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Air of success at Rockwell Collins
Flight electronics firm rebounds
By Melissa Allison
Tribune staff reporter
Published March 15, 2004
CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa -- The timing could not have been worse for Rockwell Collins Inc.
Two months after the aviation electronics firm was spun off at about $23 a share in 2001, the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks torpedoed its stock price to less than $12. Rockwell Collins depended on the commercial plane industry for 60 percent of its business.
Some wondered how the Cedar Rapids company that brought Neil Armstrong's "giant leap for mankind" message from the moon would survive.
Chief Executive Clayton Jones, a former fighter pilot, found few attractive options. "Almost everything we did was going to suffer," he said.
With scant information from customers about how severe their losses might be, Rockwell Collins quickly cobbled together a survival plan that pulled it successfully through two of the most difficult years in aviation history.
The company boosted its net income by 85 percent over the past two fiscal years, and its shares recently have traded mostly between $30 and $35.
This month, Rockwell Collins was named as a supplier of displays, communication and other systems for Boeing Co.'s proposed 7E7 jetliner.
If the 7E7 attracts enough customers to go into production, that business could mean $2.5 billion to $3 billion in revenue to Collins over the life of the program.
One reason Collins attracted the 7E7 business is that it refused to cut back on research and development after Sept. 11, Jones said.
"It was literally the last thing on our list. We said we could exhaust everything else, but let's don't eat our seed corn," he said.
Rockwell Collins was founded as Collins Radio Co. in 1933 by Arthur Collins. He sold the business in 1971 to Rockwell International, now called Rockwell Automation, which spun off the company in 2001.
Collins equipment provided radio contact for Rear Adm. Richard Byrd's expedition to the South Pole in 1933, and in 1969 was the conduit for Neil Armstrong's message from a far more distant location.
The company delivered the first transmission of a photograph via satellite in 1960 and today uses satellite technology and hand-held devices to provide soldiers with better information about where they are on a battlefield.
Experts credit Rockwell Collins' swift action for its strong recovery after Sept. 11.
"They had a rough start, and they came back more quickly than I would have expected," said Paul Nisbet, an aviation analyst with JSA Research in Newport, R.I.
Jones said the firm's hastily constructed survival plan worked due to "a heavy dose of luck, combined with hard work and people thinking the best thoughts they could think at a time like that."
Using educated guesses about the extent of damage that might be sustained by airlines, private jet-makers and other Collins customers, senior executives decided to lay off 16 percent of its workforce, freeze salaries and cut incentive bonuses in half.
It was important to Jones that the big decisions be made by Sept. 30, the end of Collins' fiscal year, and that there be no surprises in the next fiscal year.
"We could have cut 8 percent and said, `Let's see how it goes.' But we didn't want to do the death of 1,000 cuts," Jones said.
As a result, Collins was on more solid footing in 2002 than many aviation firms.
Its business mix has shifted, with commercial customers representing about half of its $2.54 billion in fiscal 2003 sales, and government contracts making up the difference.
And the company has made several purchases to improve its market position. Collins' in-flight entertainment business, which it bolstered with an acquisition in 2002, could take off quickly as airlines begin to recover, said Tony Boase, an analyst with A.G. Edwards & Sons in St. Louis.
"Even the discount airlines are considering in-flight entertainment more seriously," Boase said.
Collins often gets rave reviews from customers and partners.
Brent Blackwell, an American Airlines captain who worked with Collins on a state-of-the-art air traffic control system in Miami, said he knows contractors that would have given up on the project.
"We are in awe of their technical skills and the level of determination they have," Blackwell said.
Scott Carson, president of Connexion by Boeing, which provides in-flight information and entertainment systems, is particularly impressed with Jones, who joined Rockwell International in 1979 and became head of Collins in 1998.
On Christmas Eve, Jones called Carson to say how much he enjoyed working with the Connexion team.
"That's a supplier," Carson said, explaining how rare such moments are. "It's very special."
Copyright © 2004, Chicago Tribune
iTunes Music Store Downloads Top 50 Million Songs
Monday March 15, 8:30 am ET
CUPERTINO, Calif., March 15 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Apple® today announced that music fans have purchased and downloaded over 50 million songs from Apple's iTunes® Music Store, not including songs redeemed from the currently-running Pepsi iTunes promotion. The 50 millionth song, purchased last Thursday afternoon, was "The Path of Thorns" by Sarah McLachlan. iTunes users are now downloading 2.5 million songs per week, which is an annual run rate of 130 million songs per year.
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"Crossing 50 million songs is a major milestone for iTunes and the emerging digital music era," said Steve Jobs, Apple's CEO. "With over 50 million songs already downloaded and an additional 2.5 million songs being downloaded every week, it's increasingly difficult to imagine others ever catching up with iTunes."
Apple is the only company to offer a complete solution for buying, managing and listening to digital music anywhere with the unique combination of the iTunes digital music jukebox software, the pioneering iTunes Music Store and the market-leading iPod(TM) and iPod mini digital music players. All work seamlessly together to make the new digital music era accessible to everyone.
The iTunes Music Store offers Windows and Mac® users the industry's largest online music catalog of over 500,000 songs, industry-leading personal use rights and uniform 99 cents-per-song pricing. With exclusive tracks from more than 150 artists, the iTunes Music Store offers music from all five major music companies and over 300 independent music labels. Plus more than 5,000 audiobooks, online gift certificates, Apple's patent-pending "Allowance" feature which lets parents automatically deposit funds into their kids' iTunes Music Store account every month, Celebrity Playlists, iTunes Essentials and Billboard Charts.
Apple ignited the personal computer revolution in the 1970s with the Apple II and reinvented the personal computer in the 1980s with the Macintosh. Apple is committed to bringing the best personal computing experience to students, educators, creative professionals and consumers around the world through its innovative hardware, software and Internet offerings.
NOTE: Apple, the Apple logo, Mac, Mac OS, Macintosh, iTunes and iPod are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Apple. Other company and product names may be trademarks of their respective owners.
Cassandra Thanks for the info. eom
The company has nothing to do with our e.Digital. They are selling (supposedly) a Samsung or Digitalway product. Using the name E_Digital I guess is OK? but in some ads they are using eDIGITAL. Some could get confused?
Flagrant Foul IMO
Posted this before, buy this is not right IMO
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=3084205703&category=11024&sspagename=...
iPod Driving Apples Share Surge
By Peter J. Brennan
Bloomberg News
LOS ANGELES — Apple Computer's newest store in San Francisco has twice run out of the iPod mini music player since opening 12 days ago, and such demand has fueled a 22 percent increase in the company's stock in the past two weeks.
"We sell iPod minis like crazy, and it's been a wonderful hit for us," said Travis Fears, a floor manager at the store. "We have been thrilled so far."
Shares of Cupertino, Calif.-based Apple have risen to their highest since September 2000 as investors bet the business-card-sized iPod mini, released last month, will boost profit. The gains may help vindicate Chief Executive Officer Steve Jobs' push to stimulate sales with new products. Last year, Apple unveiled a fast desktop computer, a laptop with an extra-wide screen, and iTunes, an online music store.
"The iPod is a success beyond anyone's wildest expectations," said Jim Grossman at Minneapolis-based Thrivent Financial for Lutherans, which owns Apple shares. "It is driving store traffic and convincing people to consider that Apple does have great products."
Apple's stock had increased in 10 of the past 12 trading days before yesterday and as of Wednesday was the best performer in the Standard & Poor's 500 index this month. The shares dropped 53 cents to $27.15 yesterday.
The rise in Apple's shares brings the company's market value to $10.1 billion. The stock trades at almost 60 times per-share earnings for this year, compared with 15 times for Hewlett-Packard and 26 times for Dell.
The iPod mini sells for $249, comes in five colors and has enough memory to hold 1,000 songs. Regular iPods sell for $299 to $499. The iPod's success may hurt Dell and help Hewlett-Packard. Dell sells a competing music player, and Hewlett-Packard Chief Executive Officer Carly Fiorina struck a deal with Jobs on Jan. 7 to let Hewlett-Packard sell a version of the iPod.
Apple shares tumbled 52 percent on Sept. 29, 2000, after the computer maker said profit would miss analysts' forecasts.
Jobs responded with products such as the original iPod, which made its debut in October 2001. Apple has sold more than 2 million of the players, the company said in January. Sales of the music player more than doubled to $345 million in fiscal 2003.
The company shipped 939,000 iPod players in the period, about two-and-a-half times the number in fiscal 2002. Apple attributed its 57 percent jump in sales of peripherals and other hardware in 2003 "primarily" to consumer demand for the iPod.
"Apple is able to go out and invest money in new technologies like the iPod and online music, which may have lit a fire under the shares," said John Buckingham, president of Al Frank Asset Management of Laguna Beach, Calif., which manages $500 million and owns 115,000 shares of Apple. "The market is finally recognizing the value inherent in the company."
Apple's net income will more than double to $175.4 million this year as revenue climbs 21 percent to $7.51 billion, according to an average of forecasts by analysts in Thomson Financial surveys.
Separately, Apple revealed that Jobs received no bonus for the fiscal year that ended in September, and his salary for the year remained unchanged at $1, according to a proxy filed yesterday with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
In 2002, Jobs received a bonus of $2.3 million.
Last March, Jobs did receive 5 million restricted shares, valued then at nearly $75 million, after canceling all of his stock options. No stock options were granted to Jobs in 2003.
Based on yesterday's closing price of $27.15, the stock grant is valued at about $135.8 million.
Material from Dow Jones Newswires is used in this report.
How HP invented the market for iPod resellers
By Ashlee Vance in Chicago
Posted: 19/01/2004 at 20:09 GMT
Apple's iPod is the killer device of online music, and HP very well should have owned it.
Back in 1999, researchers at Compaq designed a 30 Gbyte portable music player that weighed 9.5 ounces, could fit in your pocket and had 10 hours of battery life. The Personal Jukebox - aka PJB - went on sale for more than $500, and Compaq received a handy patent for its work.
But the PJB is not all that interesting in and of itself. Plenty of companies were busy working on their own music players at the time. The demand for such devices was pretty clear, as consumers rushed to organize their music on PCs and wanted a way to carry the tunes around.
The PJB is interesting because Compaq was working on the product so early and because the company became part of HP in 2002.
Much of the HP/Compaq deal centered around the two companies linking their PC, server and storage operations. Make no mistake, the acquisition of Compaq was meant to bring HP as close as possible to rivaling IBM for big business deals. Furthering some weird Compaq music player project probably did not fall real high on the list of post-merger "things that need to get done."
Maybe it should have.
With Compaq on its side, HP found itself in the leadership position for non-Palm handheld devices with the iPaq. In addition, HP owned the highly-touted Chai software for small devices, had ties to the StrongArm processor, and ran fanciful promotions for its CoolTown vision of the connected home. Hell, HP still touts the CoolTown idea, even though its seems to have ignored its own marketing hype.
How is it that a company with a filthy rich consumer device division, a long history pushing innovation and portable patents on hand failed to create the iPod?
"We're proud of the fact that our focused innovation strategy - investing in technologies where we can lead and partnering for the rest - is paying off," said Shane Robison, executive vice president and chief strategy and technology officer at HP in a recent press release.
This boxed quotation, as in boxed wine, was used to tout HP's newly formed IP (Intellectual Property) licensing division. It also happens to be the exact same quotation used by HP CEO Carly Fiorina the week before at her CES keynote to explain why HP decided to resell Apple's iPod device.
For some reason, HP sees no shame in humbling itself to adopt Apple's product. The company with "Invent" in its logo missed out on the online music revolution and will partner to catch up as quick as it can.
Few people know the exact details of HP and Apple's agreement around the iPod. Maybe Apple is paying a small fee to HP for every sale based on the old Compaq patent. Maybe not. Apple will clearly benefit from iPods pushed through HP's vast stores.
The bigger question is why HP rushed to Apple's side.
It's said that Apple owns 70 percent of the legal online music market with more than 30 million songs sold via iTunes. In addition, Apple is making millions selling the high-margin, high-priced iPod device. The music being the driver for the hardware sales, in theory.
In the grand scheme of things, however, 30 million songs are negligible, especially at 99 cents a pop. The music industry claims to have lost billions from illegal file-trading, and Apple's contribution to stemming the swapping tide is about equal to the San Francisco Police's contribution to thwarting the illegal drug trade in the US. By the by, online file-trading is still booming, as of last check.
Beyond the relatively meager online music market, HP's embrace of the iPod has also tweaked the nerves of good partner Microsoft. HP happens to be the biggest backer of Microsoft's Windows Media Center. And Microsoft and Apple happen to be at odds over the direction their DRM infections will take.
The only explanation for HP's iPod lust is that it was the easy way out - the road least invented.
The easy way out has become a tradition at HP since Carly Fiorina took over - one of the shining examples here being HP's decision to pick Intel's Itanium processor for high-end servers instead of its own PA-RISC and Alpha processors. This move opened the way for HP to kill off the Tru64 operating system, lay off tens of thousand of workers and effectively sign up as Microsoft's lapdog on the server.
To think that HP missed the online music market already is absurd. This baby is in its infancy and at current margins may never walk. HP, far more than Apple, has the might, the product and the size to broker favorable deals with the music industry, and supposedly has the inventive spirit to come up with its own devices.
HP's decision to pick up Apple product points to nothing less than a failure of the company to capitalize on its own invention. In addition, it shows HP's unmatched readiness to ignore in-house IP at the very moment a fledgling market looks promising.
But beyond all that, the iPod decision must be painful for both HP veterans and Compaq newbies. HP's first big deal came when it sold something different, something unmatched to Disney, which bought oscillators to make Fantasia. Compaq's history goes back to cracking the IBM PC and creating a new market for open clones.
But instead of having a crack at out-inventing and out-designing Apple - something not easily done - HP chose to rebadge competitor kit. On top of that, it's rebadging a relatively closed device chock full of DRM. Open clone the iPod is not.
Companies don't need to stay the same to remain relevant, but a wholesale loss of inventive ideals does not benefit a technology company.
Hopefully Fiorina will enjoy her PJB - you know, the one that says iPod on it. ®
Apple posts Compaq iTunes as HP music store goes live
By Tony Smith
Posted: 12/03/2004 at 15:46 GMT
When HP CEO Carly Fiorina launched the company's digital music service last January, she said the online store and Apple iTunes-derived jukebox software would become available this summer, in the same timeframe that the company will launch its own hard drive-based portable music player.
Summer appears to have come early: HP yesterday posted a web site devoted to the new service, and Apple began offering an HP-specific version of iTunes for downloading.
The 'special' HP/Compaq version of iTunes is version 4.2 of the software, as per the Mac and non-specific Windows versions of the software. The chief difference is believed to be code to allow Apple to track downloads made by HP customers rather than those of its own.
As yet there's no sign on the site of HP's anticipated rebranded iPod, which is "expected to become available this summer", HP said. In the same timeframe, HP will add "a desktop icon guiding users to the music site" to HP Pavilion, Media Center and Compaq Presario desktop and notebook consumer PCs.
With the HP and Apple web sites updated, a formal opening is presumably not far off, and should be accompanied by the plan to bundle iTunes on HP's systems. Hopefully, the 'HPod' won't be far behind.
Next Tuesday, HP is expected to announce a partnership with Starbucks to provide the coffee seller with an in-store music preview, download and burning solution. HP is known to be providing tablet PCs for the service, and it seems likely that it is behind the service's back-end too, possibly through its partnership with Apple. ®
MP3's French developers tweaking software to add download locks
By Los Angeles Times
Mar 12, 2004 - 07:41:35 am PST
When German audio engineers developed the MP3 format in the early 1990s, they unwittingly created the currency of online music piracy -- song files that could be copied freely and downloaded swiftly.
Music fans embraced the format, but it was snubbed by record labels and online music services because there was no way to stop MP3s from being bootlegged.
Now Thomson, the French company that distributes MP3 technology, is trying to make amends to the music industry. It's adding electronic locks that a record label can use to limit the number of times a song can be duplicated onto CDs or portable devices.
Thomson, however, may have a tough time finding an audience for this version.
The online music market already is crowded with competing secure formats from Microsoft Corp., Apple Computer Inc., RealNetworks Inc. and Sony Corp. Their incompatibility gives record label executives heartburn, and Thomson's move adds a fifth format that doesn't work with any of the others.
Plus, songs encoded in the new format won't work on many older digital music players for which the original MP3 is the lingua franca.
Figuring out how to make locked music files that play on a range of software and devices -- "that's what people should be worried about," said Lawrence Kenswil, president of ELabs at Vivendi Universal's Universal Music Group.
Nevertheless, Thomson executives hope that the music industry will look at the update as the best of both worlds: It has the familiarity and cachet of the MP3 name and the security of electronic locks.
By embracing the new format, music services may start drawing the masses away from illegal downloads on file-sharing networks, said Rocky Caldwell, a director of technology marketing, patents and licensing for Thomson.
"MP3 is a brand the average consumer ... would (expect to) find on an audio service," Caldwell said.
That logic led Roxio Inc. to pay $5 million for the Napster brand and some of its technology in November 2002. But the new Napster service that Roxio launched in October didn't take the online music world by storm -- it's a distant second behind Apple in downloadable songs sold and has attracted fewer subscribers than at least three other services.
One factor is that Roxio's fee-based version of Napster is very different from the original, which enabled people to copy MP3s free from one another's computers. Similarly, Thomson is changing one of the central features of the MP3 format -- its ability to be copied and moved without limitation -- by adding what's known as digital rights management software, or DRM.
"Anytime they bring up DRM and MP3 in the same sentence, it's going to set off a lot of firestorms," said analyst Mike McGuire of GartnerG2, a technology research firm.
Developed by the Fraunhofer Institute in Germany, the original MP3 made its formal debut in 1993 as part of a Motion Picture Entertainment Group, or MPEG, standard. The technology squeezes a song into a digital package about one-tenth the size of a track on a CD. Such files can be stored on a computer or portable player, organized into custom playlists, burned onto personalized CDs and sent easily over the Internet via a high-speed connection.
The format has become the common language for music-playing software and portable devices and has made its way into a growing number of car stereos, DVD players and home entertainment systems. It's also the format of choice for the billions of songs downloaded free from file-sharing networks such as Kazaa and EDonkey.
Thomson's new version combines the standard MP3 compression technology with a DRM that hews closely to emerging standards for rights-management techniques, Caldwell said. Music services and device makers can rely on the new version to remain unchanged for years, he said, rather than having to adapt to the periodic updates made by Microsoft, Real and others.
One drawback: The new format won't work on the wide array of portable devices and disc players that can play MP3 files. Some of those devices could be made compatible with new software. For others, Thomson wants to let people make unlocked copies with reduced sound quality, which they could play on any device that supports the original format.
The labels, however, would have to approve that kind of copying.
SigmaTel Inc., a leading manufacturer of microchips for portable music players, will support locked MP3s if player manufacturers ask it to, said Mark Martinets, a product marketing manager. "To date, we don't have any customers that have requested it," he said.
One of SigmaTel's biggest customers, the Rio Audio division of Digital Networks North America Inc., already has rebuffed Thomson. Kevin Brangan, a marketing vice president at Rio, said he doubted that the labels would adopt the new MP3 because it would only add to consumer confusion.
Referring to Thomson's licensing fees for using the technology, Brangan said, "There's really not much of a reason to pay $1 a player for a (format) I don't think anybody is going to use."
Copyright 2004 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
HP, Starbucks team-up on MP3s
By Macworld staff
HP has joined forces with Starbucks to offer customers the chance to order music tracks with their coffee.
Customers will be provided with headphones, an HP tablet computer, and up to 250,000 songs to listen to while drinking their cappuccino. If they want to buy a track they can have it burned on to a CD.
Business Week suggests Starbucks will ultimately offer wireless downloads to laptops or portable players.
It is expected that the service will be provided over the store's wireless network, courtesy of T-Mobile. This suggests that iTunes will not be providing the tracks – despite HP's recent agreement to support Apple's iTunes Music Store by installing the software on its computers.
Speaking to Business Week, Starbucks chairman Howard Schultz said: "The service will expand into 2,500 stores over the next two years. This is not a test. We're going for it. We have a unique opportunity to leverage the trust people have in the brand. The artists don't want to go to Wal-Mart."
Starbucks vice-president for music and entertainment Don MacKinnon said: "In the time it takes you to order a latte, you could have any CD burned on demand for you. That's truly transformative and unlocks for so many people a need that's not being served – making it easier to learn about music, easier to get it, and easier to create your own compilations.''
Record companies agree. Concord Records joint owner Hal Gaba said: "There is no question in our minds that this is the future of music distribution. It's a significant enhancement of the iTunes experience."
But analysts are less certain. Forrester Research analyst Josh Bernoff said: "Your typical barista may be great at making espresso but is not in a position to fix the broken CD burner. And how do you find what you are looking for when faced with 250,000 tracks?''
The in-store music service is expected to launch on March 16.
HP launches iTunes site
By Jonny Evans
HP is beginning to put its muscle behind its future online music offering, in which it will sell an own-branded Apple iPod and direct music buyers to the iTunes Music Store.
Last night, the company launched its HP Music website – a special section of its site in which it promotes its HP iPod and offers a direct download link for customers to download iTunes. The URL shows the service to be going live for US customers initially.
HP site visitors are downloading a version of iTunes labelled 'iTunes 4.2.0.74 (HP), though the software itself is visually identical to existing versions of iTunes for Windows. Users are directed to www.apple.com/itunes/hp/download.
A note on the site explains the joint move: "HP and Apple have partnered to bring the award-winning iTunes music jukebox software onto your PC and into your digital world!
"Now you can enjoy the revolutionary digital music experience that's changing the way the world listens, all in the comfort of a Windows-based environment."
With 110,000 outlets worldwide, HP is expected to get iPods into areas Apple can't quite reach, extending the power of the Mac vendor’s music platform, and putting more weight behind its chosen AAC standard.
OT Gateway upgrades DVD wireless player
Friday 12 March 2004
Gateway has upgraded its wireless DVD player, taking another step in its attempt to converge the consumer electronics and PC markets.
The ADC-320 Wireless Connected DVD player supports more multimedia formats and better networking technology, said John Schindler, director of connectivity and home entertainment at Gateway.
Using 802.11g technology, the ADC-320 Wireless Connected DVD player wirelessly receives and displays streamed digital content - photos, music and video - stored on a PC at a speed of up to 54Mbps, Schindler said. Under ideal conditions, the DVD player can pull content from a PC up to 100m away, he said.
"Customers today have most of their digital content stored on a PC that they want to get into a living room. That's why we launched the Wireless Connected DVD player," he said.
The ADC-320 can transfer files five times faster than the ADC-220, which was launched last July and had integrated 802.11b Wi-Fi technology. The increase in speed allows the player to stream higher-bandwidth movies.
The DVD player can receive digital content from Windows and Windows XP Media Center Edition 2004 PCs. It also allows content to be streamed to PCs, where it can be recorded via Media Center's Personal Video Recorder (PVR) feature. The recorded content can then be streamed to other ADC-320s on a home network, Schindler said.
The ADC-320 links to a home's existing wireless network using DHCP (Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol). It can use peer-to-peer networking to connect to home PCs with wireless access points. If a home network has WEP (Wired Equivalent Privacy) or MAC (Media Access Control) addressing security features turned on, the DVD player can be configured to connect to such networks.
The player allows streaming of MP3 and Windows Media Audio content, and MPEG-1, MPEG-2 and MPEG-4, Microsoft PVR and AVI (Audio-Video Interleaved) video files. For secure transfer of multimedia content, the DVD player supports 64-bit and 128-bit WEP encryption and WPA (Wi-Fi Protected Access) encryption.
The $199 ADC-320 Wireless Connected DVD player is available immediately. Firmware upgrades for the DVD player will be available from Gateway's website. Owners of Gateway's ADC-220 can upgrade with a 802.11g DVD card that costs $50 and is installed on the back of the DVD player.
The ADC-320 plugs into Gateway's KAS-303 home theatre system, including a digital receiver, five speakers and a subwoofer, to create a digital media centre that can play media streamed from a PC. The total package costs $999.
Agam Shah writes for IDG News Service
Many airlines are not going to pop for new planes in their fleet until replacement time. They are also not going to remove antiquated IFE systems from existing planes. Our digEplayer is perfect for this scenario.
HP plans own-brand iPod push in China
By Macworld staff
HP is planning a sales drive on its own-branded iPod, as well as digital cameras and home-entertainment systems in China, the company has revealed.
HP announced its deal with Apple under which it will sell its own-branded licensed iPod at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in January. It's understood that Apple CEO Steve Jobs was instrumental in this arrangement, and that Apple trounced Napster with the deals success.
Apple chief financial officer Fred Anderson confirmed the strategy Apple is following: "The HP deal shows a willingness to partner where it makes sense and Apple will continue to employ that philosophy. It gives us tremendous momentum behind establishing our standard AAC as the standard (for digital music distribution)," he told analysts last week.
In a note to clients, Needham & Co. analyst Charles Wolf praised Apple's HP deal as it will take iPod into brand new markets – such as China. HP operates through 110,000 retail outlets globally, in contrast to Apple's estimated 8,000.
Speaking at a presentation in Shanghai yesterday HP CEO Carly Fiorina said: "HP's promise to invest in China has remained a priority and our level of investment is on the rise."
China will fuel growth
According to the Taipei Times, Fiorina said: "China is the largest and fastest growing consumer market in the world today with more than 1.3 billion consumers. The use of computers is spreading more rapidly here than any other nation.
"The Chinese market is extremely important to HP. We cannot achieve our objective to be the leading technology company without success here in China."
HP returned to China eight months ago after withdrawing in 2001. According to vice president of Hewlett-Packard's imaging and printing group Ken Koo: "In the seven top cities in China, HP has achieved a 12 per cent market share for personal computers in the eight months of operations since returning to the market."
According to the Taipei Times, HP is now the fifth-largest seller of personal computers in China.
HP plans Chinese IT takeaways
Koo said: "HP plans to open more than 1,000 stores in over 100 cities in China and spend several million dollars on brand-building in China."
The report states that the company plans to introduce its full range of consumer products to China, including the HP-branded iPod music player, projectors, entertainment hubs and displays.
China has an estimated population of 1.286 billion (July 2003, CIA World Factbook). Approximately 69.5 per cent of these are between 15-64 years old.
China is now the world's second-largest economy and its GDP has quadrupled since 1978, reaching $5,000 per head in 2003 for a book purchasing power the equivalent of $5.989 trillion, according to the CIA.
Apple China charges the equivalent of $363 for its own 15GB iPod (according to current exchange rates).
Ted needs digEplayer
(from websire)
Entertainment
Tedevision - Stay tuned in and entertained on Ted flights over an hour and half with Tedevision, our exclusive, free entertainment service. Laugh out loud (no FAA rules against that) at some of your favorite NBC programming. Or learn from unique short programs on subjects ranging from extreme skiing to how to turn a stretch limo into a working fire truck (you always wanted to know, didn't you?).
Tedtunes - For those who might prefer to stimulate their ears we offer Tedtunes, twelve channels of non-stop music to satisfy even the most eclectic of tastes. Enjoy hits from then to now, rock to country, English to Spanish, Disney to Dido. To check out the full sonic smorgasbord available, just click here. Chill out, rock out, honk if you honky tonk.
The relaxed and friendly Ted experience combines low fares with outstanding service. In addition to more simplified, low fares,
Ted offers pre-assigned seats and exclusive onboard entertainment, dubbed "Tedevision" and "Tedtunes." Tedevision features a variety of programming in keeping with Ted's relaxed personality, including hit television shows such as Friends, Scrubs, and My Wife and Kids; music videos from chart toppers Jason Mraz, Coldplay and Liz Phair; and segments from Jay Leno, Conan O’Brien and the Carson Daly show.
Tedtunes features 15 channels of music ranging from Latin, dance, club and easy listening to kids' tunes. Offering something for everyone, featured artists include Sarah McLachlan, Seal, Martina McBride and Outkast.
So if they have to rent them for less than $10 to stimulate demand, how are they going to recover the initial purchase price and cover operating expenses involved? They didn't even get through the first test on the first route and the margin is blown already?
Compared to buying full built in IFE systems? LOL The initial purchase price is substantially lower, making it easier to "cover operating expenses." That is one avenue of low cost carriers is it not? Trying to provide to most for the least. That could be digEplayer......
Rio and BuyMusic.com Partner to Offer Free Music Downloads to Customers
Free Music Download Selection Includes Unprecedented Catalog to Choose From
SANTA CLARA, Calif. and ALISO VIEJO, Calif., March 10 /PRNewswire/ -- RioAudio, a leading provider of Digital Music Players, and BuyMusic.com(TM), oneof the world's largest legal music download stores for PC users, today announced a partnership for free music downloads. Customers who purchase aRio Karma, Rio Nitrus, Rio Cali, Rio Chiba or a Rio Fuse Digital Music Player will be offered up to ten free downloads from BuyMusic.com. With more than 400,000 songs to choose from, customers will have the best of both worlds- an extraordinary Digital Music Player and an abundance of their favoritesongs to download. Look for a Rio Digital Music Player with the BuyMusic.com promotional code to hit the store shelves in mid-April.
"The partnership between Rio and BuyMusic.com offers consumers the ability to try out one of the leading legal music services on the market," said Gil Miller, Director of Business Development for Rio. "We are offering theconsumer a great value -- buy one of the coolest Digital Music Players on the market and receive up to 10 of your favorite songs, for free."
Rio is one of the top selling Digital Music Player brands in both the emerging mini-hard disk player market and the flash player market. Recent reports show that the Rio Nitrus 1.5GB is the best-selling 1-inch HDD DigitalMusic Player. Additionally Rio has regained the top spot in the overall flash Digital Music Player market.
"Rio Digital Music Players are the ultimate choice for consumers looking to get in to the digital music craze and Rio is a great choice for BuyMusic to partner with," said Keith Allen, Senior Vice President. "As a leader in thePC digital music industry, we want our customers to experience the best inmusic choice and portability. This free music promotion with Rio offers just
what we were hoping for."
About Rio
Rio Audio, a D&M Holdings Inc. company, pioneered portable digital audio technology in 1998, with the launch of the Rio 300. Since then, Rio hasbecome the world's number one brand of portable MP3 players by developing ahost of award-winning portables that let music lovers take their music with
them wherever they go. For more information regarding Rio, or to purchase aRio digital audio player, please visit http://www.rioaudio.com.
About BuyMusic.com(TM)
BuyMusic.com is one of the world's largest legal music download stores forthe country's 150 million PC users, offering more songs at a lower price thanany other legal music website. The Aliso Viejo, California-basedBuyMusic.com, a wholly owned subsidiary of Buy.com, is available to anyonewith a PC and Windows Media Player (a free download at BuyMusic.com). For
more information, please visit http://www.buymusic.com or call 1-800-BUYMUSIC.
Media Contacts:
Colleen Henley
Porter Novelli for Rio Audio
+1-408-988-2100
colleen.henley@porternovelli.com
Larisa Hall
Buymusic.com
+1-949-389-2137
pr@buymusic.com
iPod, you profit
By Garry Barker
March 11, 2004
Livewire
At the risk of plunging everyone into the walnut-panelled gloominess of corporate thinking, may we report that Steven Milunovich, analyst with international bankers and billionaires Merrill Lynch, sees the iPod as something akin to a new California oil strike.
Sales of the players, boosted by the launch in the United States last month of the coloured iPod mini range "could be a $US1 billion ($A1.3 billion) business for Apple by the end of this year and $US1.6 billion by September, 2006".
Milunovich says the iPod is not a "one-hit wonder" and will bring significant numbers of Windows users into the Macintosh fold by "creating a halo effect that it's OK to buy Apple".
Nothing like an analyst with a penchant for poetic expression.
Milunovich calculates that iPod and iTunes Music Store will contribute 15 cents a share to earnings in 2004, rising to 25 cents and revenue of $US2 billion in 2006. He also estimates that the iPod, G5 and future products will push Apple's shares to $US29 this year, $5 up on the current price.
Apple will retain its 31 per cent share of the MP3 market and 55 per cent share of total digital player revenue "longer than many think", he says, adding that iTunes Music Store revenue will rise to $US200 million in 2005 and $US350 million in 2006.
Apple gets about 10 cents from every song sold, the music companies 65 cents and infrastructure takes the rest.
Fred Anderson, about-to-retire architect of the mothership's now sound finances, says Apple would "like to become a $10 billion company again".
Speaking at the Morgan Stanley conference in New York last week, he named three key drivers for Apple: portable mobility and wireless communications, the digital lifestyle and music. Apple's ability to innovate quickly was also critically important, he said.
"We have this modern Unix-based technology in Mac OS X (and can) innovate faster than Redmond (Microsoft)," he said, noting that Windows was last upgraded in 2001 while Apple has done four since then.
Also, instead of cutting its spending after the tech-wreck, Apple continued to invest in research and development, up from $US300 million three years ago to $US500 million a year now.
Clapton coup
While midnight copyright raids on student dormitories continue in the US, reality is beginning to seep into the recording industry.
Many bands and performers now launch their ditties on the internet, thereby avoiding the big record companies, which seem to over-promote those they see as having commercial potential while blocking others with talent. Mostly these privateers are relative unknowns, but that seems to be changing.
Eric Clapton has just released a four-track EP previewing his forthcoming album honouring bluesman Robert Johnson.
More significantly, Clapton is doing this exclusively through Apple's iTunes Music Store, where song sales are heading past 150 million.
We continue not to know why iTMS has not opened outside the US but assume, perhaps unfairly, that the record companies are playing hardball on a tough wicket. But it is about time something happened!
Currently that line, called Virgin Pulse, includes no serious iPod competitors. That could change in the next year or so. Virgin plans to add to its lineup a new personal music player that will more closely compete with Apple.
http://www.businessweek.com/technology/content/mar2004/tc20040310_2724_tc056.htm
GMS releases credit-card size board
System board allows PC-like performance to be placed into embedded devices
By Tom Krazit, IDG News Service March 08, 2004
General Micro Systems Inc. (GMS) has developed a system board that is smaller than a credit card, allowing PC-like performance to be placed into embedded devices, the company said Monday.
The Spider single-board computer measures 2.8 inches by 1.9 inches (7.1 centimeters by 4.8 centimeters), and comes with a choice of PowerPC processors from IBM Corp. GMS has been shipping the boards to early customers such as Raytheon Co. and Scandinavian Airlines System (SAS) for evaluation purposes, and is releasing the board to a wider market now that those customers have completed their testing, said Ben Sharfi, president of GMS.
Raytheon is testing Spider as the brain of a missile guidance system, Sharfi said. Missile designers can put GPS (Global Positioning System) technology on Spider in a smaller package than was previously possible, he said.
SAS has designed an in-flight entertainment system around Spider, Sharfi said. Each airplane seat on some SAS planes has a computer controlled by a Spider board that is connected to a larger server. That server provides games, video and access to e-mail for each passenger.
Telecommunications companies are also expected to show an interest in Spider, Sharfi said. The boards come with Ethernet connections so they can be connected as a single telecom module with multiple processors that could fit into a confined space, he said.
Spider comes in two versions, one designed for low-power applications and another that provides more processing power, Sharfi said. The Spider P501 is based on IBM's 400MHz PowerPC 440GP, and the entire board consumes 5 watts of power. The low power consumption level means system designers can use this board in devices without a cooling fan.
For applications requiring more performance, GMS has the Spider P502. This board comes with an 800MHz PowerPC 440GX chip that pushes the board's total power consumption to 12 watts.
Both boards come with two Ethernet ports, but the P502 uses the Gigabit Ethernet standard. They each have 256KB of off-chip cache for storing frequently accessed data, up to 256MB of DDR (double data rate) SDRAM (synchronous dynamic RAM), and 32KB of user flash memory for general data storage.
The P501 costs $300, while the P502 costs $400 in manufacturing quantities. Right now, these prices are too high to justify using the Spider board in any type of personal digital assistant or handheld device, but that might change as costs come down, Sharfi said
Garuda Indonesia Selects SkyMediaCenter 3000
Will Outfit A330 Aircraft With Innovative Inflight Entertainment System
BREA, CA -- (MARKET WIRE) -- 03/08/2004 -- Garuda Maintenance Facilities AeroAsia announced today that it has entered an agreement with Ibises International Inc. (OTC: IBSN) to install the company's SkyMediaCenter 3000 in-flight system on Garuda Indonesia's six Airbus 330 airplanes. The deal could exceed seven million dollars, depending on system options and how many seats are outfitted.
GMF AeroAsia is the maintenance subsidiary of Garuda Indonesia, a growing Asian airline with a fleet of 62 aircraft. This agreement follows on the heels of Ibises' announcement last month to install SMC-3000 at the 82 business and first-class seats on Garuda's three B747-400 airplanes. The 405-passenger B747 planes will start flying with the system in April, while the 293-seat A330 airplanes will be equipped with SMC-3000 this summer. GMF plans to first outfit the A330 seat consoles in business class with LCD touch screens and then mount screens in the seat backs in economy class. Next up: GMF hopes to implement the system in Garuda's 43 B737 planes.
"This deal is significant because it proves that Ibises can deliver a superior system which can easily and quickly be installed in all types of aircraft," said Ibises CEO Carl Salas.
SMC-3000 will provide Garuda passengers with audio-video on demand (AVOD), interactive games, and the ability for in-flight shopping. The system is also enabled for e-mail, SMS text messaging, word processing, and spreadsheet applications.
"We need to meet passengers' demands with a system that offers a variety of individual entertainment options. The affordable SMC-3000 is one of the most versatile and technologically-advanced systems available," said Suwito Sastrowiryo, GMF's vp-engineering.
Ibises and GMF are also developing a non-ticket revenue model that will enable Garuda to generate sales from the passenger use of e-mail and SMS text messaging. Other future revenue models will include advertising sponsorships, which will allow companies to use in-flight screens to promote their marketing messages.
"Our goal is to help our airline partners generate higher profits using our state-of-the-art in-flight entertainment system," said Salas.
About Ibises: Brea, Ca.-based Ibises is a full-service aircraft engineering, certification, security, and in-flight entertainment product development company. The cost-effective SMC-3000 system is a secure, single-box solution which delivers digital movies on demand, music, interactive games, shopping, e-mail, office productivity tools, and SMS text messaging. Future features will include satellite television and radio, voice over IP telephony, and wireless connectivity. More information is available at www.ibises.com.
OT: Gates: Buy stamps to send e-mail
Microsoft's Bill Gates, among others, is suggesting computer users start buying "stamps" for e-mail.
Friday, March 5, 2004 Posted: 11:26 AM EST(1626 GMT)
Paying for e-mail seen as anti-spam tactic
NEW YORK (AP) -- If the U.S. Postal Service delivered mail for free, our mailboxes would surely runneth over with more credit-card offers, sweepstakes entries, and supermarket fliers. That's why we get so much junk e-mail: It's essentially free to send. So Microsoft Corp. chairman Bill Gates, among others, is now suggesting that we start buying "stamps" for e-mail.
Many Internet analysts worry, though, that turning e-mail into an economic commodity would undermine its value in democratizing communication. But let's start with the math: At perhaps a penny or less per item, e-mail postage wouldn't significantly dent the pocketbooks of people who send only a few messages a day. Not so for spammers who mail millions at a time.
Though postage proposals have been in limited discussion for years -- a team at Microsoft Research has been at it since 2001 -- Gates gave the idea a lift in January at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. Details came last week as part of Microsoft's anti-spam strategy. Instead of paying a penny, the sender would "buy" postage by devoting maybe 10 seconds of computing time to solving a math puzzle. The exercise would merely serve as proof of the sender's good faith.
Time is money, and spammers would presumably have to buy many more machines to solve enough puzzles. The open-source software Hashcash, available since about 1997, takes a similar approach and has been incorporated into other spam-fighting tools including Camram and Spam Assassin.
Meanwhile, Goodmail Systems Inc. has been in touch with Yahoo! Inc. and other e-mail providers about using cash. Goodmail envisions charging bulk mailers a penny a message to bypass spam filters and avoid being incorrectly tossed as junk. That all sounds good for curbing spam, but what if it kills the e-mail you want as well?
Consider how simple and inexpensive it is today to e-mail a friend, relative, or even a city-hall bureaucrat. It's nice not to have to calculate whether greeting grandma is worth a cent. And what of the communities now tied together through e-mail -- hundreds of cancer survivors sharing tips on coping; dozens of parents coordinating soccer schedules? Those pennies add up.
"It detracts from your ability to speak and to state your opinions to large groups of people," said David Farber, a veteran technologist who runs a mailing list with more than 20,000 subscribers. "It changes the whole complexion of the net."
Goodmail chief executive Richard Gingras said individuals might get to send a limited number for free, while mailing lists and nonprofit organizations might get price breaks.
But at what threshold would e-mail cease to be free? At what point might a mailing list be big or commercial enough to pay full rates? Goodmail has no price list yet, so Gingras couldn't say. Vint Cerf, one of the Internet's founding fathers, said spammers are bound to exploit any free allotments.
"The spammers will probably just keep changing their mailbox names," Cerf said. "I continue to be impressed by the agility of spammers." And who gets the payments? How do you build and pay for a system to track all this? How do you keep such a system from becoming a target for hacking and scams?
The proposals are also largely U.S.-centric, and even with seamless currency conversion, paying even a token amount would be burdensome for the developing world, said John Patrick, former vice president of Internet technology at IBM Corp.
"We have to think of not only, let's say, the relatively well-off half billion people using e-mail today, but the 5 or 6 billion who aren't using it yet but who soon will be," Patrick said.
Some proposals even allow recipients to set their own rates. A college student might accept e-mail with a one-cent stamp; a busy chief executive might demand a dollar.
"In the regular marketplace, when you have something so fast and efficient that everyone wants it, the price goes up," said Sonia Arrison of the Pacific Research Institute, a think tank that favors market-based approaches.
To think the Internet can shatter class distinctions that exist offline is "living in Fantasyland," Arrison said. Nonetheless, it will be tough to persuade people to pay -- in cash or computing time that delays mail -- for something they are used to getting for free.
Critics of postage see more promise in other approaches, including technology to better verify e-mail senders and lawsuits to drive the big spammers out of business.
"Back in the early '90s, there were e-mail systems that charged you 10 cents a message," said John Levine, an anti-spam advocate. "And they are all dead."
OT Apple's Competitive Advantage
By Rob Enderle
TechNewsWorld
March 8, 2004
Where Apple really stands out is in marketing. The company simply seems to understand what will get people excited about their products, and then they execute on that vision. You don't see the company mainly talking about features or technology, but about how the computer will make your life better.
I sit on a lot of PC company advisory boards and, while this may surprise you, I actually point out Apple's competitive advantages on a regular basis. The problem for me is with Apple's market share, which is at a tiny and stable 2.6 percent of the PC marketplace.
Don't get me wrong, Dell is where Apple once was at the top of the PC stack. But they got there by specializing in cost control, controlling the customer experience, and by being the first to do direct-PC purchasing right. Both companies are profitable. And while some people do, in fact, lust after Dell PCs, generally Dell boxes are utilitarian. Dell has learned one thing that Apple hasn't, and that is to choose powerful partners to leverage. No other company leverages Microsoft and Intel as well as Dell does.
Motorola, BSD and IBM are no match for Intel and Microsoft. If it weren't for the powerful advantages Apple brings to the table, the company would be gone by now. Let's revisit some of those advantages.
Apple's Designs are, well, elegant. There is no better word for it. Sony and Toshiba can come close at times but, on average, Apple has the best-designed hardware from an aesthetics point of view of any vendor. It is amazing that, after several years, no one has been able to design a better hard-drive-based MP3 player than Apple did with the iPod. Even Toshiba's design, which used many of the same components, sucked.
Have you noticed that Apple doesn't live by the version-three rule? In the PC industry, there is this rule that some of the branded vendors take three tries to get something right. Apple often gets it in one try. The first iteration might not be perfect, but it is often so close to the ideal that the difference is insignificant. I'm clearly one of those folks that wish this rule didn't apply so well to companies other than Apple.
Sometimes it's the little things. For instance, if you look at the laptop hinges on the new PowerBooks and iBooks, you'll see the way screens should be attached to laptops. The screen opens out and down, minimizing the height of the open laptop and making it much more practical for airplane use. The hinge itself is not only robust but also is protected, so it would be difficult to break. The end result is like a Porsche design in a good year: clean, understated and elegant.
On the desktop side, Apple has done little things like the placement of the power button on the iMac into the screen, where it is both easy to access and provides an experience not unlike that with the start button on a Honda S2000. Apple also has turned desktop keyboards into hubs for easier cable management, although I still think the iMac should have a wireless keyboard and mouse.
Even though it is several years old, and I'd still prefer black or gray over white, the design for the iMac looks more advanced than any of the other all-in-one products out there, including the Sony W600 and Intel codesigned Gateway 610 Media Center.
Even the company's tower computer, the G5, takes what has become an increasingly boring form factor and made it look trendy. It looks exclusive, which -- given its cost -- it is. But it is a stunning design. On the PC side, you typically have to go to Voodoo or Alienware for anything that even comes close to an Apple design, although you have to admit Sony's RS products are rather close.
Apple Marketing
Where Apple really stands out is in marketing. The company simply seems to understand what will get people excited about their products, and then they execute on that vision. You don't see the company mainly talking about features or technology, but about how the computer will make your life better. The iPod ads actually won an award from AdWeek and, if it hadn't been for an even more stunning campaign from Citibank, they might have won best ad overall for 2003 as opposed to just being in the top ten.
Apple also has not been afraid of in-your-face campaigns. The company has run campaigns that have shown Intel-based laptops catching fire and getting rolled over by steam rollers. Contrast this with IBM, which has backed away from connecting Dell's "Dude" to the dropped laptop in their new campaign for fear of upsetting Dell, even though Dell had abandoned "the Dude" some time ago.
Simply look at where Apple puts its logo on their products. On the laptops, the logo is right side up when the screen is open. Many vendors don't understand the power of walking into an office and seeing a large number of logos advertising their products to everyone in the office and everyone else who comes into it. The logo even lights up on most Apple laptops. Apple understood that the logo is not for the person who bought the computer but the person who is in the market for one. It is good advertising placement -- not a throw-away design element.
Of the PC companies, Apple definitely does best placement in TV shows -- which really showcases that logo. If you didn't know better, and expected TV shows to represent real life, you would assume that few people use Windows machines and that almost everyone has an Apple notebook or iMac. Dell has started to show up as well in TV, but Apple is king when it comes to placement for the PC space. And even when the other vendors get a spot, their logos are so hard to see, I'll bet they are generally missed.
The guy just flat out gets marketing. He can show up on stage at a MacWorld, give his talk and it can be days before anyone realizes that he had nothing new to sell. With Jobs' backing, Apple outspends almost every other hardware vendor in the space on marketing personal technology. They seem to be more focused as well.
This natural competency goes a long way toward overcoming the serious disadvantage of being the existing minority player when a new minority player, Linux, seems to have an even broader -- and more rabidly growing -- following. Clearly, and I doubt many would disagree, if it weren't for Steve Jobs, Apple would have vanished several years ago.
An Apple 'What If'
I still think, given the massive success of the iPod, that Apple could have done wonderful things by using their UI and hardware design skills on a Wintel platform product. What if Apple, in conjunction with HP, built an iTunes PC to go with the HP-branded iPod?
What if this PC had an Apple hardware design and used a skin to give Windows XP an Apple-like user interface, and if the application load was similar to what you would get with an Apple?
And, what if, like the Ferrari laptop from Acer, Apple played a visible roll in insuring the user experience. Consumer Reports consistently rates Apple at the top in terms of customer satisfaction.
I wonder how well the product would sell. It would be an interesting test, regardless, and one we'll likely never see. But who knows. Both Apple and HP have a history of surprising us, and we can only wonder what their next surprise will be. Maybe the HP iPod will, in fact, be the beginning of a beautiful friendship.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"Using a platform like PortalPlayer's, in which systems are designed and chip designs verified, offers fewer worries to a company that is in a rush to market. With the design chain approach it has taken, Apple avoided the technical challenges of integrating DRAM and logic processes."
Yep
That is why I said "back on" the HDD train. Digitalway did zip with the HD 100. A new 1.8 version as well as the HD200 etc.would help, but they seemingly are in no rush to come to market
MP3 Sales January 2004
Dollar Volume $27,618,570
Brand_____________Jaunuary '04 market Share
1. Apple_______________________25.0%
2. Rio_________________________14.3%
3. IRiver_______________________12.7%
4. RCA________________________10.9%
5. Digitalway_____________________8.8%
Source: IPD/NPD Techworld
Digitalway needs to get back on the HDD train quickly
New, smaller, flashier iPod sells out fast
By Jefferson Graham, USA TODAY
Apple has a smash hit on its hands with the new iPod mini digital music player. The little cousin of the full-size iPod is virtually sold out after less than two weeks in stores, with nearly 100,000 snapped up.
"I've never seen a product line sell like this," says Jack Wahrman, senior merchandising manager at New York's J&R Music World. "The iPod is a phenomenon."
The $249 mini is the business-card-sized market extension of the regular iPod, which, while larger, also easily fits into a pocket.
The bigger iPod starts at $299 with a 15-gigabyte hard drive — enough for 4,000 songs. The mini, which comes in green, pink, silver, blue and gold, is just $50 less. It has less storage room, 4 gigabytes — or about 1,000 songs — leading critics to charge initially that it was overpriced.
"Consumers have a different view on pricing," says Mike McGuire, an analyst with tech research firm GartnerG2 and a mini owner himself. "When you actually see it and feel it, it's amazing. It's the size of a cool little mobile phone and really compelling."
Bel-Air Camera, near the UCLA campus in Los Angeles, sold its allotment in one day, says sales manager Gregg Burger. "It's frustrating. Everyone wants to buy it, and we can't sell it."
"The demand is incredible," says Wahrman at J&R, who had 25 of the silver minis left in stock Thursday. Best Buy and Amazon, on their Web sites, said they were sold out. Savvy entrepreneurs were auctioning minis on eBay with starting bids ranging from $299 to $310.
On its Web site, Apple tells shoppers to expect a one- to three-week wait. "We're asking people to be patient with us," says Greg Joswiak, Apple marketing vice president.
It's not a component shortage that's causing the backlog. "We're making and shipping them as fast as we can," Joswiak says. He says teens are taking to the cool colors. And the mini is appealing to athletic fans, who like exercising with an ultralight device.
It took Apple six weeks to sell 120,000 of the original iPod when it came out in 2001. Apple has now sold over 2 million and has a 70.4% share of digital music player revenue, according to market trackers NPD Group.
Being sold out "creates a lot of buzz for Apple," says NPD analyst Steve Baker. "But they can't leave retailers hanging for too long." Competitors Creative Labs and Rio Audio both have similar small MP3 music players selling for $199 and can benefit, Baker says.
Wahrman calls Creative's MuVo2 "the iPod mini killer." Like the mini, it also has 4 GB of storage. The Rio Nitrus is 1.5 GB. "I just got in the MuVo2 and sold my entire order the first weekend, all 540 of them," he says.
I thought it was a company being cute while ripping off our world famous name?
e-digital MP3 players
http://www.digitalhunt.com/
iPod zombies in New York -- it's true
Mac users chuckled heartily as they read a New York Times article (free subscription required) last month about the iPod Zombies in New York City.
I have seen. I believe. The tales of iPod zombies in New York are true.
I woke up on Tuesday morning in the warmth and comfort of my house in Nova Scotia -- by breakfast I was standing in the middle of Times Square in New York City. I love New York and the diversity it offers to all that live and visit the city. I have been to the city on many occasions, but this time was a bit different -- this time I wasn't one of the few toting my iPod down Broadway.
As I stepped out the front door of my hotel into Times Square, iPod in-hand, I walked into a sea of white headphones. It was really amazing to see how many people were carrying an iPod -- it seemed like every second person I saw had the telltale signs of an iPod under their jacket.
I felt like a member of a special, secret club. As you pass by someone with an iPod, they would give you a slight nod -- kind of like people that drive motorcycles do when they pass each other on the road. (Okay, maybe I was being a bit sensitive to the amount of iPods I saw, but I swear people were nodding at me as they walked past).
I was stopped a couple of times by people asking which iPod I was using. Most of the people didn't know a lot about Apple, but they sure knew a lot about the iPod and the iTunes Music Store.
The iPod is allowing Apple to reach people that may not have given the company a second look a couple of years ago.
Best Buy Fourth-Quarter Comparable Store Sales Increase 9.7 Percent
MINNEAPOLIS--(BUSINESS WIRE)--March 4, 2004--Revenue increases 21% to $8.44 billion; Company expects Q4 earnings from continuing operations at the high end of its range
Best Buy Co., Inc. (NYSE:BBY) today reported a 21-percent increase in revenue from continuing operations to $8.44 billion for the Company's fiscal 2004 fourth quarter, which ended on Feb. 28, 2004. This total compares with revenue of $6.99 billion for the Company's fiscal 2003 fourth quarter, which ended on March 1, 2003. Drivers of the increase included a strong comparable store sales gain and the addition of 78 new stores in the past 12 months.
Comparable store sales increased 9.7 percent for the fourth quarter of fiscal 2004, higher than the Company's guidance at the beginning of the quarter of a 6- to 8-percent gain. The Company previously reported a comparable store sales gain of 9.3 percent for the fiscal month of December.
Comparable store sales of MP3 devices showed triple-digit growth as more consumers grew to understand the convenience of those devices.
Entertainment Choices On SIA Ultra Long-Haul A345
Wednesday, 3 March 2004, 2:55 pm
Press Release: Singapore Airlines
March 2004
More Entertainment Choices On SIA’s Latest Ultra Long-Haul A345leadership Aircraft
From this month (March 2004) travellers on Singapore Airlines’ (SIA) newest ultra long-haul aircraft, the A345LeaderShip, can select from twice as many movies on KrisWorld, SIA’s renowned inflight entertainment system.
Exclusive to the A345LeaderShip, that flies non-stop between Singapore and Los Angeles, KrisWorld will feature 60 movies on-demand. This bumper increase brings the total number of entertainment options on the A345LeaderShip available to all passengers to over 300.
Movies featured this month include Hollywood blockbusters “The Last Samurai”, “Something’s Gotta Give”, and “The Matrix Revolution”. Other international movie hits include “Love Actually” (UK), “Swimming Pool” (France), “Goodbye Lenin!” (Germany), “Infernal Affairs II” (Hong Kong), “Like Asura” (Japan), and, “Jhankaar Beats” and “Priyamana Thozhi” (India).
Those who enjoy playing computer games will also be thrilled to find seven new PC games and two brand new Nintendo® game titles to choose from in KrisWorld. PC games like “Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?” and “Bejewelled” look set to keep travellers glued to their TV monitors . Other games include “Cyber Klash”, “Colour Blaster”, and “Mario Tennis” and “Mario Golf” from Nintendo®.
KrisWorld on SIA’s A345LeaderShip offers more than 300 entertainment options, including video and audio programming, games and news. Customers can choose from a selection of 60 movies, more than 75 TV programmes and a host of music, technology, travel and children’s programmes, over 100 music CD albums, and more than 30 Nintendo® games. With “on-demand” audio, TV, and movie channels, the passenger is able to pause, fast-forward or rewind a CD or movie anytime.
Cannibals Descend on MP3 Players
By Leander Kahney /
02:00 AM Mar. 04, 2004 PT
Digital photographers have found a source of cheap microdrives for their cameras: Creative Technology's MuVo2 digital music player.
Like Apple Computer's iPod mini, the MuVo2 is based on a 4-GB microdrive from Hitachi. But while the Hitachi microdrive retails for about $500 when sold as a storage device for digital cameras, the MuVo2 costs about $200.
As someone put it on a website forum, you get the microdrive for more than 50 percent off, and a free pair of headphones.
"The price was right," said Norman Yee, a professional photographer who bought a MuVo2 so he could use its hard drive in his Canon EOS 10D digital camera.
Yee then took the 1-GB CompactFlash card he was using in the camera and put it in the MuVo2. Both work perfectly, he said.
The Hitachi microdrive is the same size as a standard CompactFlash, or CF, card, a popular storage medium for digital cameras. In fact, the drive is designed to be interchangeable with CF cards. The drive can simply be inserted into the camera and formatted to store pictures. The drive can also be read with most CF card readers.
Yee covers motor sports for Car and Model, and often shoots up to 500 pictures at events and shows.
While the 1-GB CF cards he was using can store up to 170 shots, the 4-GB drive saves about 650 shots, Yee said.
"This is great for covering events," he said. "Having larger-capacity storage means potentially not having to swap out cards as often when covering an event."
However, Yee said he still plans to use CF cards for races and events involving high-speed action. The drive's performance when storing pictures is "pretty dismal," he said. "I could be left waiting for the camera to write out shots to the microdrive and miss a shot."
The MuVo2 hack has been lighting up digital photography websites and forums across the Net. It appears dozens of people have successfully dismantled MuVo2s for their drives.
Andy Mack, who claims to have been one of the first to cannibalize a MuVo2 for its internal drive, estimated hundreds of people have tried it, based on feedback to instructions he published on his website.
Mack, a 29-year-old production supervisor and part-time violin builder from Hong Kong, said the hack became so well-known that the store assistants where he bought a second MuVo2 knew all about it.
"Even the shop knew I would take it apart, simply because everyone did the same thing," he said.
The MuVo2 appears to be in short supply, according to posts on forums like Digital Photography Review, although it is unclear whether that is due to people dismantling them for the drives. The player was released in the United States in January.
Creative spokesman Phil O'Shaughnessy said the company was aware that some people are buying the players for the drives, though he cautioned users against dismantling their players.
"That will void your product warranty," he joked.
Because the MuVo2 appears to be hard to obtain, several people have tried dismantling iPod minis for their internal drives. Unfortunately, the drive in the iPod mini appears not to work in digital cameras, though there have been reports of getting it to work in the MuVo2 and some CF card readers.
One of the contributors to the iPoding website dismantled an iPod mini and, after a series of unsuccessful experiments with card readers and formatting utilities, rendered the drive inoperable.
"Oops," the writer said in a post. "If anyone knows of a reader/adapter which definitely supports the 4-GB microdrive, please let us know."
OT Samsung Markets World's Smallest MP3 Player
Updated Mar.4,2004 18:39 KST
http://english.chosun.com/w21data/html/news/200403/200403040010.html
Samsung Electronics announced Thursday that it unveiled the world¡¯s smallest MP3 player. The new YP-T5 MP3 model is much like a fashion-accessory with its 5.4 centimeter-tall body weighing only 24 gram (except battery) and comes with fashionable colors such as chameleon blue, white silver and red, the company said.
Despite its small size, the latest model allows customers to store and play various types of music files including MP3, WMA, ASF and offers functions such as file navigation, folder play and MP3 encoding.
The 'SRS WOW technology,' an audio enhancement technology also embedded on the latest model, enables the customers to enjoy high sound quality and its voice recording and portable file storage function can be useful in recording lectures and classes and keeping notes. There are three types of the YP-T5 model depending on its storage capacity of 128MB, 256MB and 512MB.
Meanwhile, Samsung will put much emphasis on its MP3 player business this year, expending the 2004 revenues in the MP3 business sector three times that of last year to W350 billion while boosting domestic market share to over 40 percent.
(Kim Eun-hee, internetnews.chosun.com)
HandHeld Entertainment. DivXNetworks Signs Licensing Agreement for DivX Video Playback on the ZVUE
SAN FRANCISCO & SAN DIEGO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--March 3, 2004--
ZVUE is First Handheld Device to Achieve Full DivX Certification, Compatible with All Versions of DivX Video
HandHeld Entertainment and DivXNetworks, Inc. today announced a licensing agreement to integrate the patent-pending DivX(R) video decoder with HandHeld's popular $99 ZVUE personal video player, which will allow playback of DivX and MPEG-4 compatible files on the ZVUE.
The ZVUE is the first DivX Certified(TM) handheld product on the market, offering users the ability to play all versions of DivX video content on a portable device. The DivX-enabled ZVUE player was tested by DivXNetworks' and HandHeld Entertainment's teams of video engineers to ensure high performance and full interoperability with the entire suite of DivX technologies. DivX, often called the "MP3 of video," is among the most popular video technologies in the world with over 120 million users.
"There is a huge global pool of high-quality DivX content that is now at the fingertips of ZVUEers," said Garrett Cecchini, executive vice president of HandHeld Entertainment. "In addition, ZVUEers now have the freedom to play a full-length movie, a television show or even a home movie on their ZVUE because of the DivX upgrade. With DivX's base of 120 million users, the ZVUE now runs one of the most popular and widely used video technologies in the world that generates insatiable amounts of content at the ZVUEers' fingertips."
HandHeld Entertainment will sell its "ZFlicks(TM)" DivX upgrade package for $69. ZFlicks includes the MPEG-4 firmware upgrade for the ZVUE, DivX video encoding software, a USB cable and an SD card. The ZFlicks package will be available online at www.zvue.com and at retailers throughout the United States and Canada.
"HandHeld Entertainment has shown there is widespread, mass-market opportunity for affordable, high-performance multimedia devices with its $99 ZVUE," said Jim Geison, director of sales at DivXNetworks. "We are extremely pleased to partner with HandHeld as we help the company bring millions of DivX video files to ZVUE users around the world."
In addition to today's licensing agreement, HandHeld also announced that current owners of the ZVUE personal video player can update their USB system through a firmware download available at www.zvue.com.
"Integrating the ZVUE with DivX video technology was a very smooth process," said Nathan Schulhof, president and chief executive officer of HandHeld Entertainment and the person known as the father of the MP3 player industry. "DivX has a global acceptance because it produces phenomenal video quality, and it's easy to use. After extensive evaluation, DivX proved to be the absolute best MPEG-4 compatible solution for our ZVUE customers."
Analysts and accredited journalists interested in scheduling an interview should contact Russell Page of Politis Communications at 801-523-3730 or rpage@politis.com. ZVUE evaluation units are now available in limited supplies to accredited journalists, contracted reviewers and market research analysts. Interested parties should also contact Russell Page to schedule a ZVUE review unit.
About HandHeld Entertainment
Created in February 2003, HandHeld Entertainment delivers affordable consumer electronics technologies to the marketplace supporting both secure and open standards for portable digital devices. For more information, visit www.hheld.com or www.zvue.com, or call 415-495-6470.
HandHeld, HandHeld Entertainment, ZVUE and ZFlicks are each trademarks of HandHeld Entertainment, Inc.
About DivXNetworks
DivXNetworks is a consumer-focused video technology company positioned at the center of multimedia convergence. The company's core offering is the DivX(R) video codec, among the world's most popular video compression technologies with over 120 million users worldwide. Often called "the MP3 of video," the patent-pending DivX video technology offers DVD-quality at 10 times greater compression than MPEG-2 files, enabling full length films to easily fit on a CD or be delivered over broadband connections. DivX video technology powers a range of applications that span the convergence value chain, from a secure IP-based video-on-demand solution to next-generation consumer electronics products and video software applications. DivXNetworks is headquartered in San Diego, California, with satellite offices in Los Angeles and San Jose, CA, Taipei, Taiwan, Guildford, England and Dortmund, Germany. For more information, visit http://www.divxnetworks.com.
DivX is a registered trademark of DivXNetworks, Inc.
OT: HP grabs two more software makers
By Ashlee Vance in Chicago
Posted: 04/02/2004 at 16:38 GMT
No management software start-up is safe from HP with the giant Wednesday announcing plans to acquire two more companies to help build out its Adaptive Enterprise strategy.
The latest firms to fall into HP's clutches are Novadigm and Consera Software. HP expects to close the acquisition deals in the next "several months" and have the two companies' management products sit alongside HP OpenView. Novadigm and Consera will have to fight for their fair share of HP management's attention, as they join other newly-acquired software makers Talking Blocks and Persist Technologies.
"Novadigm and Consera will add powerful automation software to HP OpenView, enabling customers to flex IT with business demands," said Nora Denzel, a senior vice president at HP. "Together, they put repetitive, error-prone IT management tasks on cruise control and free up IT time to focus on innovation."
It's that kind of talk that has surrounded HP's Adaptive Enterprise strategy for a couple of years now. HP, like IBM, Sun Microsystems and others, is trying to build up a strong line of hardware and software management products to automate tasks such as application provisioning or bringing a server online to handle extra processing loads.
The race to "flex IT" has become a bit comical at this point. Both HP and Sun, for example, promised they could already deliver on their "visions" some time ago - HP with the Utility Data Center (UDC) and Sun with N1. Over the past two years, however, the two companies have scrambled to pick up just about every software start-up in the management space.
There is nothing wrong with trying to improve your technology, but given their zest for acquisition, one might think HP and Sun are having a little more trouble than they expected with pulling off their utility computing visions. This is good news for the start-ups but surely a caution for customers.
Novadigm sells products for managing software on a wide range of hardware and operating systems.
"Our solutions automate the management of operating systems, applications, content, personality, settings and user access on servers, desktops, laptops, wireless handhelds, and specialty devices, such as ATMs and point-of-sale devices," Novadigm says on its Web site, leaving one to wonder what it means.
Basically, the company's products can look out over a network and "see" different hardware systems, monitor software usage and automate the application of updates and patches across a number of servers. Funny we thought UDC could already do all of this. Guess not.
Novadigm's slogan is "Adaptive Management Solutions for the Enterprise," which should sound familiar. It's a less refined version of HP's mantra. It turns out, HP has been investing in the company for some time and that Novadigm's software is tuned to work with OpenView. Lovely.
Consera makes similar software for managing Windows servers. Put the two companies' product together, and HP can go end-to-end. Not that it couldn't before. Right.
HP did not release exact financial details for the proposed acquisitions. It will pay $6.10 in cash for each share of Novadigm stock. No word there on Consera. ®
HP gets deeper into DRM
(REPOST)
By John Oates
Posted: 02/03/2004 at 12:49 GMT
HP has licensed digital content protection technology from Intel. The printer giant is also working with Philips to make copy protection technology.
HP CEO Carly Fiorina signalled the move in January when she used her speech at the Consumer Electronics Show to attack file sharers.
Intel's technology protects video streams as they travel between devices such as a computer and a display screen, Reuters reports.
HP is working with Philips on protecting digital video content in compliance with Federal Communications Commission (FCC) rules. A code is added to content which controls how or if it can be re-broadcast or copied. The companies have submitted the technology to the FCC and hope it will be approved for DVD-R and DVD-RW formats, among others. ®
MP3 DRM to demo at CeBIT
By gamesindustry.biz
Posted: 03/03/2004 at 12:27 GMT
The MP3 digital audio format has been extended to allow the inclusion of digital rights management technology.
The Fraunhofer Institute - the company behind the development of MP3 - will demonstrate the technology during a presentation at CeBIT later this month.
Fraunhofer's Light Weight Digital Rights Management System (LWDRM) was launched last year. The system uses digital signatures to overcome what the Institute has called the consumer unfriendliness of existing approaches to DRM.
LWDRM requires the user to register with a digital signature certification authority. The technology blocks all attempts to copy the file until the owner is "willing to autograph the purchased content with his personal digital signature". At that point, the file can be transferred to a portable player or to "family and friends, adhering to the prevalent legislation and the rules of fair use", Fraunhofer said.
If the user shares the file via Kazaa or some other P2P network, his or her digital signature reveals just who "leaked" the content, and appropriate action can be taken. Content is protected using Fraunhofer's own watermarking technology and AES-level encryption.
Fraunhofer is aware that plenty of folk won't want to register for a digital signature, but it reckons its system at least allows such people to listen to music - they are simply prevented from sharing it.
LWDRM was originally developed for MPEG 4 audio and video, and according to Fraunhofer, has been implemented in solutions since 2002. However, the update brings DRM to the MP3 format. It's not the first time anyone has attempted to add DRM to MP3: Liquid Audio experimented with it in the early days of Internet-delivered digital audio and prior to its collapse Napster was working on a similar technology of its own.
Plenty of other DRM systems exist, of course, with Apple, Microsoft and Real Networks all offering copy-protection mechanisms that have been implemented in all the major digital music download services, all of them tackling the same consumer unfriendliness mentioned by Fraunhofer.
And like other DRM systems, LWDRM requires a new, compatible player to be used - or at least have their firmware upgraded. However, it does provide companies keen to get into digital music distribution a way of doing so securely without accepting the limitations of Apple's service - primarily the fact it only works with the iPod - or aligning themselves with Microsoft.
That said, none of the other DRM systems require users to certify themselves with a third party, the cost of which - quite apart from its inherent consumer unfriendliness - may put would-be LWDRM users off. Of course, there's nothing to stop music vendors issuing their own digital signatures, tied to the buyer's credit card details and the system on which the track was downloaded - much the way Apple's FairPlay DRM technology works. ®
75% Of Song Outfitted with In-Flight Entertainment System; Installation to Be Complete by End of March
ATLANTA--(BUSINESS WIRE)--March 1, 2004--
Live Satellite TV and Audio are Song's Newest Offerings To Enrich the Travel Experience; Exclusive Video On Demand Pay-Per-View Movies and MP3 Programming Coming Soon
Song(TM), Delta Air Lines' high-quality, low-fare air service, announced today that 75 percent of its fleet has been outfitted with its state-of-the-art in-flight entertainment system and that it is on schedule to complete the entire fleet by March 31, 2004. Song's technology eventually will provide a comprehensive network of on-board entertainment amenities at each seatback, including: live, satellite television; video on demand pay-per-view movie programming; MP3 audio programming; and interactive video games.
Since October 2003, Song has been phasing its new entertainment technology into its fleet of 36 Boeing 757 aircraft at the rate of one plane every four to seven days. Once complete, all Song aircraft will be equipped with personal video monitors at each seat, offering a complement of entertainment features -- accessible via touch-screen technology -- including:
-- 24 all-digital, live, DISH Network TV channels available to passengers for free;
-- all-digital broadcast audio programming with 24 free channels; and
-- multi-player interactive video games that allow play between passengers.
"Customer response to Song's innovative entertainment offerings so far has been outstanding," said Tim Mapes, Director of Marketing for Song. "By the end of March, our customers will be able to enjoy the wide range of choices this technology provides on each and every flight."
In April, Song will begin installation of server technology to its aircraft. This "Phase II" in-flight entertainment technology, which is planned to be installed throughout Song's existing fleet by December 2004, will provide an even broader array of amenities, including:
-- video on demand pay-per-view movie programming - a feature exclusive to Song -- providing a wide-range of current offerings for all ages;
-- digitally-streamed MP3 programming that allows customers to create individual play lists during their flights;
-- interactive iXplor moving map program with zoom capabilities and points of interest information; and
-- connecting gate information broadcast directly to personal in-seat video monitors.
Song provides non-stop service between major cities in the Northeast United States and key Florida leisure destinations, plus Atlanta, Los Angeles, Las Vegas and direct service to San Juan. Utilizing a fleet of thirty-six 199-seat, one-class Boeing 757s, Song provides more than 140 daily flights. Song offers an onboard food program, created by Chef Michel Nischan, featuring healthful, organic selections. In a recent report from the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine that rated 10 major airlines on the availability of healthy meals, Song was cited as the only service to consistently provide healthy options for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Additionally, Song recently partnered with Dylan's Candy Bar - the innovative candy store co-founded by Dylan Lauren, daughter of Ralph Lauren -- to provide Song-branded chocolates and candies for sale exclusively on board Song flights. Customers can use their credit card or cash to make food and other purchases onboard. Song presently serves all three New York metro area airports - JFK, Newark and LaGuardia - the only low-fare service to do so. All Song flights are operated by Delta Air Lines. Song tickets can be purchased by visiting flysong.com or calling 1-800-FLY-SONG (1-800-359-7664).