet (formerly RPCG) to develop MobileGT Architecture, initially targeted for automotive driver information systems. MobileGT is an open, Java-centric architecture that can allow automobile manufacturers to easily and cost-effectively develop advanced driver information systems to fit their specific platforms. MobileGT's flexible, modular computing platform is scaleable across a wide range of products, allowing automobile manufacturers to leverage a common development approach while providing product differentiation through tailored and system integration. MobileGT can address a wide array of in-vehicle applications -- dynamic navigation, wireless connectivity and Internet access, natural language speech processing, car audio, virtual dashboards, multimedia and more.
MobileGT also incorporates IBM's VisualAge for Embedded Systems, Java(TM) Technology Edition virtual machine and development tools optimized for use with QNX Neutrino. This proven execution environment supports configuration-based deployment of applications, giving the developers the ability to build ultra-compact runtime components.
MOT FAQ:
What is MobileGT and how is it different from the Motorola iRadio™ Telematics System Technology?
A: It is the underlying component technology that enables a superior automotive driver information system solutions quickly and easily. MobileGT and the Motorola iRadio™ Telematics System are two separate telematics efforts from Motorola.
One specializing in the underlying component enabling technology (MobileGT) and the other specializing in providing an end-to-end telematics solution (Motorola iRadio™ Telematics System).
MobileGT is the underlying capability that helps build the final product, whereas the Motorola iRadio™ Telematics System is the end product with its own underlying core technologies.
Convergence of the two is a possibility in the future but is not necessary. The Motorola iRadio™ Telematics System can work on a MobileGT platform and MobileGT can support the Motorola iRadio™ Telematics System applications. At present both co-exist independently.
January 2000
In January 2000, Motorola and IBM agreed to partner to help automakers put the wireless web on the road so as to give the auto industry end-to-end telematics capabilities.
Because telematics requires a precise and durable linkage between the electronics and communications inside the car, and the content and applications in the network, it is a more complex, and much more robust solution than simply equipping cars with on-board intelligence.
Motorola brings to the alliance its expertise in advanced electronic systems and services, software enhanced products, wireless communications products and networks, as well as extensive experience in developing rugged, embedded electronic solutions for the automotive market. Its contribution to the joint effort encompasses the front-end elements such as on-board electronics, driver interfaces and enabling infrastructure that will deliver robust applications and services.
IBM brings to the joint effort its expertise in computer technology, hardware, software and IT services, as well as new software for managing pervasive devices across multiple networks. Its contribution focuses on the back-end infrastructure elements and are based on its pervasive computing technologies that allow applications, content and services to be delivered to drivers virtually any time, any where.
March 2000
In March, 2000, IBM and Motorola announced plans to join forces to help meet the growing demand for e-businesses worldwide to link data and applications to wireless devices. The companies announced their intent to jointly develop an open, highly scalable offering that will form the basis of a "voice and data engine" which will offer businesses an easy way to develop and access wireless applications and services. For example, carriers could use this offering to allow businesses to provide mobile workers real-time access to email, stock quotes, news, and corporate resources via wireless devices. By combining Motorola's device-aware front-end technology with IBM's middleware technology, this framework will provide optimal wireless data services to businesses around the world.
Mark Bregman, general manager of IBM's Pervasive Computing Division said "Working together with Motorola we will get to market faster with a product that operators need to give their business subscribers what they crave - access to information and services, virtually anytime, anywhere."
This relationship builds on the existing collaboration between IBM and Motorola to enable the delivery of innovative new telematics products. In January, the companies announced that they would work together to provide the end-to-end resources to help car manufacturers offer exciting new wireless services to their customers. The agreement builds on the strong position of Motorola's Integrated Electronic Systems Sector (IESS) group with IBM's systems and services expertise.
January 2001
Motorola's iRadio(TM) System Now Incorporates IBM Software
Committed to maintaining its position as the leader in telematics, Motorola developed the iRadio system, an in-vehicle platform for automakers that combines entertainment, information, navigation, emergency calling and communication into one complete, driver-friendly system. In a move that further expands the iRadio system, Motorola announced that it will license Java technology and voice recognition software from IBM, for use in the Motorola Telematics iRadio system.
The Motorola iRadio system is a complete solution that offers the latest user interfaces and applications and IBM's VisualAge(TM) Micro Edition Java technology. A key feature of IBM's Java technology is that it enables new applications and services to be added and enhanced remotely without inconveniencing consumers.
Motorola is also using IBM Embedded ViaVoice(TM) Multiplatform Edition for voice recognition and text-to-speech capabilities. IBM's ViaVoice enables drivers to use voice commands, as an alternative input to faceplate controls, for accessing information such as weather, news and sports, select a favorite radio station or other iRadio system applications.
Marios Zenios, corporate vice president and general manager, Motorola Telematics Communications Group, said: The combination of Motorola's engineering integration capabilities and IBM's innovative software solutions and technology will help to shape a product that dramatically changes the concept of the car radio.``By using IBM's ViaVoice and VisualAge software the Motorola iRadio system will have tremendous flexibility and functionality -- two attributes that will help make iRadio a winner in the Telematics marketplace,'' said Friedrich Christeiner, IBM general manager, automotive industry.
http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/010106/nv_motorol.html
Motorola also will announce an agreement with PacketVideo Corp. that will bring full-motion video and audio content to mobile devices, including Internet-enabled wireless phones, smart phones, handheld devices, wireless PDAs and laptop computers. The combined technologies will enable developers to design streaming media applications, including news clips, sports highlights, movie trailers and video e-mail for Java-enabled wireless devices
REPOST: PART TWO- Once I was young and had so much more orientation and could talk with nervous intelligence about everything and with clarity and without as much literary preambling at this; in other words this is the story of anunself-confident man, at the same time of an egomaniac, naturally,facetious won't do-just to start at the beginning and let the truth seepout, that's what I'll do-.
Pervasive Computing Background-IBM style
On June 23, 1999, IBM officially taking the wraps off its latest catchphrase: pervasive computing.
IBM discussed its efforts to extend its e-business umbrella into the world of automobiles, home appliances, smart phones and other handheld devices. IBM's goal: Provide the enabling technology to make these devices more intelligent and more connectable.
IBM's pervasive computing group had been in business for a year and was based on four strategic principles. One, IBM would aggressively offer IBM technology, such as silicon [microprocessors], Java, speech recognition, and Lotus Notes to the growing device business. IBM said that it would not be in the device business. You will not see IBM mobile phones, for example. That's not IBM's business. [Instead], IBM will partner with people in the device business.
IBM's pervasive strategy includes the very rapid development of the infrastructure, modifying the infrastructure products -- that is mainframes, network management etc. -- to be able to handle the pervasive networks. IBM is modifying the classic IBM enterprise products for pervasive networks to offer the scalability, the security and the authentication that have been traditionally been available to PCs or dumb terminals, but to offer that to networks of millions and millions of different devices.
IBM has stated that you are never going to see a dramatic Pervasive Computing announcement. It's going to be a series of partnerships, pilot solutions and rollouts. It won't be like an IT rollout, where you go from 100 to 3000 or 5000. We'll be going from 5000 to a million.
Here is an article summarizing the platforms and devices involved in pervasive computing which can be found at: http://www.softwaremag.com/archive/2000 COLOR="FF0020">apr/DKara.html
Here are two of IBM's pervasive computing webpages: is:
1] http://www.developer.ibm.com/pvc/ and
2] http://www-3.ibm.com/pvc/
IBM example of Pervasive Computing
At this point I think it would be helpful to take a concrete example of IBM's style of Pervasive Computing and (staying within IBM's own webpages) see where it leads us and how I think it might apply to e.digital.
Both of the IBM pervasive computing websites referenced above list as an IBM product solution-
IBM's WebSphere Everyplace Suite. Let's take the "embedded edition" mentioned in the 2nd URL. If you click on that, it takes you to IBM's website for IBM's WebSphere Everyplace Suite embedded edition. It states in part:
Powering the next generation of e-business devices
The worldwide demand for access to information anytime, anywhere is rapidly accelerating the development of networked information appliances and the services they deliver. New markets are quickly emerging around a range of wired devices, such as set-top boxes and service gateways, and wireless devices like Web pads and Web-enabled cell phones. IBM WebSphere™ Everyplace Suite Embedded Edition integrates the essential software needed by developers, device manufacturers and service providers to quickly capitalize on these new markets.
Now click on "Device manufacturers" at the bottom of the page. That page lists several specific target areas for device manufacturers including:
In-vehicle information systems, Internet appliances, The set-top box, and Wireless devices. Click on "In-vehicle information systems".
We have now come to one of my favorite topics: telematics. IBM introduces this subject as follows: "Industry observers project that 50% of all new vehicles will be telematics-enabled by 2006. In-vehicle information systems (IVIS) cover a spectrum of evolving applications including navigation aids, productivity tools such as voice-activated e-mail access, travel information, real-time traffic advisories, entertainment packages and concierge services. The rapid growth of Global Positioning System (GPS) technology and voice integration technology are both key enablers."
Notice that the embedded software for this solution includes: "IBM ViaVoice Embedded for Multiplatforms for the smooth development of speech-activated in-vehicle features". On the top of the page click on "Industries" and then click on "Automotive" under the Industrial section. From there click on the highlighted "In-Vehicle Information Systems and Telematics". You should now have arrived at IBM's webpage explaining its
"AutoMobile Network Solutions".
IBM's AutoMobile Network Solutions support automotive manufacturers in leveraging Telematics to deliver highly valued applications and services to their customers. IBM's "off-board" AutoMobile Network Solutions mean that computing and applications reside outside the vehicle.
It reduces the amount of expensive vehicle components onboard computer equipment that may become obsolete before the vehicle does. Thus, vehicle makers can offer in-vehicle information systems on all vehicles, not only on high-end luxury cars. With IBM's off-board concept consumers will easily get newest software upgrades at low cost from the network. IBM's pervasive computing e-business solutions for automotive are end-to-end offerings built with industry partners. IBM collaborates with companies such as Motorola, Qwest, and Intel, QSSL and others, and sopports AMI-C the (Automotive Multimedia Interactive Collaboration) standards. IBM has the unique ability to enable and integrate end to end IVIS solutions and deploy them globally.
Now click on the highlighted: "What is an In-Vehicle Information System (IVIS)?" In-Vehicle Information System (IVIS) offer a never-before possible level of safety and security, traffic congestion and route guidance information, advanced diagnostics capabilities, productivity, personalized information and entertainment in the automobile. Functionality can include:
vehicle location determination via Global Positioning System (GPS) capabilities
emergency response upon collision or breakdown
theft avoidance, prevention and detection
traffic and congestion alerts integrated with route guidance information
advanced diagnostics capabilities for automobile performance, updates, and maintenance
access to e-mail and other productivity applications
new levels of entertainment, such as music, games and even one day movies on demand
personalized news, sports and weather information all based on personal preferences
new levels of entertainment, such as music, games and even more one day movies on demand.
With IVIS, motorists use voice recognition and interactive audio technology or a simple touch- screen to get dynamic route guidance with real-time traffic information, remote vehicle diagnostics, and safety and emergency help. IVIS technology also enables drivers and passengers to perform hands-free phone dialing and Web browsing, listen to or compose e-mail, have access to a wider variety of entertainment, and get personalized news and weather reports.
At the bottom of this page, click on the highlighted "Key IBM AutoMobile Network Solution Initiatives". You have now arrived at IBM's webpage outlining its specific projects and partnerships in the telematics area. While there are many interesting topics, note this one: "IBM and Intel Corporation announce they are collaborating on in-vehicle computing productions and solutions. Intel will provide extended temperature Pentium processors. IBM will provide its Pervasive Computing software, which is a suite of advanced software for managing the In-Vehicle Information Systems."
How does any of this relate to e.digital? I will save the specific details for later, but think about Voicetimes, the embedded PSA discussed on IBM's VoiceTimes webpage. Remember Skip Matthews comment in a July 1999 newspaper article while he was still an Intel employee about the intel/edig project: Skip Matthews, a senior project development manager for Intel's Memory Components Division, coyly hinted at the project's capabilities. "What if you had a device that could read The Wall Street Journal to you while you're in your car?" he said, declining to elaborate.
REPOST: PART ONE-A screaming comes across the sky. It has happened before, but there is nothing to compare it to now.
Introduction
Last October, I tried to put into some perspective on what I believed to be e.digital's place in the ongoing evolution of portable computing and speech recognition. As you might recall, I focused on the concept of pervasive computing and e.digital's place therein as an inaugural member of IBM's VoiceTimes alliance. Within that context, I speculated as to what types of projects that edig/intel have been working on, such as a speech recognition module for the PALM pilot and a similar product application for the telematics market.
Based upon additional news since that time and my further DD, whether you like it or not, I have decided to substantially edit my prior posts on this subject. I have purposefully stayed away from the music applications of e.digital's business except where appropriate cross-references are necessary. Lastly, I may borrow (steal) from other posters, press releases, news articles, and edig itself. I wish to thank many of you from whose own DD I have tried to build upon. If I have misstated anything set forth herein, please feel free to let me know. As I have readily admitted in the past, my technical understanding is quite limited.
Background on e.Digital's Technology
The convergence of Internet, wireless and digital content technologies is causing an explosion in demand for consumer electronic devices that are portable, powerful and connected. Voice, music, video, photography and text applications combined with Internet services are creating entirely new categories of products. As consumers embrace the digital lifestyle, demand for innovative, portable devices is soaring and manufacturers have an urgent need to accelerate product development cycles in order to stay ahead of the competition in the fast-changing digital marketplace.
e.Digital provides original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) with comprehensive product development services for the next generation of digital devices. Its core competencies in embedded operating systems, digital signal processing, removable recording media and wireless communication protocols such as Bluetooth, along with hardware, firmware and software customization, help OEMs develop innovative digital products.
e.Digital's primary core technology is the MicroOS. e.Digital's proprietary MicroOS is an extremely compact, full-featured and highly customizable embedded operating system designed specifically for portable digital devices. MicroOS simplifies the design of products that use flash memory to store voice, image, text, or full-motion video files in portable devices. It also enables the portable devices we develop to easily exchange information with desktop computers, and through desktops, with intranets and the Internet. MicroOS manages data files as well as codecs, integrates security systems for content protection and handles uploading and downloading files to PCs. Important features include:
Power and memory conservation - eliminates the need for a high-powered CPU by paring down all code to run efficiently on a low-cost microcontroller preserving valuable memory for other applications.
Extends Flash memory capabilities - Memory management transparently deals with bad blocks, erase blocks, wear leveling and is independent of data and erase block sizes.
Advanced editing features - insert and delete allows editing of files by inserting material at any point without erasing what follows, and deleting of selected portions of a file without spaces, blanks, or silences being left behind.
When flash memory became available for data storage several years ago, it was primarily used as backup memory. Data or code written to flash was WORM (write once, read many), difficult to edit, erase, or write data. In 1995, e.Digital was the first company to create and market a voice recorder using removable flash memory, a product that was later branded and sold by Sanyo. Out of those efforts, e.digital developed a proprietary flash file management system named MicroOS that continues to be the basis of its designs to this day. MicroOS is protected by four patents containing dozens of claims. All of these patents and their rights are the exclusive property of e.Digital.
e.Digital Patents (Tinroad):
MicroOS(tm)is a small footprint (8KB) operating system for flash memory and other non-volatile memory that can be utilized in hand-held peripheral devices interfacing with the internet, whether by hard-wired or wireless means, and in digital voice/audio/video recording and playback devices. The key to understanding Edig’s potential is in their multiple patents on MicroOS and its applications.
http://www.delphion.com/details?&pn10=US05491774
Handheld record and playback device with flash memory
http://www.delphion.com/details?&pn=US05742737__
Method for recording voice messages on flash memory in a hand held recorder
http://www.delphion.com/details?&pn=US05787445__
Operating system including improved file management for use in devices utilizing flash memory as main memory
http://www.delphion.com/details?&pn=US05839108__
Flash memory file system in a handheld record and playback device
http://www.delphion.com/details?&pn=US05842170__
Method for editing in hand held
MicroOS in layman's terms (Tinroad):
Electronic machines understand only one thing and that's electric pulse 'on' and electric pulse 'off'. That's called 'machine language' and is digitally represented by 0s and 1s. When one presses an alphanumeric key, it sends a set of 0s and 1s to a next level operating system (like DOS) which gives a command to the machine to do an action (such as print a letter to the monitor).
The next layer of operating system runs on top of DOS and makes things more user friendly, such as Windows, CE or Mac OS, which are graphical user interfaces (icon representation). These are what the general public thinks of as operating systems. These systems have become quite bulky, and in their complexity create many conflicts with the vast number of applications available today.
Enter a new operating system: Edig's Micro OS which is directly compatible with MS-DOS. Micro OS is written in a programming language called 'C' that is highly flexible and already widely used for text, image and voice applications. Its compact size (about 6Kbytes) makes it ideal for handheld devices, which may include music players, still/video cameras, telephony, etc. Its duty, if you will, is to act as a flexible general file management system. It is particulary well-suited for the smaller footprint storage products such as flash memory and microdisks, but is fully capable for standard IDE hard drives as well, and also is not limited in the number or files it can manage (a drawback inherent in DOS).
The emerging products, for this example, will use a flash memory chip (about the size of a postage stamp) for storage. One flash chip can be used for multiple purposes... just like a floppy disk can be used for a computer and a Sony Mavica camera. This chip, which is re-writeable, will need an operating system that can function with voice, image, text and so on in a universal, flexible way and that can also support other TASK SPECIFIC operating systems.
This is where systems like Jini or Epoc (etc.) operating systems come in. These systems can be layered with the base file management operating system (such as our multi-patented Micro OS). They are not competitors.
Digital signal processors (DSPs) are like railroad switching stations that relay varied signals, for example directing voice to one channel, streaming images to another and so on. The DSPs are especially worth looking at when speed enhancements are announced. A noteworthy new DSP from Texas Instruments is reprogrammable via software, to allow it to adapt to evolving systems for file compression and encryption.
In summary, there are hundreds, thousands of integral layers which make up the complex products for the electronic markets of today. Most are based on old and slow, bulky systems. What is emerging are lean & mean wireless machines, capable of multi-tasking at far greater rates which require a flexible file management operating system.
MicroOS Applications:
MicroOS is applicable to any product that utilizes flash memory or rotating media as its primary storage medium including: Voice Recorders, One and two way voice pagers,
Digital cameras, Cellular phones, Portable Internet music players, Handheld PCs, and Set-top boxes. In e.digital's recently published brochure, e.digital identified some of the digital product categories it is currently developing solutions for:
Digital music players and jukeboxes featuring high-quality audio, multi-codec capabilities
and removable storage including: CompactFlash, Secure Digital Card, MMCard, Microdrive, PocketZip and DataPlay digital media.
E-book and multimedia tablet platforms combining music, video, text and voice storage, and play-back
functionality with larger displays.
Digital voice recorders with advanced digital features and infrared, cable or docking station PC connections.
Digital imaging including still and video integrated with audio in handheld products.
Cell phone audio components for recording and playback of voice and/or music files.
Set top boxes for real time streaming or downloading of digital music in Internet formats.
In-dash car audio systems for recording and playback of Internet music formats.
In-store kiosks for recording personal mix of digital music onto removable media.
Summary:
Arguably, e.digital has positioned itself to catch the next big wave; what many call pervasive computing- computing beyond the desktop. Pervasive computing concepts will induce big shifts in the structures of computing, telecoms and content industries. Pervasive computing will encompass several technology enhancements and market shifts that will enable the weaving of public networks and computing devices. A simple definition of pervasive computing is the ability to deliver any information, to any device, over any network.
For me, what most dramatically sums up this significant shift in the creation, use and exchange of information is Microsoft's change to its Mission statement. Microsoft's Mission statement for the last 20 years was ''to have a PC in every home and on every desktop.'' In April 1999, it was changed to ''empowering people through great software anytime, anywhere, and on any device.''
Here Comes Wireless Multimedia"
Boardwatch [www.ispworld.com] (09/00) Vol. 16, No. 10, P. 62; Mace, Scott
Wireless multimedia has the potential to bring wireless standards together. The differing qualities of wireless multimedia as opposed to wired multimedia might make the technology more suitable for a standards-based approach. The MPEG4 video compression standard, which was created in the spring of 1999, may become the digital video standard for wireless multimedia. The standard was originally developed for transmitting direct-broadcast satellite and digital TV signals. According to Steven Burke, chief business officer of PacketVideo Corporation, MPEG4 is the first digital standard that has been created for two-way communication. Burke wonders whether the industry can select a common wireless streaming protocol for MPEG4. In hopes of adopting a common industry standard, PacketVideo has pressured the Wireless Multimedia Forum (WMMF) to evaluate potential standards. The WMMF is assessing a multitude of potential standards, including Real-Time Transport Protocol and Real-Time Streaming Protocol. MPEG4 has improved compression over its predecessor MPEG2. MPEG4 may be a better choice as an industry standard since some wireless operators have already begun constructing wireless networks to support MPEG2. But any choice of a global standard by the WMMF must also be backed by the acceptance of the standard by at least two dominant wireless interfaces, such as GSM or CDMA. PacketVideo President Jim Brailen predicts that carriers will invest more in infrastructure improvements to their networks to ensure the efficient transmission of such services as multimedia. Brailen is opposed to using gateways or transcoding for transmitting multimedia over a 2.5G Network. He notes that gateways can slow down processing. (Multimedia Communications and Digital Media; Wireless Communications
REPOST: HIGHWAY 61 REVISITED- Part Two
INTEL and IBM's V.R. relatioship
At the same time IBM and Motorola announced its telematics relationship, so did IBM and Intel; Motorola said it would support the IBM/Intel work. On 1/25/00 Intel and IBM announced they are collaborating on in-car computing products that will enable automakers to provide wireless and Web-based services such as navigation, communication, and information. IBM will provide its Pervasive Computing software, which is a suite of advanced software for managing the in-vehicle information systems. The software suite includes IBM's VisualAge MicroEdition, which incorporates embedded Java, as well as voice-recognition and text-to-speech functions. This software is used, along with interfaces to the vehicle, to communicate information to the driver and the outside world via the Internet. The companies said Motorola Inc. will also support the venture. Intel's role will be to provide extended-temperature versions of the Pentium processor as well as in-car computing reference platforms.
IBM and Intel officials said the partnership won't compete with carmakers or auto suppliers developing technology to create Web-enabled vehicles. In fact, they're potential customers. "Automakers and their suppliers are our partners," said Walt Davison, IBM's marketing executive for the automotive industry. "We're not competing with them; were doing what we do best to help them do what they do best." IBM expects automakers to start offering vehicles with in-car computing systems next year. "The earliest consumers will see vehicles with in-car computing systems on the road will be in 18 months," Desai said.
http://detnews.com/2000/technology/0002/10/02100040.htm
IBM claims: Automotive pervasive computing is a reality -- where people use ViaVoice speech recognition and text-to-speech software to interact with their automobiles the same way that they interact with their computers. IBM is working with automobile manufacturers so that drivers can run diagnostics from the road, search the Internet for a stock price and even make a service appointment with the manufacturer simply by speaking to their e-mail.
In July 2000, IBM announced that engineers and developers can now deploy connected Java language-based solutions across a wider array of embedded targets using IBM's VisualAge Micro Edition tools, class libraries and virtual machines. While VisualAge Micro Edition remains optimized for QNX's Neutrino real-time operating system, IBM has also added support for the iTRON industrial real time operating system and Microsoft Windows CE in response to customer requests.
"Engineering decisions in the connected post-PC world must focus on customer choice. From the start, IBM designed and built VisualAge Micro Edition for portability and compatibility with published specifications," said Skip McGaughey, IBM director of embedded systems sales and marketing. "As our customers have approached us for new CPU, RTOS and development platform support, we have responded quickly, thanks to our investment in innovation and advanced technology."
Pervasive computing projects will require client and server components that run on multiple embedded targets.
Support for the ARM processor architectures is now included in VisualAge Micro Edition. This includes StrongARM SA-110 and SA-1110 processors and development reference boards from Intel.
On 10/16/00, Intel announced plans to collaborate with IBM* to deliver a non-proprietary, standards-based in-car client platform for the expanding Telematics market segment. This collaboration will speed up the delivery of a complete set of Telematics client reference kits supporting the Intel® XScale™ microarchitecture. These kits will enable developers and original equipment manufacturers to reduce their time to market and create leading-edge wireless applications. IBM's popular VisualAge® Micro Edition Java™ application development tools and deployment technologies allow developers to quickly and easily leverage existing applications for e-Business.
Intel and IBM Telematics relationship
Telematics is the market segment that includes cellular voice and Internet services in vehicles. Examples of in-car computing devices and services include navigation systems, emergency roadside assistance, and an array of entertainment applications and services.
Intel's support of IBM's embedded Java application development environment, Java class libraries and the J9 virtual machine for Intel's Xscale microarchitecture reference platforms provides Telematics developers and OEMs with a highly portable and reusable platform. "We are pleased to provide the burgeoning Telematics application development industry and OEMs with what are arguably the strongest wireless building blocks in the industry," said Pat Kerrigan, marketing manager at Intel's In-Car Computing Operation.
"Automotive computing is an important and growing market segment that both Intel and IBM serve with advanced technology and products," said Skip McGaughey, director of marketing and sales for IBM's OTI embedded system group. "With this announcement, IBM takes the important step to broaden VisualAge Micro Edition to embrace Intel's Xscale microarchitecture. www.intel.com/design/wireless/telematics/converge.htm.
From the 11/00 interview with Intel's Ron Smith, VP of wireless:
KAREN LAKE: Talk to us about the Internet being accessible from the car and where that's going. Is that in your department?
RON SMITH: Yes, that is actually in my department because by definition if you're going to have access from a car, it needs to be wireless and it is in a wide area network because you're not going to be driving your car inside a building. You're going to be driving your car out on the highway.
This is a real exciting area. There are a lot of new things that are going on here. They have already crafted a name for this called telematics. Don't ask me the origin of that name because I don't know.
KAREN LAKE: Telematics is the market segment that includes cellular, voice and Internet services in vehicles. I interrupted you. Please keep going.
RON SMITH: That's right, it's in vehicles. It started out with these emergency services like OnStar, which is actually a call back, a voice service. But now people want to move toward more information services to bring the same kind of capability, Internet access, the location-based services, and so on, to a vehicle. We are actively engaged in that. In fact, just recently we announced a relationship with IBM with their VisualAge capability to help bring some more of that software interface directly to these kinds of devices. We have a number of things going on with a number of manufacturers. Of course, none of them are public yet so I can't really talk about them.
KAREN LAKE: Is there really any difference in the technology from a car vs. a PDA vs. a cellular phone? Are they all just adaptations of each other?
RON SMITH: They're all just adaptations of each other. You have the same kinds of requirements. You have to be able to maintain the data when the power goes off.
KAREN LAKE: And that's the Flash memory thing.
RON SMITH: Right. So, you need a Flash memory. You want a low power environment with relatively high performance like you'd get with our XScale microarchitecture. In a battery-operated device, it's pretty obviously needed because you can't drain the battery in a car. You don't want to be draining the car battery, but there are a lot more Amp hours, if you will, in a car battery. But if you're going to store it in a dashboard of a car, you have a lot of space constraints. You can't afford to have cooling hardware associated with that because it's going to be packed into a dashboard with all kinds of other things. So it amounts to the same kind of technology requirements.
Smith comments that the technology involving the car (telematics), PDA, and cellular phone are all basically the same was significant. It is my contention the the intel/edig project involves all three areas. In particular, IMO the intel/edig project has been involved in developing prototypes for the three voice-enabled PSA concepts discussed in the VoiceTimes survey on the IBM website- those being:
1]an 'Add-on' device to a current PDA (i.e., Palm III or Palm V),
2]an 'embedded' version that had the speech technology built-in to the device,
3]a smartphone with onboard PDA-type functions.
While the IBM voice-enabled PDA was first made public early last year, clearly this is something "IBM" has been working on for sometime. In a September 1999 article, David Barnes, IBM's senior product evangelist disclosed that Intel has been working in IBM's labs for more than a year on speech applications.
The article noted that IBM's two biggest speech recognition rivals, Dragon Systems and Lernout & Hauspie, are not only promising more accurate, faster-learning upgrades to their respective desktop packages, NaturallySpeaking and Voice Xpress, but they're also courting traveling professionals who want to dictate letters and documents into a digital recorder and have them automatically transcribed to their PCs.
The next step is to boss around your PDA. Last spring, Philips' Nino 500 became, according to Barnes, one of the first handheld devices to incorporate speech recognition into a palm-size PC. The PDA's Nino Voice software allows spoken command and control, but not dictation.
The article concluded that you can expect to see many more voice-operated mobile devices soon. In April, 1999 a coalition of speech recognition and mobile technology companies--including IBM, Olympus, Philips, and Intel--announced the creation of VoiceTimes, an alliance to set industry standards. "A lot of people are putting a lot of energy into speech recognition," says Michael Laskoff, vice president of marketing for CompUSAnet.com.
http://www.findarticles.com/cf_0/m1563/9_17/60041570/print.jhtml
Another IBM voice enabled example was demonstrated at
CeBit '98. A concept car called "the Network Vehicle," developed as part of a technology initiative by IBM, Delco Electronics, Netscape, and Sun Microsystems, was demonstrated using a java platform. The development of the network vehicle required the integration of a wide range of technologies from vehicle control networks to multimedia systems and driver/passenger displays. To ask for directions, read a phone number from the Work Pad, dial the cell phone, check on stock quotes, or lock the doors, the driver only needs to issue spoken commands.The network vehicle does the rest.
VoiceTimes results?
In early 2000, IBM began demonstrating a voice enabled PDA.
In February 2000 W.S. "Ozzie" Osborne, general manager of IBM Voice Systems demonstrated a prototype of its Personal Speech Assistant (PSA)/ Personal voice Assistant (PVA)at IBM's Santa Teresa Laboratory in San Jose. Some 2500 research scientists are exploring voice technologies throughout IBM. At this same press briefing, IBM previewed a speech console on the dashboard of a Chrysler that communicates with the driver about the condition of the car.
The PSA/PVA is a snap-on speech recognition base for Palm devices. A prototype contains a speaker, earphone jack, microphone, and -- most importantly -- a coprocessor that provides the necessary computing power to support voice technologies such as speech recognition and text-to-speech. Using IBM's Personal Speech Assistant application, you can navigate through a to-do list, execute several hundred commands, and access your address book. For example, you can say, "Find Bill Smith," and the contact record for Bill Smith opens on-screen.
Dictating a memo is as simple as holding down the record button and speaking into the unit's microphone. The prototype stores audio files in the base's 4MB of flash memory; IBM's compression scheme can contain 30 minutes of audio. The base can also be designed to accommodate removable media such as Compact Flash cards or even a 340MB IBM Microdrive. When you sync the handheld with your desktop PC, IBM's ViaVoice engine on your desktop automatically transcribes the audio clip and uploads the transcript to the handheld. Though not unwieldy, a prototype base adds slightly to the weight and length of an IBM WorkPad unit (running the Palm OS), as demonstrated.
Now, recall FF's 6/99 statement: "Our Intel product design will also be an important technical achievement for our team. A number of prototypes are being developed to Intel's specifications; they include PC downloading capabilities and can interact with third-party software that performs voice-to-text functions and text-to-voice functions. The integration of these functions with convenient hand-held devices is proving to be a rapid growth area for both business and personal use.
In early March 2000. IBM again demoed the PSA at the Mobile Insights conference. Here is a short article reporting about this event:
IBM Puts Voice on Palm
IBM announces ViaVoice version for handhelds, non-PC devices (like cars).
Ephraim Schwartz, InfoWorld
Wednesday, March 08, 2000
As mobility moves the market for processing cycles off the desktop and into the palm, IBM Tuesday took a major step in offering a useable interface for devices with limited keyboards. The company announced an embedded version of its ViaVoice speech engine for handhelds and other nontraditional devices.
At the Mobile Insights 2000 conference here, Big Blue demonstrated its speech recognition and text-to-speech technology on a Palm III personal digital assistant. The Personal Speech Assistant prototype shown on stage was attached to the back of a Palm III, similar to other Palm III add-ons. Inside the PSA unit was the Embedded ViaVoice software, optimized for both the Palm OS and an NEC embedded processor.
In the demonstration, billed as only a technology demo, IBM official David Barnes made numerous voice-command and control calls to the unit, which responded by verifying appointments, taking short messages, and translating selected words into Spanish and Japanese.
Barnes reiterated that IBM is not interested in making the hardware but that its speech division will license the embedded speech software development kit to developers working on almost any platform.
The SDK includes recognition for 500 words, enough for most command and control functions, as well as unlimited text-to-speech capability for reading e-mail messages.
As part of the unit, flash memory was used to store longer voice episodes, which according to Barnes could then be hot-synced via the Palm cradle to a desktop that included a full version of ViaVoice. The desktop version would convert the voice .wav files to text and automatically send them back to the Palm.
IBM would not say which hardware vendors may create products, but a number of PDA as well as car manufacturers are interested.
http://www.pcworld.com/resource/printable/article.asp?aid=15638
In 3/00 IBM followed up this demonstration with the release of an embedded version of its ViaVoice speech engine for handhelds. Additionally, IBM's embedded ViaVoice will enable other devices, such as cars and telephones themselves, to take voice commands. Recall Ron Smith's comments made 8 months later that the technology used in the car, PDA, and phone are substantially the same.
NEC-aVoiceTimes member
Did you note the reference to a NEC processor above? At first I was bothered by this reference thinking that maybe this is not an intel/edig project. However, I now realize that IBM's PDA, the WorkPad z50 is powered by a NEC MIPS 131 MHz (5) processor, has 16MB RAM standard, (upgradable to 48 MB) and 20MB (6) ROM. It includes an integrated 33.6Kbps (7) modem, serial port, SVGA external port, speaker, microphone and Infrared port for wireless transfer of data between desktop PCs and other mobile devices. IBM Mobile Connect, an IBM pervasive computing application, helps to improve performance by synchronizing Palm OS and Windows CE-based devices directly with corporate networks, moving synchronization from an individual's desktop PC to a company's server. Also, remember that NEC is now also a member of the VoiceTimes alliance.
Additionally, voice recognition software requires more power than an NEC processor provides. Recently, I came across message board posts relating to an NEC laptop:
re NEC MobilePro 790 October 19, 2000
The reason why NEC won't be (apparently) using one of their own processors in the next-generation HPC2000 MobilePro 790 is that the NEC VR processor has a maximum clock speed of 168Mhz.
A quote from a reliable source at NEC ref the new HPC 2000 offering for NEC.
"The new NEC 790 significantly improves on the fine attributes of the NEC 780. New features include 64MB 50 mhz SDRAM, a TFT color screen and magnesium alloy case. Overall dimensions remain generally the same as the NEC 780. Boasting a StrongArm 206 Mhz processor, this is the system to beat in this form factor."
I also recently referred to the possibility of a NEC voice-enabled module for Handspring. While I think this is possible, I think I focused on this do to my recent preoccupation with this area. As I recently posted, the greater liklihood IMO is edig's involvement with a DataPlay module for Handspring. In all liklihood, I could see NEC, as the #3 PDA player behind Palm and Handspring, come out with its own voice enabled PDA. Other interesting possibilities would be a 2nd generation Nino from VoiceTimes member Philips. Philips has licensed IBM's IBM's ViaVoice technology. Lastly, IBM recently announced an alliance with Palm.
IBM VoiceTimes webpage/b
The IBM's VoiceTimes' alliance webpage made a special point of discussing the PVA and survey results taken:
"IBM Voice Systems presented a Technology Concept Demo at Mobile Insights 2000 (MI2000) that featured a voice-enabled IBM WorkPad handheld computer. This concept demo was dubbed the "PVA" (Personal Voice Assistant). The PVA demo was created as a concept demo, designed to demonstrate voice recognition technology in a handheld device. IBM made no promise to announce the PVA as a product, nor did IBM make any guarantee to announce a voice-enabled handheld device in the future.
The PVA demo was voted best of show. The demo showcased award-winning IBM Embedded ViaVoice technology that was used to activate standard PDA tasks such as Address Book, To-do List, Memo, Calendar, etc. Attendee feedback demonstrated that smart handheld devices (SHDs) such as PDAs (Personal Digital Assistants) can be used more effectively when users are able to interact with them using voice commands.
The IBM PVA Demo showcased voice input and Text-To-Speech (TTS) output. It was shown on a lab-built cradle that housed a microphone, speaker, battery and the LRCC (Low Resource Command and Control) IBM ViaVoice Speech Engine. A Palm III or a Palm V could be snapped into the cradle through the onboard serial port. The hardware shown was conceptual in nature and was designed only to demonstrate the function and capabilities of voice-enabling.
Market Research
In order to gain insight into market preferences and requirements for a device like the PVA, VoiceTIMES, with IBM's help, hosted a web-based survey prior to and during the MI2000 Show. The survey captured users' demographic data and asked users for input regarding the features and functions that would make a handheld device more efficient for the user. The highlights of the results are being posted in 'VoiceTIMES' News, supporting the VoiceTIMES objective of furthering the development of voice technology.
Why did VoiceTIMES conduct this survey and how was it conducted?
The speech-enabled IBM WorkPad started as an IBM technology research project that resulted in a working demo. It was believed that this enhancement would be attractive to mobile users, giving them the ability to 'voice-command' the normal Palm application functions in addition to, or instead of, using a stylus. The demo also showcased IBM's leadership and expertise in distributing voice recognition technology to smart handheld devices.
IBM conducted focus group market research in January. There appeared to be interest in a 'voice-enabled' PDA. That market research was shared with VoiceTIMES and VoiceTIMES decided to launch an investigation of voice-enabled handheld devices. The most common concerns were pricing and product life cycle. After the focus groups were conducted, quantitative data was necessary to understand the marketplace for this technology advancement.
Selected Survey Results
Three 'Concepts' were discussed:
1]an 'Add-on' device to a current PDA (i.e., Palm III or Palm V),
2]an 'embedded' version that had the speech technology built-in to the device,
3]a smartphone with onboard PDA-type functions.
Immediate access to information was PVA/PDA enthusiasts' leading desire for voice-activated usage, while 'being able to contact others' was the leading desire for smartphone users. Most participants agreed that 'hands-free'/'eyes-free' operation was the feature that they found most important. The top four chosen activities were lookups and additions to phone numbers and calendar activities. Translation and web-surfing were the least useful activities studied.
Most participants would prefer to purchase a speech-enabled handheld device from an OEM was the 1st choice, and from e-stores as 2nd choice.
Final Message
Adding voice to PDAs and Smartphones is the next 'natural' step for enhancing smart handheld devices, and it supports the VoiceTIMES vision to expand Voice Technology.
Intel's PVA
Clearly the "hands-free/eyes-free" killer application is best designed for the telematics market. Magically, a few months later Intel announces its own PVA- Personal Veicle Assistant.
from Intel's website:
The PVA Arrives
September 22, 2000
An emerging category of wireless Internet client devices is designed to make the in-vehicle wireless Internet experience feature-rich and easy to use. It is called the Personal Vehicle Assistant, or PVA. Similar to its hand-held PDA counterpart, the PVA is a Web-enabled wireless Internet consumer electronic device with the power to make a wide range of Internet services available anywhere, at any time.
For PVA users, these services can include two-way voice communications, e-mail, personalized news, navigation, traffic data and roadside assistance services, in addition to a wide spectrum of personal productivity and entertainment applications. For ergonomics, the PVA will enable hands-free operation with a basic user interface as simple as a car radio. Entertainment opportunities will enhance the drive-time experience, with MP3 digital audio for drivers and DVD movies for rear seat passengers.
http://www.intel.com/design/wireless/telematics/pva.htm
Two powerful trends are driving the rapid growth of the Internet. The first of these trends is the expansion of the wireless Internet, with its promise of "anytime, anywhere" connectivity to an ever-wider array of compelling applications for personal communications, information, productivity and entertainment. In his keynote address at the Fall 2000 Intel Developer Forum, Ron Smith, vice president and general manager of Intel's Wireless Communications and Computing Group, used the term "e-Everywhere" to describe this growing set of consumer expectations.
This trend also involves the convergence of voice, data and multimedia streams over the Internet. With the growing availability of wireless Internet services, consumers are becoming accustomed to voice, data and multimedia communications, e-mail, Web browsing, and mobile commerce (m-Commerce) applications that are always-on and always-connected. Wireless solutions from Intel are helping to make a wide range of services available through easy to use hand-held devices in a host of form factors, ranging from feature-rich cell phones to wireless Personal Digital Assistants (PDAs) and personal vehicle assistants.
Today there is another powerful trend: the growing availability of wireless Internet services in vehicles. It is called "telematics," the term for the market segment that includes cellular voice and Internet services in vehicles. Just as the PDA makes the wireless Internet available in hand-held devices that can be used away from the desktop, Telematics extends the reach of the wireless Internet, making Internet services available during the periods we spend commuting and traveling by car.
The compelling user experiences provided by the wireless Internet have captured the attention of automobile manufacturers, equipment OEMs and developers, who are working to deliver a range of in-vehicle wireless Internet solutions.
The personal vehicle assistant makes drive-time more productive:
Navigation applications will take the guesswork out of reaching new destinations, while real-time traffic notification systems will help drivers arrive at their destination sooner.
Personalized information services will keep drivers and passengers up to the minute with the latest news, financial and business data.
A new set of "m-Commerce" applications may be used to reserve hotel rooms, purchase event tickets, make restaurant reservations, or even automatically pay highway and bridge tolls.
Emergency services will be available, such as roadside assistance and automatic collision notification systems. In addition, voice-activated communications will keep drivers in touch, all while the driver keeps his or her eyes on the road.
Entertainment opportunities will enhance the drive-time experience, with MP3 digital audio for drivers and DVD movies for rear seat passengers.
Intel's Role
Intel has made a major commitment to the expansion of the wireless Internet, including technologies and industry investments that support innovative personal vehicle assistant product development. Intel's Wireless Communications and Computing Group is working to develop and enhance the wireless Internet experience for end users.
One way to enhance personal vehicle assistant capabilities is through higher integration and lower total system cost. To meet these goals, Intel has made technology investments in the areas of signal processing, baseband, control and application processing, as well as power and memory management. [Clearly, one area that intel and edig are playing a role is with Motorola and IBM's development of the MobileGT architecture and the integration of a reasonably cost effective telematics solution.]
Recall that in part one I linked IBM's Visual Age java being used in the Mobile GT telematics solution to Intel's new XScale architecture. Intel recently specifically announced the XScale Microarchitecture is ideal for Personal Vehicle Assistants. "Designed for ultra-low power and high performance, Intel® XScale™ microarchitecture is the ideal microprocessor core design solution for personal vehicle assistants. This will enhance the automotive wireless Internet experience with high performance, scalability, and ultra-low power consumption.
High Performance The Intel XScale microarchitecture delivers industry leading mW/MIPS performance, based on Intel's 0.18 micron semiconductor process technology. It delivers the processing power required for high-performance Telematics applications including 3D navigation systems and multimedia."
In short, Intel and IBM have developed a telematics platform solution which clearly includes VR applications sounding very much like the intel-edig vtt project. Additionally, the voice-enabled PALM snap-on module described in detail on the IBM VoiceTimes webpage sounds like further prototypes related to the intel-edigital project. In fact, here is a direct reply from IBM regarding the VoiceTimes Alliance:
The products we announced can and will use VoiceTIMES
specification verified devices. VoiceTIMES is the initiative to create
open specifications for mobile devices. The specifications that VoiceTIMES
is currently working on and will be working on in the future will be used
to access the mobile Internet through our software.
Perfect examples are our voice-enabled automotive solution and the PVA.
Both solutions use the VoiceTIMES specification for their internet access
devices.
Tom Houy
Manager, Client Systems Marketing
IBM Speech Systems
1555 Palm Beach Lakes Blvd.
West Palm Beach, FL 33401
REPOST: HIGHWAY 61 REVISITED- Part One
Introduction
While everyone is focused on Treo and DataPlay, which no doubt will be the primary revenue producers for edig in 2001, I plug away at that mysterious blackhole- e.digital and its relationships to intel and ibm and its inclusion in VoiceTimes. A good portion is repetitious, for which I apologize, but I continue to try and add meat and potatoes to my skeletal form as I continue to do my DD.
I try to start with a bigger picture and then focus on how I think edig will fit therein. Both IBM and Intel are looking to provide total end-to-end solutions and in doing so develop building blocks within which they develop and sell products and services.
For example, for IBM, one of its solutions is known as pervasive computing built upon four of its building blocks: microprocessors, java, speech recognition and Lotus Notes. In June, 1999 IBM officially took the wraps off pervasive computing discussing its efforts to extend its e-business umbrella into the world of automobiles, home appliances, smart phones and other handheld devices. IBM's goal: Provide the enabling technology to make these devices more intelligent and more connectable. IBM would aggressively offer IBM technology, such as silicon [microprocessors], Java, speech recognition, and Lotus Notes to the growing device business. IBM said that it would not be in the device business. You will not see IBM mobile phones, for example. That's not our business. [Instead], we partner with people in the device business.
PERVASIVE COMPUTING SUMMARY
The best way I can summarize the impact [paradigm shift] of Pervasive Computing is through the Microsoft Mission statement which for 20 years was ''to have a PC in every home and on every desktop.'' In April 1999, it was changed to ''empowering people through great software anytime, anywhere, and on any device.''
An article summarizing the platforms and devices involve in pervasive computing can be found at: http://www.softwaremag.com/archive/2000apr/DKara.html
IBM's pervasive computing webpage is:
http://www.developer.ibm.com/pvc /
INTEL and EDIG'S ROLE IN PERVASIVE COMPUTING
How did e.digital become involved with Intel and IBM?
In 1993-1995 Norris Communications [now known as e.digital] developed the first digital voice recorder using flash memory. In developing this product, which is eventually OEMed to Sanyo, edig engineers worked closely with Intel and its engineers for about 3 years. edig used Intel flash memory for this project. [Per FF/RP 6/7/00 interview]. CKSLA comment: This appears to be the genesis of the intel/edig relationship that lead up to intel hiring edig re the digital voice recorder project announced in late 1998. Remember that during this period, Skip Matthews, an Intel manager for many years, was in charge of the flash memory area for Intel.
In 1996/1997 e.digital is involved in another project with Lucent, Intel, and IBM. This is based on the following:
Partial Transcript of 6/99 interview w/ LU's Joyce Eastman:
Walter:What is so special about little e.Digital that big Lucent decided to work with them?
Eastman: I have worked with e.Digital on a different project that involved Lucent, IBM, and Intel. I was impressed with e.Digital's responsiveness. We developed a good working relationship. When Lucent decided to work on this project e.Digital seemed to be the natural choice. They were already trying to get into the music side of the business. The President of e.Digital owns two other technology companies and engineers at our Bell Labs know him well. I have been working with e.Digital for two years now.
I strongly suspect that the project to which she was referring was a Bell Labs project known as "PhoneWeb". That project was the genesis of the VoiceXML Forum, which was founded by Motorola, Lucent Technologies, IBM, and AT&T Labs. The VoiceXML Forum is an industry organization chartered to establish and promote the Voice eXtensible Markup Language (VoiceXML) as a standard essential to making Internet content and information accessible via voice and phone. With the backing and support of these three world-class founders, and the support of leading Internet and speech industry players, the VoiceXML Forum is uniquely positioned to make voice- and phone-enabled Internet applications a near-term reality.
Version 1.0 of the VoiceXML specification has been accepted as a standard by the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C). The W3C's Voice Browser Working Group has agreed to base its efforts to develop a standard on the VoiceXML specification. The spec provides a high-level programming interface to speech and telephony resources for application developers, service providers, and equipment manufacturers. "As the W3C Voice Browser Working Group begins to define the speech interface framework that extends the Web to voice-based devices, we'll use VoiceXML as a model for our dialog markup language," says Jim Larson of Intel Architecture Labs, who is co-chair of the W3C working group. "The W3C speech interface framework will include integrated markup languages for dialog, speech synthesis, grammar, multimodal dialogs, natural language semantics, as well as a standard list of reusable dialogs."
VOICETIMES
April 13, 1999 – e.Digital Corporation along with IBM and five other leaders in speech recognition and mobile technologies today announced at the DemoMobile 99 conference the formation of the Voice Technology Initiative for Mobile Enterprise Solutions (VoiceTIMES). VoiceTIMES' goal is to coordinate the technical requirements needed for companies to build and deploy solutions using voice technologies and handheld mobile devices.
With the explosive growth of mobile devices and the increasing demand for network access, the VoiceTIMES initiative was formed to define specifications for how voice commands and information are transmitted and received by existing and future mobile devices. Currently, there are no standards in place for mobile speech-enabled devices. The VoiceTIMES alliance plans to deliver the specifications and industry cooperation to build interoperable, cost-effective mobile solutions with voice technology.
''We believe VoiceTIMES will allow e.Digital to expand development of speech-based mobile information gathering devices and leverage our product designs in to many additional industry solutions.'' (Falk}
''In today's world of pervasive computing, users want simple, fast and hassle free mobile computing devices to connect and communicate.'' said W.S. ''Ozzie'' Osborne, general manager of IBM Speech Systems. ''Through joint collaboration, the VoiceTIMES alliance aims to eliminate complexities for the consumer and solutions integrator, while providing future generations of standard compliant speech-enabled mobile products.
The Voice Technology Initiative for Mobile Enterprise Solutions or VoiceTIMES is an alliance of companies addressing the mobile enterprise industry. Working together, the members will be able to create optimal end-to-end mobile solutions, giving mobile users the option of plug-and-play mobile devices. VoiceTIMES will allow mobile users to compute — anytime, anywhere.
Q: How does this fit into the mobile industries overall strategy?
A: Just like with VXML, Java and the Internet, VoiceTIMES is driving open standards technology to one day eliminate the complexity of doing business. Through pervasive computing, VoiceTIMES hopes to create an infrastructure to provide open standards for the mobile industry.
Prior to the formation of VoiceTimes, in August 1998, e.digital announced that it had signed an agreement to design and develop a digital voice recorder for Intel Corporation. 6/28/99 Falk newsletter: Our Intel product design will also be an important technical achievement for our team. A number of prototypes are being developed to Intel's specifications; they include PC downloading capabilities and can interact with third-party software that performs voice-to-text functions and text-to-voice functions. The integration of these functions with convenient hand-held devices is proving to be a rapid growth area for both business and personal use.
In July, 1999, a S.D. newspaper article gives some inkling about the edig/intel project:
e.Digital
POWAY -- Someday soon, people may be able to harvest news articles, e-mail and other bits of text off the Internet and listen as this information is read aloud from portable devices.
The first steps toward that ambitious goal are happening here, inside the offices of e.Digital Corp. Giant chipmaker Intel is paying the Lilliputian Poway company for research and development costs aimed at making new speech-to-text, text-to-speech gizmos. The project, which began last year but stalled when the companies dumped a third-party technology partner in favor of another unnamed firm, remains hush-hush. The companies won't even reveal drawings of what the device looks like.
Still, Skip Matthews, a senior project development manager for Intel's Memory Components Division, coyly hinted at the project's capabilities. "What if you had a device that could read The Wall Street Journal to you while you're in your car?" he said, declining to elaborate.
8/1/99 Dr. Matthews joins e.Digital's Board upon retirement from a distinguished 25-year career with Intel Corporation with his last position being Senior Project Development Manager. "I was attracted to e.Digital because they were the first to adopt flash memory in an audio recorder. There is great potential for further application of e.Digital's technology in Internet music players and even more advanced audio applications such as speech-to-text and text-to-speech systems."
8/30/99 Falk newsletter update: We are continuing to make significant progress on the Intel voice recorder prototypes with the project taking some interesting new turns into areas of new technology development that we expect will be very beneficial to e.Digital. We remain on track with IBM, Intel, Philips and our other VoiceTIMES Alliance partners in setting new protocols for voice recording in portable digital devices. [CKSLA: Note the use of plural "prototypes". Clearly there is more than one type of device being developed as made clearer in Falk's 9/30/99 update when he refers to "new OEM relationships". Also note the reference to Philips who at the time of the formation of VoiceTimes alliance licensed IBM's TTS technology for use in future products.]
As much as IBM is developing the building blocks for the voice enabled wireless web so is Intel. Both IBM [Webpad] and Intel have and will develop internet devices, however, their primary role is to supply 3rd party OEMs the tools and platforms to build for these OEMs to build the portable, digital internet devices. e.digital is hitching its MicroOS and its advanced engineering capabilities to both their pervasive computing plans.
Let me give you an example as it relates to IBM and voice technology: http://www.agoracom.com/agora/nonmemforum/msgreview.asp?id=51958&refid=0&orig=51958 which is the text to
http://www-4.ibm.com/software/speech/enterprise/collateral/cibr.pdf
Now I will fine tune it to the area of the automobile industry and telematics.
IBM and Telematics
What do I mean about Intel and IBM focused on building blocks and end-to-end solutions. Let's look at IBM and the auto industry.
1]ibm automotive e-business framework
http://houns54.clearlake.ibm.com/solutions/industrial/indpub.nsf/detailcontacts/e_business_framework...
2]IBM's Response to Automotive Challenges
http://houns54.clearlake.ibm.com/solutions/industrial/indpub.nsf/detailcontacts/ind_automotive#Res
3]AutoMobile Network Solutions
http://houns54.clearlake.ibm.com/solutions/industrial/indpub.nsf/detailcontacts/IBM_s_AutoMobile_Net...
4]What is an In-Vehicle Information System (IVIS)?
http://houns54.clearlake.ibm.com/solutions/industrial/indpub.nsf/detailcontacts/what_is_an_in_vehicl...
5]Key IBM AutoMobile Network Solutions Initiatives
http://houns54.clearlake.ibm.com/solutions/industrial/indpub.nsf/detailcontacts/key_ibm_automobile_n...
6]ViaVoice Embedded Technology
ViaVoice for the Automotive Industry
http://www-4.ibm.com/software/speech/enterprise/ms_automotive.html
While I could discuss a number of different IBM relationships in this area including ATX Technologies and Delphi, I will mainly focus on its relationship with Motorola, who has been one of the principal leaders in developing telematics.
MOTOROLA Telematics Background
Seventy years ago, Motorola broke new ground by taking the home radio into the car. Since then, the driving experience has never been the same. Today, Motorola is reinventing that in-car experience all over again. Telematics uses existing technologies at which Motorola is expert -- GPS location, wireless voice and data, and on-board computing -- and integrates them in whole new ways.
The Motorola website has an extensive background on telematics and Motorola's current and future roles in this nascent market. http://www.motorola.com/ies/telematics/html/indextd.html
The Lincoln RESCU system was only the beginning. Since RESCU was launched in 1996 -- the result of its efforts with Ford Motor Company -- Motorola has introduced Telematics to many other automakers around the world. With the 2000 model year, Motorola Telematics will be available in hundreds of thousands of cars in the United States and Europe.
Motorola Telematics products are available in a variety of automotive makes and models, ranging from the 2000 Jaguar S-TYPE to over 40 different General Motors vehicles as part of the OnStar System. Motorola's Telematics partners include: BMW, Cadillac, Ford/Lincoln, General Motors,
General Motors Europe/Opel and Vauxhall
Jaguar, Mercedes-Benz USA, Mercedes-Benz/Germany Nissan/Infiniti, Renault, Visteon
Telematics is an emerging market of automotive communications technology that combines wireless voice and data to provide location-specific security, information, productivity, and in-vehicle entertainment services to drivers and their passengers. Today, Telematics systems offer drivers emergency and roadside assistance, air bag deployment notification, navigation, remote door unlock, vehicle security notification and stolen vehicle tracking services. Just as today’s Telematics safety and security features are a direct result of initial consumer demand, future Telematics services will also be a direct result of what drivers want in their cars. These systems may provide customized services such as travel information (traffic updates, parking availability, airline status), messaging (voice mail and email retrieval), information (sports, weather, stock market updates and Internet access) and entertainment (audio games, books, magazines and newspapers). These are only a few of the applications which will evolve with Telematics to keep drivers and their passengers in touch.
In North America, some of these future telematics services are now beginning in GM's Onstar programns known as Virtual Advisor and Personal Calling. Motorola has been the primary integrator or GM's telematics program. Motorola will work with OnStar and Saturn Electronics & Engineering to create in-car Net wireless devices for General Motors vehicles. The company says that its Integrated Electronic Systems Sector will develop the devices, which are expected to be available in virtually every GM car and truck starting with the 2001 model year.
The devices are considered telematics, which combine wireless voice and data capabilities to provide location-specific security information, entertainment and in-car productivity tools. OnStar is a subsidiary of GM that, so far, has created in-car communications capabilities primarily for luxury vehicles. Saturn will manufacture components for the systems. Motorola claims the initiative has a potential value to the company of $1 billion.
IBM and MOTOROLA Telematics alliance
On 9/14/99, Motorola announced a relationship with QNX Software Systems Ltd., IBM, and Embedded Planet (formerly RPCG) to develop MobileGT Architecture, initially targeted for automotive driver information systems. MobileGT is an open, Java-centric architecture that can allow automobile manufacturers to easily and cost-effectively develop advanced driver information systems to fit their specific platforms. MobileGT's flexible, modular computing platform is scaleable across a wide range of products, allowing automobile manufacturers to leverage a common development approach while providing product differentiation through tailored and system integration. MobileGT can address a wide array of in-vehicle applications -- dynamic navigation, wireless connectivity and Internet access, natural language speech processing, car audio, virtual dashboards, multimedia and more.
MobileGT also incorporates IBM's VisualAge for Embedded Systems, Java(TM) Technology Edition virtual machine and development tools optimized for use with QNX Neutrino. This proven execution environment supports configuration-based deployment of applications, giving the developers the ability to build ultra-compact runtime components.
In follow-up, on January 14, 2000, IBM and Motorola said they will join to develop technology to help automakers add a variety of wireless and Web-based services automobiles.The companies will focus on telematics which includes communications and navigation capabilities such as real-time traffic routing. It also can include Internet capabilities such as e-mail.
The companies note that because cars move, telematics requires a network connection that is both precise and durable. IBM says it will contribute its expertise in computer hardware, software and network management.
Beyond those generalities, the companies offered few details, other than to say they already were approaching automotive manufacturers about potential products.
IBM/Mot formed a platform called MobileGT, an easily upgradable computer that can accept peripherals like cell phones, PDAs and other gear that might be used in cars. http://www.eetimes.com/story/OEG20000211S0057
With the coming of AMIC [the Automotive Multimedia Interface Consortium], the industry said it wanted Java, and that became a central theme for our group."
In March, 2000, IBM and Motorola announced plans to join forces to help meet the growing demand for e-businesses worldwide to link data and applications to wireless devices. The companies today announced their intent to jointly develop an open, highly scalable offering that will form the basis of a "voice and data engine" which will offer businesses an easy way to develop and access wireless applications and services.
For example, carriers could use this offering to allow businesses to provide mobile workers real-time access to email, stock quotes, news, and corporate resources via wireless devices. By combining Motorola's device-aware front-end technology with IBM's middleware technology, this framework will provide optimal wireless data services to businesses around the world.
Mark Bregman, general manager of IBM's Pervasive Computing Division said "Working together with Motorola we will get to market faster with a product that operators need to give their business subscribers what they crave - access to information and services, virtually anytime, anywhere."
This relationship builds on the existing collaboration between IBM and Motorola to enable the delivery of innovative new telematics products. In January, the companies announced that they would work together to provide the end-to-end resources to help car manufacturers offer exciting new wireless services to their customers. The agreement builds on the strong position of Motorola's Integrated Electronic Systems Sector (IESS) group with IBM's systems and services expertise.
On January 10,2001, Motorola announced it was licensing IBM’s voice recognition engine, Via Voice, and their proprietary Java based Visual Age software for use with iRadio, Motorola’s in-car wireless computer system. Due on the market in 2001, iRadio will provide entertainment, navigation and Internet services. IBM’s embedded Via Voice solution enables voice recognition and text to speech capability, allowing drivers to use voice commands for accessing the iRadio system, an essential feature in a hands-free environment. Robert Putnam has told me with respect to e.digital's VTT/TTV work that e.digital is "IBM-centric.
Motorola's iRadio
iRadio represents the next stage of the telematics market. Most of the telematics action is currently taking place at the factory level with such systems as GM's OnStar, Visteon's Vehicle Emergency Messaging System (VEMS), and Lincoln's RESCU system—all of which use Motorola telematics technology to link the vehicle to a monitoring center via a cellular phone. At the basic level, the systems provide roadside assistance and emergency response. More sophisticated systems use global positioning system (GPS) turn-by-turn route guidance, airbag deployment certification, concierge services and remote theft alarm and door unlock capabilities via 24-hour monitoring services
At CES 2000, Motorola announced its Internet radio prototype called iRadio, an in-vehicle information and entertainment via wireless Web access. A smart technology to be offered by automakers, Motorola's iRadio will enable drivers to download and listen to digital music on demand; listen to real time traffic reports; download audio books; access voicemail; receive news and weather reports; get updated stock portfolio information and access email. Entertainment also will factor into iRadio. iRadios will sport DVD drives and smart card slots, and iRadio products will tap the Internet for pay-per-view movies, video games, music and e-commerce transactions. These off-board mobile multimedia features will be delivered wirelessly via Web access, satellite, digital cellular, and FM sideband technologies.
The framework for iRadio is built upon the safety, security, navigation and concierge services already being delivered to drivers through Motorola telematics capabilities, which combines wireless voice and data technologies, global positioning systems (GPS) and automotive-grade software.
Complete with voice recognition and text-to-speech technologies, iRadio is a wireless Web client device which allows access to content originating from multiple sources, whether via the Web, cellular communications, broadcast and satellite transmissions, or traditional AM/FM bands, among others, including Command Audio and XM Radio. Command Audio's technology lets users who subscribe to its service preselect material they want to listen to and transmits it to cars via FM radio waves.
A fully scalable system, iRadio will provide drivers with a range of service levels, from basic to premium packages, much like ordering Cable TV. In addition, a personalized Web page will enable iRadio to be configured anywhere drivers and passengers have an Internet connection - at home, in the office or the car. For drivers with mobile devices including pagers and Personal Digital Assistants (PDAs), data such as address books, calendar functions, and favorite Web bookmarks can be synchronized on demand between iRadio and the device.
"There is also an e-commerce angle that will let people buy things from their car," said Mike Bordelon, vice president of Motorola's telematics computing group. "But to offer that and other features across that space we need one end-to-end solution, and that's where IBM comes in."
IBM will provide many of the back-end computing systems and services that will enable iRadio and other concept devices to work. "There are a lot of things that happen in the device that are very much tied to the server," said Jon Prial, director of marketing for IBM's pervasive computing division. "We focus on all that from synchronization, database, messaging and voice technology--all technologies from IBM for enabling the devices."
Motorola is parlaying its roles as a longtime electronics supplier to automakers and that of the world's No. 2 cell-phone manufacturer into dominance in the burgeoning industry of telematics - wireless telecommunications in cars and trucks. Demand for Web-connected cars is projected to help triple the company's telematics sales to about $1 billion in the next three years. And iRadio, which is expected to be installed in luxury cars of the major carmakers by the end of 2001, is only the forerunner of bigger projects still on the drawing board.
"Telematics will be the next air bag in the auto industry." Automakers estimate that 'Net-enabled cars will be standard by 2005. Motorola plans to offer iRadio through car OEMs and aftermarket suppliers, Sokola says. "We imagine that we'll make the insides of many of these products," he says, referring to the Digital DNA components that make these products work, but the company also plans to offer turnkey solutions under its own brand. "Motorola plans to provide both complete solutions and the basic building blocks for iRadio products," he says.
05/17/2000 'Self-Serve' Audio Threatens Radio Broadcasters
By Kevin Featherly, Cambridge, Massachusetts
By 2005, a combination of powerful audio tools, home and portable devices and the wireless Internet will turn 41 percent of the US population into "self-serve" audio users - a possibility that traditional broadcasters should find worrisome, new Forrester Research analysis suggests.
The report, by analyst Jeremy Schwartz, says that, while Internet consumers currently labor with early versions of Internet-based, personalized, self-served radio tools, easy-to-use tools and increased programming will begin to emerge in the next two years that will make their struggles worth the effort. And within five years, they will be listening to music tracks of their own choosing in any part of their houses, even in their cars, with virtually no effort.
Meanwhile, traditional radio broadcasters - while recognizing the opportunities of the appeal of anytime, anywhere radio access - are hamstrung by tiny budgets and lack of Internet focus, the report indicates.
Forrester surveyed 3,000 online user to determine how Internet developments in the audio space will affect their online and offline listening habits, according to the 20-page Forrester report, "The Self-serve Audio Evolution."
Already, the report says, online audio listening is charging ahead and should not be considered "niche activity." Fifty-six percent of survey respondents listen to online audio on their PCs every week, using players like Real Networks' RealPlayer. "Even the downloading of music files is gaining steam," the report says. "We found that 36 percent download free music at least once a month, while 17 percent do so at least once a week."
What are the main benefits, users were asked - multiple responses to the question were accepted. Seventy-one percent said a chief virtue of downloadable music is that it's free. Sixty-seven percent said they like being able to arrange tracks in the order of their own choosing. Fifty-three percent mentioned they liked being able to listen to the music anytime, while another 52 were glad not to be force-fed advertising. Thirty percent were happy not to be forced to hear a disc jockey's voice.
They like being able to retrieve the music, respondents indicated, but they don't want to pay for it, at least not much. Asked what they'd be willing to pay for rights to hear a single song, 76 percent said "nothing." Fifteen percent don't want to pay more than a dollar, while 10 percent would be willing to part with between $1 and $5.
A significant number of respondents wouldn't pay for a downloaded album of music or a music compilation either, the survey indicates. Only 13 percent would pay more than $5 for an album by an artist, while only 10 percent would pay more than $5 for a compilation of tracks.
But despite these clues, broadcasters are dragging their feet in response to the trends, Schwartz says. The study surveyed 40 radio stations that already stream their content to the Web for their input.
"Most said the Net would not severely affect them until Net audio is as ubiquitous as broadcast radio," the report states. "Others see the Net as a channel for new niche programs."
Schwartz concedes that as of now, the presence of Internet radio and audio programming isn't affecting the hours consumers spend listening to radio - hours spent with broadcasts outnumber Net radio listening hours by a factor of 10 to 1. And while Net users say they like the control they get with Net radio tools, they aren't yet using them, at least not yet.
But the crack in the façade, Schwartz indicates, is the lack of commitment broadcasters show for Internet streaming. Stations don't put much money or planning into sites, and they view the Web mostly as a place to stream what they've already got on the air, or for promotions or to generate additional advertising dollars.
"Consumers want choice and control over Internet audio, but broadcasters fail to serve their growing appetite," Schwartz writes. "Why the disconnect? On the one hand a plethora of Net audio formats, tools and delivery options overwhelm and confuse consumers. On the other, habitual radio listening - especially in the car - has insulated radio from the Net. These hurdles will fall."
The study predicts a convergence of technologies and devices in the next five years that will create "a new model" for audio listening, making it much less difficult for users to negotiate - which will topple broadcasters' appointment-based listening tradition.
The study sees these trends coming in distinct phases over the next few years. It says that between 2000 and 2001, there will be a "PC era," during which easier-to-use tools and increasing content will make users want to push their way into self-served audio technology. Already, Windows Media Player 7, currently in beta testing, consolidates the tasks users must perform to make audio appear on their computers, while allowing for full browsing of 1,500 Internet radio stations from WindowsMedia.com.
By 2001, the report says, there will be 58 million users of streaming and downloadable music files. This trend will push record companies to make their premier artists online to capture the migrating audience, the report says.
The next period, between 2002 and 2004, will be what Forrester calls "the device era," during which Net-radio device prices will drop below $100 and digital set-top boxes will be used in 27 percent of US homes. Broadband will reach 36 percent of homes, the study predicts. At the same time, devices like Motorola's iRadio will start putting self-serve audio in the places where consumers hear radio most often - in their cars and at home - driving adoption of self-served audio listening to 91 million in the US by 2004.
The final stage, predicted for the year 2005, will be the "anytime, anywhere" era, Forrester says. At that point, wireless bandwidth of 144 kilobits per second will be widely available, and digital set-top boxes will have entered 55 percent of US homes. Broadband will be adopted by 40 million US households at that point, the report says, and - perhaps most importantly - 50 percent of new vehicles manufactured in the US will be self-serve-audio-enabled.
The trend will create new business models in the audio media industry, including a new subscription based model for business, finance, and ad-free programming, the report says. "Forrester believes that, just as with the Internet, consumers will only subscribe to hear personalized, timely information like stock quotes and business news - or commercial-free audio from services like Sirius Radio or Command Radio," Schwartz writes.
It will also pioneer the concept of targeted advertising to radio stations that use the digital technology to create sub-channels within genres - like opera or chamber music sub-channels at a classical music radio station. And e-commerce interactivity will become a new revenue stream, though most stations today are slow to grasp this, the report says. However, even the user-compiled Internet radio-station streams found at Live365.com - go here to find the All Beach Boys station or the Beatles Bootleg channel - are making money by linking users to CD sales, at least for recordings that are legitimately for sale.
Schwartz writes that to compete - and perhaps to survive - broadcasters must change their tune, so to speak. They will have to focus on national and niche programming, ceding a great deal of their present turf to self-serve digital Webcasters. For instance, they might have to give up their community image in favor of small, local satellite broadcasters that can inexpensively cover Little League games in their neighborhoods.
"Satellite radio's national coverage threatens broadcasters geographic value proposition," Schwartz writes. "In the same way that CBS invested in CBS Sportsline and WebMD, stations must adapt their local focus and move to develop national niche content channels that suit consumer demand for variety and offset satellite's challenge."
Finally, the report says, traditional broadcasters need to create new distribution relationships.
"Radio companies seeking to protect and expand their turf should cut deals with Kerbango and Sonic Box to ensure that their station are tunable from those devices," the report says. "Additionally, stations should work with car manufacturers like GM to barter ad time in exchange for their station being hard-wired as a radio pre-set."
Mike Wendland: Wireless phones pile on new features, but why?
May 1, 2001
I'm a gadget geek. I love the Net and I love wireless phones and I can't live without my Palm-based handheld computer.
But I'm not sure I want to surf the Net and use my Palm and talk on the phone or make digital voice-recording memos all at the same time or on the same device.
As wireless phones add features, I'm starting to get a bit overwhelmed.
So it has been lately with two sleek and powerful models I've looked at -- the Kyocera Smartphone from Verizon Wireless and the i85s Java Phone from Nextel.
Talk about full-featured.
Let's start with the Kyocera Smartphone. Overall, I liked this unit. What makes it unique is that it's also a Palm handheld computer. Pull down the keypad and in the handset is a Palm. You can use it folded up and communicate with the handset to your ear.
Or, open up the keypad, choose either the speakerphone or a headset connected to the universal earphone jack, and you can make simultaneous use of the phone and Palm functions.
The Palm screen is only slightly larger than a stand-alone Palm and it comes with 8MB of memory, the same as on a regular unit. Verizon tells me I can download an e-book through the Palm operating system and read it on my phone.
The Kyocera SmartPhone costs $499. The Palm itself would cost $300 or so.
Less impressive is the i85s Java Phone from Nextel. It doesn't have a built-in Palm. But it does allow you to use the Java Micro Edition application from Sun Microsystems to actually download full-fledged programs on the phone.
The unit I checked out came with an expense pad and a business calculator, but Nextel says a range of applications will soon be available. It sells for $199.
The i85s Java Phone also has a voice recorder that lets you record and play back up to 20 short messages.
But do we really want to play games or read an e-book on our mobile phones?
I might.
But I'm beginning to think that Internet access on a wireless phone, at least in the versions I've tried, isn't all that hot.
And I'm not alone.
A survey from the technology consulting firm Accenture says the vast majority of potential users are not using the wireless Web because they believe it costs too much, screens are too difficult to read and the service is too slow.
In the United States, Britain and Finland, more than 50 percent of the respondents reported the main reason for not accessing the Internet through their wireless devices was that they saw "no compelling reason to do so."
I couldn't agree more.
My wireless phone contacts tell me that I'll change my mind when 3G, the next, or third generation, of wireless phones starts showing up at year's end with much faster and more reliable Net access.
But I wonder, as powerful as these phones can be, is the industry trying to make a market where none exists?
Philips to Release Pocket-Sized MP3-CD Player
This November, Philips plans to begin selling an MP3-CD device designed to play CD-R discs one-third smaller than standard discs. The Expanium EXP 401 will play MP3 music burned onto 8cm CD-R or CD-RW discs; blank discs cost less than $2 and can store up to 200MB of music, more than three hours' worth. The device will cost under $200, according to a Philips spokeswoman
Music Personalization Companies See Opportunity in CE Devices
by Jay Kumar
Music personalization software companies searching for B2B niches hope to license applications that help portable audio device users create playlists. But two leading device makers say such technologies still need to be perfected before they become commonplace in CE devices.
With the increasing availability of digital music through Napster and CD-ripping software, consumers can amass sizable MP3 collections on their PCs. Portable audio players such as SonicBlue's Rio and Creative Technology's Nomad Jukebox offer ways to listen to that music away from the PC, but creating new playlists can be a slow and tedious process.
San Francisco-based MoodLogic develops software that analyzes various qualities of songs (such as tempo, beats, genre, vocal qualities, etc.) to help consumers manage their digital music collections and create playlists quickly. The company hopes to license its technology to online music subscription services, online CD retailers and CE manufacturers. MoodLogic is close to landing deals with two device manufacturers to package MoodLogic with their devices in time for the upcoming holiday season, according to MoodLogic co-founder and CFO Christian Pirkner.
"The main challenge for the device folks is to find an easy and intuitive way to fill that device with one click," said Pirkner. MoodLogic's PC-based software quickly builds playlists from the user's collection based on a selected song or genre; the playlists can fit a Flash memory-based player's 64MB storage capacity (which holds about an hour's worth of MP3 music), or can be larger, for users of multi-gigabyte hard drive-based players such as the Nomad Jukebox.
The software can also be used to recommend music to device users and encourage online purchases of either CDs or digital tracks; MoodLogic plans to help broker deals between CE makers and retailers, Pirkner said. The software could also be used for hard drive-based car and home MP3 player units.
Cambridge, Mass.-based Media Unbound also markets personalization for CE devices, although a stumbling block to deals has been the lack of legal downloadable music, according to Michael Papish, president and CEO of Media Unbound. The company creates a module that is embedded into both the device and PC; based on a user profile of music preferences, the company can create playlists.
In addition to CE companies, Media Unbound is marketing its technology to makers of CD-burning hardware and software, as well as developers of home media servers like ZapMedia and Ucentric.
Savage Beast has been in discussions with CE companies for several months about personalization features, said Tim Westergren, co-founder of the Oakland-based firm. "It's definitely a very important component of their future offerings," he said. "We see personalization as key to the growth of the device space."
Device makers agree that personalization features are important to MP3 players, but question how ready such technology is for the CE market.
"It's very important that people have a variety of ways of deciding what music goes on their player," said Mark Ireton, SonicBlue's vice president of audio technology. "The technology's got some way to go. Anything that purports or tries to be intelligent usually hasn't worked...We have to make sure the technology isn't more of a hassle to users."
Ireton said SonicBlue won't shy away from adding personalization technology to its players, but it must be a cost-effective solution. "We will certainly be adding things that help people select their music," he said. "It's not clear to me that there's a business model for an independent company. A challenge for our players is producing product at a reasonable cost."
Creative is examining a number of personalization applications developed in-house as well as by outside companies, according to Ken Fong, Creative's director of marketing. But the company has no plans to incorporate any new personalization features until at least next year, he added.
Creative's 6GB jukebox can store more than 100 hours worth of MP3s and other audio formats; the company plans to eventually release a 10GB player. Hard disk costs are dropping, allowing device makers like Creative to undercut manufacturers of Flash-based players [see 4.23.01 Dropping Hard-Disk Costs Let Jukebox Makers Sell for Less]. By 2004, portable hard drive-based jukeboxes will outship basic portable audio players, according to research firm IDC.
With all this storage space, jukebox users need a way to quickly organize playlists right on the device. Pirkner said MoodLogic's software can work both on the PC and in some cases, on the device itself.
Personalization features add value to a device, according to Webnoize analyst Ric Dube. Like the introduction of VCR Plus programming capabilities in VCRs, personalization would increase the functionality of an MP3 player and give the developer a competitive edge, Dube added.
But it may be difficult to convince first-time device buyers that personalization features are important. "It's not as obvious a sell to the consumer as VCR Plus was," said Dube.
from XMSR RB board:
On the topic of the sound quality of SDARS: I came across the following in the XMSR 10-K:
[XMSR will]Take advantage of digital's higher quality signal. There are several music formats that have strong demand but have been relegated to AM stations with weaker signals due to lack of available FM frequencies. Such AM formats include traditional country music, big band/nostalgia and gospel formats that we will be able to deliver with superior sound quality.
Note what this implies: that the XMSR sound quality will be superior to that of AM radio, but won't be superior to that of FM radio.
This is consistent with the description of Perceptual Audio Coding at 64 kbps: FM radio quality. This is short of CD quality.
"IN THE PALM OF YOUR HAND"-Palm Expansion Strategy Supported
allNetDevices
05/04/2001
Palm's strategy to chart its own course on expansion capabilities of its handhelds received a boost Friday with the announcements of new expansion cards for its m500 series handhelds.
The newly released handhelds have a single slot that supports both Secure Digital (SD) and MultMediaCard (MMC) technologies. By contrast, Pocket PC handhelds typically have a Compact Flash expansion slot and Handspring uses its proprietary Springboard technology.
Viking Components announced it would provide flash memory expansion cards for both of Palm's expansion formats. It said it will release products that add as much as 64MB of storage capacity for the m500 and color m505. It also will offer 16MB and 32MB cards.
The company did not provide pricing or release dates.
Microsoft Said in Talks to Provide Security for Napster
By Christine Gordon
Napster is said to be in talks with Microsoft about using the software giant's technology to help build "a secure, copyright-friendly version of its online song-swapping service."
According to a report filed by the online version of the LA Times, Napster, which is struggling to stay afloat amid restrictions imposed by the courts and the music industry, could use Microsoft's copyright-protecting technology to encourage the music industry to supply songs being denied, the LA Times has surmised.
LA Times sources told the paper that the two companies have been talking for weeks about a deal, and, that initially, Napster officials suggested that Microsoft buy the company, but Microsoft rejected the overture.
By press time neither of the West coast companies could be reached for comment.
A Napster spokeswoman said the company is in discussions with Microsoft, but added that Microsoft is just one of "a number of technology companies" that Napster is talking to "about how several of their products might be incorporated into the new Napster service."
Napster has recently lost several thousand users as a result of the court's insistence that the site stop swapping files that are copyright protected. The company has also infuriated U.S. District Judge Marilyn Hall Patel for not pulling out all the stops to block users from copying songs.
The company has since employed technology from Gracenote and Relatable to help weed out copyrighted materials from its offerings.
Microsoft has stepped up its efforts to enter the burgeoning subscription-based online music space -- a space already being carved out by major record labels fielding subscription services with Yahoo, America Online and RealNetworks.
InternetNews - Streaming Media News Archives
AOL'S Case: Challenge Is 'Connecting the Dots'
By Andrea Orr
SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. (Reuters) - AOL Time Warner Inc Chairman (NYSE:AOL - news) Steve Case Thursday said his work at the helm of the world's largest media empire was largely a challenge of integration -- between the company's multiple businesses, its customers, and all the different devices they use to access news and entertainment.
``The basic challenge is to connect all the dots,'' he said, paraphrasing the often used high-tech buzzword of ''convergence.''
Case, who delivered the closing remarks at the 29th annual JP Morgan H&Q Technology Conference here, discussed how the technology scene has changed over the years. From a landscape brimming with young companies working on revolutionary but unproven services, he said the high-tech industry today has more established companies that need to expand their reach globally and offer a more integrated customer experience.
Case, whose brother Dan Case is Chairman and CEO of HP Morgan H&Q, said he had attended the conference informally as far back as 20 years ago.
``I was captivated by the energy of all these technology companies. They all sounded great to me. They all said they had hockey stick growth, and no competition,'' Case said, drawing laughter from the crowd of institutional investors and money managers, who recalled the euphoria of recent years when tiny startup companies would come to the conference and discuss their grandiose plans.
This year's conference, coming after several months of dot-com company failures, was quite different. Most of the presenting companies like IBM (NYSE:IBM - news) and Xerox Corp (NYSE:XRX - news) were large, well-known businesses and few of them were talking about hockey stick growth. More often, they focused the discussion on their efforts to control costs and adapt to the difficult economy .
While AOL Time Warner is one of the few Internet media companies that has not seen results suffer because of the tough online ad market, Case said the company still had a long way to go in transforming the customer experience, and expanding internationally.
``Much as we hate to admit it, AOL Time Warner is still really a U.S. company with some global outposts,'' he said. The company's goal, he added, is to get half of its revenues from outside the U.S. within 10 years, compared with about 17 percent today.
If the notion of connecting all the dots sounds like a 'no-brainer,' Case said, it only makes sense to do so now, because of all the recent advances in technology that have brought about a lot more customer choices, making it possible for them to get the same magazine from a newsstand, a PC or over other devices.
``We really are shifting to a more connected society. The lines are blurring between devices and all the things that are part of the fabric of every day life.
AOL MAKES THE CASE THAT THE FALKON HAS LANDED!!!!!
[now you know what i do for a living-i write catchy headlines!]
Case: AOL Time Warner prepared for new era
By Lisa M. Bowman
Special to CNET News.com
May 3, 2001, 3:00 p.m. PT
video SAN FRANCISCO--During a time when many executives are warning of shaky revenues and declining business, AOL Time Warner Chairman Steve Case is painting a rosy picture of his company, saying it's on track to meet financial expectations for 2001.
Speaking at the J.P. Morgan H&Q Technology Conference here, Case told an audience of financial analysts that his company would meet its goals of $40 billion in revenue and $11 billion in EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization) for the year, reiterating predictions company executives have made in recent months.
"I know this will be music to your ears," Case said. He told the analysts his goal for the Internet giant is to be the "most valued and most respected company in the world."
Case didn't talk too much about the dot-com downturn, except to say that people shouldn't focus on the specifics of struggling companies. Instead, he said, people should "step back and try to appreciate the full grandeur of what's happening."
Specifically, Case said that if 1980 was the decade of the PC, and 1990 was the decade of the Internet, the next era would be that of convergence.
Case said his combined media and Internet services company is poised for the new era of convergence, where machines such as handheld computers, cell phones, and televisions would interact in completely new ways.
"The lines between those devices are blurring, and the distinctions between the industries servicing those devices are blurring as well," he said.
AOL Time Warner battle plan
Steve Case, chairman, AOL Time Warner
Case outlined several goals for his company including meeting the financial numbers, transforming the way people consume information, becoming a major player in the global economy, and increasing its management team--all in a time when other companies are cutting back. He said the company would do that by, among other things, diversifying its board, revamping its corporate culture, and pursuing acquisitions.
Case did not address whether AOL Time Warner planned to raise rates for its Internet services. At previous financial conferences, Case has said rate increases were "in the cards" but not necessarily something the company was considering in the near future.
Two weeks ago, AOL Time Warner announced financial results that were in line with expectations of most analysts.
Samsung Puts Palm, Phone in One Neat Package
Color PDA fits inside Samsung I300 full-featured, normal-size cell phone.
Cameron Crouch, PCWorld.com
Thursday, May 03, 2001
Samsung is joining the smart-phone race, introducing the SPH-I300 digital assistant, which combines a Palm OS-based personal digital assistant with a wireless phone. It should be available for about $500 in August from Sprint PCS, and later from Verizon Wireless.
The Samsung phone isn't the first Palm OS smart phone. In November, Kyocera announced its QCP 6035 smart phone, which also features a Palm OS PDA and sells for about $500 from Sprint PCS.
The Samsung phone is similar to Kyocera's. However, at 6 ounces, it is lighter than Kyocera's 7.3-ounce model, and has a color display, says Peter Skarzynski, Samsung senior vice president of sales and marketing.
Samsung is also updating its popular SCH-3500 browser phone, the SPH-N200. Expected in August from Sprint PCS and priced around $200, the N200 is smaller and lighter than its predecessor and has a five-line display (versus four) as well as a mini-joystick for menu navigation, Skarzynski says. It comes in silver or blue.
Best of Palm Inside a Phone
Like the Palm VIIx, the Samsung SPH-I300 is a wireless PDA with 8MB of memory that can be used for Web applications as well as traditional Palm tools like an address book, schedule, and to-do list. It uses Palm OS 3.5, plus some features from the upcoming Release 4.0, Skarzynski says.
"It's basically like a Palm VII with an integrated digital/analog phone," he adds. "It supports web browsing with OpenWave's Palm OS Mobile Browser as well as Web clipping applications, MyPalm portal applications, wireless messaging, and e-mail."
To maximize the screen size, Samsung made the phone keypad a touch-screen application, similar to a Palm calculator. As with the recently announced HandEra 330 PDA, with a certain application you can make the Samsung's graffiti-writing area disappear and so enlarge the overall display area, Skarzynski says.
Samsung's SPH-I300 has a light, compact design. The unit measures 4.9 inches by 2.28 inches and is .82 inches thick. While smaller than a Palm display, the Samsung touch screen is bright, but has fairly poor resolution (160 by 160) and only supports 256 colors.
Phone Features Unite Voice, Data
Besides being a full PDA, the Samsung SPH I300 sports mobile-phone features that work well with the data side.
A built-in speakerphone lets you talk while still using a Palm application. And the phone can store up to 20 names for voice dialing, Skarzynski says.
A display atop the smart phone shows incoming call information and battery life along with the PDA/dialpad screen.
The phone's side-mounted volume buttons double as scrolling controls when you're using the PDA, Skarzynski notes. "This allows for one-handed operation with your Palm applications," he says.
Battery life usually isn't great with convergence devices, and the Samsung phone is no exception. The standard battery gives you about three and a half hours of talk time or five days of standby, Skarzynski says. An extended battery, to be sold by carriers, stretches that to five hours of talk time.
Of course, those times vary widely depending on how you use the device.
"Powering Palm applications doesn't take much, but when you go out and search wireless data services, it drains the battery faster," Skarzynski says.
Color displays also drain battery life. The grayscale Kyocera smart phone promises 4.5 hours of talk time with a standard battery.
PDAs Vie for Phone Dominance
The Samsung phone is the second new phone to put the Palm OS on a Web-enabled cell phone. Meanwhile, Microsoft is expected to launch its Pocket PC-based smart phone, code-named Stinger, late this year. Symbian has also licensed its Epoq operating system (which runs on Psion PDAs) for inclusion in smart phones like the Ericsson R380.
And if you'd rather keep your phone and PDA separate, handset vendors are adding an increasing number of personal information management tools to smaller and smaller phones. The compact N200 features voice activated dialing, the latest Phone.com browser, and a PIM for appointments, to-do lists, and contacts.
Samsung to Sell 2.5G Mobile Phones in Europe
By Kim Myong-hwan
SEOUL (Reuters) - South Korea's Samsung Electronics (05930.KS), aspiring to grab a major chunk of Europe's mobile phone market from Nokia (news - web sites) and other European giants, will begin selling 2.5G mobile phones in Europe late in May.
Samsung's European sales of 2.5-generation mobile handsets will begin with German operator T-Mobile as the first customer, a Samsung executive said on Friday.
``We are at the final stage of negotiations with T-Mobile,'' Park Sang-jin, senior vice-president in charge of Samsung's mobile communications division, told Reuters in an interview.
``As soon as the price is fixed, we will be able to provide about 50,000 GPRS phones by early June,'' Park said, referring to general packet radio services phones.
``By the end of this year, we will be able to sell our 2.5G phones to most European nations.''
GPRS sales would reach up to half of a million units this year, he said.
Ten Percent Share
In 2003, when sales of GPRS phones are expected to exceed those of GSM mobile handsets, Samsung would be able to sell up to eight million GPRS terminals, about 10 percent of Europe's total GPRS market, Park said.
GPRS phones are expected to emerge as the preferred mobile handset in the next four or five years in Europe as network operators there are delaying investments in third-generation services due to high risks and costs, analysts said.
The GPRS operates easily with existing GSM networks, while third-generation mobile services require establishment of infrastructure nearly from scratch.
The 2.5G technology has been developed as an intermediate step to 3G UMTS (universal mobile telecommunication system) services.
``Chances of Samsung emerging as Europe's number-two mobile handset provider are quite high as global players like Ericsson (news - web sites) (LMEb.ST) and Motorola (NYSE:MOT - news) are suffering from excess inventories,'' Park said.
As the global economy slows and the mobile markets in advanced nations near their saturation points, global demand for mobile phones was expected to grow only 20 percent this year, down sharply from 45 percent in 2000, he said.
Samsung could avoid the impact of slowing demand as the company focused on high-quality segments, he added.
Nokia (NOK1V.HE), the world's top-ranked mobile provider with a 30 percent market share, is likely to retain its position in Europe's 2.5G market when it launches sales of its GPRS phones later this year, he said.
Samsung Late-Comer For Gsm
It was not until 1996 that Samsung Electronics began selling second-generation GSM terminals in Europe. Samsung has become the eighth-ranked provider of GSM phones with a three percent share of the European market, scaled at 130 million units a year.
``We are a late-comer in Europe's GSM market,'' said Park. ''But we have prepared strenuously in order to take the lead in the GPRS market.''
Sales of GSM phones account for roughly 45 percent of Samsung's mobile phone sales, with the rest coming from CDMA (news - web sites) (code division multiple access) phones (45 percent) and TDMA (time division multiple access) handsets.
Park said Samsung aims to sell 28 million mobile handsets this year, up 27 percent from 22 million in 2000, with exports jumping 30 percent to 22 million units.
Does the suit fit Net firms' needs?
By Lisa Meyer
Red Herring
May 1, 2001
Even in the wake of the dot-com bust, Internet patents are still booming. As still-standing Net companies vie for an edge in the emerging economy, they have bombarded the U.S. Patent and Trademark office (PTO) with requests to secure anything from designs for innovative technologies to business processes and models.
Whether it's Amazon.com's (Nasdaq: AMZN) one-click shopping process or Netcentives's (Nasdaq: NCNT) ClickRewards scheme, Internet companies are attempting to lock up every sort of intellectual property. Last year alone, the PTO issued 182,223 patents overall, up 14 percent from 1999. Nevertheless, Net companies are finding it harder to defend their turf, regardless of the patents they hold.
For example, the latest battle between InterTrust Technologies (Nasdaq: ITRU) and Microsoft (Nasdaq: MSFT) might not be the David-and-Goliath tale the small digital rights management (DRM) company is hoping for. Last Thursday, InterTrust shot its stone at the computer giant, saying in a lawsuit that its Windows Media Player and other Microsoft products that implement DRM violate a patent issued to InterTrust in February. DRM technologies limit the ability of consumers to make copies of proprietary information sent over the Internet.
In the past, InterTrust had unsuccessfully attempted to get Microsoft to license its technology. In fact, in a conference call following InterTrust's earnings announcement on Monday, the company said it considers Microsoft one of its top competitors because of the demise of weaker DRM players. The company declined to comment on any details of the litigation or the reasons why it chose to sue.
But other industry players suggest the lawsuit is just a sign of the times. "DRM is a patent-oriented industry right now," says Kirstie Chadwick, CEO of privately held DRM firm Digital Owl, which targets the business information market. "A good startup company will find a niche that is well tuned to its technology and grow from that niche."
JACK OF ALL TRADES, MASTER OF NONE?
Other industry experts, however, believe that InterTrust's claims represent little more than finger-pointing after it spread itself across too many product categories to compete effectively. Unlike a good number of DRM companies, which secure one or two mediums, InterTrust offers solutions for text, video, and audio information across various industries. It boasts partnerships with consumer companies like Blockbuster, Bertelsmann, and Vivendi Universal's Universal Music Group, but it has done little to secure its own bottom-line operating results.
On Monday, the company reported a net loss of $18.7 million, or 20 cents a share, on revenue of just $2.4 million. And after recent DRM agreements with Nokia (NYSE: NOK), which saw the Finnish telecom giant purchase a 5 percent stake for $20 million, and Adobe Systems (Nasdaq: ADBE), for its Acrobat 5.0 software, InterTrust management has done little to focus its strategic direction.
"InterTrust does have a hurdle because it is offering underlying platforms, and until recently it hadn't developed a full portfolio of applications for specific markets," says Raimundo Archibold, an analyst at J.P. Morgan H&Q.
Indeed, InterTrust is having a difficult time regaining the respect of investors. In response to a 17 percent sequential quarterly revenue decline to $2.4 million, the company is concentrating on reducing costs by 15 percent through layoffs and cutting back on discretionary expenses such as marketing, travel, and outside services. InterTrust finished the quarter with $150 million in cash and short-term investments; these liquid assets account for half of the company's $297 million market capitalization.
InterTrust is by no means alone, says Mr. Archibold, pointing out that even niche DRM players like Liquid Audio (Nasdaq: LQID) and NetLibrary are struggling to provide technology to an inchoate market. "While many DRM companies have outstanding and useful technology, content owners are still struggling with the concept of, 'What is the basic business model for digital entertainment?'" says Mr. Archibold. "This is what is causing the gating factor. Everybody knows they need to do something about DRM to manage the process."
BAND-AIDS
But suing might not be the buoy that will keep InterTrust afloat until its potential customers decide on a business model. No doubt Microsoft has deep enough pockets to take care of InterTrust's suit. After all, in February, the software giant agreed to pay Bristol Technology an undisclosed sum as part of a confidential agreement to end a 1998 lawsuit by the small tech company. And in January, the company settled a 1997 suit brought by Sun Microsystems (Nasdaq: SUNW) that alleged it had infringed upon a licensing agreement to use Sun's Java programming technology.
Nevertheless, it is hard for software companies to win intellectual property battles unless the rival has actually copied the code. In most cases, a competitor just creates different code that has the same functionality.
More importantly, smaller players like InterTrust will only stay afloat if they continue to market and innovate. Fighting in court to gain royalties or to slow down a significant competitor is really just a band-aid for a bleeding company.
"Making a legal claim against a vendor is often a somewhat desperate attempt to get paid more for an already existing technology," says Greg Vogel, an analyst at Banc of America Securities. "InterTrust shouldn't focus on defending an old code, which should be obsolete, but rather on creating a new one."
Indeed, the software industry moves so quickly that companies constantly need to provide new offerings. One way to compete with a big gun like Microsoft is simply to offer a better product. Unfortunately, InterTrust lacks the funding to invest in research and product development. "The software market usually consolidates around a couple of vendors," says Mr. Vogel. "In such an environment, it is difficult for smaller vendors to compete."
InterTrust would do well to take a look at history. Open Market (Nasdaq: OMKT), which provides enterprise content management and delivery management application software, may have won its battle by securing the proprietary use of "shopping carts," but it is apparently losing the war. The company's stock trades at just $1.05. InterTrust may not be far behind after seeing its shares drop to a closing price of $3.42.
1997-2001 Red Herring Communications. All Rights Reserved.
REPOST: re TI DSPs- when you read this and "MMC" think SANYO-
then think eastech, then think edig
TI's Two New Power-Efficient DSPs Enable Thousands of Cost-Sensitive, Portable-Internet Products
- New Low-Cost DSP Sets Price-Performance Benchmark - New Highly Integrated DSP Reduces System Size and Power By 3X for PC-Connected Applications
HOUSTON, April 30 /PRNewswire/ -- Thousands of applications with demanding performance, size, cost and power budgets such as the coming generation of hand-held and Internet-enabled multimedia devices will be driven by two new code-compatible TMS320C5000(TM) digital signal processors (DSPs) unveiled today by Texas Instruments Incorporated (NYSE: TXN - news; TI). The programmable DSPs are the second and third devices in TI's ultra power-efficient TMS320C55x(TM) DSP generation of products which set a new standard for power dissipation when it was introduced last year. See www.dspvillage.ti.com/c55xnewdspspr for more information.
(Photo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20010430/DAM013 )
The TMS320C5502 DSP, the new price-performance leader in TI's programmable TMS320C5000 DSP platform, meets the demanding cost and power budgets required by today's personal systems, with up to 400 million instructions per second (MIPS) of performance at $9.95 in 10,000 volume units.
The TMS320C5509 DSP is the most highly integrated general-purpose DSP tailored to enable a new generation of Internet media entertainment appliances, personal medical, personal identification, security, digital still cameras, personal video cameras, or any combination of these applications. The C5509 DSP has the most comprehensive set of on-board peripherals of any DSP, including a USB 1.1 port for direct connection to a PC or other USB host device. Its unparalleled functional integration allows designers of battery-operated and PC-connected products to reduce board space and power by a factor of three, while supporting most popular removable storage standards and multimedia format.
``TI continues to defend its leadership position with the announcement of these two new devices in their TMS320C55x(TM) generation of DSPs,'' said Will Strauss, president of DSP market watcher Forward Concepts. ``The C5502 offers excellent performance at a very aggressive price while the C5509 probably has more features than any other DSP in the market today.''
More Than Leading Edge Silicon
TI's DSP software and development tools give designers the ability to get to market faster and improve development success with easy to integrate products that optimize resources. Both the C5502 and C5509 DSPs are supported by TI's eXpressDSP(TM) Real-Time Software Technology, which includes the DSP/BIOS(TM) real-time kernel, the TMS320(TM) DSP Algorithm Standard, the Code Composer Studio(TM) Integrated Development Environment and interoperable software from the industry's largest third-party network.
The Price/Performance Leader for Digital Signal Processing
The C5502 DSP continues TI's commitment to improve and expand the performance range of the TMS320C55x DSP generation while reducing its cost and retaining code-compatibility with earlier members of the C5000 platform.
``In 1999, the C5402 set a new price/performance standard of 100 MIPS at six cents/MIP and power dissipation of 0.6 mW/MIP,'' said Christine Wu, C55x DSP product marketing manager. ``Today, the C5502 slashes that standard delivering up to four times the performance with 400 MIPS and reducing cost/MIP to just 2.5 cents while requiring one-third less power at only 0.22 mW/MIP. The C5502 also delivers I/O bandwidth of more than 500 Mbytes/sec, while consuming less than 90 mW of total power.''
The C5502 DSP is also the first DSP for less than $10 to provide a full 32-bit external memory interface with bandwidth up to 400 Mbytes/sec and support for low-cost SDRAM. It has 32 Kwords of on-chip Dual Access RAM, a Host Port Interface, general-purpose peripherals such as 3 Multichannel Buffered Serial Ports, a hardware UART, I2C master/slave port and 76 pins of dedicated and multiplexed GPIO.
The C5502 DSP is similar to the C5510 DSP released last year, so designers can begin code development immediately for the C5502 DSP on the C5510-evaluation module (EVM) available from TI. The PCI card-based C5510 EVM has 1 Mbyte of SRAM and 1 Mbyte of flash memory, as well as audio codec and power management circuitry.
A ``System on A Chip'' For Portable and PC-Connected and Multimedia Products
The C5509 DSP is the first DSP to combine the rich peripherals and power-efficient performance required by the next generation of hand-held, PC-connected, Internet-enabled products. The C5509 DSP reduces system power consumption, board space, parts count and manufacturing cost by performing functions typically requiring additional devices. The result approaches a ``system on a chip'' level, that allows the product it powers to offer more features in less space, with an increase in battery life of up to 70 percent over previous generation products.
Providing a complete system solution, the C5509 DSP has 96 Kwords of single-access SRAM, 32 Kwords of dual-access SRAM, 32 Kwords of ROM and six-channel DMA. It also offers the widest selection of peripherals designers need including:
Onboard USB 1.1 port
Three multi-channel buffered serial ports (McBSPs) for full-duplex communication
Watchdog timer
Real-time clock with 32-kHz crystal input and separate power supply
On-chip 10-bit ADC to enable battery monitoring and buttons interfaces
I2C interfaces to microcontrollers and codecs for inter-chip communication
6-Channel DMA supporting external transfers
SDRAM, SBSRAM and Asyn Enhanced Memory IF
Enhanced 16-bit Host Port Interface
Two 16-bit general purpose timers
Memory Stick Interface and MMC/SD
The C5509 DSP is the first device to have security features to protect intellectual property, including a 64-bit device ID, secure ROM and disconnect options for JTAG access. The C5509 DSP will initially be offered at 144MHz (up to 288 MIPS) and will be sampling at 200MHz (up to 400MIPS) in 1Q02.
The C5509 DSP supports most popular data storage formats, including Memory Stick, MultiMedia Card (MMC), and Secure Digital (SD). ``For tomorrow's hand- held multimedia applications, TI's extensive third party network provides our customers off-the-shelf algorithms including MPEG4 and JPEG video encode and decode, MP3, WMA, and other audio encode and decode, voice recognition, text-to-speech, and biometrics,'' said Wu. ``Development tools are available for the C5509 today, including evaluation modules and software, complete documentation, training and complementary analog components.''
TI Offers Broad Portfolio of High Performance Analog Products to Support its DSPs
TI provides power management solutions that are designed with C55x DSPs in mind allowing designers to increase revenue by developing products that meet the market's needs. For portable applications, the TPS76915 ultra low power linear regulator requires only 17 uA of current and is available in the space saving SOT-23 package. To conserve battery life, the TPS61001 low input voltage boost converter enables up to 90 percent efficiency from single and dual cell batteries, and the power saving mode improves efficiency at light loads for longer battery life. TI also provides a variety of high performance data converters that easily interface with these new DSPs. For example, designers can use the multi-channel, 16-bit, 100ksps ADS8341 and ADS8344 analog-to-digital converters, and the multi-channel, 12-bit, 200ksps TLV2548 ADC. For higher resolution applications, the 24-bit ADS1252 delta-sigma analog-to-digital converter is available.
Availability
Product briefs and data sheets for are available today for both the C5502 and C5509 DSPs. Samples of the C5502 DSP will be available in the first quarter of 2002 with production in the third quarter of 2002. Production price will be $9.95 (10,000 qty.). The C5510 EVM is available for a limited time at $995 (a $500 savings) exclusively from TI (http://www.dspvillage.ti.com/c5510evmpr). Samples of the C5509 DSP will be available in June as well as the C5509 EVM (available from Spectrum Digital, a TI third party, for a limited time at $995 -- a $500 savings (http://www.spectrumdigital.com). Production will begin in the first quarter of 2002 at a price of $18 (10,000 qty).
Texas Instruments Incorporated is the world leader in digital signal processing and analog technologies, the semiconductor engines of the Internet age. The company's businesses also include sensors and controls, and educational and productivity solutions. TI is headquartered in Dallas, Texas and has manufacturing or sales operations in more than 25 countries.
Texas Instruments is traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol TXN. More information is located on the World Wide Web at www.ti.com.
TRADEMARKS
All trademarks and registered trademarks are the property of their respective owners.
Bluetooth Teething Troubles
By Andy Goldberg
Sadly for 3Com's Shaun Paice, it was a fairly typical demonstration of a dazzling new technology. Paice was showing just how easy it was to link two laptops using the long-awaited miracle of wireless communication.
Paice – from 3Com's research centre in Hemel Hempstead, England – confidently set up his two laptops, each armed with spanking new Bluetooth cards, on opposite corners of the large booth, fully expecting them to bond like a couple of old girlfriends. Then the dreaded demon of demos struck. The two devices ignored each other completely.
"It even happens to Bill Gates," said Paice bravely, as he shuttled between laptops, pounding the keyboards with increasing desperation.
It was probably only a minor glitch that prevented Paice's Bluetooth cards from communicating at December's Bluetooth conference in Silicon Valley. But for industry veterans used to technological marvels that fail to live up to their hype, the foul-up gave warning of problems that might beset the next great hope of the European technology world. Can Bluetooth really fulfil expectations for a seamless "unplug and play" experience between any and every electronic gizmo, from mobile phone to petrol pump, from camera to printer? Will it really meet analysts' predictions that 1.4 billion Bluetooth-enabled devices will be manufactured in 2004 – up from a handful last year?
And what about security? Not to mention frequency clashes with the popular 802.11 wireless network protocol – an overlapping technology that, largely in America, is already standard equipment in many offices, factories and airport lounges, allowing workers to carry their laptops from cubicle to canteen to conference room, without ever disconnecting from the company's network.
Finally, even if Bluetooth is a success, how many of the more than 2,000 companies currently developing Bluetooth devices can realistically expect to be doing business a few years from now? Not too many, says Jack Quinn, a Bluetooth analyst and author of a report called Bluetooth 2001 – The World Market, which is selling briskly to industry experts despite a price tag of $1,885 (2,020 euros). "Just look at the Internet start-ups and what happened to them," Quinn cautions. "It's impossible for more than 10 per cent of those companies to be successful. There will be a wave of consolidation and bankruptcy."
Terry Novick, an analyst for Mobile Insights, a Silicon Valley-based mobile computing analysis firm, says: "The shakeout is inevitable. It all depends on things like whose software stack is adopted and who forms alliances with whom."
But the Silicon Valley Bluetooth conference was untroubled by such misgivings. The event's title – The Creation Of A World Without Wires – reflected the optimism that pervades the Bluetooth sector. Compared to last year, the confab attracted double the number of participants and was sold out months in advance. The talk on the conference floor was all about 2001 being the start of the Bluetooth revolution. And many of the accents were Scandinavian, English and Irish, reflecting the strong technological lead that European companies enjoy in what may prove to be as significant a technology as mobile phones.
Quinn backs this analysis with an amazingly steep adoption curve, and insists his figures are among the most conservative in the industry. At first, he predicts, Bluetooth will be used in what are little more than geek executive toys. About 5 million of Bluetooth devices are forecast to be bought by the end of 2001: 2 million mobile phones, a further 1.8 million phone headsets, and the rest largely laptop cards. By 2002, the figure should climb to 45 million, followed by 181 million the next year, 527 million in 2003 and 1.2 billion in 2005, he says.
This potential impact has helped win over former Bluetooth sceptics like Novick, who now believes that it will be remembered as one of the definitive technologies of the mobile age: "A lot of people have jumped on the Bluetooth bandwagon, but it really can change everything," she says. "Invisible synchronisation just by being close to everything – it's astounding. I want it now."
But Novick is well aware of the delays in getting Bluetooth to market, given the immense complexity of designing a system that hopes to be a wireless interpreter of information between all kinds of electronic devices. "It's taking so long because it's so complicated. I applaud companies for holding back until they get it right."
If and when that happens, companies will rush to give their workforces the benefits of total digital mobility. As prices fall, Bluetooth will enter homes, cars, toys, washing machines and ticket booths, becoming the invisible but universal coupling joint of digital devices.
"Every company had better be looking at wireless and figuring out how to integrate it into the organisation. If you aren't, your competitors certainly are," Novick advises.
She raves about the myriad of Bluetooth-enabled devices that will create an invisible network surrounding you everywhere. "It will always be there in the background, making life easier. Bluetooth and 802.11 are the key things that will allow us to see a return on investment from all our mobile devices."
These shining visions of our Bluetoothed future assume, of course, that engineers will solve some of Bluetooth's technical problems that could inhibit its mass adoption. Bluetooth transmits on the 2.4MHz frequency and can cause serious disruptions to 802.11 local area networks (LANs). Bluetooth investors say that high-powered teams from companies such as Intel and Motorola have been deployed to lick the problem.
Companies will also have to bring prices down drastically if they want the technology to be widely adopted. The cheapest Bluetooth devices currently cost more than $100 (about €110). That might be acceptable for early adopters, but for Bluetooth to penetrate the mass market – and that means mobile phones – it will have to come down to about $5. Even given improvements in the technology and savings from mass production, that will be a tall order.
A more daunting prospect may be the gaping security breaches that Bluetooth could blow open. Companies have diligently set up almost impregnable firewalls, but wireless networking technologies can open a window wide enough for infiltrators to get in easily. The problem is that encryption is generally effective in inverse proportion to the level of convenience in communication. Bluetooth is simply scrambled, spreading its data over numerous different spectrums, rather than encrypted in complex algorithms, in what many experts regard as an open invitation to eavesdroppers.
Pandora's box "Bluetooth will open a Pandora's box of security issues," says James Atkinson, a leading expert on electronic surveillance and director of the security Web site TCMS.com. He quotes a tenet of his trade that "convenience and security can never go together," and argues that any form of wireless communication is easily penetrated unless incredibly sophisticated and expensive countermeasures are taken. For him, the Bluetooth architecture contains none of these precautions.
"A couple of high-school kids with a scanner and a soldering iron could crack it in minutes," he scoffs. "It wouldn't even slow down a professional. Bluetooth has no security. It just has an illusion of security."
Atkinson claims that Bluetooth companies are deliberately hiding this information to increase marketability. "The public is screaming for it, so the Bluetooth companies will give it to them. But it's no more secure than the first mobile phone and about the only thing it's safe against is nursery school children. A company that values its security will not be using wireless communications." Or, in the words of a report by analyst Martin Reynolds at research house Gartner: "From a security perspective, Bluetooth is a disaster waiting to happen." The danger is not only of a nasty hacker clawing into the personal area network (PAN) that Bluetooth will create around you. The potential for destructive viruses increases too, because Bluetooth allows so many devices to chat to each other.
High-tech gymnastics Experts from Bluetooth companies dismiss these fears as alarmist and paint visions of the high-tech gymnastics that Bluetooth will be able to perform. They construct dazzling scenarios in which the synching of telephone numbers between mobile phone and PC will be child's play.
Imagine walking into hotel business lounges and printing pictures from your digital camera on a local printer at the touch of a button. Or picture yourself mowing the lawn while listening to music through earphones that are jacked in to the phone line. When you get a call, the mower stops, the music switches to a phone feed and – with voice recognition capabilities – the appointment you make is automatically scheduled in your PDA.
Such complex capabilities are no doubt an enticing sales tool, but Bluetooth developers must be careful they don't oversell their technology, warns Dr Michael Foley, Microsoft's Bluetooth guru. As the wireless architect at the company charged with designing much of the cross-platform integration, Foley is cautious about the kind of miracles we can expect. "The holy grail of inter-operability between every device and every application is never going to be reached," he cautions. "It's an exponential equation that's impossible from a mathematical standpoint. But if you stick to cable replacement, it will work just fine."
Thus, at the very least, Bluetooth will take a large bite from the dreaded jungle of wires that snake behind countless computers, VCRs and hi-fi stacks. For many consumers and IT managers, that promise alone will be enough to justify the entire Bluetooth extravaganza.
That prediction also sounds right to Falk Muller-Veerse, an analyst at hi-tech investment boutique Durlacher. "Synchronisation issues still need solving," he says. "The devices can see each other but not talk. They have a central nervous system but no brain." He believes that unless Bluetooth allows machines to understand each other's languages, the technology's promise will remain unfulfilled. "I don't think it's going to be as revolutionary as people say. It has been overhyped and it's not going to change our lives overnight."
But some of the biggest names in technology appear to be betting otherwise. The Bluetooth effort is led by a posse of technology giants: 3Com, Ericsson, IBM, Lucent, Microsoft, Motorola and Toshiba, while the Bluetooth Special Interests Group (SIG) includes over 2,000 companies trying to get their products to engage in digital intercourse.
Muller-Veerse believes that although the large number of companies involved might seem like the embodiment of "co-opetition" (that byword of modern corporate strategy), it has some serious drawbacks. "You have thousands of companies all trying to get their own specifications adopted as the standard," he points out. "The big companies should have defined the standards earlier."
Many companies may just be along for the ride – anxious to have chips on the table in case Bluetooth wins big, but not playing any high-stake hands. "There are very few large companies focusing only on Bluetooth," Muller-Veerse observes. "And there aren't even that many start-ups devoted to the technology."
But from the vantage point of Alan Woolhouse, VP of marketing at Cambridge Silicon Radio, Bluetooth is anything but a bubble. The British company's Bluecore single-chip Bluetooth technology recently attracted a $50 million (53.6 million euros) investment from companies including Sony, Compaq and Phillips on the way to a stock market flotation that may value the company at over $1.5 billion (1.6 billion euros). A start-up in 1998, CSR now has over 120 employees – up from only 30 in March 2000 – and is aiming for 200 more by the end of the year. The company is already selling chips for $8 (8.58 euros) apiece in orders of a million plus, and is negotiating new contracts to sell tens of millions by the end of the year.
"The market is huge," says Woolhouse. "It's the most dynamic part of the IT industry. Everyone is in it – from established players to tiny start-ups." Which sounds uncannily like what was said about WAP.
Has bluetooth bitten off more than it can chew? First developed by two Ericsson engineers in 1994, Bluetooth is a wireless technology named after Harald Bluetooth, the 10th-century Viking king who united Denmark and Norway after a series of bloody wars.
The mission facing the modern Bluetooth may prove just as tough: the technology aims to link billions of electronic devices into a seamless, convenient and ubiquitous digital network. The Bluetooth design is based on tiny radio transmitters that can be built into almost any electronic device and transmit over the unregulated 2.4MHz frequency – the same spectrum as microwaves and the rival mobile networking protocol widely known as 802.11.
The stated aim is for Bluetooth to work within a 10-metre radius, though Ericsson engineers say that eventually there is no reason why the range couldn't be extended up to 100 metres. Bluetooth software will build protocol stacks to allow all these different devices not only to transmit data but to understand each others' languages and implement commands.
But there's a long way to go before Bluetooth ties everything together. Initially, it will just be a cable replacement technology. That annoying wire between your mobile phone and your earpiece? Bluetooth can take care of it with a chip in the phone and another in the headset. Soon after it will also be able to turn your phone into a wireless modem to your laptop, which will be fitted with its own Bluetooth device. Bluetooth could also rid us of those masses of cables that snake from the back of desktop computers to printers, scanners, keyboards, monitors, mice, microphones and speakers.
Bluetooth creates a personal area network (PAN) that envelops all your gadgets in an invisible digital bubble. Power cords, however, will remain the mess they are today; as will the cable jungle behind TVs, videos and stereos. But it will be possible to synch your addresses, appointments and to-do lists among your various computers, phones and PDAs.
Critics have suggested that Bluetooth is little more than a glorified version of the infra-red communicators that we already have on our laptops and handhelds. These, while undoubtedly useful for exchanging information, are not exactly making anyone's earth move. But, according to the evangelists, it is when Bluetooth breaks free of the PAN to manage data communications between strangers that the picture gets interesting.
The goal is for Bluetooth to enable a kind of digital orgy, where myriad devices immediately locate each other and get intimate. Companies are already making Bluetooth vending machines that can automatically charge your phone, and petrol pumps that identify your car and charge your credit card. There will also be Bluetooth access points that let users connect to corporate networks, and Bluetooth cameras that allow you to download in seconds to PCs and printers. At home, Bluetooth will network all electronic devices, automatically turning the stereo down when the phone rings or warming up your car from your phone on cold winter mornings.
Its backers contend that Bluetooth is such a powerful technology that it's impossible to predict the new patterns of behaviour it will initiate. But they promise it will make the world of digital devices more than a mere sum of its parts, and turn a previously obscure Viking king into one of the best known monarchs in history.
OT: May 03, 2001 Rupert Murdoch Romancing the Satellite
Oh, what twisted games we play.
The best soap opera for the past year hasn't been on daytime TV, it's been about TV. If CBS's Survivor seems a bit tame, if you're looking for more secret partnerships and deal making, look no further than the battle over General Motor's (NYSE: GM) wholly-owned satellite subsidiary Hughes Electronics (NYSE: GMH). Two days ago, GM's board authorized further talks about merging Hughes with News Corp's (NYSE: NWS) satellite unit. Just as Survivor wraps up, so too may this deal.
This ongoing ordeal is about more than low-earth orbit satellites and high technology. It's about the future of communications. It's about who controls the 500 channels, and how ones and zeros are piped into your home. Sleeping with the enemy is easily justified in this world, just as long as it gets you invited to the right parties.
If the plot sounds familiar, that's because the situation bears resemblance to the plot of the James Bond flick Tomorrow Never Dies. Though I think it's safe to assume Rupert Murdoch, News Corp's head honcho, doesn't have a stealth boat that can swallow seagoing vessels, he does seem to have his heart set on controlling the world's largest media company.
Syndey, Australia-based News Corp. is the very definition of a global media conglomerate with interests in books (HarperCollins Publishing), cable (anything Fox), film (20th Century Fox), magazines (TV Guide), newspapers (the New York Post and several UK papers), television (Fox Broadcasting), and even sports (the Los Angeles Dodgers and Australia's National Rugby League). His empire would make Ted Turner feel inadequate.
News Corp. controls the Fox Entertainment Group (NYSE: FOX), which handles many of the businesses mentioned above. Through News Corp, Australian media tycoon Murdoch also shares a 21.26% ownership interest in Gemstar-TV Guide Int'l (Nasdaq: GMST) with Liberty Media (NYSE: LMG.A), which is controlled by another deal-savvy media tycoon, John Malone.
Gemstar-TV Guide owns America's #1 selling weekly magazine and also controls the lion's share of digital programming guides like those provided with digital cable or DirecTV. It's the next-best thing to controlling programming. In fact, it's better: No matter what fluff is created or how much actors request per episode, somebody has to tell the viewers when it's on. Gemstar-TV Guide is the Rule Maker of digital programming guides.
Murdoch has his sights set on Hughes. For decades, he has been accumulating assets to fill the voids in his global media enterprise. Like the piece of a jigsaw puzzle that eludes you, Murdoch needs Hughes to complete his puzzle -- and GM knows it. Heck, everybody knows it, and Murdoch has not been shy about his Pavlovian need for it. As noted by The Wall Street Journal: "Hughes DirecTV operation, with about 10 million U.S. subscribers, could be the final big link in a global satellite grid he has labored for 20 years to assemble." Murdoch, you see, already controls the hugely successful satellite network across the pond, British Sky Broadcasting (BSkyB for short), and has interests in a number of other satellite-based companies.
Even though Murdoch showed his hand by lusting after Hughes, he's not without poker skills. The same Journal article reported that News Corp. has "courted" EchoStar Communications (Nasdaq: DISH), the #2 satellite television provider, to demonstrate that it has other options in the U.S. satellite market.
Motivation abounds
GM sees an $8 billion pot of cash at the end of this rainbow that could shore up its balance sheet in time for an upcoming credit rating review. While GM executives have undoubtedly enjoyed having a high-growth, high-tech asset under their control -- and it may even support GM's shareholder value -- Hughes doesn't exactly fit snugly with the auto business, and shareholders are getting antsy.
How this will affect GM's moderately successful OnStar satellite driver services program is another matter. OnStar launched in 1996, is now available on 32 of GM's 54 models -- as well as a few non-GM models like the Lexus LS430 and Acura RL -- and just signed up its millionth customer.
Hughes shareholders have been clamoring to unleash the true value of its satellite system and growing DirecTV and DirecPC subscriber base. And for Murdoch, well, ruling the skies over Britain and Australia must get quite boring. He wants a global satellite network -- so much so that talk of buying GM outright, just to get control of Hughes, has been batted around on more than one occasion.
It's not that far-fetched. According to a recent CNET article, GM's total stock is currently worth $54 billion. Hughes is worth around $19 billion, and GM has approximately $13 billion in cash and securities. That leaves $22 billion for the auto business. Twenty-two billion dollars for #3 on the Fortune 500 list. Twenty-two billion for one the world's largest employers and $185 billion in revenues. Alfred P. Sloan would be so disappointed.
But Murdoch isn't the only one with his eyes on Hughes. In 1999, AOL, before it was AOL Time Warner (NYSE: AOL), invested $1.5 billion in Hughes. The goal was to accelerate customer growth and foster a relationship for AOL TV. The two companies also agreed to develop set-top boxes that can provide DirecTV and AOL TV. AOL's high-speed Internet service, AOL Plus, will also be available over the Hughes DirecPC satellite network in the near future.
Of course, a story about global domination wouldn't be complete without Microsoft (Nasdaq: MSFT). After all, no company has more cash to throw around and no company wants a piece of the digital pie more. Microsoft is also in bed with Hughes through its Ultimate TV service that combines a personal video recorder (PVR) with WebTV and DirecTV. In 1997, Microsoft made a $1 billion investment in Comcast (Nasdaq: CMCSA), signaling that it was serious about playing a role in the future of Internet delivery systems. Then, in 1999, Gates and gang plopped down $5 billion for a stake in AT&T (NYSE: T) following Ma Bell's $100 plus billion cable company spending spree. Without question, Microsoft is using its cash to buy a seat at the bargaining table.
As if News Corp. didn't have enough dance partners, it approached Yahoo! (Nasdaq: YHOO) last February about a partnership. No matter who ends up with who, one thing is for sure: the offspring of any of these deals will not have money problems.
REPOST: The Next Big Little Thing
You can't buy it yet, but a stealthy company called DataPlay has invented a
miniature optical-storage drive, about the size of a matchbook, that can
store up to 500 megabytes of data on a $10 removable platter not much
larger than a quarter. Yes, the picture here is actual size. The implications
are huge for digital cameras, MP3 players, electronic books, Web-enabled
wireless phones, videocams, and pocket computers, which today are forced
to rely on either wildly expensive flash-memory cards or bulkier storage
solutions. Toshiba, Samsung, Sonicblue (maker of the Rio 800, below),
Universal Music, and other big names are planning to use the DataPlay
technology in products coming later this year. The little disks can be
"mastered," enabling record companies, for example, to distribute new
copyright-protected albums along with music videos and other material.
Consumers can also use them to record digital picture archives and MP3
music files. One potential drawback: There's no way to re-record the
DataPlay disks--they're write-once devices that can't be erased--but at $10
a pop for half a gig of storage, who cares? Some consumer electronics
companies are waiting to make sure the DataPlay drives are reliable
enough for portable devices, and for the cost of the micro-optical
drives--believed to be around $200--to come down. Even so, the cost of the
drive is not all that much more than a standard flash-memory card with a
fraction of the capacity. And there's more: DataPlay says it is already
working on a second-generation micro-optical system that holds the
promise of multigigabyte capacities.