Register for free to join our community of investors and share your ideas. You will also get access to streaming quotes, interactive charts, trades, portfolio, live options flow and more tools.
Register for free to join our community of investors and share your ideas. You will also get access to streaming quotes, interactive charts, trades, portfolio, live options flow and more tools.
Apple livid over Toshiba 60GB hard drive blunder
June 3, 2004 -
Apple executives are reported to be "more than a little mad" Wednesday after published reports that a Toshiba hard drive manager officially confirmed a new 1.8-inch hard drive with a 60GB capacity would soon be in full production and that Apple had committed to buying the drive. The report clearly puts Apple in a difficult position to deny a new, higher-capacity iPod is coming and harks back to a similar screwup by graphics company ATI in 1999, which took a costly toll on its relationship with Apple CEO Steve Jobs.
A story by IDG News Service reports that the deputy manager of Toshiba's Digital Media Network hard disk drive division technical department confirmed at a computer convention in Taiwan that the company plans to launch a 60GB version of its 1.8-inch drive in the coming months and that Apple has committed to buying the drive for use in one of its own products.
Deputy Manager Cindy Lee is reported to have said the drive will be in mass production in July or August. Although the story doesn't quote Lee directly, it leaves few details to the imagination that a new drive is coming soon and Apple will be using it in future iPods; Apple doesn't use Toshiba's miniature drives in anything but iPods.
Sources inside Apple confirmed late Wednesday that company executives are wondering, "what the hell happened? This is a major !@#$&* up and you don't have to be a genius to figure out what is coming next from Apple," said one source close to the iPod maker. "Apple is trying to get answers from Toshiba, but it appears they are just as in the dark as to what happened. Apple is not happy."
As for Toshiba, the company reportedly is trying to do quick damage control.
"Somebody opened their big mouth and either it was taken out of context or was 'off-the-record' or this person really did just confirm it all," said a hard drive industry analyst familiar with how technology companies work business relationships. "There is no good way to handle this now. Toshiba screwed up and it could have major consequences, depending on how upset Steve Jobs is."
Another source close to Toshiba confirmed Wednesday the company has fielded calls and e-mail from Apple executives since early Wednesday morning trying to smooth over angry executives who saw the report.
Officially, Toshiba does not discuss new products until they are in full production. In addition, the company never discusses who its customers are.
If the news of Apple's use of the 60GB miniature drive is true and the time frame of July or August for full production of the Toshiba 60GB hard drive is correct, it is very apparent Apple is on the verge of announcing at least one new version of its iPod portable music player. At present, Apple's white version of the iPod has a maximum capacity of 40GB, using Toshiba's 1.8-inch drive.
Various Think Secret sources have reported in the past month that Apple will begin later this year to more aggressively update its iPod product line on a more regular basis. Some sources have mentioned September as an opportune time.
The Toshiba gaffe harkens back to a similar one by graphics chip maker ATI in July of 1999 when it accidentally sent out a press release confirming Apple would use its RAGE 4XL chip in a new iMac model and RAGE 128 PRO standard in two Power Mac models before Apple had its chance to announce the new desktop Macs.
As a result, Jobs reportedly was so upset by the press release screw-up that he removed all mention of ATI and their products from his keynote presentation the next day and scrapped a portion of his presentation where an ATI executive was to take the stage and perform a demonstration of the company's new RADEON graphics cards for the Mac. In addition, Jobs reportedly demanded that all ATI RADEON card options be removed from the company's online store. It was some time before ATI products returned as options on the Apple online store or in Apple products.
Less than 24 hours since the 'Toshiba blunder' occurred, it doesn't appear the hard drive report has scorched the relationship with Apple to the level of the ATI screw-up. But as one source put it, "This incident isn't over yet."
Video Players Go Portable
Success of the IPod prompts companies to produce mobile multimedia devices.
Martyn Williams, IDG News Service
Thursday, June 03, 2004
Keen to ride on the success of digital music players like Apple Computer's IPod, Taiwanese electronics manufacturers are promoting multimedia players that include video functions at the Computex trade show currently taking place in Taipei.
Numerous hard-drive based portable music and video players are on show at Computex and almost without exception, the manufacturers are telling potential customers that they will be ready to start production during the next three months.
Eager as the companies are to capitalize on what they think is a natural progression from digital music players, the prototypes at Computex contain a dizzying list of specifications, and there is little consensus on which features and formats should be supported, or on the preferred physical size or storage capacity.
The players can be divided into three broad categories based on hard-drive size: either 2.5-inch, 1.8-inch, or 1-inch drives. The size of the drive helps determine the overall physical size of the product and also the storage capacity. A lot of the players on display are based on 1.8-inch drives, which are manufactured by companies such as Toshiba and currently available in capacities up to 40GB.
Players using 1-inch or 2.5-inch drives are also on show at Computex but don't appear to be as popular a choice for manufacturers as the 1.8-inch drives. The 1-inch drives offer a more limited capacity of up to around 4GB and the 2.5-inch drives increase the size of the finished product.
Finding a Format
In terms of functions, playback of digital audio and video is common across all devices with some also offering a photo album function, but there is a big difference when it comes to the formats supported.
While digital music in MP3 format is widespread among PCs users, digital video appears to be much less common and so a dominate or widespread format has yet to appear. In the meantime, some of the players support a few formats while others attempt to cover all the bases. For example, the JoyToGo player from AnexTek Global supports MPEG4 and Motion JPEG video while the mPack from Power Quotient International (PQI) supports those formats as well as MPEG 1, MPEG 2, DivX, Xvid, and Windows Media Video.
There is some commonality in the area of price. When asked, most companies were quoting end-user prices of between $500 and $700 for the players, although observers at the show and even representatives of some of the manufacturers admitted that those prices would have to fall by around half before the players become a mass-market product.
Price probably won't be the only deciding factor on whether such products become mass-market replacements for music players, niche products, or flops. Lifestyle could play a big part because digital video requires a different usage environment. Music can be enjoyed almost anywhere but video requires a little more concentration. While it is suitable for the train or bus, one can't safely watch video while walking along a street or riding a bicycle.
There is also the different way we enjoy music and video, says Kow Ping, country manager for China, Hong Kong, and South Asia at hard-drive maker Cornice. Music tends to be listened to again and again by people, so carrying the same song around in a pocket is an attractive option, however movies or TV programs aren't usually watched repeatedly, he says.
Interest Is High
Cornice produces 1-inch hard drives available in capacities of between 1GB and 2GB and Kow says the market for such drives is strong at present because of digital media players.
Toshiba has seen strong interest from companies looking to use the company's hard drives. "You wouldn't believe how many inquiries we've had," says Cindy Lee, deputy manager of Toshiba Digital Media Network company, Taiwan's hard drive division technical department. Toshiba produces a 1.8-inch drive that is used by Apple in its IPod.
Chip maker Texas Instruments, which is selling its digital media processor to many companies making such products, also says it has been getting a lot of attention from its customers and had several prototypes from customers on its booth as proof.
Also of interest at the show is the question of what part Microsoft will or won't play in the sector, an issue which remains to be seen.
The software giant is attempting to get in on the action with its Windows Mobile software for Portable Media Centers OS, but Peter Duh, a field applications manager at Texas Instruments, says many of its customers are looking to Linux or Micro iTron, at least in first generation machines.
"A high-level operating system means more memory," he says. "Maybe for the next generation [of products] a high-level OS might be effective, but not now."
New Creative Zen Touch HDD Player
Touch Pad 24 Hours battery
http://gear.ign.com/articles/520/520463p1.html?fromint=1
TI Outlines Wi-Fi Growth Opportunities at Computex 2004
Smaller, Power-Efficient Solutions will Drive Wi-Fi into Consumer Electronics,Mobile Devices and Broadband Home Networking Applications
TAIPEI, Taiwan, June 2 /PRNewswire/ -- Home networking, enterprise networking and public hotspots have fueled the growth of Wi-Fi networking over the last several years noted D. R. 'Randy' Roberson, Texas Instruments Incorporated (NYSE: TXN) (TI) general manager of Wireless Networking, during his keynote address to hundreds of industry executives attending Computex
Digitimes Forum 2004. Roberson explained that more power efficient, smaller solutions are driving embedded WLAN into new applications for consumer electronics, broadband access and mobile devices. You can access Roberson's keynote presentation online at http://www.ti.com/computex2004 .
"WLAN growth opportunities are bigger than ever with the entrance of embedded Wi-Fi connecting consumer electronic devices, home networks and wireless handsets. Analysts are predicting that Wi-Fi connectivity in networked consumer electronic devices could reach approximately 40 percent by
2008(1). We believe that this percentage could be much higher since this is an emerging market for WLAN growth," explained Roberson. "Asian manufacturers are important to the success of WLAN worldwide, and TI is committed to helping grow the Wi-Fi market through key partnerships in Asia and our local design
and support teams."
Roberson noted that the WLAN market has grown tremendously over the past four years, and TI has fueled much of this growth by delivering innovative products that are optimized for integration. In 2003, TI shipped over 14 Million WLAN ports, a 350 percent increase over 2002. TI is integrating this WLAN innovation with its complete broadband portfolio of cable modem, DSL and voice-over-Internet protocol (VoIP) products, providing system-level solutions for the next generation of broadband equipment. With over 270 million broadband subscribers expected worldwide by 2008(2) WLAN will be at the center of everyone's network.
Roberson emphasized that in addition to its extensive broadband
capabilities, TI combines its expertise in wireless technologies and digital consumer electronics to bring new features and capabilities to cell phones, digital cameras, MP3 players and other consumer devices that connect people seamlessly from the office, home, public places and schools. New WLAN
standards will also drive the proliferation of Wi-Fi connected mobile devices.
The introduction of 802.11n will provide greater throughput for new applications that require higher bandwidth, and 802.11e will increase quality of service and drive WLAN video and voice services.
Closing his address, Roberson offered TI's forward looking vision for a converged wireless world -- TI envisions that all consumer electronics, homes and offices will have a wireless connection, allowing seamless communication with any device over any network, anywhere, anytime.
Apple lines up for Toshiba's new 60GB drive
By Martyn Williams, IDG News Service
June 02, 2004 9:00 am ET
Toshiba Corp. is planning to launch a 60GB version of its 1.8-inch hard disk drive in the coming months and has already found a customer in Apple Computer, the company said Wednesday at the Computex 2004 exhibition in Taipei.
The drive will enter mass-production during July or August and represents a jump in the storage density of Toshiba's 1.8-inch drives, said Cindy Lee, deputy manager of Toshiba Digital Media Network Taiwan Corp.'s hard disk drive division technical department.
Toshiba's current highest capacity drive, which is a 40GB model, includes two disc platters, each capable of holding 20GB of data. In the new drive, this capacity will be increased to 30GB per platter.
Ahead of the launch, Toshiba has been showing the drive to customers and has already received an order from Apple, Lee said. Toshiba is currently shipping 350,000 of the 1.8-inch drives per month to Apple for use in the iPod, which is manufactured by Taiwan's Inventec Corp.
The iPod is available in three models with 15GB, 20GB and 40GB capacity hard disk drives. Apple's new iPod mini, which was launched earlier this year, uses a 4GB capacity 1-inch hard disk drive from Hitachi Global Storage Technologies Inc.
Demand for more drives for the company's iPod digital music player is one of the driving reasons behind a planned expansion of drive production from 800,000 units per month of combined 1.8-inch and 2.5-inch drives to 1 million by the end of this year, according to Lee. The company is also seeing a large amount of interest in the drive from companies looking to produce similar portable digital music players or more advanced devices that can also play video, she said.
"We've had so many enquires," Lee said. "You wouldn't believe how many enquiries we've had."
Toshiba's current 1.8-inch hard disk drive line-up includes models with 5GB, 10GB, 15GB, 20GB, 30GB and 40GB capacities
Collier has a special running
http://www.digmind.com/store/dmcxclef_hdd500_3.html
Fall in Profits for No-Frills Airline
By Phil Waller, City Staff, PA News
Budget airline Ryanair today posted the first fall in its net profits since it floated in 1997.
The Dublin-based no-frills carrier said pre-tax profits in the year to March 31 had fallen 14% to 228.5 million euros (£152.1 million) from 264.5 million euros (£176.1 million) the year before.
Ryanair said competition, the Iraq war, a weaker pound, higher oil prices and the threat of terrorist attacks had all contributed to adverse market conditions during the year.
But it said passenger numbers during the year had nevertheless grown by a record 47% to more than 23 million.
In May, it carried 2,170,381 people, up 18.7% from last year’s 1,828,454.
Chief executive Michael O’Leary told reporters that the firm was considering a number of revenue-boosting initiatives such as in-flight entertainment screens, which passengers would pay to watch.
If the scheme goes ahead, Ryanair hopes to launch it next summer, with the company’s new 737-800 jets likely to be the first to get the seat-back screens.
Mr O’Leary said Ryanair had significantly lowered fares while maintaining a “world leading” after-tax profit margin of more than 20%.
“These results demonstrate yet again what a superb job the 2,300 people of Ryanair do in both good times and bad,” he said.
Ryanair said pre-tax profits had fallen 5% to 226.6 million euros (£150.8 million).
That excluded the 14.9 million euros (£9.9 million) cost of the earlier-than-planned retirement of six Boeing 737-200 jets, a 2.7 million euros (£1.8 million) charge for reorganising the recently acquired Buzz airline and goodwill costs of 2.3 million euros (£1.53m).
The airline said it did not expect rises in oil prices to damage or slow the growth of low fare air travel.
It said it would absorb any hikes by cutting costs in other areas and pledged not to impose fuel surcharges on customers.
Ryanair said regulatory battles such as its recent dispute with the European commission over subsidies from the publicly-owned airport at Charleroi in Brussels would prove to be “temporary obstacles”.
The airline said it was confident it would win its appeals on Charleroi and another dispute involving Strasbourg airport.
During the year, the airline opened two new bases at Rome Ciampino and Barcelona Girona and launched 73 new routes, boosting its network to 150 routes.
Current bookings indicated load factors at both new bases would top 85% during the summer.
The group said it was keeping a conservative outlook for the coming 12 months.
It said it expected passenger growth of about 20%, although seat capacity would only rise by 16% due to failure to agree lease terms for jets formerly run by Buzz.
Update on the $50 Microsoft iPod:
Denver Post bungles story
Posted May 28, 2004, 12:55 PM ET by Peter Rojas
Related entries: Portable Audio
We’re correcting our post from earlier today about a $50 ipod clone from Microsoft. Basically, it looks like the Denver Post got it really, really wrong when they published this yesterday:
Microsoft Corp., the world’s largest software maker, will begin selling portable music players for as much as 80 percent less than Apple Computer Inc.’s iPod.
The Microsoft-branded devices will “look and feel” as good as the iPod for as little as $50, said Yusuf Mehdi, corporate vice president of MSN at Microsoft Corp., at the Goldman Sachs fifth annual Internet Conference in Las Vegas. The iPod sells for $249 to $499.
Microsoft, based in Redmond, Wash., will release a number of music players when it launches its online music service later this year, giving customers more choices than Apple, Mehdi said.
If you go and look at the original transcript of Mehdi’s remarks, here’s what he actually says:
I’ve spent time with a bunch of hardware manufacturers who will launch hardware products when we ship our service that will look and feel as good as the iPod product. And they will undoubtedly be a little bit less expensive and so head-to-head against Apple we’ll have a device that will be available to the consumer. We won’t produce it but it will be available to the consumer. We gave a lot of input. And then we’ll have a bunch of other devices, some that we’ve already talked about, one the Portable Media Center, which is a device that’s a little bit bigger and a little more expensive that has video and audio, much higher end looking device. It’s for people who really want to sort of look at music videos and not just music, which is very powerful, we’ll have that offering. And then a bunch of devices in between, little ones that cost 50 bucks and you can go running with.
He doesn’t say that they’ll be Microsoft-branded players or that they’ll be making the players themsevles, and he doesn’t say that they’ll have a $50 iPod clone, just that there will be “little ones that cost 50 bucks and you can go running with.”
Sony to ship portable video, MP3 player next month
By Tony Smith
Published Thursday 27th May 2004 11:57 GMT
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2004/05/27/sony_mp3_vid_player/
Having admitted this week that Apple beat it to offering the "Walkman of the 21st Century", Sony is fiercely fighting back to recapture the title.
Earlier this month we reported on its first Vaio-branded colour portable music player, the VGF-AP1. Today, Sony unveiled a second machine, this time pitched even more as an adjunct to a home PC, but this time with still photography and video playback functionality.
And in a rare move for Sony, the player supports MP3 rather than the company's own ATRAC audio format.
The second model, the HMP-A1, contains a 20GB hard drive, the contents of which are listed on a front-mounted 3.5in, 320 x 240 colour LCD - larger than the VGF-AP1's 2.2in display. The new unit is larger, too, and heavier: it's 13 x 7.6 x 2.2cm to the first model's 11.5 x 6.3 x 1.7cm. The two machines weight 250g and 195g, respectively.
The HMP-A1 plays back MPEG 2 and MPEG 4 files. Its software allows it to handle MPEG 1, AVI, WMV and DVR-MS, but these are converted to one of the MPEG video formats when they're downloaded from a host PC to the player.
Likewise, BMP, GIF, PNG and TIFF files are converted to the JPEG files upon transfer.
Not only does the HMP-A1 support MP3 natively, but Sony will ship it with MusicMatch's Jukebox software.
The unit will ship with a Lithium Ion rechargeable battery capable of providing up to four hours' MPEG 2, six hours' MPEG 4 or eight hours' MP3 playback. Sony provides an AC adaptor, but the HMP-A1 can also charge off the host PC's USB 2.0 bus.
The unit has an earphone socket, but it also provides all the ports punters will need to connect it to a hi-fi and TV.
Primarily, Sony expects it to be used on the move. Indeed, it's pitching the product as a way to carry TV shows you recorded on your PC with you when you're out and about. While you might think the Vaio-branded model was intended simply as an adjunct to a home PC, Sony appears to be targeting the HMP-A1 at this kind of role, and the Vaio VGF-AP1 at a broader range of consumers.
The new model also appears to be a follow-up to the GigaPocket PCVA-HVP20 portable video player (right) it announced last November
The HMP-A1 will go on sale in Japan on 26 June for around ¥63,000 ($563/£310). ®
Related stories
Sony unveils colour 'iPod killer'
Sony unveils video iPod
Sony shows wireless PlayStation Portable
iPod: Leader, but Not Ruler
MAY 27, 2004
By Alex Salkever
Apple's digital-music player is a bona fide hit. But analysts' belief that it commands 25% of the global market may be overblown
With iPod mania running full tilt, many people assume that Apple (AAPL ) utterly dominates the markets for digital-music players. And that includes Apple itself. "In the biggest markets we're...40% to 50% of the market share of all MP3 players. That includes flash and hard-drive players," said Apple sales chief Phil Schiller during a May 14 Merrill Lynch conference call. He also claimed that iPod sales outstripped the combined sales of the competitors in second, third, fourth, and fifth place. "Our market share is tremendous," Schiller gushed.
Advertisement
Apple officials are careful to state that they're referring only to markets in the U.S., Japan, and Western Europe, where they believe they have good tracking data. Although no one monitors overall international numbers, most analysts have assumed Apple has well over 25% of worldwide digital-music player sales. They base that view on Apple's strength in those three key markets.
Too bad their assumption is off base: The iPod's global market share may actually fall well below the 25% mark.
COLD WATER. Very little good data exists on international sales of consumer electronics -- digital-music players included. With the exception of Japan, information out of Asia is sketchy. By some estimates the Chinese market for digital-music players hit 1.8 million units in 2003, but given the chaotic nature of the Middle Kingdom's economy, that number could well fall short. Good sales data in Latin America, Eastern Europe, India, South Korea, and Taiwan remain hard to come by.
So companies put together piecemeal estimates of their global market share. And they rely on information collected by researchers such as NPD Group, which tracks U.S. retail sales of consumer electronics.
That's one way to get a handle on market share. Another is to ask the folks who make the components that go into digital-music players. A number of outfits specifically sell chips targeted at digital-audio devices. They consume less power than chips used for audio playback in cell phones or PDAs and are far more sophisticated than the relatively crude chips in CD players. Their makers include Texas Instruments (TXN ), Phillips, and SigmaTel (SGTL ), the market leader in terms of unit sales. Another strong competitor is PortalPlayer, the supplier of chips that run the iPod.
LOOKING ABROAD. According to one of those chipmakers and to industry analysts, worldwide shipments of digital-music-player chips hit about 15 million last year. An April, 2004, report from investment bank CIBC on this market estimated global sales of flash and hard-drive music players at 17 million. If that's true, then the 1.5 million iPods sold in 2003 gives Apple 8% to 10% of the global market. In fact, SigmaTel alone sold 9 million chips specifically designed for rival digital-music players, dwarfing iPod sales.
True, most of the players counted in these tallies were cheaper units that use solid-state flash memory, rather than higher-capacity hard drives. So, total revenue from iPod sales, running at close to $1 billion on an annual basis, certainly accounts for more than 10% of the total for digital-music players. Further, Apple hasn't pushed nearly as hard to enter international markets with the iPod as some of its competitors. Steve Jobs has yet to truly attempt to take on China, for example.
It's also important to note that sales of iPods are growing more quickly than the overall digital-music-player market. The CIBC report estimates that unit sales of flash and hard-drive players will grow 85% in 2004, to 31.5 million. Apple sold just over 800,000 iPods in its second fiscal quarter, ended Mar. 27 -- usually its slowest quarter. So even if Apple only matches the 800,000 number for the next three quarters, it will sell 3.2 million iPods. This represents a 113% growth rate and a world market share of just over 10%.
COMPETITION RISING. I'm fairly certain that Apple will sell more than 800,000 players in the next holiday season. Indeed, a hot Christmas run could easily double that number and put iPod sales over the 4 million mark for 2004. That would amount to a global market share topping 12%. Apple declined to comment on the record for this story. Sources close to the company say they don't believe the size of the international market is as large as I'm suggesting and that the iPod's global market share is significantly bigger than what I calculate here.
So what does all this mean? While Apple's is the biggest single player in both the domestic and global markets, it remains far from dominant. Further, the surprisingly high sales numbers for digital-music players outside the U.S. implies that Apple will be facing tougher competition in the not-so-distant future, as it ramps up to sell iPods where competitors are on much stronger footing.
Particularly in Asia, where size really does matter, Apple might have trouble selling its larger and more expensive iPods against rivals with smaller devices. Sure, the iPod mini should thrive in these markets. But Apple will have to overcome production constraints in the mini's tiny 1-inch hard drives before sales can go truly global. Makers of these new drives have struggled to eliminate production errors and have had difficulty keeping up with demand.
The upshot: The iPod is clearly the market leader in digital-music players. And it's certainly the coolest in the pack. But a quick look at the big picture shows that Apple has yet to achieve dominance in the sector, despite the hype.
Salkever is Technology editor for BusinessWeek Online. Follow his Byte of the Apple column, only on BW Online
Yesterday,"Blinded by the Light" Today, "Third Eye BLIND!" eom
OH MY! This has to hurt.........
From APS/ JETSGO PR TODAY
Each APS digEplayer(TM) VOD unit is about the same weight and size of a typical portable DVD player. Units contain a 40-gigabyte hard drive and utilize the latest technology licensed from e.Digital Corp (O/S and engineering), , DivX (compression) and DRM (security
"Blinded by the light" eom
iPod battery saga goes on
By Macworld staff
The iPod battery row has reared its ugly head again.
Reuters is carrying a story that claims that the iPod's rechargeable batteries can falter after only a year, and criticises their charging limitations.
Although it is not only Apple that is condemned for its battery inefficiencies – several other companies are said to have similar problems – Apple takes the brunt of the attack, being the most prominent music player on the market.
The report suggests that those who don't want to risk shortening the lives of their batteries can do so only by "sacrificing such features as a convenient size or longer playing time". This point is taken up by Ross Rubin, director of industry analysis at market research firm NPD Group: "The smaller the device, all other things being equal, the harder it is to get long battery life," he said.
Reuters suggests another way around battery replacement is to buy a flash-memory-based player that costs hundreds of dollars less than a hard-disk-drive-based iPod and uses disposable batteries. Reuters gives the example of iRiver: "River's model based on flash memory uses one AA disposable battery that can last for 40 hours and then be replaced by the user. It weighs about 1.4 ounces, compared with the hard-drive-based model's 6.5 ounces."
The iPod mini lasts up to 8 hours on a single charge.
The question is do we really need such long battery life? Steve Koenig, senior manager of industry analysis for the Consumer Electronics Association said: "Do I need a device that I can recharge very easily, or do I just need a small device? Am I probably only listening to it 30 minutes every other day, or do I have an hour-and-a-half commute?"
SigmaTel to Offer Musicmatch Jukebox to MP3 Player Manufacturers Using the D-Major MP3 Audio Solution
AUSTIN, Texas--(BUSINESS WIRE)--May 25, 2004--SigmaTel, Inc., (Nasdaq:SGTL) a leader in analog intensive, mixed-signal integrated circuits, today announced it has aligned with Musicmatch to provide the Musicmatch(TM) Jukebox audio player software to MP3 player manufacturers. The jukebox software will be offered to manufacturers for free distribution with their audio players, providing a more complete digital audio solution for the end consumer.
This Musicmatch addition to SigmaTel's already feature-rich D-Major(TM) MP3 player solution for MP3 player designs will allow the player manufacturer the option to package a complete PC-based music management application with their portable audio player. SigmaTel's current MP3 player development solutions offer a multitude of additional features such as support for multiple flavors of NAND flash and hard disk drive solutions, and most popular audio algorithm formats including MP3, WMA, WMA-DRM, and WAV.
"Musicmatch is proud to be included as a feature within the SigmaTel development solution," says Bob Ohlweiler, senior vice president of business development at Musicmatch. "Because of SigmaTel's leadership within the MP3 market, Musicmatch software will become much more accessible to the consumer."
"The Musicmatch addition allows our customers to easily include an end-user application along with their D-Major driven MP3 player," says Danny Mulligan, vice president and general manager for portable audio products at SigmaTel. "SigmaTel strives to continually add features to our development kit as a way to shorten design time, lower overall costs and bring additional value through support options."
For more information on SigmaTel, Inc., please visit www.sigmatel.com.
For more information on Musicmatch, Inc., please visit www.musicmatch.com.
You can record them now WITH DVD quality..it is a DVD Recorder. Circuit City has one (so do I) by Lite-On. Only $229.00. Different brands available. Many inexpensive portable DVD players with decent size screens to play on the go....
http://www.circuitcity.com/detail.jsp?c=1&b=g&u=c&catoid=-8039&qp=0040904503311&....
http://www.circuitcity.com/searchresults.jsp?c=1&b=g&u=c&catoid=-12541&department=DV...
Trustee: Clear skies ahead for Hawaiian Airlines
5/24/2004 9:27 AM Updated 5/24/2004 9:39 AM
HONOLULU(AP) — Joshua Gotbaum once headed a charitable fund that helped thousands of victims of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks piece together their lives. Now, he's guiding the remarkable recovery of an airline that also suffered from the 2001 attacks.
As the court-appointed trustee for Hawaiian Airlines' bankruptcy reorganization, Gotbaum has overseen one of the Honolulu-based carrier's most prosperous periods.
After losing $57.4 million in 2002, Hawaiian made a major turnaround last year with operating profits of $77.5 million. The financially troubled airline that filed for Chapter 11 in March 2003 has since posted 13 consecutive months of profits while amassing more than $106 million in unrestricted cash.
"I don't think there's an airline in history that has had that experience," Gotbaum, 52, said in an interview with The Associated Press. "This is an extraordinary turnaround."
Hawaiian now leads the nation in on-time service and percentage of seats filled, and its in-flight service has been ranked among the best. It has accomplished this, all key measuring sticks in the airline industry, while trimming its payroll and phasing in a new fleet of Boeing planes.
"Hawaiian for years and years was not a successful airline. It wasn't profitable," Gotbaum said. "To its credit, Hawaiian tried a variety of changes. Finally, frankly within the past year, the changes came together."
At Hawaiian, the carrier's biggest financial burden was the 27 new Boeing 717s it began acquiring just before the terrorist attacks to replace its aging fleet of DC-9s and DC-10s. The airline has since returned two 717s and rejected the delivery of a 767. It has also restructured leases on 11 planes with two of its three aircraft lessors.
But the new fleet has become Hawaiian's primary strength, cutting fuel and maintenance costs while improving overall efficiency. Hawaiian has also beefed up its marketing efforts and expanded its online presence, cutting costs in areas such as reservations and passenger check-ins.
But some question whether Gotbaum, who took over in July, is the force behind the carrier's success.
John W. Adams, who resigned as Hawaiian's CEO last year amid accusations of insider dealings that led to the airline's financial problems, and others have said Gotbaum hasn't been the airline's sole savior. They say the previous management's vision and planning is what brought the company financial success.
"I don't think he's had a lot of influence on the model," Jim Giddings, head of the Hawaiian unit for the Air Line Pilots Association, said of Gotbaum. "I think it's been a model that has been put in place over many years. It was not overnight that we changed equipment type. A lot of time, effort and energy went into that process by everybody in the company."
But having a trustee appointed was the best way to ensure the interests of creditors and the airline, said Russ Young, spokesman for Boeing Capital, Hawaiian's primary aircraft lessor.
Boeing had asked the U.S. Bankruptcy Court to replace Adams.
"I think there's no doubt if we were faced with the same circumstances, we would do the same thing," Young said.
Hawaiian is one of the largest employers in an island state that heavily depends on air travel. Hawaiian, along with rival Aloha Airlines, connects the islands and is responsible for transporting residents, tourists and everything else from fresh seafood to car parts.
"Hawaiian and Aloha are both the aircraft-commuter system and the highways for Hawaii and I know that and take that very seriously," Gotbaum said.
The Harvard-educated, Evanston, Ill.-native is a successful moneyman who worked as a New York investment banker and controller in the Office of Management and Budget in the White House before becoming CEO of the September 11th Fund in 2001 shortly after the terrorist attacks.
Under Gotbaum, the fund provided more than $360 million in grants to more than 100,000 people affected by the terrorist attacks.
"It was one of the best things I've ever done," he said. "Maybe the best thing I will do."
Gotbaum hopes he can also help Hawaiian, which suffered from the disruption in air travel immediately after the attacks, the subsequent drop in tourism in the year following and a failed attempt to merge with Aloha in early 2002.
The nation's 12th-largest airline has endured a turbulent ride since but is now looking to expand service to farther and more profitable locales. Hawaiian began service to Sydney, Australia last week and is eyeing routes to the East Coast as well as Asia.
Gotbaum said Hawaiian's 14 Boeing 767-300 planes are each in flight about 10 hours per day on roundtrip flights to the West Coast. However, other carriers not isolated in the Pacific are getting about 14 hours a day of flying with similar planes.
"So they are getting more revenue and more flying out of the same new expensive aircraft," he said. "One of the reasons why we announced Australia and why we're considering other routes is so we can fly more."
Hawaiian is also considering service to Japan, a route that's been owned by airline giants Japan, Northwest and United airlines. About 1.32 million Japanese visited Hawaii last year.
"We could offer travelers to and from Japan better service at more competitive rates," Gotbaum said.
With the deadline approaching, four groups have already filed proposals: Corporate Recovery Group LLC and Boeing Capital; parent company Hawaiian Holdings Inc.; Hawaiian pilot Robert Konop; and a joint filing by the Hawaiian Reorganization Committee and Hawaiian Investment Partners Group. Several others have expressed interest.
Gotbaum is preparing to submit his own plan and is seeking investors to provide capital and help govern the airline.
"We're talking to a number of institutions that could do this," he said. "What we're trying to do is figure which one makes the most sense."
But Gotbaum won't stay with Hawaiian after the reorganization.
"When the company gets out of bankruptcy, I stop being chief executive and I stop being trustee," he said. "The job of trustee is to run the company and get it out of bankruptcy. That's what I came here to do and that's what I will do."
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Hawaiian Airlines looking to fly to East Coast, Japan
By Associated Press
Monday, May 24th, 2004 5:28 AM HST
(Honolulu-AP) -- Hawaiian Airlines trustee Joshua Gotbaum says the carrier has experienced a remarkable recovery since the September 11th terrorist attacks and is now looking to expand service to farther and more profitable locales.
Hawaiian began service to Sydney, Australia last week and is eyeing routes to the East Coast as well as Asia.
Hawaiian is also eyeing Japan, a major route that's been owned by airline giants Japan, Northwest and United airlines. About one-point-three (m) million Japanese visited Hawaii last year.
Gotbaum says Hawaiian's 14 Boeing 767 planes are each in flight about ten hours per day on roundtrip flights to the West Coast. However, other carriers not isolated in the Pacific are getting about 14 hours a day of flying with similar planes.
Gotbaum says Hawaiian could offer better service to and from Japan at more competitive rates.
Is Apple Really Developing A Video iPod?
Alexander Grundner
May 24th 2004
1 Page
Alexander Grundner tries to sort through all the rumors and speculation to determine how likely Apple is to release a Video iPod.
Rumors have been circulating around for months now about a secret Video iPod that Apple has in the works. Most of the news coming out on the subject has been pure speculation by anonymous sources who claim to offer some tantalizing details. Truth be told, we know little to nothing about Apple's next-generation iPod.
Nonetheless, the rumor mill and constant talk about such a device on various Websites reemphasizes the point that people want an Apple branded Portable Media Player (a handheld device that stores and plays back digital music, video, and photos) in the iPod form factor. Are you listening Steve Jobs?
Unfortunately, Steve Jobs, Apple's CEO, views things differently. He has stated on numerous occasions that Apple has no intention of creating a video iPod. In fact, he has been quoted saying, "[The iPod] is about the music, stupid. You can't watch a video and drive a car… we're focused on music."
Point taken, but it's a hard sell when Apple is already allowing 3rd party developers to design add-on products such as Belkin's Media Reader - a flash memory card reader for transferring audio, video, photo, and data files to the iPod - and Voice Microphone Adapter/Recorder. Even Apple's in-house developers are creating custom personal information management (PIM) apps for the iPod, which I should remind Steve has nothing to do with the music, stupid.
In any case, let's take a look at some of the rumors circling the "Apple Video iPod." From what has been posted around the Web, only three facts have caught my attention: One, the next iPod will have a color LCD display. Two, the next iPod will be using PlayerPortal's latest PP5020 chip [PDF file] (F.Y.I. - PlayerPortal is powering all the current iPods). And Three, the next iPod will come bundled with an "advanced" docking station with A/V ports. So all we can really investigate is the PlayerPortal chip rumor. According to the PlayerPortal press release, users of devices based on the PP5020 (A.K.A. PortalPlayer Personal Media Player: Photo Edition platform) will be able to:
Copy, view, store, catalog, and modify images without a PC.
Print directly to HP and Canon printers without a PC using the PictBridge standard.
Transfer images from a digital camera directly to the portable media player through the USB 2.0 compliant On-the-Go port or by copying from the flash memory card. Synchronize images directly to and from a PC and the portable media player.
View still pictures (JPEG, GIF and TIFF) and video (MJPEG) on the color STN or TFT LCD on the device or on a standard NTSC/PAL TV, through the TV out connector.
Listen to music from the leading online music services such as Musicmatch, Napster, Real Audio and more. Hear audiobooks from Audible.com.
Automatically identify CDs, name and categorize digital files, and generate custom playlists with the touch of a button using the Gracenote Music Management System.
Record voice over narrations to go with the photos.
Synch digital music files and voice recordings with photos, providing the first of its kind multimedia slide show in a handheld device. Support for the industry standard MPV format (www.osta.org/mpv) enables slide show interoperability and quick indexing of metadata.
Interact with popular PC applications that are used to organize and view photo collections.
Great stuff, I know! While all PP5020 features may not be activated, we can at least imagine what the next iPod might be like based on this chip.
If I had to predict what the future iPod would be like, I would have say it will be a device similar to what we have now, but with added multimedia features that will take advantage of the new processor chip and color LCD. Features like seamless integration with iTunes and iPhoto for album cover art (when playing music), animated photo slide shows, photo viewing and management of JPEG, GIF, and TIFF files (with voice over narration recording capability via a built-in microphone). And since the new chip can playback MJPEG (usually associated with digital camera 320x240, 12-15fps "movie clips"), some limited (as in, very limited) video capability.
It's still up in the air though if the "advanced" dock with special A/V outputs is necessary. I think my old Pentax Optio S had the perfect video out solution. Each Optio S incorporates a special A/V output port, that when used with the included A/V cable (with RCA connectors), connects directly to the TV for photo and movie clip viewing. If it were up to me, this is how I would do it instead of tying people down to an overly complicated dock.
So now that I've caught your interest, how likely is it that such a device will come out from Apple? Answer: Very. Just look at all the new portable music players coming out from iRiver and Sony that are already integrating photo and album cover art features. It's only logical that Apple will be adding similar features next. As for the MJPEG video, I'm sure most people can do without it. This is not to say that Jobs is correct in his assumption, but the PP5020 chip has been said to have less than desirable video playback capabilities, which will make the device impractical and pricey. All speculation aside, I'm sure Apple will do the next iPod justice; just don't expect it to be the next "big thing" in portable handheld entertainment.
Debut is Tuesday eom
e
The pPVR also has trade mark symbol on it. Theirs or ours?
Sanyo Electric to Release Car Navigation System with 30GB Hard Drive
Tokyo (JCNN) - The HD/MM Navi NVA-HD1000, due out July 1, is Sanyo's (TSE: 6764) latest entertainment car navigation system.
Priced at 273,000 yen ($2,395), the high-end model features a 30GB hard drive, a DVD player, and a 6.5V-inch wide TFT color LCD. Its DVD player supports four DVD formats, including DVD-R, DVD+R, DVD-RW, and DVD+RW.
The product incorporates high-speed (max. 12x) digital audio extraction (ripping) technology, enabling users to copy a 60-minute music CD in about seven minutes. The hard drive can store up to 3,000 ATRAC3 music tunes.
The unit measures 178x100x160mm and weighs 3kg. The company will initially produce 5,000 units per month.
Visit Sanyo Electric Co., Ltd. at www.sanyo.co.jp/koho/index_e.html
Agere Systems Announces Breakthrough Suite of Hard Disk Drive Products Tailored to Meet Growing Storage Demands for Consumer Electronics
ALLENTOWN, Pa., May 24 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Addressing the growing need for storage in consumer electronics, Agere Systems today announced new hard disk drive (HDD) integrated circuit (IC) technology that enables the high-capacity storage capabilities needed for streaming video, digital photos, MP3s, video games and other forms of multimedia and entertainment in mobile phones and other consumer devices. As the market leader in HDD electronics, Agere has developed read-channel and hard disk controller standard products with customized performance for each storage market, including enterprise, desktop, mobile and consumer electronics.
These additions to Agere's TrueStore(TM) family of storage ICs represent the electronics critical to maximizing the performance, power, reliability and value for storage solutions as diverse as enterprise storage area networks (SANs) and ultra-small, one-inch miniature disk drives. Agere's new line of read-channels is the industry's first to offer tailored performance across every storage market segment, with exceptional signal integrity, speed and power savings. In addition, Agere is developing a hard disk controller that, when combined with other technologies in Agere's portfolio, provides complete electronics solutions to HDD manufacturers as well as the flexibility to repartition components used in portable consumer devices to enable new low- power storage applications.
Agere is currently ranked No. 1 in hard disk drive ICs by industry analyst firm IDC. Agere has design wins with every manufacturer of one-inch drives in the market today.
"With new low-power channels and disk controllers, Agere is expanding its current storage leadership to attack new opportunities in portable consumer electronics," said Ron Black, executive vice president of Agere's Client Systems group. "For example, as mobile phone manufacturers begin to address the need for high-capacity storage integration, Agere is now positioned as the only electronics provider with the design expertise and complete product portfolios for both mobile terminals and hard drive storage."
Many companies -- including mobile phone, HDD and consumer electronics manufacturers -- are looking to incorporate hard disk drive storage in innovative consumer-based products. Use of hard disk drives in consumer devices is growing due in large part to the low cost-per-gigabyte they offer compared with semiconductor memory such as flash. With fast read/write operating speeds, HDDs also offer better performance and power efficiency for managing large multimedia files than competing flash-based storage solutions.
Segment-specific read-channels
Agere is transitioning storage electronics beyond "one-size-fits-all" designs to give drive manufacturers distinct solutions tuned to each storage market: A read-channel IC is the essential component for ensuring the accuracy of all the data read from or written to a disk drive. Read-channels also are the centerpiece of storage systems-on-a-chip (SoCs), which combine multiple drive functions in a single piece of silicon to conserve space, power and cost in a hard drive. Agere's new read-channel products are designed to address specific storage markets:
-- Drives for desktop PCs and fixed consumer electronics. For 3.5-inch drives that require high data capacity for PCs, personal video recorders, gaming consoles and set-top boxes, Agere's TrueStore RC6700 read-channel offers outstanding signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) performance supporting increased areal densities up to 160 gigabytes per platter. In addition, this new chip offers clock speeds in excess of 2.0 GHz and servo performance that is 50 percent faster than Agere's previous-generation desktop-level channel.
-- Drives for notebook PCs. For 2.5- and 1.8-inch drives supporting battery-driven products including notebook and tablet PCs, PDAs and digital camcorders, power savings and capacity are critical. Agere's TrueStore RC6700LP low-power read-channel delivers capacity points up to 80 gigabytes per platter for current and future mobile PC drives, while consuming 20 percent less power than the RC6700 and 40 percent less power than Agere's previous-generation low-power channel.
-- Drives for portable consumer electronics. Ultra small form factor drives require the lowest possible power, size and cost to enable high-capacity storage in mobile phones, MP3 players, digital cameras and media players. Agere's TrueStore RC1100ULP ultra-low-power channel helps significantly extend battery life in 1.0-inch and sub- 1.0-inch HDDs through a combination of circuit design techniques and the use of low-leakage process technology that limits power consumption and associated thermal issues. This technique enables a "deep sleep" mode, allowing for up to 70 percent less power consumption than the RC6700LP channel.
-- Drives for enterprise storage. Agere's RC7100HS services the high-capacity, high-speed SCSI and Fibre Channel enterprise storage markets (10K/15K RPM drives) for configurations such as RAID arrays, SANs and server blades. Developed using cutting-edge 90-nanometer process technology, this channel delivers clock speeds in excess of 2.5 GHz. The RC7100HS's speed and SNR performance, combined with its judicious use of power, enables the benefits of SoC electronics to be applied to the HDDs in the enterprise space.
All four of these new read-channels benefit from a common architecture that employs a digital finite impulse response (FIR) filter, which delivers Agere's trademark signal processing along the data path in an HDD while dramatically reducing power consumption. These channels support next- generation perpendicular recording techniques for both full and partial DC targets. The channels are available in 84-pin MLCC packages (54-pin package for RC1100ULP).
Hard disk controller capability for portable consumer electronics
Additionally, Agere is making a hard disk controller solution available to customers. A controller provides the interface between host device and drive, servicing requests to read and write data, finding the physical location on the drive platter to read/write the data, detecting errors and managing their correction. This product is initially targeted at mobile consumer designs and complements Agere's RC1100ULP channel for integration into turnkey storage SoCs. Manufacturers lacking in-house controller design expertise or looking to speed their entry into new market segments can take advantage of Agere's offering of a complete storage IC solution.
The unique combination of Agere's HDD electronics with its broad portfolio of communications IP can enable consumer electronics developers to significantly cut costs by repartitioning HDD electronics components elsewhere in the overall system design. In an HDD-equipped mobile phone, for example, such repartitioning would allow for sharing of microprocessor silicon between the wireless baseband DSP and storage SoC.
Product availability
Agere expects to offer engineering samples for three of its new read- channel ICs in third calendar quarter 2004, with volume production in the fall of 2004. The RC7100HS enterprise-class channel is expected to sample in fourth calendar quarter 2004, with volume production in 2005. Development versions of Agere's hard disk controller are expected to sample in late 2004, with SoC samples featuring the controller and the RC1100ULP read-channel expected to ship in 2005.
For more information, customers may visit Agere's Web site at http://www.agere.com/ or contact one of Agere's regional sales offices. Customers in the U.S. may also call the Agere Systems Customer Response Center at 1-800-372-2447. Customers in Canada may call 1-800-553-2448. Customers outside those countries may call 1-610-712-4323. Fax inquiries may be directed to 1-610-712-4106, or e-mail queries to docmaster@agere.com. Written inquiries should be sent to Agere Systems, Room 10A-301C, 1110 American Parkway NE, Lehigh Valley Central Campus, Allentown, PA, 18109, USA.
Agere Systems is a global leader in semiconductors for storage, wireless data, and public and enterprise networks. The company's chips and software power a broad range of computing and communications applications, from cell phones, PCs, PDAs, hard disk drives and gaming devices to the world's most sophisticated wireless and wireline networks. Agere's customers include the top manufacturers of consumer electronics, communications and computing equipment. Agere's products make personal broadband a reality, connecting people to information and entertainment -- at home, at work and on the road.
Agere is a registered trademark and TrueStore, Agere Systems and the Agere Systems logo are trademarks of Agere Systems Inc.
This release contains forward-looking statements based on information currently available to Agere. Agere's actual results could differ materially from the results stated or implied by such forward-looking statements due to a number of risks and uncertainties. These risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, our ability to keep pace with technological change, our dependence on new product development, price and product competition, availability of manufacturing capacity, customer demand for our products and services, general industry and market conditions, and our reliance on major customers and suppliers. For a further discussion of these and other risks and uncertainties, see our annual report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended September 30, 2003, and our quarterly report on Form 10-Q for the period ended March 31, 2004. Agere disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.
Agere Systems
CONTACT: JoAnna Schooler, +44-1344-865-815, or +44-7899-063-151(mobile), jschooler@agere.com, or Glen Haley, +1-610-712-1747,+1-610-217-0781 (mobile), glenhaley@agere.com, both of Agere Systems
Hard Drives A-Plenty
Arik Hesseldahl, 05.24.04, 10:00 AM ET
NEW YORK - There are a lot of lessons still being learned from devices like Apple Computer's iPod music player, and not all of them have to do with how the music business is changing.
These lessons include what else is changing the consumer electronics business in general, and how that industry now has to look at data storage. One important trend that bears watching is the phenomenon of the small hard drive. Apple (nasdaq: AAPL - news - people ), with its iPod and iPod Mini, along with their many imitators, have proved that with a small hard drive designed into a clever product you can make big changes in the consumer electronics industry.
This lesson has been taken to heart by many in the storage industry. Companies like Toshiba and Hitachi (nyse: HIT - news - people ) in Japan and the privately held Cornice in the United States are creating ever smaller drives, that can pack a few gigabytes of storage on them, and they could start showing up in cell phones and PDAs as regular components as early as this year.
Today chipmaker Agere Systems (nyse: AGR.A - news - people ) announced new technology for chips that go inside hard drives. The new chips are aimed at helping hard drive manufacturers meet new demand for putting media files of all types--music, video, and whatever else you can think of--on an increasingly wide array of consumer electronics.
What Agere is hoping is that very soon, high-end mobile phones will start containing small hard drives that can stream video and music files and store scores of digital photos.
It's not that far-fetched, though some consider Agere's view a tad ambitious. Toshiba, for example is on the record with plans to build a hard drive that measures less than an inch in diameter--0.85 inches to be exact, or the approximate size of a quarter. And once you can jam between four and ten gigabytes of data on a drive that size, things start to get interesting, says Ron Black, an Agere executive vice president. "We're on the verge of doubling the addressable market for hard drives," Black says.
John Monroe, vice president of research at Gartner, agrees in part, though he thinks Black's assessment is a bit overstated. Music players like the iPod and iPod Mini, and their rivals from companies like Creative Labs (nasdaq: CREAF - news - people ), Dell Computer (nasdaq: DELL - news - people ) and Digital River among others, are the current killer app for storage.
"Every teenager is going to have a hard-drive-based portable music player," he says. But mobile phones with hard drives, he thinks, are a bit further out.
One place he expects to see a lot of new hard drives cropping up? The automotive market. "What I'm hearing is that most major automotive manufacturers plan to include hard-disk-based integrated GPS and entertainment systems in every single car and small truck priced above $20,000."
But getting the wireless phone industry to adopt hard drives is a bit more complicated, he says. For major wireless manufacturers like Nokia (nyse: NOK - news - people ), Motorola (nyse: MOT - news - people ) and Samsung, it's all going to come down to the cost of the drive.
"In order for hard drives to take hold in cell phones, the drive has to cost less than $30. Now I think we may see a few high-end cell phones with drives, and that may mean a market of a few million units a year. But getting under that $30 price may be largest challenge the storage industry faces and it may not be solved by 2008. But if the price does come down under $30, we're talking about a market of 150 million to 200 million units."
And with numbers like that, we start to see that Black's hopes for a "near doubling" of the hard drive market don't seem implausible. For comparison, last year hard drive manufacturers shipped approximately 263 million units, according to Gartner figures. Interestingly, a little more than 9% of those drives went into devices other than computers, up from about 6% in 2002. This year, more than 13% of all hard drives will go into devices other than PCs, and Monroe thinks that figure might approach 25% by 2008.
Right now if you want to store pictures or music files on a mobile phone, it's done with flash memory chips, which are currently in such high demand that manufacturers can't seem to make enough of them. Flash chips, Monroe says, are very good--to a point. They're fast at reading data, but slow to save it. And flash also gets expensive at capacities of one gigabyte and higher--prohibitively so for most consumer electronics manufacturers--let alone at four gigabytes, the capacity of Apple's iPod Mini.
Agere's plan is to help drive manufacturers build specialized drives for specific product segments rather than treat their customers with a one-size-fits all approach. For consumer electronics devices, it has developed components that consume power more slowly, which saves battery life. It has also combined several functions onto a single chip to save space. Both can and will make a difference in how consumer electronics will be designed in the near future. What it means is that you're going to have a lot more hard drives in your life very soon
Founder, Apple Cooperate to Provide Digital Music Experience
May 23, 2004
SINOCAST CHINA BUSINESS DAILY NEWS via NewsEdge Corporation : CHINA, May 20, SinoCast -- Founder, one of China's largest PC producers, and Apple, one of the PC makers in the US, have announced that Founder computers will be installed with iTunes since June, which is the repeated honored digital music playing software that made by Apple, and can be compatible with the best digital music player iPod.
The software enables users of Founder to manage their music libraries, create the playing lists and transmit the whole music library into iPod with ease for listening at any moment.
The digital music becomes more and more important in China's market, and iTunes is the leading product with great success.
Mr. Rob Shoeben of Apple said that iTunes thoroughly changed the way we manage and listen to the music worldwide, and Apple will continue to cooperate with Founder to provide the simple and seamless music experience for numerous users in China.
.end (paragraph)<Copyright © 2003 SINOCAST CHINA BUSINESS DAILY
Sony stumbles in the digital age
Joel Dreyfuss Bloomberg News Monday, May 24, 2004
Missteps cost electronics giant $100 billion in market value
In a windowless room near Sony's headquarters in the Shinagawa district of Tokyo, shelves hold hundreds of versions of the Walkman - the portable cassette player that turned Sony into a global brand when it hit the market in 1979.
.
Today, the Walkman Room is a shrine to Sony's past. The world's No.2 consumer electronics company - creator of the first transistor radio, the compact disc player and the PlayStation game console - is struggling in the digital age.
.
"A 20th-century business model is no guarantee of success," said Nobuyuki Idei, 66, Sony's chief executive and chairman. "This is the biggest challenge, how to change."
.
Almost two and a half years after Apple Computer unveiled its iPod music player, Sony announced its first iPod competitor, called the Vaio pocket, this month. The delay - and a yearlong lag in starting the Connect online music service after Apple's iTunes Music Store set up shop - reflects how hard it is for the 58-year-old electronics behemoth to adjust to new rivals.
.
Howard Stringer, 62, Sony's vice chairman and head of the company's U.S. divisions, says executives were so concerned about music piracy that they couldn't agree with designers on the kind of player to create.
.
"We didn't get there, and by that time, Steve Jobs was there," said Stringer, referring to Apple's CEO.
.
In April, Apple reported that second-quarter profit had tripled from a year earlier to $46 million, after it sold 807,000 iPods.
.
The plunge in Sony's stock price shows change is needed, said Nobuaki Murayama, an equities manager at Cigna International Investment Advisors K.K. in Tokyo. "The environment has changed," he said. "It doesn't take much investment to develop products anymore, and Sony is seeing more and more competition."
.
Since Idei became CEO in 1999, Sony's shares have lost almost three-quarters of their value. They fell from a peak of ¥16,300, or $145, on March 1, 2000, to ¥3,920 on Monday. During that time, Sony's market value plunged to $33 billion from $138 billion.
.
The "Sony shock" accelerated the decline. In April, 2003, Sony reported a fourth-quarter loss of ¥111.1 billion, triple what most analysts had expected. For two days, Sony shares tumbled by the maximum permitted by the Tokyo stock exchange, falling 27 percent to ¥2,720 - the lowest since 1995.
.
When stereos and bulky televisions dominated living rooms, Sony held its own against two main competitors: Matsushita Electric Industrial of Osaka, Japan, the world's biggest consumer electronics company and maker of the Panasonic brand, and Amsterdam-based Royal Philips Electronics, Europe's No.1 consumer electronics company.
.
Customers paid more for Sony innovations like the Trinitron TV, which used one electron gun instead of three to deliver a crisp image. The phenomenon became known as the "Sony premium."
.
Now, Sharp leads Sony in unit sales of flat-panel TVs, according to fourth-quarter 2003 figures from DisplaySearch, an Austin, Texas-based company that tracks sales of TVs and computer monitors. Canon is neck-and-neck with Sony in digital cameras, according to Japan's Camera and Imaging Products Association. Dell, Gateway and Hewlett-Packard sell consumer electronics.
.
In the past five years, Sony's annual sales have edged up an average of 2 percent and profit margins have stalled at 1 percent. Canon's average profit margin in the past five years has been 5.7 percent, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.
.
Sony managed to eke out net income of just $851 million on revenue of $72 billion in the year that ended on March 31. Canon, which is the world's largest maker of copiers in terms of revenue and No.2 in digital cameras, after Sony, generated $2.6 billion of net income on $29.9 billion of revenue in 2003.
.
Sony's problem is that it is too big and too unfocused, said Al Ries, an Atlanta-based marketing strategist. The electronics unit makes everything from image sensors for digital cameras to CD players, personal computers and headphones. The entertainment side creates movies, music and video games. The financial arm houses two insurance companies and an Internet bank.
.
"It becomes virtually unmanageable once you go into so many categories," said Ries, chairman of Ries Ries, which advised Apple on marketing its Apple IIe computer.
.
Idei is struggling to deliver on Sony's long-standing promise of melding the hardware and content from its disparate divisions to create digital entertainment devices.
.
Sony is making progress toward delivering Idei's digital products with the Airboard, a wireless television. Sony dubs the device "location-free TV" and plans to introduce it in the United States this year.
.
Idei wants executives to deliver 10 percent operating profit margins by fiscal 2006, when Sony turns 60. Sony plans to cut its worldwide work force by 13 percent, or 20,000 employees; trim factory capacity 30 percent by closing plants; and slash the number of different parts in inventory to 100,000 from 840,000. All told, Idei says, he will take ¥330 billion out of fixed costs by his self-imposed deadline.
.
Murayama at Cigna says Idei isn't moving fast enough. "They say they've accelerated the efforts, but their business portfolio hasn't changed," he says.
.
Bloomberg News
Why Apple Started iPod Division
http://www.pbs.org/cringely/pulpit/pulpit20040520.html
Cornice Introduces One-Gigabyte Storage Element; Storage Innovator's Product Offerings Enable A Wide Range Of Low-Cost Consumer Electronic Products
LONGMONT, Colo.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--May 24, 2004--Cornice Inc., an innovator in compact, high-capacity storage, today broadened its successful product line with the immediate availability of a 1.0-gigabyte version of its Storage Element (SE). The Cornice SE is now available in three capacities: 1.0-, 1.5-, and 2.0-gigabytes. Since its introduction in June of 2003, the Cornice SE has enjoyed rapid adoption in consumer electronic (CE) devices from industry-leading brands including Philips, RCA, Rio, and Creative Labs.
"Cornice has been very successful in providing storage technologies for products sold primarily at major consumer electronics stores and e-commerce sites," said Kevin Magenis, president and CEO of Cornice. "With this new one-gigabyte Storage Element, Cornice is offering another compelling alternative to higher-end flash-based products, enabling manufacturers to begin developing and selling affordable, enjoyable, consumer electronic devices through mass-market retailers."
New Storage Element Increases Design Options For Affordable CE Devices
Cornice's new 1.0-gigabyte Storage Element addresses a segment of the CE device market typically served by larger amounts of expensive flash memory that offer 256 megabytes of data storage and above.
The Cornice 1.0-gigabyte SE enables a new market for MP3 players. Consumer devices can now be manufactured to offer more than 250 songs in a sleek, affordable package, sold below the current retail price of today's popular flash-based players that offer only a quarter of that capacity.*
Cornice Announces 1.0-Gigabyte Storage Element
The 1.0-gigabyte SE also creates new opportunities for USB keychain memory devices, where one-gigabyte of flash-based storage currently commands more than $300 at retail. Similar devices based on the new 1.0-gigabyte SE could be sold at less than half that cost.
By carrying out a fundamental re-evaluation of how portable storage devices should be designed and manufactured, Cornice has achieved the industry's lowest cost for high-capacity storage for products in the consumer electronics marketplace. By re-examining the mechanics and electronics of storage devices, Cornice is able to create an inexpensive storage solution that is compact, durable, and optimized for portable electronic devices.
Availability
The 1.0-gigabyte Cornice SE is immediately available. Pricing is based on volume in quantities of 100,000 and greater. Products utilizing this SE are expected to be on retail shelves as early as July 2004. Email Cornice's sales department at sales@corniceco.com or call (303) 651-7291 for further information.
About Cornice
Cornice Inc. is an innovator in small, compact, low-cost, high-capacity storage that enables a new generation of pocket-able consumer electronic devices for the world's leading brand-name manufacturers. The Cornice Storage Element (SE) is durable, integrated, personal storage that brings new levels of affordability and content capacity to these devices.
Early investors in Cornice include the company's founders, management team, and Texas Instruments. The Company has received venture investments from BA Venture Partners, CIBC Capital Partners, GIC Special Investments, Nokia Venture Partners, and VantagePoint Venture Partners. Privately held, Cornice maintains its headquarters in Longmont, Colorado. Visit Cornice at http://www.corniceco.com/.
* Source: Major consumer electronics retailer Web sites
rr Here is great way to make money with charting
http://www.philsgang.com/GetPage.asp?ID=75
you are welcome......
If this is your source of "entertainment"...well, that explains it all.........
"right now it doesn't look good. IMO"
It has never looked better. If you truly believe what you just wrote then sell, head for higher ground and NEVER look back or come back to visit! Of course IMO
CDR
As you are well aware of, there has not been a bunch of official airline announcements about using the digEpayer. Certainly not enough to get the PPS shooting upward, and most certainly only a drop in the bucket of what we believe will be announced....soon. Great news to be sure, but much more is to come IMO
I took issue with your statement as implying (for negative reasons) that we had shot our wad with digEplayer and look...no share price movement..... woe is us.. all is lost.
I strongly disagree not only with the statement, "with all these airline announcements" but also the intent behind it.
STATE OF THE ART IN-FLIGHT ENTERTAINMENT
From Northwest PR Today
http://www.prnewswire.com/cgi-bin/stories.pl?ACCT=109&STORY=/www/story/05-20-2004/0002178608&...
Northwest's fully interactive in-flight entertainment system offers a wide variety of music, movies, short subject programs, games, shopping and in- flight information, all "on demand," giving customers the freedom and flexibility to start, pause or stop at any time. The gateway to all of these features is a convenient retractable controller, making it easy to access from
any sitting position, as opposed to stationary controllers fixed on armrests.
In World Business Class, Northwest customers are able to view any of these features on a 10.4 inch/26.4 centimeter video screen, 50 percent larger in size than the screens found in business class seats on other U.S. airlines, and many international airlines. Northwest customers traveling in coach class are able to view any of these features on a personal video screen in the back of the seat in front of them. The screen pivots, allowing customers to adjust it and continue viewing if the seat in front of them is reclined.
OT: Toshiba chip with SPIRIT software for MP3 player design
[May 20, 2004]
SPIRIT is offering its new implementation of MP3 encoder+decoder on Toshiba TX49xx chip family.
The low-power consuming TX49xx 64-bit, MIPS-based processor is created for high-end, performance-demanding applications for consumer electronics market. Having MP3 software optimized for TX49xx, the silicon can be a solution for developing portable and car audio systems, wireless communication systems, set-top boxes, Internet appliances, MP3 PDA players, etc.
SPIRIT MP3 codec algorithm provides decoding for MPEG1, MPEG2, and their low bit rate extension MPEG 2.5 for Layer 3 streams. SPIRIT solution doesn’t require floating-point coprocessor and is ideally suited for multimedia devices combining high sound quality and low processor requirements. The codec was developed by SPIRIT together with Toshiba engineers, and highly optimized for TX49xx.
As the result of Toshiba–SPIRIT cooperation, TX49xx functionality was extended to make it more attractive for consumer electronics market.
Toshiba Electronics Europe and SPIRIT are co-promoting this solution for the audio entertainment market. SPIRIT’s experience in integration and framework development helps OEMs to deliver TX49x-based customer applications and save time-to-market.
Linux-based voice logger from ASC with SPIRIT software for data compression
SPIRIT proprietary vocoder provides near toll speech quality at low bit rate
ASC is a global provider of integrated communications recording and quality monitoring solutions for contact centers, financial institutions, public safety and government organizations, with nearly 40 years experience in the communications industry. Recording thousands of hours of speech ASC is focused on quality. Speech compression rate is one of the crucial selling points for communication loggers as well as ability to encrypt the transmitted data. Keeping high speech quality is not easy but ASC coped with that. ASC solutions were awarded the best Product of the Year for several years in a row.
When looking for a proprietary codec ensuring appropriate speech quality (speech compression < 8 kbps and quality MOS >= 3) and saving system resources for its world's first Linux-based voice logging system, ASC addressed SPIRIT.
Thinking about desired compression rate, speech quality and available processing power SPIRIT advised ASC to choose SPIRIT’s proprietary 4800 bps vocoder based on well-known CELP model and strongly optimized. This vocoder provides nearly toll speech quality (MOS about 3.7) at low computational complexity.
Since ASC works on the Linux-based voice logger they needed a decoder that runs with Linux as well as with Windows. That’s why SPIRIT’s 4800 bps vocoder was divided into DSP-based encoder and PC-based decoder. Following its strategy of product customization SPIRIT satisfied ASC request while keeping in line with ASC project time.
SPIRIT solution not only ensures desired speech quality that is extremely important for the logger but also gives flexibility to system design and ability for system upgrade without considerable efforts, which is highly useful. Say you have a running system and would like to increase its efficiency. With SPIRIT software embedded you have no need to buy a new system as you can just upgrade your current hardware. Without additional efforts, time or money, you can make your business more effective and user-friendly.
Hawaiian Airlines Fate To Be Known Soon, Strong Interest
SYDNEY (Dow Jones)--Tuesday May 18, 4:01 PM
Also New Sydney to Honolulu Service! digEplayer territory!
The fate of Hawaiian Airlines will be decided over the next few months, with several parties keen on buying the leisure airline, which is currently operating under Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.
President and Chief Operating Officer Mark Dunkerley said Tuesday the airline has received "over a dozen expressions of interest" from several parties.
He declined to identify the parties, but noted they are from a "broad variety of backgrounds."
Under U.S. law, foreign ownership is restricted to 49%.
The future ownership of Hawaiian Airlines should be known by July or August, Dunkerley told reporters during a visit to Sydney to launch the carrier's maiden flight from Sydney to Honolulu.
The carrier will operate four services a week from Sydney to Honolulu, which is currently serviced by Qantas Airways Ltd. (QAN.AU) of Australia and Air Canada (ACNAQ).
When quizzed whether the airline would consider a code-sharing deal with Qantas, Dunkerley said: "You never know."
Hawaiian Airlines isn't a member of either the Star Alliance or Oneworld airline alliances.
Dunkerley would like to boost the airline's Sydney to Honolulu service to a daily flight, but will wait to evaluate demand before making a final decision.
Hawaiian Airlines, which is owned by Hawaiian Holdings Inc. (HA), last month reported a profit of US$8.2 million in its first quarter ended March 31, compared with a loss of US$15.4 million in the same period a year earlier.
But with oil prices soaring to record levels, the carrier, which has a fleet of 25 Boeing planes and 3,200 staff, has a big job ahead maintaining the momentum with no fuel hedging in place.
Dunkerley expects "some revenue growth" this year, but declined to give any specific figures.
While the short-term impact of rising fuel prices is an issue for the carrier, Dunkerley doesn't expect fuel prices to stay at current levels over the medium-to-long term.
He also said lengthy airport checks in the U.S. as a result of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks have hurt tourism and business.
"with all these airline announcements"
"All these announcements"? Hawaiian Airlines test blurb, 600 player Alaska add on and a virtually hidden blurb from KLM about business class flights to the Middle East.
"All these airline announcements"? A tad of an overstatement....
River's new MP3 player hits shelves
Published on May 21, 2004
Leading South Korean digital-product manufacturer i-River yesterday launched its advanced MP3 player in Thailand.
The company aims to secure a 45-per-cent market share within six months.
Chief executive Marilyn Chen said the launch was part of the company's Asian-market expansion.
Its available products in Thailand include iMP portable CD/MP3 players and its renowned H120 and H140 digital-music jukeboxes, which feature 20 gigabytes (6,000 MP3 files) and 40 gigabytes (12,000 MP3 files) of storage capacity respectively.
i-River has assigned local IT-product distributor Jebsen & Jessen Marketing to sell its products in Thailand.
Chen said i-River was the world's number-two manufacturer of MP3 players last year after Apple, whose iPod is the market leader.
"We have projected US$400 million [Bt16.3 billion] in revenue this year worldwide, up from $250 million last year,'' she said.
That figure is expected to rise to $1 billion within three years, she added.
The advanced MP3 player was launched at major IT fair Commart Thailand 2004, which started yesterday at the Queen Sirikit National Convention Centre.
The fair ends on Sunday. The fair is showcasing products from 300 IT brands and expects 500,000 visitors and Bt700 million in consumer spending.
Sirivish Toomgum
THE NATION
Apple creates new iPod division, shuffles execs
BY REUTERS
[San Francisco / Reuters News Service, 20 May 2004] - Apple Computer has created a new division within the maker of the Macintosh computer to sell its popular iPod, the market leading digital music player, the company said yesterday.
Jon Rubinstein, who has led the Cupertino, California-based company's hardware engineering efforts, will run the new division, an Apple spokesman said.
Timothy Cook, head of Apple's worldwide sales and operations, will lead a newly organised Macintosh division, Apple said. Tim Bucher, now in charge of Macintosh system development, will head up the Mac's hardware engineering.
The moves were announced in a company-wide internal e-mail sent by Steve Jobs, Apple's chairman, chief executive and co-founder, and first reported by the New York Times yesterday.
"This organisational refinement will focus our talent and resources even more precisely on our industry-leading Macintosh computers and the wildly successful iPod," the spokesman said.
Since the iPod's introduction in October 2001, Apple has sold more than three million of the devices.
Industry analysts have speculated that Apple might ultimately broaden the uses for an iPod beyond playing music, such as for watching movies.
Already, third-party providers sell accessories that let iPod users transfer pictures from digital cameras to the iPod and use it as a voice recorder.
Apple's iPod lets users transfer music from their Mac or Windows computer to the device, and works with the Apple iTunes online music store, the most popular legal downloading service