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In February of 65' while Jimi was in LA he met up with Arthur Lee, a Black musician/songwriter who had an interracial band in LA that was getting a lot of local attention. The band, Arthur Lee and Love, was looking for a guitar player to record a song that he had written for female singer Rosa Lee Brooks. He wanted to find a guitar player who could give him a mellow Curtis Mayfield vibe like on the song "People Get Ready". A friend of Arthur's had heard Jimi play and recommended him for the session. They became fast friends and recorded "My Diary" and "Utee".
http://www.soul-patrol.com/funk/jh_chitlin.htm.
colt-- speaking of Memphis:
Arthur Lee was born in Memphis, Tennessee in 1944. He moved to LA in the sixties and formed a variety of bands such as The VIPS and Arthur Lee & the LAGs. The VIPS consisted of Lee on hammond organ, Nooney Rickett on vocals/guitar, Gary Rowles on lead guitar, Frank Fayad on bass and George Suranovich on drums. This line-up is a significant one as it was to be the neucleus of Love mkII. Update: In a recent email I received from Gary Rowles, he maintains that the aforementioned band never existed and that he himself never played with Arthur Lee until 1969, during the "Four Sail" sessions. Gary says that himself, Fayad and Suranovich were hired when Nooney Ricketts' band folded sometime in 1968. Thanks for the information Gary and I hope this will serve to see that this historical inaccuracy is cleared up! In 1965, a Lee composition called 'My Diary' was recorded by Rosa Lee Brooks. The song featured the guitar talents of the then unknown Jimi Hendrix. A friendship was formed between Lee and Hendrix and it culminated in the latter's blistering guitar workout on Love's False Start album. In LA, Lee met up with former high school friend John Echols and they decided to form a band. Ex-Byrds roadie Bryan Maclean joined on vocals/guitar, ex-Surfari Ken Forssi joined on bass and the lineup was complete with the addition of Don Conka on drums. The band called themselves The Grassroots and they were a popular live attraction. The group name was short lived however, as another group with an identical name appeared with a single in the charts. The name was changed to Love and in 1966 they became the first rock group to be signed to the Elektra label.
http://members.ozemail.com.au/~hektor/love/biog.html.
Technology: Report claims China among top 3 Internet using nations
By CHRISTOPHER BODEEN, Associated Press
BEIJING (July 23, 2002 2:09 p.m. EDT) - Surging Internet usage has made China the No. 3 user of the Internet in the world, a new report asserts, with more than 45 million citizens now logging on regularly even as the government struggles to control subversive content.
The figures, reported by official newspapers on Tuesday, marked a 72 percent rise over last year. They continue a trend of strong growth in Internet use among China's 1.26 billion people, according to the China Internet Network Information Center, an industry group funded by the Information Industry Ministry.
Only the United States and Japan have more citizens connected to the Internet, according to the report, which was quoted in the Communist Party's People's Daily and other newspapers.
China has 16 million computers linked to the Internet, an increase of 61 percent over June 2001, the report said. The average Chinese Internet user spends eight hours and 20 minutes online each week.
While Internet usage was formerly limited mostly to academics, 68 percent of users do not have college degrees. That indicates that "the Internet is now coming closer to common people," People's Daily said in its online edition.
China has strongly promoted the Internet's commercial potential, despite concerns among communist leaders that the Web would weaken its ability to control access to information and political debate.
At the same time, however, authorities keep as tight a rein as they can on citizens' Internet usage.
To ward off unwanted influences, police monitor online content and block links to Web sites operated by foreign media and government critics. People who use the Internet to transmit material deemed subversive have been given lengthy prison sentences.
In addition, many Internet users' main means of going online has been cut off in recent weeks. The government ordered all Internet cafes shut down after a fatal fire in Beijing last month, and only selected establishments have been permitted to reopen.
The Gartner Group, a telecommunications consulting firm, estimated last month that about 80,000 of China's 200,000 Internet cafes were unlicensed.
IBM voices concern about SALT
By Ephraim Schwartz
July 23, 2002 11:42 am PT
SAN FRANCISCO -- Rod Adkins, general manager for IBM's pervasive computing division, used his keynote address at the VOX 2002 speech technology conference here to both promote speech technology in the enterprise and to criticize long-time rival Microsoft for fragmenting the speech industry with the introduction of another standard for speech development.
"A little salt is okay, but too much SALT is not good for you," Adkins said, referring to the Microsoft-supported development environment for speech-enabling Web sites and for so-called multi-modal interaction on non-PC devices.
Multi-modal refers to the ability to mix interfaces, voice, and graphics on a single device.
Last year, when the SALT (Speech Application Language Tags) Forum introduced technology supported by Microsoft, SpeechWorks, and other companies, SALT members claimed that Voice XML, the current speech development standard, was adequate for telephony-based applications but too cumbersome for small devices using mixed interfaces.
Although Adkins said the debate between Voice XML and SALT was not an argument about us versus them, he did appear to couch it in those terms.
"Our colleagues in Redmond [Wash.] have one approach, and we recognize some developers will use SALT and Microsoft will eventually support its developers," Adkins said.
Adkins claimed a more reasonable approach would say that there has to be a single standard-based approach for tools to be developed, skills taught, and middleware built.
IBM, Motorola, and Opera Software sponsored a multi-modal specification, called X+V, and submitted it to the W3C last December. The W3C previously approved Voice XML as the standard for speech development.
"We think xHTML and Voice, X+V, is a sounder approach to capitalize on what is out there: 50,000 VXML developers," Adkins said.
IBM and Opera Software will also work jointly to develop a multi-modal browser based on the X+V specification, said Adkins. The beta version of the browser will be available this fall and will give users both Web-based and voice-based information on a single device.
Adkins ended his talk by reiterating that in the current economic climate the game plan should be to exploit existing resources and that companies will not want to fund the development of new skills, new learning, and new investment to roll out voice solutions, as would be required if they selected SALT over Voice XML.
colt: you are missing the LA group--Love with Arthur Lee!!
Palm strikes major deal with IBM Software
By Ephraim Schwartz
July 23, 2002 5:40 am PT
IN A MAJOR deal that will lend credibility to Palm's promise to make its devices relevant to enterprise-level companies, the handheld manufacturer will partner with IBM to interoperate with WebSphere application servers and to deploy a WebSphere Everyplace Access software stack on Palm 5 and Palm wireless devices.
IBM's WebSphere Everyplace Access wireless middleware will allow corporate developers to create links between Palm mobile devices and enterprise applications and data residing in the network.
One industry analyst said the alliance with IBM will help Palm gain enterprise acceptance.
"IBM is clearly an enterprise provider and it gives Palm bragging rights to IBM support," said Rob Enderle, senior analyst with Giga Information in San Jose, Calif.
The deal between the two companies will include technology sharing, cross-licensing, and joint development that spans a multiyear product road map, said one Palm executive.
"It's a comprehensive, long-term business agreement between Palm and IBM," said Judy Kirkpatrick, vice president of Strategic Alliances at Palm in Santa Clara, Calif.
The first fruits of the deal will give Palm users Instant Messaging between devices and between a device and a desktop, all hosted by a server behind the corporate firewall using IBM's Sametime technology.
IBM technology on the Palm will also include Lotus Domino for PIM (personal information manager) and e-mail access, db2Everyplace, and Tivoli Network Management, said Chris Morgan, director of Strategic Alliances at Palm.
"The software stack is resident on the Everyplace Access server. But when a user synchs, those code elements are deployed to the device and are resident on the device.
Depending upon what part of the stack is needed, the footprint will be between 1MB to 4MB, according to Morgan.
Both companies are also jointly developing an installer for the client component of WebSphere Everyplace Access.
In creating the alliance Palm, the handheld market leader, is giving IBM support for its WebSphere product line in the growing mobile market, Enderle said.
Leveraging technology that Palm acquired when it bought ThinAir Apps last year, Palm will also support WebSphere by creating for its developers an intelligent communications architecture dubbed Reliable Transport (RT), which detects the type of wireless network a user is accessing, such as Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, CDMA, or GPRS.
RT will determine the optimal way to transport data between device and server and manage security and message cuing, technologies that may not be part of the standard Palm developer toolkit.
The new WebSphere features will be embedded in the next release, Version 4.2 of WebSphere Everyplace Access, in mid-fall, Morgan said.
Hollywood heads up anti-piracy charge
By Declan McCullagh
Special to ZDNet News
July 23, 2002, 4:20 AM PT
URL: http://zdnet.com.com/2100-1106-945720.html
WASHINGTON--Hollywood's lobbyists are readying a new legislative push on Capitol Hill.
On Monday, a lawyer for the Motion Picture Association of America said to expect new bills soon to assail illicit peer-to-peer file trading and curtail the piracy of digital TV broadcasts.
Fritz Attaway, the MPAA's senior vice president for government relations, told an intellectual property conference that his group would, with the help of its powerful congressional allies, attempt a three-pronged approach this fall.
Because Congress only has about five work weeks left before it is scheduled to adjourn for the year, the movie studios' effort has limited hopes of success until 2003. But it will highlight Hollywood's legal attempts to permit the intentional disruption of peer-to-peer networks and limit the unauthorized copying and conversion of digital TV signals.
"This is a legislative objective of ours that I know you will be hearing more about really soon," Attaway told more than 100 congressional aides attending a conference organized by the Competitive Enterprise Institute and the Institute for Policy Innovation.
Both are free-market groups generally skeptical of government regulation. They convened for the half-day event, featuring speakers from Microsoft, Eli Lilly, and the Association for Competitive Technology, to argue that intellectual property rights should be defended as fiercely as traditional property rights.
"We're here to defend intellectual property," said Jim DeLong, an economist at CEI. "If you want balance, go to another session."
Last month, Rep. Howard Berman, D-Calif., said he was writing a bill that would allow aggrieved content owners to launch technological attacks against file-swapping networks where their wares are traded.
"No one in the motion picture industry has any interest in invading your computer or doing anything malicious with your files," said the MPAA's Attaway. "The idea is to make unauthorized file sharing sufficiently inconvenient or at least unsuccessful."
Berman has not introduced his bill yet, but his description says that it will immunize copyright holders from civil and criminal liability who use technological methods such as hacking to "prevent the unauthorized distribution of their copyrighted works via P2P networks."
The MPAA's other two proposals likely will seek to limit piracy by outlawing future components that receive digital TV broadcasts unless they follow anti-copying standards. Last week, the Recording Industry Association of America endorsed a similar "broadcast flag" approach for digital radio broadcasts.
The idea is straightforward: Future hardware and software would treat digital television differently if it were designated as copy-protected, preventing people from saving multiple copies or uploading it. Another standard would, in industry jargon, "plug the analog hole" by embedding watermarks in broadcasts and limiting the redistribution of broadcasts with those hidden watermarks.
But because people might not use these new kinds of devices if given a choice, new federal laws likely would be necessary to compel software and hardware manufacturers to abide by the flag or watermark. Senate Commerce Chairman Fritz Hollings, D-S.C., has introduced a related bill that would restrict hardware and software that doesn't adhere to government-approved "standard security technologies."
Attaway said, "To implement the (broadcast) flag, there has to be legislation." The MPAA's Web site echoes the sentiment, saying that "implementation is expected to require a legislative and/or regulatory mandate."
None of the speakers at the conference, including representatives from Intel and Microsoft, attacked the idea.
Susan Mann, a federal affairs manager at Microsoft, said "we applaud" Berman's considered approach. But, Mann said, "we have to look at it very carefully."
Mann said that Microsoft has undertaken aggressive anti-piracy efforts by relying on technology instead of the law. "We do that without having asked anyone for legislation to implement those technological protection tools...Piracy is a problem that we view as primarily our own," she said.
Intel attorney Jeffrey Lawrence, who specializes in content protection, reeled off a history of how his company has worked to devise standards for digital rights management.
Lawrence said that Hollings' plan to forcibly implant copy-protection technology in consumer devices has disrupted negotiations between Hollywood and Silicon Valley. It's "changed not just the stakes, but an ongoing dialogue that has been going on for many, many years," he said.
July 22, 2002
RealNetworks Poses Challenge to Microsoft
By JOHN MARKOFF
AN FRANCISCO, July 21 — In a significant challenge to Microsoft, RealNetworks plans to announce a new version of its software on Monday that can distribute audio and video in a range of formats, including Microsoft's own proprietary Windows Media.
The new software is intended for large media companies and other corporations that need to send audio and video data to customers and employees in a variety of different formats. But RealNetworks acknowledged that it was possible that the company might incur Microsoft's legal wrath.
Nevertheless, Rob Glaser, a former Microsoft executive who founded RealNetworks as Progressive Networks in 1994, said he believed the strategy was good for both Microsoft and consumers.
"A rational way for them to respond would be to say, `This is great,' " he said. "That would be Microsoft of the future."
Mr. Glaser said his company, based in Seattle, had developed a version of the Microsoft Media Server software that comes with the Windows operating system.
He said RealNetworks' engineers had studied the data that was sent between the Microsoft media server software and the Windows Media Player program and recreated the technology needed to play files in the Microsoft format. This method created a so-called clean-room version, meaning the developers built the transmission software without any knowledge about the underlying program.
Microsoft has adopted a similar strategy at several junctures, Mr. Glaser said, reverse-engineering technologies like NetWare, PostScript and JavaScript at different times.
Microsoft executives said the company currently licensed the Windows Media Player technology to a variety of companies including Yahoo, RealNetworks and the America Online unit of AOL Time Warner. But a Microsoft executive said that a clean-room copy of the Windows server technology could lead to quality and performance issues.
"It's kind of hard to speculate about the technology until we see it," said Dave Fester, the general manager of the Windows Media division. If a company has not licensed the server software, he added, "we would need to look at it and see what they're doing."
RealNetworks appears to be endeavoring to avoid being "Netscaped," a reference to the fate that befell the Netscape Communications Corporation when Microsoft decided to make an Internet browser, which was pioneered commercially by Netscape, a standard part of the Windows operating system. Netscape was later acquired by AOL Time Warner. Microsoft's decision to build an Internet browser into Windows and give it away at no additional cost led directly to a bitter antitrust lawsuit brought by the Justice Department in 1997.
RealNetworks, which was a pioneer in the market for streaming media to desktop personal computers, has been under growing pressure from Microsoft, which is giving away both the server and Windows Media Player program as part of its operating strategy. RealNetworks also faces challenges from Apple Computer, which offers the QuickTime media player as a part of its Macintosh OS X operating system and sells a more full-featured player.
Moreover, in recent months Macromedia Inc., which makes the Flash animation software used on many Web sites, has added video capabilities to its technology, making it a potential rival.
RealNetworks is gambling that with a proliferation of different standards and formats for video and audio, the media corporations that make content available over the Internet will flock to a single system that supports multiple types of data. The company is trying to shift the focus of the competition from the PC desktop to the server, according to analysts.
Several analysts said the RealNetworks shift in strategy could put Microsoft on the defensive.
"Real has got the experience and sophistication to pull this off," said Richard Doherty, the president of Envisioneering, a market research and consulting firm based in Seaford, N.Y. "It will open up a new horse race."
Until now the companies have been engaged in a technology war to rapidly increase the power and quality of each of their media players. At the same time, they have competed over which of the programs are placed on the desktops of personal computer users. RealNetworks claims to have 700,000 subscribers for pay services, but it is perceived as being increasingly vulnerable, according to some analysts, because Microsoft has included its Media Player as part of the Windows operating system, which dominates the PC market.
There are dozens of data formats for playing audio and video on the Internet, but the dominant ones are RealAudio and RealVideo from RealNetworks, QuickTime from Apple, Windows Media from Microsoft and the industry digital movie standards MPEG-2 and MPEG-4.
Microsoft and RealNetworks are currently locked in a close race for desktop media player leadership. In the first quarter of this year, according to survey data collected by Jupiter Research, a market research firm based in New York, RealNetworks' RealOne Player had a 29.1 percent share of media players, while Microsoft's Windows Media Player had a 28.2 percent share. Apple's Quicktime player was third, with a 12.2 percent.
The new server software from RealNetworks is part of a version of the company's media server that is to be introduced on Monday and which will be called the Helix Universal Server. RealNetworks said it would offer performance data based on a test it financed at an independent testing service, KeyLabs, that indicate that the Helix software can, under some conditions, deliver up to four times the speed of the Windows Media Server in Microsoft's operating system. (Software servers are programs that run on powerful computers and can send streams of digital information to many computer users simultaneously.)
At a news conference scheduled to be held in San Francisco, RealNetworks is also expected to announce that it plans to make the Helix software available as part of a strategy known as community source, which will make it possible for RealNetworks partners and competitors to take advantage of the original programmers' instructions.
RealNetworks is to announce a range of partners, including Hitachi, Hewlett-Packard, I.B.M., Deutsche Telekom, NEC, Nokia, Cisco Systems, Oracle, Sun Microsystems, Palm, Texas Instruments and others. These partners could then incorporate the software into their own hardware and software products.
Under the licensing strategy, companies will be able to freely gain access to the underlying code that the Helix program is based on, but they will still pay a licensing fee when they sell commercial products based on the technology.
The community-source approach to software, which was pioneered by Sun to distribute its Java programming language, is a variation upon the original free software or open-source approach which has confounded the software industry in recent years.
While open-source software can be freely shared, with some restrictions, the community-source approach is more restrictive and yet still tries to persuade others to collaborate and add innovative ideas.
Other large technology companies including Sun, I.B.M. and Apple, have all now adopted variations on such open-source strategy, with varying results. In Sun's case, the company has been criticized because, while Java has become an industry standard, the company has not been the principal financial beneficiary in many cases.
RealNetworks is trying to strike a balance between opening up its technology to persuade others to participate and innovate and not losing control of the technology entirely, Mr. Glaser said. "We think we've struck the balance well," he said.
Analysts said the strategy shift by RealNetworks was likely to shake up the industry. "The moment you've open-sourced something you've cornered your competitor," said Matthew Berk, an analyst a Jupiter Research. "To date this stuff has been very proprietary. Opening it up makes it accessible to creative and gifted programmers who will come up with wild stuff that the companies have never considered."
Mr. Glaser said he expected other companies to produce technology that would rival RealNetworks' commercially as a result of the community-source strategy.
One possibility is that companies such as Sun or I.B.M. could decide to add the Helix technology of RealNetworks as a standard component of their operating systems. Although RealNetworks might not get a significant financial benefit from such an arrangement it could contribute to making its Helix software a de facto industry standard.
Mr. Glaser said he had struck upon the idea of making his media server software open source while visiting with an executive from Nokia, the world's largest cellphone maker.
"Taking all of this stuff beyond the PC has been a huge motivation for us," he said. When he realized that Nokia was interested in deploying the software technology on as many as 30 to 40 different types of phones, he realized that RealNetworks did not have enough programming talent to support the effort.
"I told him, `I don't think we have enough engineers even if you guys were willing to pay us,' " he said.
That touched off a search for an alternative way of having the two companies cooperate.
Copyright 2002 The New York Times Company / Permissions / Privacy Policy
20GB iPod for US$499
Apple releases iTunes 3, updates iPods
July 17 - 11:45 ET Apple has released iTunes 3, which is now available as a free download. New features include smart playlists that automatically add music, music ratings, consistent playback volume and Audible.com support. Additionally, the company unveiled a 20GB iPod for US$499 and cut the price of the 5GB and 10GB iPods to $299 and $399, respectively. Additionally, the 10GB iPod is 10 percent slimmer and both the new 10GB and 20GB models include a case and remote control. The new iPods will be available in early August, as will be a case and remote control bundle for $39. Finally, Apple unveiled versions of its iPod for Windows, which work with MusicMatch's software. Windows iPods will be priced the same as their Mac counterparts, and will be available later in August.
Creative Announces NOMAD MuVo - World's Smallest MP3 Player and Portable USB Storage Device All in One
No Software or Cables Needed for Easy Drag-and-Drop File Sharing
MILPITAS, Calif., July 22 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ --
Creative (Nasdaq: CREAF), the worldwide leader in digital entertainment
products for users of the personal computer and the Internet, today introduced
its smallest and most radical MP3 player yet, the NOMAD(R) MuVo(TM). Small
enough to fit on a key chain yet so versatile that it slides apart to become a
USB storage device, the 128MB NOMAD MuVo holds an amazing four hours of high
quality WMA music (or two full hours of MP3 music at 128kbps) and has an ESP
of just US$169.99. An even lower cost NOMAD MuVo with the same cool styling
is priced at only US$129.99 and has 64MB to hold up to two full hours of WMA
and MP3 music. Both players will ship within the next month.
The ultra-sleek NOMAD MuVo is actually comprised of two parts, and it's
incredibly easy to use. Just slide the device apart with your fingers and
plug the MuVo Memory(TM) directly into the USB port on your computer. It's
recognized just like a removable solid state hard disk drive -- with no cables
needed to move content -- simply drag and drop music, digital images or data
files. Perfect for MP3 and WMA music, sharing digital image files with
friends and family and for exchanging business presentation and document
files, the MuVo Memory with 128MB can hold up to 88 times as much data as a
floppy disk. To turn it into a super high-quality MP3 player, just slide the
NOMAD MuVo back together, plug in the included earphones and enjoy crystal
clear music playback that the Creative NOMAD family is known for. The NOMAD
MuVo can play music for 12 hours on just one tiny AAA battery.
"People will love the NOMAD MuVo for its size and style alone, but its
list of features is what's really incredible," said Sim Wong Hoo, founder and
CEO of Creative. Features include:
-- Super high-quality MP3 player slides apart to become MuVo Memory
portable USB storage device;
-- Connects directly to USB for file transfer without cables;
-- Recognized by the PC as removable solid state hard disk for simple drag
and drop of files;
-- Does not require software* yet can be used with the user's favorite
music software, including Creative PlayCenter(TM);
-- Holds up to four full hours of digital music; also transfers documents
and images;
-- Weighs less than an ounce; designed to fit on a key chain or necklace
(2.87" x 1.38" x 0.63");
-- 12 hours of uninterrupted music playback at >90dB SNR on just one AAA
alkaline battery;
-- Supports both WMA and MP3 formats for music playback;
-- Rugged solid-state construction means no music skipping during
workouts;
-- Free set of lightweight, sporty ear phones and neck cord included.
"Imagine jogging with an MP3 player so small and so light that you almost
forget that it's there, yet the sound quality is so incredible that you would
expect it to be coming from something much larger," continued Sim. "This is
how we designed the NOMAD MuVo. It's smaller than a cigarette lighter yet it
doesn't even weigh an ounce. We built in a sturdy loop to hook it to a key
chain and included a neck cord so it can be worn as a necklace. With the MuVo
Memory you don't have any issues with music skipping when you work out because
of its tough, solid state construction. All the buttons for play, stop and to
skip tracks are really easy to access so users have their music at their
fingertips. It's great for taking along for rugged outdoor activities like
cycling or mountain climbing; but the truth is, its so small and light and
looks so cool that people will want to have it with them all the time."
"With the NOMAD MuVo, you never need to use a floppy disk again," said
Craig McHugh, president of Creative Labs. "Whether you're on a business trip
or at a friend's house, you can transfer and store music, share digital images
and data or back up your files in just seconds -- no need to burn a CD or send
files through e-mail; the NOMAD MuVo is super fast and completely portable."
A range of exciting NOMAD MuVo accessories to cater to different
lifestyles will become available soon. Additional product and accessory
information is available at http://www.nomadworld.com.
MS Poised for Music Domination
By Brad King
June 14, 2001
At first glance, Microsoft, the company that has crushed its competition and gobbled up rivals over the years, hasn't seemed so imposing in the music business.
Sure, it launched MSN Music in April. But the service offered no real innovation. It's a mix of what its competitors already offer: Internet radio, music news and music search.
On Tuesday, Microsoft added 100,000 song clips to its site after inking a deal with Loudeye, an encoding and digital delivery company. It's a nice addition, but not one that is likely to strike fear in the hearts of companies set to launch streaming and download subscription services this year.
Yahoo, America Online, RealNetworks, MTV, and even upstart Napster continue developing consumer music subscription services.
But what looks like Microsoft's muted attempt to compete with other music services appears to be a red herring. While other companies are focusing on getting music from retailer to customer, Microsoft appears well on the way to making its media delivery system indispensable.
According to one analyst, Microsoft is using content delivery as a way of getting more people to use the company's brand of media file and desktop media player -– which could ultimately lead to control of the digital distribution marketplace.
"MSN Music is just a placeholder at this point," said Steve Vonder Haar, director of media and entertainment strategies at The Yankee Group. "Down the road, once they achieve their vision of the world, and Windows Media is in every consumer device and they have achieved ubiquity, then they will have achieved the Windows goal. Online music distribution is a means to an end for getting its operating system and delivery system platform into the marketplace."
Besides, it hasn't exactly been smooth sailing for Microsoft in terms of providing the actual music.
See, the music companies weren't too keen on dealing with Microsoft early in the digital music game because of the size of the company. That meant that what little content existed was being distributed by the labels in formats like Real and Liquid Audio.
But Microsoft has slowly convinced content holders that its digital rights management technology solutions would protect their content, and the promise of this is bringing music labels and movie studios into the fold.
Eventually, music labels and retailers began asking for their content to be delivered in Windows format because the media files could be delivered in a secure fashion, said a spokeswoman at Liquid Audio.
Microsoft has already started trumpeting its rights management solution as the industry standard, promoting Rioport and CenterSpan's adoption of the technology. Microsoft is also making inroads in the e-book and film business, claiming over 7.5 million transactions have been made using Windows DRM solutions.
FullAudio Chooses Microsoft Windows Media For Digital Music Subscription Platform
FullAudio to Give First Public Demonstration of New Subscription Platform at DEMO Conference 2002
REDMOND, Wash., and CHICAGO -- Feb. 11, 2002 -- Microsoft Corp. and FullAudio Corp. announced that FullAudio has chosen Microsoft® Windows Media™ as the digital media technology for its digital music subscription platform. FullAudio, which distributes its music subscription platform through partners such as Clear Channel Communications, relies on Windows Media Audio and Digital Rights Management (DRM) to deliver online access to more than 70,000 licensed music tracks.
FullAudio is offering "powered by FullAudio" digital music services for 30 Clear Channel stations in Chicago, Houston, Los Angeles, Phoenix and Salt Lake City. Clear Channel will officially launch and distribute FullAudio-based music services to consumers in March; the service also will be promoted on WindowsMedia.com. FullAudio licenses content from Universal Music Group, EMI Recorded Music, EMI Music Publishing, Universal Music Publishing Group and BMG Music Publishing, and is negotiating with many major and independent record labels and publishers. FullAudio intends eventually to distribute more than 1 million licensed music tracks.
"Working with Microsoft and building our service on its digital media technology enables us to deliver a convenient, secure music subscription platform that strongly supports our distribution partners," said Chris Copeland Gladwin, chairman and CEO of FullAudio. "I am confident that the proven performance of Windows Media will play a key role in FullAudio’s success."
"By focusing on providing such a large number of tracks and delivering high audio quality, FullAudio’s pioneering service will be a big hit with music fans," said Dave Fester, general manager of the Windows Digital Media Division at Microsoft.
FullAudio Cache-Download Technology
FullAudio’s patent-pending solution provides the company’s distribution partners with a higher-quality music experience for their customers than streaming-only music services that are or will soon be on the market. FullAudio’s music service offers partners two distinct advantages over streaming providers. First, unlike the audio quality of streamed music, which can be limited by the speed of a user’s Internet connection, FullAudio delivers high sound quality regardless of connection speed. Second, FullAudio enables its partners’ customers to play tracks on their PC when they’re not connected to the Internet.
FullAudio has licenses to extend digital music to portable devices and is compatible with consumer products that incorporate secure system clocks supporting DRM. This eventually will enable consumers to download songs from FullAudio to portable digital audio players and other mobile devices.
FullAudio Subscription Service Platform
FullAudio is creating a subscription service platform that allows distribution partners to build the engine for their own co-branded consumer digital music services. For a monthly fee, the FullAudio subscription platform enables distribution partners to provide consumers with unlimited play of a set number of chosen tracks (or subscription "slots"). Much like subscription models for cable television, FullAudio’s platform enables distribution partners to offer varying levels of subscription service, providing consumers with pricing options based on the amount of music they want to access.
About FullAudio
FullAudio Corp. is a digital service provider offering distribution partners a platform for the digital distribution of intellectual-property content. The company’s first offering, a digital music distribution service, works with the music industry, artists and songwriters to create a legal and secure means to distribute music to consumers. Delivering diverse content from the industry’s leading record labels and other music resources, FullAudio enables partners to provide a personal service that allows listeners to discover new music, create their own collections, and listen to digital music on PCs and a range of portable devices.
Founded in April 1999, FullAudio’s advisors and investors include Larry Rosen, both founder and CEO of N2K, the company behind Music Boulevard, and co-founder and CEO of GRP records; Joel Schoenfeld, former general counsel and senior vice president of BMG Entertainment; Randy Komisar, who helped launch both TiVo and WebTV®; Kettle Partners; New Enterprise Associates; and Venture Strategy Partners. More on the company can be found at http://www.fullaudio.com/.
About Windows Media
Windows Media is the leading digital media platform, providing unmatched audio and video quality to consumers, content providers, solution providers, software developers and corporations. Windows Media offers the industry’s only integrated digital rights management solution and the most scalable and reliable streaming technology tested by independent labs. Windows Media Technologies includes Windows Media Player for consumers, Windows Media Services for servers, Windows Media Tools for content creation and the Windows Media Software Development Kit (SDK) for software developers. Windows Media Player, available in 26 languages, is the fastest-growing and now leading media player. More information about Windows Media can be found at http://www.microsoft.com/windowsmedia/.
About Microsoft
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e.DIGITAL ANNOUNCES NEW BROADBAND ENTERTAINMENT BUSINESS UNIT
Bryan Jones, Former MP3.com Executive Is New Division Vice President
(SAN DIEGO, CA - June 27, 2002) - today announced the creation of its Broadband Entertainment Business Unit, which is being directed by former MP3.com executive and San Diego radio host Bryan Jones. Jones will lead the development of e.Digital’s new Web-based digital music subscription service, which will feature streaming and downloadable music by a growing collection of nearly 3,000 independent artists. The site is projected to become e.Digital’s one-stop entertainment destination for its users to access digital music, movies, books, and more.
e.Digital’s new digital music Web site is scheduled to be launched later this year as a free value-added service for its product users and later will convert to a subscription service. Users will be able to visit the site to download tracks directly to their players. The subscription initiative also calls for e.Digital’s audio products to come preinstalled with authorized music content. Starting in July, the OdysseyTM 100, 200, and 300 audio players will be the first e.Digital-branded products to be preinstalled with music content, with other e.Digital-branded products to follow.
Jim Collier, e.Digital president and COO, said, "The subscription service will provide additional opportunities for revenue enhancement. According to Jupiter Media Metrix, subscriptions will account for 60% of online music products sold in 2006. The service will also provide opportunities for e.Digital brand building and user access to a variety of independent artists. Our goal is to expand the content on the site to include digital movies, electronic books, and other digital media in addition to music."
Jones added that, "There’s a tidal wave sweeping across the digital music landscape. It’s changing the way people access and listen to music, and e.Digital’s new Broadband Entertainment Business Unit intends to ride the crest of that wave. With the creation of our new digital entertainment Web site, we expect to provide a one-stop shop for our product users so they can download music and eventually other digital content to their portable e.Digital devices."
Posted by: nekos
In reply to: None Date:6/27/2002 7:03:54 PM
Post #of 13899
About today's subscription PR...
After first reading the PR today about subscription services...I liked it a lot. After mulling it over driving home from work today...I now love it a lot. Here's why...
First. Don't be too concerned on the short term issues. Those being increased employee overhead and not immediately offering premium music content (yet). Again, this will start with free independant artists, who by the way, have been known to pay companies a small fee to have their content included in hardware/software offers. So in the short term, this businesss may see some immediate revenues, but probably not much. In the eyes of the independant artist, I'm sure they would love to have their music pr-loaded in our devices. It gives them a captive audience they would probably have never reached. Also keep in mind we have an experienced executive from MP3.COM who has been in this industry already. Collier would not have brought him on unless Jones was able to deliver a sound business plan of his own.
Second. The next step. Collier seems to do things with at least a forwad looking five step plan with multiple positive outcomes. I believe this new entity in e.Digital is no different. The natural extension of what was stated in the current PR is to eventually offer premium content----hence, it will turn into a paid subscription service. How will e.Digital be able to do that all others have failed at so far? Keep reading....
Through the company's involvement in SDMI and other ventures, I'm sure they have a frim grasp of the issues of secure content (audio and video). What e.Digital now has in place is the hardware and software architecture to have a "closed loop" secure downloading system. Here are the specifics...
In the May 9th Conference Call, Collier made an interesting statement regarding ACTEL. To paraphrase, "Their troops are in here all the time and ours over there." The ACTEL PR was dated 10/16/01 http://www.edig.com/news/releases/pr101601.html. The original premise of this relationship was to secure the company's IP from copying and hacking. If that was the only reason, that could have been accomplished months ago. From Colliers statement, both firms are actively working on "something". Secure downloads now come into the forefront with today's PR. Imagine for a moment audio/video content that is for the PC to handheld or set-top-box to handheld that had a marriage of software between the PC and the handheld. In other words, the secure content would be downloaded onto the PC with EDIG software and transferred to an EDIG handheld using EDIG software. It wouldn't be comaptible with other hardware designs without liscensing our software (if we were to allow such licensing at all).
My belief is the plan overall plan is to ecompass the total secure downloading experience which may ease the jitters of the content providers. Who knows...maybe we have been working on a proprietary DRM? I've seen the comments that we must be partnering with Liquid Audio or someone else to do this, but actually, I would think Collier would rather not do that. Can EDIG do all of this alone? I think the premise of launching it's own CE line is more complicated than subscriptions.
Other quick thoughts. If we were to demonstrate premium secure downloads, I believe the royalties to the artists will be paid as the downloads happen (logistically once per month to a subscription clearing house of some kind). Meaning for EDIG...minimal or no upfront licensing fees for content. We would just be vehicle of securing and distributing the content with our slice of the pie at pay out time.
Digitalway partnering with us? If the above is correct, no wonder they are working so favorably with us. Tehy could be our Asian partners in this whole business and we would still reap the rewards.
Odyssey product lines and future subscription capable players. Beside the 20% margins on the initial sale, these devices now become sources for even more revenue as they are used for paid downloads in the future. The margins over time will continue to increase as htose consurmers who take advantage of our subscription services buy in. For the moment, even when free in July, this might offer enough incentive to the consumer to maybe buy our product.
On Monday's conference call. If the above is even partially correct, I doubt it would be spelled out in defined terms at the moment. I would see this being a 2 year plan to full fruition. We'll see. I'd project the video subcription would have faster "legs" than the music being we're partnered with DIVX.
All of the above is just some mind ramblings. Hey, we'll see what happpens...but I firmly believe this whole subscrioption thing is much larger than what appears on the surface.
I may have more thoughts later...
Comments welcome.
MTV Gets Down With Downloads
by Brad King
12:20 p.m. April 4, 2001 PDT
Music television is about to expand to the Internet, as all five major labels announce a new retail service that will allow consumers to purchase digital downloads through MTV's online network.
The downloads will initially be sold through the MTV Radio and VH1 At Work streaming stations, which use Rioport's Pulse One Media Services delivery system.
When listeners hear a song they want to purchase, they can click on a buy button and immediately purchase a secure download.
MTVi CEO Nicholas Butterworth said the service would eventually be fully integrated with MTV, giving viewers the ability to watch and interact with their favorite music.
"Our expectation is that by the end of this year, about 50 percent of the music played on the music channels on television will be instantly available for download," Butterworth said. "We certainly expect it won't be long before seeing a video on TV is a promise that you can purchase a secure download."
The service is currently offered only through MTVi. Rioport CEO Jim Long said other retailers would be added to the distribution system throughout the year.
Wednesday's deal instantly catapults MTV into the retail market, just one day after traditional merchants like Tower Records accused the recording industry of squeezing them out of the download market.
"MTV is now becoming a powerful retailer," said Webnoize analyst Ric Dube. "We know that retailers are only going to tolerate so much, and it's getting worse and worse. This is just another strike against the established retailers."
Despite the clash that appears to be brewing between the record labels and the traditional retailers, MTV could offers consumers an integrated music service that few online or offline retailers can match. With the powerful brand name and popular television shows like its daily video countdown show TRL, the music television network might have found the perfect fit for an integrated music service.
"If MTV is smart, this is going to evolve into the TRL music club," Dube said. "People will pay a subscription fee to get all the TRL music that they want, and kids can get all the access to (TRL host) Carson Daly that they want.
"Then, they are going to plug song-specific MTV radio stations on their shows, and when you're listening to that song on their radio, if it's available for download, you can then purchase the song."
Dube said creating such a service would still be difficult, as licensing issues would need to be worked out. But the brand the company is developing and subscription-based service work.
The service will initially have 10,000 tracks available, with singles selling for $1.99 and albums selling for $18.98. Consumers will have a variety of rights in terms of how they get to transport the music, depending on which label the music comes from. While not discussing specific details, Long said consumers would be able to move their files between devices and retrieve copies of music that might have been inadvertently lost or deleted.
Long did say that users wouldn't necessarily be able to burn CDs after purchasing music. Each label has its own policy for that.
While the price seems high for music that is delivered digitally and comes with some restrictions on use, one record label executive said that maintaining a retail price structure was important in clearing licenses.
"The idea that the music doesn't have value when it's taken off the disk is wrong; the art form is the music," said Ted Cohen, EMI's vice president of new media. "Whether it's a download, bought in a store, or burned, we see that the value is in the music.
"It makes it more complex to go to an artist and tell them that they are going to get less money because they are selling the tracks digitally."
Downloaded tracks will be available primarily wrapped in security from either InterTrust or Microsoft, the two leading developers of digital rights management technologies. However, Rioport's Long said the labels would each decide on their own what kinds of securities would be attached to the service.
Long said the new service would thrive despite the existence of Napster because of the consumer experience.
"When you have a business model like Napster, when you aren't making money, you can't really put any money into developing business models," Long said. "When you talk to folks involved in swapping, people are very dissatisfied with some of their transactions."
On Tuesday, Realnetworks' MusicNet subscription service executives said they would work with the controversial file-trading company once security protocols were put in place -- an emerging trend from online music companies. Cohen followed suit, saying that while he doubted Napster would change, he hoped that MTV's service would be integrated with Napster.
"Why would we want to freeze out anybody who has been stealing our music?" Cohen said. "I've tried to work with them on creating a business model before I came to EMI, and I finally had to stop working with them. But we want them to embrace our view of how to sell music."
RioPort Sees 'Portability' Pacts With 5 Major Music Labels
By Dick Kelsey, Newsbytes
SAN JOSE, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A,
28 Jan 2002, 12:02 PM CST
In the first of what it promises will be a series of similar agreements, digital audio firm RioPort has sealed a music subscription deal with the major label BMG that will allow uploading of songs to portable devices, the companies said today.
Claiming to be the first to nail down a major-label music subscription license that includes portability, RioPort said it plans to launch the service – PulseOne – with the Bertelsmann-owned BMG by the end of March.
RioPort also expects to introduce subscription distribution agreements with the other four major recording companies in a matter of weeks, Jim Long, president and CEO of RioPort, told Newsbytes.
"It makes no sense to launch a user service that doesn't include portability," he said. "The agreement with Bertelsmann reflects what we think makes sense for consumers. A big part of that is portability, and we believe all the labels believe that as well."
The company is working out final details of agreements with the other labels, Long said.
The feature gives subscribers the power to transfer songs to portable players, cellular phones, set-top boxes, car stereos and other devices.
"We made a decision early on that we wouldn't launch our online subscription service until we had all of these critical components in place," Long said, because non-portability makes music subscriptions far less attractive to consumers.
"I sort of liken it to buying a sports car but you can only drive it within two blocks of your house," he said.
More than 22,000 BMG tracks are expected to be available through the service at launch, RioPort said, and more will be added later.
RioPort said its direct-to-device (d2d) technology enables play of downloaded subscription songs on portable devices while sticking by content usage rules. Music subscriptions limit the number of downloads, count how many times songs are played and cuts off access when usage privileges expire.
Portability is considered a factor in the slow take-off music subscription services, Jupiter Research digital entertainment analyst Aram Sinnreich told Newsbytes earlier this month.
The big obstacles, however, were the slow economy and delayed launches of subscription services, Jupiter said Jan. 15 when it pulled back its prediction for online music sales.
The research company now foresees $5.5 billion in online music sales by 2006, up from $900 million last year and $650 million in 2000, but considerably less than the $6.2 billion it forecast in July 2001.
The launch dates of Pressplay and MusicNet - both backed by the major labels - were originally set for last fall but did not debut until December. Though Pressplay allows the burning of a limited number of songs to CD, neither allows songs to be uploaded to portable players.
Sinnreich also cited slower broadband adoption, lower overall purchase value by online shoppers, and a "contracting" music industry for lowering its sales outlook.
Still, Sinnreich said, digital music subscriptions could be the saving grace for a stumbling recording industry.
"The key to unlocking this market will be remixing the distribution chain," a Jupiter statement said, "taking advantage of digital media's fluidity to allow labels, music sellers and technology companies to focus on what they do best."
Newsbytes reporter Kevin Featherly contributed to this story.
RioPort is on the Web at http://www.rioport.com
Odyssey 1000 feature-WMA Digital Rights Management (DRM) support
http://www.investorshub.com/boards/read_msg.asp?message_id=332692
Microsoft is preparing an upgrade to its anti-piracy technology aimed at bridging the gap that continues to separate online music subscription services and portable devices such as MP3 players. Code-named Mercury, the upgrade will add features to the company's Windows Media digital rights management software that sits on handhelds, MP3 players and similar gadgets. The company has had a version of the software available for portable devices since 1999, but that version has had fewer features than technology Microsoft produces for PCs.
The move is an attempt to ease the fears of record companies and other content providers who worry that anti-piracy locks used to protect online content will break down on portable devices, which don't have the processing power or software support of a computer.
"This will be significant for them," said Michael Aldridge, lead product manager for Microsoft's Windows Digital Media Division. "It is going to have a direct impact on what subscription services will be able to offer."
The problem of portable devices has been a tricky one for record companies and other content producers trying to sell their work online or create subscription services.
Most devices lack critical features found on a computer, such as a system clock. The absence of those features makes it difficult to instruct a song to expire after a given date, or set a number of times that a song can be played once it has been transferred to the device.
As a result, most of the big subscription services, such as MusicNet, Pressplay or Listen.com's Rhapsody, prevent their subscribers from moving music onto portable devices. Rioport, which already has technology for protecting content on devices, has won a few licenses from record companies to offer music for MP3 players. Analysts say the portability problem must be solved before the subscription services can become mainstream.
To begin with, the devices must be released with advanced functions, such as system clocks, built into their hardware. Many of the big device manufacturers are beginning to give their products these new capabilities.
======================================
Online Music Has Come Of Age Says New Consumer Technology Purchasing Study By Venture Strategy Partners
SAN FRANCISCO, CA, May 16, 2002 - Online music is rapidly becoming mainstream with a large segment of the adult population listening in, but music providers still face an uphill battle to devise an acceptable method of charging for the service, according to a consumer technology purchasing study conducted by Venture Strategy Partners.
According to Venture Strategy Partners' bi-annual Consumer Technology Behavior Index, nearly one out of every three adults have either downloaded music or have listened to streaming music from the Internet at least once. Furthermore, nearly one-third of these consumers say they download music files or listen to streaming music online often. While younger adults remain the most prevalent listeners, the study shows that Baby Boomers (35-54) make-up about 35 percent of the listening audience and this number is expected to grow.
The study also provides constructive insight for content providers and distributors looking to cash in on the trend. One in four adults say they would subscribe to an online music service. Some have already paid for downloaded or streaming media usage.
While there are divergent views by existing and prospective online music users on how much they would pay for a subscription service, among those willing to pay, a monthly fee of approximately $15 for 50 songs per month, or $12 a month for an unlimited streaming service, is considered 'reasonable'.
Among other constructive issues raised in the study for content and distribution providers:
* Portability of music files is key for any subscription service to take root;
* The ability to store and copy downloaded music files is considered important by users; Lack of high speed Internet access for quick downloading of music files remains an obstacle for adoption;
* Online music users largely have no service provider preference although there seems to be a leaning towards downloading music from a cable channel or high-speed service provider rather than from an Internet Service Provider.
Says Tony Conrad, General Partner of Venture Strategy Partners, an early stage venture capital firm, and Board Member of FullAudio, "The findings clearly point to a growing market of online music consumers who are increasingly willing to pay for a service. The real challenge is for content and distribution providers to develop both a dominant brand and an acceptable business model to access and serve this market." FullAudio, along with MusicNet and Pressplay, remain among the few major players in the online music field, according to analyst Phil Leigh, of Raymond James.
The findings of increased adoption of online music technology is one of the bright spots in an otherwise tepid embrace of consumers to new technologies, particularly wireless services and voice recognition services.
Appeal of many features of wireless services, particularly for location-based interactive guides, news and stock quotes, is significantly lower in the current findings of the bi-annual study. Similarly, significantly fewer people are in agreement that wireless services are for people like themselves or worth it to learn and set up.
In the area of voice recognition services, 52 percent of respondents are aware of voice recognition services and slightly less than half of those aware have ever used it. One third would use a voice recognition service to retrieve or send e-mail, making it the activity people are most likely to use voice recognition to conduct.
Consumers are more dissatisfied with the automated services that use numbers keys to answer questions than those that use voice recognition. However, dissatisfaction with both technologies is quite high, 42 percent and 34 percent, respectively. The Consumer Behavior Index, polls consumer attitudes about their personal benefits of various high tech products twice a year. Venture Strategy Partners will leverage the findings to provide tactical marketing and strategic advice for its portfolio companies as well as to assist in evaluating future investments in emerging companies.
"Understanding and tracking trends in consumer technology decision-making and adoption is essential in making profitable investment decisions, and helps our existing portfolio companies target customers and stay ahead of their competitors," said Joanna Gallanter, Founder and Managing Partner of Venture Strategy Partners.
Venture Strategy Partners has also launched a companion Corporate Technology Purchasing Study that tracks the adoption, attitudes and usage of new and existing technologies by corporate purchasing decision makers.
back / top
I Casta my vote for a tropical island--
with Laetitia:
http://www.maxximania.com/pics.php?type=picture&id=0219
of course the only problem with all this is that I seem to recall Collier/Falk finally admitting that edig has no relationship with IBM Voice in a CC last year
Posted by: cksla
Date: 2/16/2002 2:20:40 PM
IBM Voices Changes In DirectTalk
By Keith Dawson, CommWeb.com
Nov 1, 2001 (8:38 AM)
URL: http://www.google.com/search?q=cache:C5yui_FOhdoC:www.commweb.com/article/COM20011101S0002+ibm+%2B+j....
IBM made some important changes to the way they create and serve up voice-based applications, including some new relationships to provide voice recognition software for mobile e-businesses. One of the key targets of IBM's voice business is going to be the automobile industry for telematics, the growing market segment for products and services that deliver wireless voice and data information to vehicles. Other places they'd like to have a bigger presence include the PDA market and call centers.
IBM's venerable DirectTalk IVR line will now be known as WebSphere Voice Response, and is going to be brought into the WebSphere family so as to emphasize its place in cross-industry "convergence" products - the system is going to be made more scalable and have the ability to handle higher call loads. The goal, according to IBM, is to strengthen the growing ties between telephony, voice and the Internet. WebSphere Voice Response supports VoiceXML and Java as a standard platform, making it easier for developers to create apps, and for businesses to allow customers to access info from disparate corporate systems.
Also on tap is the latest release of WebSphere Voice Server - now in version 2.0. It has expanded language capability that now includes Mandarin, Italian, Japanese and Spanish in addition to English, French and German. And it now features "concatenative" speech synthesis, which produces a more human sounding voice. Also key, it now supports Dialogic, Intel's telephony platform.
WebSphere Voice Server is software that resides on a Web server and lets people access the Web and corporate databases by speaking commands into a phone and listening to a computerized voice.
Michigan-based automaker Johnson Controls selected IBM as its speech software provider for all of its upcoming telematics offerings to the auto industry. Its first implementation is a voice-enabled mobile communications system for the Chrysler Group.
This new system will require only the push of a button to make a call - all other functions are engaged via voice commnds. When a call is placed, audio is suspended, and the call comes through the speakers. IBM's software will allow drivers to use spoken commands to place calls or access the system's audio address book, customizable by the owner. The system will be available in an aftermarket version in spring 2002 and factory installed in 2003.
QNX is partnering with IBM for voice recognition. The QNX operating system will support the Embedded ViaVoice product for telematics that runs on both an operating system and a hardware platform to ensure the two interoperate.
Voice-enabled telematics applications developed on the QNX operating system are designed to run on major automotive telematics platforms such as Intel, Hitachi and Motorola.
Posted by: cksla
Date: 2/16/2002 2:39:33 PM
johnson controls infotainment:
Today's conventional cockpit systems are only a starting point for completely revisioning this critical area with new and superior capabilities.
With our infotainment systems, we are going beyond the assembly of components to provide complete system integration that will significantly improve the driving experience and the occupants' access to critical or useful information. Our infotainment systems are an industry-leading combination of audio, multimedia and vehicle data aimed at entertaining and providing vehicle occupants with key information. At Johnson Controls, we are working to become the recognized leader in providing innovative, end-user-driven information and entertainment systems that are safely and seamlessly integrated into automotive interiors.
Johnson Controls' infotainment systems deliver radio, satellite radio, CD/DVD/Removable Memory, MP3, HVAC, trip information, vehicle information, Navigation, RearVision™, and access to news, weather, financial services information, and the Internet.
To accelerate the pace of innovation, Johnson Controls works closely with our Peer Partners to shift the paradigm in cockpit E/E systems and infotainment. Our experienced program management team, and our thorough knowledge of customer systems makes us uniquely qualified to achieve our infotainment objectives.
Infotainment Generation One
Our first-generation infotainment system incorporates:
Far-forward display location
Single point multi-controller
Appropriate layout and density of hot keys for frequently used functions
Applications of Human Factors principles
Separate electronics DIN modules
Plug and play architecture
Serves as the gateway to multimedia throughout the vehicle
Infotainment Generation Two
Our second-generation infotainment system incorporates:
Aesthetically integrated user interface
Distributed architecture for electronic modules
Far-forward display location
Single point multi-controller
Appropriate layout and density of hot keys for frequently used functions
Upgrade through software and plug-in modules
Applications of Human Factors principles
Flexible user interface within vehicle platforms
Serves as the gateway to multimedia throughout the vehicle
Infotainment Generation Three
Our third-generation infotainment system incorporates:
Aesthetically integrated user interface
Distributed Electronic Modules
Far-forward display location
Redefined user interface
Focus on total interior environmental user interface;/information and Entertainment Electrical architecture
Upgrade through software and plug-in modules
http://www.johnsoncontrols.com/asg-electronics/index.asp
Posted by: cksla
In reply to: None Date: 8/15/2001 4:34:57 PM
Post # of 13869
A MUST WATCH-- INTERVIEW W/ IBM'S SUNIL SOARES Program Director of Market Management IBM Voice Systems re voice enabled PDA
great demonstration using the voice sled- in prototype now and expects to be on the market in 18-24 mos
when asked if IBM will make it said no watch for business partners like CE/computer mfgers like dell/cpq
uses NLU and ASR which is way beyond simple voice command
says to watch for it in cars as well
http://vision.yahoo.com/start?.rand=6bc5033
gernb1-- sunil soares, IBM voice, pervasive computing, telematics, Johnson Controls--interesting; i guess maybe I should look into this?? LOL!!! cksla
MusicNet CEO: Download this, not Napster
By Jim Hu
Special to ZDNet News
July 18, 2002, 1:22 PM PT
URL: http://zdnet.com.com/2100-1106-944920.html
Alan McGlade is the first to admit that while building an online music subscription service isn't glamorous, it's the best way to avoid getting sued like Napster.
Since becoming CEO of MusicNet last October, McGlade has held non-stop meetings with music labels, publishers and recording artists to get permission to sell their songs. He's won support of the big studios, sure; but now he's got to try to win consumer support.
MusicNet, owned in part by RealNetworks, AOL Time Warner, Bertelsmann and EMI Recorded Music, has so far failed to capture the imagination of music fans who formerly flocked to Napster and other peer-to-peer sites that offered digital music downloads for free.
The first version of the service, launched by RealNetworks as RealOne Music, was roundly criticized. Even America Online, a distribution partner, passed on MusicNet's first incarnation.
Unfazed, McGlade says success won’t come overnight; in fact, it may even take years. In a conversation with CNET News.com, the former MTV executive talked about the future of online music and how he'll convince music fans to sign on the dotted line.
When MusicNet came up with version 1.0, many people complained it was too limiting. How you view that product?
You know the way I view the first version that was out there? It was launching as I walked in the door. It was really a tremendous effort to put a stake in the ground and say this industry is now beginning. It's in its embryonic form, but it's going to evolve over time. And I think everybody who was involved was aware that it came with significant limitations.
It was a different reaction than the one people had with Napster.
One of the things that's been interesting to me is to see people continuously draw a comparison between file sharing sites like Napster, and the many that have followed in its footsteps. There is no basis of comparison. There's nothing difficult about taking files and putting them out someplace for free. Just like it wouldn't be hard to run a store where you just put everything on the shelves and people could just take what they want. You wouldn't stay in business very long, but it wouldn't be hard to do. It will have to evolve over time, and it's going to take a significant amount of time. Was there enough catalog? Did we have enough music? No. And did we have all the rights necessary to make a seamless experience for the consumer? No. Could we address those things over time? Absolutely.
Was that first phase pushed out prematurely?
Well, I guess if people are treating it like it's a finished product and doing side-by-side (comparisons) in publications, then, yeah, maybe it is premature. Because I don't think anybody's seen the real product yet.
What should we expect from the next product?
Well, all the things that you would probably expect. The first thing you've got to look at is what kind of catalogs you have to push out to people. If people were going to pay a monthly fee, then every month you have to reinforce the value of what they're paying for. I think the biggest issue is if somebody is looking for a particular song or a particular artist, and they go there one time and they can't find it, maybe they're going to be a little disappointed. But if that happens multiple times then they're going to start to question why they're paying for a service.
What’s the No. 1 issue for your business?
From our point of view, the single biggest issue that we have to deal with is getting as much catalog as possible. Right now we have three out of five majors licensed. Obviously, one of the major issues on the table for us is getting all the majors licensed and get them licensed quickly. So we'll do that.
The Justice Department is looking into online music distribution by the major recording studios. Is there a negative for consumers if the big studios expand into the Internet?
You mean for us not to go get Sony's and Universal's (music) content? Why would the DOJ not want us to have more content? I think the only reason the DOJ would investigate anything is if they thought there was a negative effect for the consumer, right? But it's good for the consumer to get more product.
Over time there will be a comprehensive catalog that's available online through a variety of companies in the United States. But it's going to take time to build that. And that's why I started with the idea that there was this false expectation, because people were looking at Napster and saying, well, they had it all. Well, of course they did--they stole it.
But if you have to go through the process from the beginning of striking content deals with the major suppliers of music, and then talking to artists if they have an issue, and publishing all that stuff to your server, it's going to take a long time--it's literally going to be years. But eventually, we'll get to a point that most, if not all, material will be available.
Is that where the bulk of the work is, going through the grueling process of clearing all these records?
That's one big piece. If somebody comes to our service and is looking for a song and they can't find it, the likely result is not going to be that they're going to turn off their computer, get in their car, drive to the record store and buy the CD. The likely result is they will now be forced off to a peer-to-peer site. And then you get no remuneration for your music. So, (artists) need to participate. And this is what we're doing to protect copyright.
Getting music for free on the Internet is still a very easy thing to do. How do you compete?
Well, I don't think you compete, but you do create a service that has its own value. And I always point back to my experience in the cable television business. I remember reporters writing, 'Cable television as a business will totally fail because no one will ever pay for TV--it just won't happen; it's not realistic to think people will pay for TV because TV's free.' And in the early days, let's face it, everybody pirated cable. I didn't know anybody who actually paid for it. They all sort of snuck up poles at night and ran it into their house. And there wasn't very sophisticated encryption, so it was relatively easy to do.
And over time, two things happened. First, the quality got better. It became more convenient. And at the same time, there were defensive measures, too. The encryption became more sophisticated. And now there are still probably pirates, but it's really been marginalized. Most people when they move into a house will hook up cable and pay for it, right?
You believe the cable analogy will apply to music downloads?
I could see a similar thing happening in the music space. What's the business model of Kazaa or Morpheus? How will they make money to support being around long term if the idea is to steal it and give it away for free? And for the average person, you see more spoofing where files were named the same thing, but it wasn't an actual Eminem song, or it was just a couple seconds of it. And the file quality isn't consistent, the directories sometimes are wrong, you get viruses. If we actually offer a product that is extremely convenient, seamless to use, the file quality is guaranteed, the download times are optimized, and it comes with lots of other unique features that make a seamless experience. Would people be willing to pay for that? Absolutely. Over time will it marginalize pirate services? I think so.
But right now they're offering more than you can offer. Let's forget about the size of the catalogs. You can put files downloaded off Kazaa or any of those companies on a MP3 player or record onto a CD. How far are you willing to go to offer legal music that can be transferred onto many different devices?
Those are all things we have to do. But like I said, it's an evolution. You have to be able to download files permanently, burn them to CDs, transfer them to devices, use them on several computers, or else transfer them to other devices that can store and play back music. All those things will have to be part of that process. And if I was just going to steal all the content I could do it tomorrow.
But how far do you go?
MP3 files can be easily copied if they're not wrapped with any digital rights management. But if you have a DRM wrapper on an MP3 file, it wouldn't be readily accessible. It would have some restrictions in its use. You have streaming--what we call tethered downloads--which do have a DRM wrapper. So while you can download a file and listen to it, you'll be able to do various things with it. It'll still be somewhat restrictive use because if you don't remind a subscriber, the music won't continue to be available. And then you have what we call permanent downloads. In that case, you've actually purchased a track. Even if you no longer are a subscriber you can continue to use the music as you want because you purchased it.
How do you differentiate between what becomes tethered and what becomes permanent in terms of downloads?
You pay more. You pay an additional fee either in the package or permanent downloads, or on an a la carte basis, where you buy one track at a time. But that's the direction it's going.
So a la carte would be on top of the subscription?
It could be. We don't know the definitive model either because there's no business history.
Some of your partners--AOL Time Warner among them--have recently started selling individual downloads of songs.
They're experimenting with that, as are others. And this has become a much more active conversation now about how to sell single tracks or entire albums online.
But I mean they're selling MP3s. They're selling files that aren't tethered at all for 99 cents a download.
Right, that's a permanent download.
So, it seems like some labels are at least warming up to the idea of doing it a la carte.
They're moving towards that.
Where does that put you guys?
I was saying that that's one of the models that we'll be working with--streaming and tethered downloads within the service, and then permanent downloads either as part of the package or a la carte. There's no definitive history of use.
What's your time line for making this service a success?
It's years.
But do you have years, though?
Sure...If we can show forward momentum and steady progress and continue to do all the things that I've been describing as part of what our responsibility is, then, yes, we do have some time. Time is required to build a long term, sustainable business and become mass market with online distribution of music in a legal way.
How many subscribers do you hope to have in a year?
I don't give out subscription numbers.
How about general goals in terms of a number?
I want millions. We don't want tens of thousands or hundreds of thousands. We want to be an impact player.
MIKE BERMAN: Fun toys for digital-music addicts
Scripps Howard News Service
(July 17, 2002 12:41 p.m. EDT) - As a true technogeek, I have many addictions to things electronic, but none is greater than my hunger for MP3 players. It all began with the Rio, which was manufactured by Diamond Multimedia (which is now SONICBlue) and grew from there. So, when I heard there was a new strain of these musical marvels, I knew I wouldn't be satisfied until I had played with them all.
The BA350 ($229) from Bantam Interactive is one of the smallest multi-format players on the market. About the size of a credit card, it comes loaded with 128 megabytes of memory, which equates to about four hours of sound, but closer to two hours of music. It can also be upgraded via the Internet, has a built-in equalizer and can be recharged while downloading your favorite tunes via your computer's USB port.
Some other features of this little beauty:
-It supports MP3 and WMA music formats.
- BitExplor software to download music from your PC.
- Wrap-around headphones.
- A car cassette adapter.
- A carrying pouch.
- Seven changeable color faceplates.
- An advanced lithium-ion battery that is recharged through the unit's USB port.
- A USB cable.
The Duo-DX-AR496 digital player ($199) from Digisette is about the size of a cassette tape and comes packed with 96 megabytes of memory (and can expand to 160 megabytes).
It is designed to fit into your stereo system's cassette deck or the cassette player in your car. This means that it can record directly from a stereo system without the need of a PC and can play back your tunes without needing a cassette adapter. Of course, it can also be used as a standard portable player. Just slip it into your shirt pocket and attach a set of earphones.
Among its other features:
- It supports MP3, WMA and AudibleReady files.
- A standard USB port for fast downloads from a PC.
- The firmware can be upgraded.
- Memory can be increased using the MMC slot.
- Direct to digital encoding.
- Music-management software to download files to the unit.
- A 1.2-volt nickel hydride rechargeable battery with a 110-volt charger.
- A carrying case.
- Earbuds.
- A USB cable.
Now we come to two CD players that enable you to carry around more than 10 hours of music packed on a 640-megabyte compact disk.
The first is the Soul DMP-201 ($99), which technically is a Rio Volt clone manufactured in Korea and "not available" in the United States through an agreement with SONICBlue. But it is available through several online stores via the company's Web site, www.avctechnology.com.
This is, as was its predecessor, an extremely well-made machine and comes with accessories you'd expect from more expensive models. Among its features are:
- It supports MP3, WMA, CD/MPEG, CD-DA, CD-R and CD-RW formats.
- Fours lines of backlighted graphic LCD display.
- Real-time bookmark during playback.
- Multi-language support.
- A seven-band equalizer.
- Dual play modes.
- A 12-CD auto memory, which enables it to "remember" the last track that was played on up to 12 disks.
- It's firmware can be upgraded.
- A multi-function remote control.
- Two AA batteries that are rechargeable using the included AC adapter.
The Slim-X ($199) from iRiver America is a bit thinner than the DMP-201. And although it lacks the four-line graphics display on the play, it boasts a few desirable features, including:
- Low power consumption, which means you can get up to 23 hours of playing time on a single charge or on one set of AA batteries.
- A graphic LCD display on the remote control, which allows for easy navigation through your tunes, etc.
-A built-in FM tuner.
-It supports MP3, WMA, ASF, audio CDs, enhanced CDs, CD Plus, CD-R and CDR-W.
- Firmware can be upgraded.
- It supports ID3 tags and audio CD text and title display.
- It has an adjustable six-band equalizer.
All these units are equipped to satisfy even the most demanding digital-music addict and have come a long way from the original Rio. Each boasts different features to feed specific desires. But, if you're as addicted as I am, you'll want one of each!
Contact Mike Berman at mberman@jocgeek.com
DIGITAL MEDIA WIRE Presents:
The Future of Mobile Entertainment
Jaymont Auditorium (American Conference Centers)
780 Third Avenue (@ 49th Street)
New York, NY Thu, Jul. 25, 2002
6:00 PM - 9:30 PM
Details Thursday, July 25, 2002 / 6:00-9:30 PM
Jaymont Auditorium, American Video Conference Centers
780 3rd Ave. (at 49th St.), New York City
MODERATOR:
Joe Laszlo - Senior Analyst, Jupiter Media Metrix
PANELISTS:
David Brudnicki - Director, Emerging Technology & Architecture, Mobile Multimedia Services, AT&T Wireless
Gary Ginstling - Senior Product Manager, Multimedia/Wireless, Java Group, Sun Microsystems
Anders Evju - Vice President & General Manager, Digital Bridges
Fabrice Grinda - Founder & CEO, Zingy
Nicholas Lehman - Vice President, Interactive Business Development, MTV/VH1
McAdory Lipscomb Jr. - Marketing & Communications Lead, Accenture
Raviv Pablo - Senior Director, Product Technologies & Marketing, Emblaze Systems
Patrick M. Walsh - Vice President, Wireless Data Business Development, iBiquity Digital
Sposored by: Emblaze Systems
Technology Demonstartion by: iBiquity Digital
Terrestrial tunes
Earthbound digital radio gets chip support
Maury Wright, Editor-in-Chief -- CommVerge, 7/17/2002
Satellite digital radio has debuted to mixed reviews, and many people still think that terrestrial digital radio will be more compelling because listeners will receive their favorite existing stations in pristine digital quality. Expect the IBOC (In Band On Channel) technology that will occupy the same frequency space as existing stations to begin rolling out around the Consumer Electronics Show next January.
STMicroelectronics just became the second chip vendor to announce support for IBOC. The company has announced a two-chip IBOC design that consists of the TDA7515 analog front-end, which downconverts the incoming signal to a 10.7-MHz intermediate frequency (IF), and the DSP-based TDA7580, which directly digitizes the IF and handles digital and analog radio-processing tasks.
By working directly with the IF signal, the DSP code in the TDA7580 can implement equalization features that combat multipath interference, greatly improving reception of weak signals. Moreover, the software approach will allow receiver manufacturers to design a fallback mode in which the radio can swap from digital to FM at the edges of the digital signal range. ST jointly developed the digital radio software with Bose.
ST has been the sole source of digital radio chips for XM Satellite Radio's network and now joins Texas Instruments as a supplier to the IBOC community. TI built the multichip IBOC prototype implementation shown at CES last year, and at the same show announced a single-chip implementation of the DSP section of the design.
Making Money on Free Music
By Robyn Greenspan
Despite heavy opposition from the music industry, 19 percent of Americans over aged 12 have downloaded music or MP3 files from an online file-sharing service, translating into over 40 million users within the current U.S. population (accordingly to 2000 U.S. Census figures), according to research from Ipsos-Reid.
Peer-to-peer music swapping was back in the limelight recently as Eminem's new CD was released early, in hopes of diverting attention from the bootleg online tracks to the record store. But the early enthusiasm generated by the downloading may have been what propelled the album to number one upon its release.
Opponents of file-sharing can't argue with the numbers - downloading music is one of the leading activities among 12 to 24-year-olds. Approximately two-fifths of that age group download music or MP3 files from an online file-sharing service, followed by 41 percent of 12 to 17 year-olds, and 45 percent in the 18 to 24 age group.
The research finds that peer-to-peer file-sharing is not just for kids: 26 percent of those between the ages of 25 to 34, and 14 percent of those aged 35 to 54 reporting having downloaded music or MP3 files from an online file-sharing service. Additionally, one quarter of American males engage in online file-sharing, compared to only 14 percent of American women.
"With all of the recent media attention surrounding online file-sharing, it was interesting to finally get a current representative view of what is really going on among the general U.S. population with regard to this activity," said Matt Kleinschmit, senior research manager for Ipsos-Reid and the TEMPO research program. "And clearly, there is a sizable portion of the population that has indeed obtained music through an online file-sharing service, especially in the younger demographic groups. What is most interesting, however, is that those in older demographic groups also report using these services, and these demographic groups typically include individuals with disposable income that are often highly prized by advertisers."
Ipsos-Reid also found that 24 percent of Americans ages 12 and older own a PC-based compact disc recorder/burner (CD-R), escalating to 53 percent of file-sharers.
"As PC manufacturers are more and more vocal in promoting music-focused PC packages bundling CD-R drives, soundcards, and speakers together with consumer-friendly software interfaces, Americans are clearly beginning to recognize the inherent music capabilities today9s PCs offer," continued Kleinschmit.
The information, from a sample of 1,112 U.S. respondents during the last week in April 2002, indicates that 81 percent of downloaders report that their CD purchases have stayed the same or even increased since they initially began downloading music from the Internet. This research corroborates claims from Jupiter Media Metrix that experienced file sharers are 41 percent more likely than the average online music fan to have increased their music spending levels.
Other significant findings from Ipsos-Reid include:
84 percent report also using the Internet for more than just downloading, such as listening to song clips, reading about lyrics and tour information, and researching bands prior to actually purchasing their CD.
47 percent of these individuals indicate that they have subsequently purchased a particular CD from a band or artist solely because of something they first read or listened to on the Internet.
29 percent indicate that their typically preferred genre of music has changed since the inception of their downloading behaviors.
21 percent report that their radio listening activities have also changed since they began downloading.
Americans aren't the only ones taking advantage of the accessibility of music downloads. According to two global studies conducted in 2000 by the Angus Reid Group Inc., 36 percent of all adult Internet users and 41 percent of teens and young adult Internet users have downloaded music from the Web in MP3 or similar formats.
Since the release of those particular studies, there have been a proliferation of music sharing services, as well as improved technology that makes it easier to download and burn CDs, leading to a likely increase in the global figures.
The growing population of file-swappers has resulted in a surge of digital audio products designed to store and play downloaded music. In-Stat/MDR finds that portable digital music player unit shipments (including solid state and revolving media products) will grow from about 7.2 million in 2002 to almost 30 million in 2006.
Instat/MDR estimates that online music revenues are expected to grow at a compound annual growth rate of 33.4 percent between 2001 and 2006, while revenues from downloading and streaming are expected to remain less than 10 percent of total revenues through the year 2004.
June 12, 2002
Furor Subsides as MPEG-4 Licensing Terms Are Set
July 16, 2002
MPEG LA, a group of patent holders to the MPEG-4 format, finally reached agreement on Monday regarding final licensing terms after initial terms, released in February, outraged the digital media community.
Under the new terms, due to go into effect this September, Web sites can license the latest video and audio compression format for 25 cents per subscriber or 2 cents per hour, subject to a $1 million annual cap. Also, MPEG LA set a minimum threshold so that content owners with fewer than 50,000 subscribers aren't subject to royalties. The fees are applicable to Web site operators that benefit commercially from use of the technology, through either paid advertisements, pay-per-view services or subscriptions.
"The licensing fees under MPEG LA were prohibitively high and it seems as though they have reached a compromise," said Ryan Jones, an analyst with the Yankee Group. "It seems to be one that most parties can be happy with."
Larry Horn, vice president of licensing and business development for MPEG LA, agrees, noting that making the format usable for its customers and still a viable commodity for the patent holders is why the group exists.
"Obviously (the compromises) were hotly debated among the patent holders," said Horn. "You do your best and come up with things that would actually be attractive in the market."
MPEG-4 is the latest compression technology for digital multimedia created by the Moving Picture Experts Group, the group which also which also produced MPEG-1 (interactive video on CD-ROM) and MPEG-2, the core compression technology in transmitting, storing and consuming digital media.
MPEG-4 features significant strides in compression technology allowing greater quality over less bandwidth.
Controversy erupted after the proposed licensing terms were announced in February. The proposed uncapped playback fee of 2 cents per hour for MPEG-4 streams or downloads that a service provider would have to pay concerned Apple and others involved, who felt the price tag would lead to the technology's demise.
"We learned a lot in the process," said Horn. "The January announcement was very helpful because many of the principles have survived, but we have tried to make them more acceptable to the user. We couldn't have gotten as meaningful a response had we not gone through the process as we did."
The originally proposed terms also lacked an exemption for smaller Web sites, a clause which is included in the latest licensing agreement.
"That's a critical thing to drive acceptance of a new standard," said Jones. "If you are charging high licensing fees to Web sites or media companies that are just experimenting with the new standard and dont have a lot of following yet, you really squash a lot of the most important development aspects of that technology."
In February, Apple delayed the release of its Quicktime 6, which fully supports the MPEG-4 format, until MPEG LA settle a more reasonable fee-structure. Apple ended up holding out, until it released the new version at the beginning of June.
Industries outside of the Internet, including cable and satellite, have a slightly different pay structure.
Current cable television, direct satellite television and over-the-air broadcast that one day may allow a broadcaster to address its broadcast to a specific viewer or subscriber will pay a royalty of $0.25 for the right to manufacture and sell each decoder and encoder and the party providing content service to the subscriber will pay a royalty of $1.25 for the paid-up right to use a decoder to decode and use encoded MPEG-4 Visual information.
For stored video, the replicator or content provider will pay $0.01 per 30 minutes or part to a maximum of $0.04 per movie, with the price falling to $0.005 per 30 minutes or part thereof to a maximum of $0.02 per movie where the content is 5 years or older. Videos of 12 minutes or less pay a standard $0.002 fee
In addition to the MPEG-4 Visual Patent Portfolio License, MPEG LA will offer optional licenses under patents that are essential to the MPEG-4 Systems Standard (without MPEG-J) and to the MPEG-J part of the MPEG-4 Systems Standard.
MSOs Agree: Bundling Works
Multichannel News
7/16/2002 4:01:00 PM
Boston -- Several MSO executives talked up their successes in offering services during the session dubbed 'Bundling for the Bottom Line' at the Cable & Telecommunications Association for Marketing’s CTAM Summit here Monday afternoon,
At a time when 'video is no longer the only key to our growth,' moderator Hilda Chazanovitz, National Geographic Channel executive vice president of marketing and new media, said bundling video with high-speed Internet access and telephony services has become increasingly important to operators.
Like effective advertising, she added, bundling 'has to operate on a rational level, as well as an emotional level.'
Comcast Cable Communications Inc. Washington Metro/Virginia regional VP Jaye Gamble, who outlined the MSO’s various offers since 1998, said its goals included 'driving trial and, therefore, adoption' and reducing churn.
'Bundling is all about adding value,' he added, 'but value is very subjective' -- even among different households and their members.
Gamble urged other operators to experiment with as many options as they can accurately track, before cautioning, 'You can add too much value and you have to watch your margins.'
Insight Communications Co. Inc. senior VP of operations Gregg Graff said that MSO has also tried various offers, including its currently promoted baseball-themed 'Triple Play' and 'Double Play.'
The former -- packaging digital cable, Internet access and telephony -- is priced at $89.95 per month and includes free installation during the promotion span (versus the normal $117 bundle price), he said, while the Double Play is pegged at $79.95 (vs. the regular $95).
Graff -- who noted that the Triple Play is becoming Insight’s top draw -- estimated that its churn rates are under 1 percent each for video/telephony, video/Internet and the three-service bundle, but 5 percent for telephony alone and just over 2 percent each for video or high-speed alone.
AT&T Broadband VP of electronic marketing and integrated product strategy Mark Voboril said 1.6 million of that MSO’s customers now take bundles of two or more services and churn has been cut by 20 percent to 40 percent in its different markets.
05.22.02 Satcasters Battle Over Codecs
XM, Sirius Each Claim the Better Codec, While Ibiquity's PAC Gets Slightly Crunched in the Shuffle
by Leslie Stimson
It was the battle of audio compression algorithms this spring, with each of the satellite radio companies claiming its coding is better.
XM Satellite Radio revealed that its audio codec of choice now is CT-aacPlus, rather than the Perceptual Audio Codec, the earlier choice for which it still has a license agreement with Ibiquity Digital Corp.
By contrast, both Ibiquity and XM's competitor Sirius Satellite Radio use PAC.
Some observers said XM may be worried about sound quality now that listener comparisons to Sirius Satellite Radio are possible.
"If it's perceived that the difference between them sound-quality-wise is significant, that's not good," said one source.
XM claims superior sound quality using CT-aacPlus, a combination of Advanced Audio Coding - the work of AT&T, Dolby, Fraunhofer and Sony - and Spectral Band Replication from Coding Technologies.
Digital Radio Mondiale also has adopted CT-aacPlus as its codec, according to XM. DRM is developing digital technology for shortwave, medium- and long-wave service overseas.
XM's use of CT-aacPlus is the first commercial implementation of this codec.
Third-party testing of CT-aacPlus by the BBC, Deutsche Telekom and Robert Bosch Gmbh found it to be more than 30 percent more efficient than AAC at providing superior sound quality at satellite bit rates, XM said.
XM is enhancing the effect of the codec with Neural Audio, preprocessing software that uses algorithms based on models of the brain's perception of sound. Neural Audio also is the name of the Seattle-based research lab where the product got its start.
Tony Masiello, XM vice president of operations, said Neural Audio helps the encoder make a better decision about which audio is perceived by the human ear and which is not.
"That's how codecs work. They achieve their reduction by deciding which audio elements are not perceived, therefore they're not encoded."
Masiello said, "The neural preprocessor takes audio from the studio and processes it before it goes into the encoder on a channel-by-channel basis."
"We take the studio signal, feed it into the neural engine, then take the same audio and go through the encoder and (satellite) uplink. Then we take the decoded output of a radio, put that into the neural engine as well and the neural engine learns the differences between the original and the audio that has gone through the coding process, and compensates for the differences."
There's a neural engine for each of the 100 channels, he said. A white paper released by XM states that Neural's process analyzes and adjusts the audio signal every 22.7 microseconds.
One broadcast source whose company works with codecs characterized the neural concept as "marketing hype" and said the way XM and Sirius compress sound has little relevance for applications to a typical station. He declined to be named.
XM said its use of CT-aacPlus and the Neural Audio preprocessing algorithm means it doesn't need to use "traditional statistical multiplexing."
Sirius, however, is using statistical multiplexing.
No 'tit for tat'
A spokesman said Sirius didn't want to get into a "tit-for-tat discussion" of the merits of both Sirius and XM's technologies, but said Sirius is pleased with both PAC and statistical multiplexing.
"We have had positive customer feedback. There was a reason that changes were made on the other side."
Mark Kalman, vice president of Sirius' national broadcast studio, said statistical multiplexing uses a variable bitrate encoder, unlike AAC or MP3, for example, which employ fixed bitrates.
Statistical multiplexing, he said, is efficient and doesn't waste bits; it takes only those it needs to encode the audio at that instant. Statistical multiplexing puts the unused bits in a common bit pool for the other channels, giving Sirius the ability to change the bitrate for each channel constantly, and devote more to some and less to others.
Kalman said DirecTV and phone companies traditionally use statistical multiplexing to increase the number of channels they can put in a set amount of bandwidth; but Sirius is not using the technology that way.
"We have a basic quality (bit rate) target; statistical multiplexing improves the quality above that target, and most of the time, we're above that."
Ibiquity has said its IBOC technology will allow stations to use 96 kilobits per second on FM, and that the satellite companies are using less, around 64 kbps. Sirius said it doesn't comment on its bit rates.
"These algorithms are so advanced and so efficient that what people know in the marketplace, like Windows Media, Real Audio and MP3, are not in the same league as these coders," said Kalman.
PAC or no?
The selection of CT-aacPlus means that XM will not use Ibiquity's Perceptual Audio Codec. An XM spokesman said, "PAC is a fine technology. But we felt CT-aacPlus, enhanced by the Neural Audio preprocessing technology, was the best for our platform."
Ibiquity Digital Corp. President/CEO Robert Struble said XM's decision was a disappointment, but would have small impact on Ibiquity's revenue. XM paid Ibiquity an undisclosed amount for licensing PAC.
Sirius is using Version 4 of Ibiquity's PAC and is happy with its performance.
Sources close to the issue said XM had an older version of PAC, Version 3, and that there was a big difference in how the versions performed. "Version 3 had some severe limitations," one source said.
Version 4 is what Ibiquity uses in its in-band, on-channel terrestrial digital radio system, Struble said.
Accounts differed about whether the codec revelation was a surprise to Ibiquity. Certainly it did not come as welcome news, as the company hopes to license PAC for different applications. No sources who spoke with Radio World saw XM's decision as a blow to IBOC, although some felt it was a blow to Ibiquity's business plan to market PAC for other applications.
"You don't want to have folks saying, 'How come these people are saying one of the things you want to sell is no good?" said one source.
But observers contacted for this story agreed that the bottom line for digital radio is not about who has the best codec. It's about the programming, they said, and whether consumers will feel it's a good deal to pay more in the future for analog
IBOC DAB 05.08.02 The 'Official Launch' of IBOC DAB
Struble Hopes for Summer Endorsement; NRSC Recommends AM for Day Only, and Ibiquity May Be Thawing on Station Fees
by Leslie Stimson
LAS VEGAS For Ibiquity Digital Corp., NAB2002 was the official launch of in-band, on-channel digital audio broadcasting.
Several RF manufacturers exhibited IBOC gear. Broadcast and consumer electronics organizations joined at a press conference to urge the technology forward. The head of Ibiquity said he was "confident" of an FCC endorsement this summer. Radio manufacturers hope to have receivers available at next winter's CES show.
Some attendees heard encouraging news from Ibiquity that it is considering incentives for stations to make the transition this year.
The question of IBOC fees for broadcasters rankled with some, however. Meanwhile, AM station engineers and owners were disappointed that a standards-setting body has so far endorsed Ibiquity's AM IBOC system for daytime use only. This revelation caused some AM attendees to wonder if they will ever see the full benefits of digital broadcasting on their band.
Exciters
On the exhibit floor, Nautel, Harris and Broadcast Electronics exhibited IBOC transmitters and exciters for sale; managers said serious buyer prospects visited their booths. Suppliers could not give firm shipment dates, however, because the FCC has not yet given its blessing to IBOC or issued type certification to equipment.
BE was hopeful it could ship product by this summer.
Harris is hoping for an expedited certification of the FM standard, said Dale Mowry, vice president of transmission systems.
"We're getting quality interactions. People are asking the right questions," he said during the convention.
Manufacturers received many queries about AM IBOC. Attendees heard the news that the National Radio Systems Committee had, at the start of the show, endorsed only daytime use of Ibiquity's IBOC system for AM stations.
Additional testing is needed before the NRSC can comment further on the nighttime performance and compatibility of AM IBOC.
"It's not what we wanted to do," said an NRSC source. "With the data in hand, it's the best we can do. It would be reckless to do otherwise."
None if by night
The NRSC has concerns about the potential interference to first- and second-adjacent channels and about how the system would affect stations heard on skywaves at night.
Ibiquity's AM IBOC system "will allow AM broadcasters to provide listeners with two-channel stereo audio rivaling existing analog FM stereo in quality," the standards-setting committee write after several months of reviewing test results.
The NRSC also noted in its report, approved by the membership on April 6, that IBOC will make it possible for AM stations to provide data services, and that this technology puts AM broadcasters "on an efficient path to an all-digital service."
The NRSC, jointly sponsored by the National Association of Broadcasters and the Consumer Electronics Association, recommended that its staff submit the NRSC report promptly to the FCC for review.
As it did with Ibiquity's FM system evaluation, the NRSC said the technology is complex and tradeoffs are required. Some listeners tuning to weaker adjacent-channel stations might experience interference under some circumstances, primarily those outside the stations' FCC protected contour service areas.
But overall, the NRSC believes IBOC will improve the audio quality of AM stations dramatically.
The NRSC has asked Ibiquity to suggest criteria for nighttime tests. The NRSC would then develop a protocol for such tests. Those would include testing IBOC's effect on high-powered AM clear channel stations operating on skywaves at night.
Given the variable and statistical nature of skywave propagation conditions, such tests are difficult and time-consuming, which is why they were not included in the original AM test protocol.
More tests
Ibiquity President and CEO Robert Struble said the company was pleased with the endorsement while the IBOC developer continues to look at nighttime issues and hoped to be ready to discuss those with the subgroup working on the NRSC test procedures by the end of April.
Asked whether the daytime-only endorsement could inhibit the planned transition of a substantial number of stations in six targeted markets by the end of the year, both Struble and an NRSC spokesman said no.
Struble predicted the additional tests could be completed by the end of this summer. Ibiquity did conduct nighttime tests of groundwave service and said that, due to interference, the digital system provided a more restrictive nighttime service area (RW April 10, page 12).
He said Ibiquity would conduct a combination of tests, including computer modeling and testing on 50-kW clear-channel stations that use skywaves.
Real-world testing of AM IBOC's performance at night is important to many AM station owners. Several attendees wondered why the NRSC didn't obtain more nighttime performance data before putting out its report, saying it would have made sense to delay a decision on AM until that was done. (Ibiquity did conduct groundwave tests at night. RW April 10, Page 12.)
NRSC officials said they wanted to move AM IBOC along in an orderly fashion and that splitting the day/night tests seemed a good way to do that.
Several manufacturers said privately they believe Ibiquity's AM system will work at night. One said AM station owners have told him they might as well sell their stations now if that's not the case.
One AM owner from upstate New York said, "The concept of having a digital signal during the daytime only is bizarre."
Ibiquity said nighttime interference problems largely disappear once the AM system goes all-digital. But no one is sure how long stations will transmit both analog and digital signals in the transition phase, or indeed if stations will ever turn off their analog signals entirely.
Several AM station sources, both managers and engineers, said many AM stations power down as early as 4:30 p.m. in winter, right in the middle of afternoon drive, due to long-standing nighttime interference protections. To remain analog at that time, they said, is not preferable, especially if they're trying to present themselves to advertisers as a digital station.
"It's crazy. AM is where the biggest improvement is ... or would have been," said one manufacturer. He said big radio groups are telling him they want to see a return on their investment within 5 years or they won't make the capital outlay for IBOC equipment.
Clear Channel Senior Vice President of Capital Management Bill Suffa echoed that kind of sentiment in a panel discussion. He said a daytime-only IBOC system "would be the death knell of AM." Several attendees applauded.
NRSC Chairman Charles Morgan disagreed, but does anticipate that AM stations trying to make the digital transition "may be forced to follow FM by several years."
Money matters
Suffa and Morgan agreed stations now must think about the costs of implementing IBOC, both equipment prices and the fees Ibiquity plans to charge broadcasters for using the technology.
That's especially important, said Suffa, because the first 100 or so stations expected to go digital this year will do so before IBOC receivers will be in the marketplace. Although Ibiquity's receiver partners plan to have product for sale to retailers at the Consumer Electronics Show in January, those radios won't get into consumers hands until the second and third quarters of 2003.
The fees that Ibiquity is speaking to radio groups about would be 15 times a station's annual FCC regulatory fee (RW, April 10, page 1). They are licensing fees allowing stations to use the IBOC technology that is packaged as part of their new equipment.
Morgan called the fees "an impractical approach" that Ibiquity should rethink.
Suffa asked when stations would see a return on their investment to go digital. Acknowledging that Clear Channel is an investor in Ibiquity, he said he wasn't sure this is the time to make the transition until it's clear whether there will be consumer demand for IBOC radios - expected to cost about $50 more than analog models.
Suffa asked whether it made sense for Ibiquity to get some digital stations on the air and delay the fees for early adopters.
Struble said the suggestion has been made in talks with broadcasters about the fees. He said he "wouldn't be surprised to see negotiations go in that direction." This appeared to be a slight softening of Ibiquity's earlier stance.
When asked by Radio World to clarify this point, Struble said there may be "enticements" for early adopters, but would not give specifics of whether that meant a fee delay, reduction or something else. He cited on-going negotiations with broadcasters.
Ibiquity executives would not comment on whether any broadcasters had yet signed the "memorandum of understanding" with Ibiquity about the licensing fees.
The company has tried to set fees as low as it can, Struble said, adding that the capital cost of the hardware dominates what broadcasters will spend on IBOC.
Eventually Ibiquity is expected to recover the bulk of its costs through its take on the volume of receivers sold.
Ibiquity has spent $100 million and likely will spend about $150 million total in order to get the technology in the marketplace, he said.
"We've got to get something back," said Struble. He also said Ibiquity worked hard not to overburden any one industry sector, among them broadcasters, RF manufacturers, receiver manufacturers, component manufacturers and other interested parties.
Launch
As IBOC technology is licensed to more companies, more will pay Ibiquity for the right to use its intellectual property. Two manufacturing sources said the licensed transmitter manufacturers each paid Ibiquity $200,000 for the right to make IBOC exciters. Neither Ibiquity nor the licensed manufacturers would comment, saying their agreement is proprietary.
Ibiquity, NAB and the Consumer Electronics Association made a big splash to "launch" IBOC at this show.
"Get out your order book. I'll deal today," said John Dille, president of both the NAB Radio Board and Federated Media to manufacturers on the day the exhibit floor opened.
Ibiquity estimated the conversion cost for a typical station at $75,000. Most of that would go to transmission equipment manufacturers. A small slice, roughly $3,000 in this example, would go to Ibiquity as a software licensing fee.
NAB President/CEO Eddie Fritts said IBOC technology would not obsolete analog radios. The fact that stations will transmit both analog and digital signals at the start of the transition ensures an orderly transition, he said, one that can be made at the pace of consumers.
"We know the world is going digital. For radio to sit back and not have an avenue to step forward would be a tragedy," said Fritts.
Fritts said NRSC's endorsement was a good step and pledged NAB's support at the FCC in the hopes of getting the agency to adopt IBOC as radio's digital standard.
Receiver response
"It's been a long haul," said Consumer Electronics Association President/CEO Gary Shapiro, who noted that he and Fritts haven't always sat on the same table on this issue, a reference to CEA's early support of Eureka-147, and later for another technology that would also have used new spectrum.
Select receiver manufacturers are building IBOC radios for launch at the CES show this January, and Ibiquity has garnered support of major retailers.
"We believe retailers involved with Ibiquity have an opportunity to participate in a great new product category," said Shapiro.
Ibiquity recently added Clarion to the list of receiver manufacturers that will license its technology to make IBOC radios. That list includes Alpine, Kenwood, Harmon Kardon and Visteon.
Kenwood Senior Vice President Bob Law said Kenwood would introduce home and auto IBOC radios at CES.
Ultimate Electronics President/COO David Workman said retailers would work with radio groups to promote digital radio.
Licensing Fees To Be Levied
This is one in a series in which Ibiquity Digital Corp. answers questions about how to implement in-band, on-channel digital audio broadcasting. Broadcast Business Development Director Scott Stull answers here. Past answers are posted at www.rwonline.com under the tab "IBOC DAB."
Q: I read in Radio World that Ibiquity is basing its IBOC licensing fee on a station's FCC annual regulatory fee. How do the licensing fees and FCC fees compare?
A: Ibiquity Digital is basing its IBOC software license fee on a multiple of a station's FCC regulatory fee. A station would pay a one-time license fee of 15 times its annual FCC regulatory fee for a perpetual license to Ibiquity's IBOC software.
This software would come pre-installed in exciters manufactured by Ibiquity's licensed development partners, including Broadcast Electronics, Harris and Nautel, with others to follow.
Ibiquity adopted this tiered pricing model to be equitable to all broadcasters, both large and small, in all markets across the United States. Lower power stations and stations in smaller markets would pay less for software licenses than those stations able to reach more listeners and thereby reap greater reward from the transition to IBOC.
Currently, the annual FCC regulatory fees range from $250 to $4,550. This corresponds to a license fee range of $3,750 to $68,250 for a perpetual license. Non-Commercial Educational stations, or NCEs, that do not pay a regulatory fee would pay the lowest amount in the range.
The median licensing fee for all U.S. stations would be about $12,900.
Ibiquity also plans to offer broadcasters a payment plan for license fees to distribute the cost over a number of years. This payment option would allow a broadcaster to pay yearly an amount equal to 2.8 times their station's FCC fee for 10 years. Under this option, yearly payments would range from $700 to $12,740 with a median payment of $2,400.
Station licenses also include terms whereby Ibiquity would share in the revenue generated through IBOC's auxiliary data capabilities over and above the revenues generated from a station's primary audio programming.
Ibiquity would receive 3 percent of additional revenues, if any, generated from new revenue sources that IBOC would enable, such as on-screen or scrolling advertisements; on-demand weather, traffic or news; subscription services; e-commerce applications such as "buy" buttons; and from leasing data capacity to third-party content or applications providers.
Ibiquity elected to use a percentage-of-revenue model to ensure that stations only pay a data royalty if the stations increase revenues through exploiting the wireless data opportunities that IBOC affords.
This licensing model is consistent with those of other high-end, low-volume software applications and reflects a much smaller component of the licensing revenues Ibiquity will receive compared to those from manufacturers.
To put it in perspective, the yearly software license cost is equivalent to about 1/60th of a share point for a station. Increasing listenership by that amount - or preventing that many listeners from choosing other digital mediums - would offset the cost of licensing. Ibiquity's technology will bring great value to the broadcast industry through increased quality and reliability of service, listener retention, new programming opportunities and the promise of additional revenues from wireless data.
Any questions concerning licensing Ibiquity Digital's IBOC software may be addressed by phone at 877-501-EASE (3273) or by e-mail at ease@ibiquity.com.
Send your IBOC questions to radioworld@imaspub.com.
Radio World welcomes other points of view.
04.10.02 IBOC Fees Stir Reaction
by Leslie Stimson
Many broadcasters are just realizing that to make the digital transition, they'll need to pay Ibiquity Digital Corp. software licensing fees in addition to what they will pay manufacturers for new equipment.
This comes as a shock for some executives who have been paying closer attention to day-to-day revenue and debt concerns during the economic downturn than to the likely costs of converting to digital radio.
The fee issue is controversial. The median one-time licensing fee would be about $12,900. At the top end of the scale, a Class C FM could pay about $70,000. Ibiquity also plans to collect 3 percent of yearly station revenues from data services associated with IBOC.
In addition to the costs involved, some radio stations would end up paying fees to Ibiquity, a company owned in part by their group owners - or their competitors.
Some observers wonder if the fee question could delay, if not stop, the IBOC rollout before it gets a foothold.
Although Ibiquity began discussing some aspects of this policy last year, details are emerging from the technology developer and from broadcasters as they begin to discuss the concept.
Like Microsoft
A NAB2001, Ibiquity President and CEO Robert Struble told attendees that his company intended to charge broadcasters licensing fees to use its in-band, on-channel digital audio broadcasting technology.
The fees would be separate from costs to purchase equipment, and would be based on a formula derived from the FCC's annual regulatory fees.
He likened Ibiquity to Microsoft and said, "We're a software company. If you buy a transmitter, you'll need new software from us."
Charging purchasers for software and upgrades is typical in other industries, such as computers, but it's a bold concept for broadcasting technology. Typically a station buys a piece of hardware and the financial obligation is finite.
Ibiquity executives say they chose an equitable way to distribute the decade-long development costs for IBOC and that, as part of its business plan, it needs to start generating revenue.
"We're trying to come up with a standard pricing approach. We've come up with a model that works across classes of stations," said Senior Vice President Jeff Jury.
In addition to broadcasters, Ibiquity is working with transmission and receiver companies - transmitter manufacturers and transmission-related equipment makers, as well as receiver component makers, chip manufacturers and automakers.
Will broadcasters accept the fees?
Part of the answer may lie in Ibiquity's ownership and business partners. Company shareholders include most of the major broadcast groups. It has licensing agreements with transmitter manufacturers Broadcast Electronics, Harris and Nautel, and with receiver manufacturers Kenwood, Harmon Kardon and Visteon. Ford recently took an undisclosed equity position in Ibiquity.
In addition to broadcast stockholders, Ibiquity also has Wall Street investors who presumably want a quick return on their investment.
Ibiquity has spent millions developing IBOC technology and expects to recoup those costs, as does its equipment partners.
"Everybody from each sector would say, 'Charge the other guy'" in recouping costs, said Jury. "We're trying not to burden any one sector."
Why now?
Some broadcasters familiar with the station fee plan assume Ibiquity wants to charge stations now because it cannot wait to recoup costs from its portion of the IBOC receiver sales.
When asked about the timing, Jury said, "As a business, we can't just keep never making money. We need the money now in the sense that we're starting the rollout now."
He said the company won't become succeed only from broadcast license fees, that eventually it will make most of its income through receiver sales.
The fees work like this: Annual FCC regulatory fees for radio stations range from $250 to $4,550 based on station service, power class and size of population served. A station would pay Ibiquity a one-time licensing fee calculated as 15 times its annual FCC regulatory fee.
Thus the range for a one-time perpetual license would be roughly $3,750 to $68,250. Ibiquity says the median one-time licensing fee would be about $12,900.
Stations also could choose to pay over a 10-year period. (See "IBOC Q&A", page X.)
"If you look at those numbers, I don't think it's an onerous amount to pay for digital radio," said Jury.
'Stumbling block'
Some broadcasters feel differently.
Members of Ibiquity's own broadcast advisory rollout board, made up of owners and engineers, advised against the fee system.
"They're going to have to come up with a plan for broadcasters to buy a new transmitter, pay, and be done with it at that point," said one member, who characterized the fees as a "major stumbling block" in the rollout.
"I don't think they've thought them through," said another advisory board member. "If they're trying to entice broadcasters to go digital and require us to spend on average $150,000 just on the hardware, it certainly reduces our enthusiasm.
"If they were looking to encourage development, at a minimum, they would defer software payments for a year or two, so we wouldn't take a hit all in one year."
One broadcaster not on the advisory board said that if his company were asked to cut a licensing check today for all the stations they plan to convert this year, the total would be $1 million.
"There's no company that has a million unallocated," he said.
Noncommercial stations are exempt from the FCC's regulatory fees, so they would pay the lowest IBOC licensing fees. But some of them protest the levies as well.
In comments submitted to the FCC about the National Radio Systems Committee report on Ibiquity's FM IBOC system, the Rocky Mountain Corporation for Public Broadcasting wrote that its stations are "outraged at this unprecedented use fee plan."
One unnamed manager wrote to the FCC, "I think it is unconscionable that they are asking the FCC to adopt their sole technology as the only system and then charge every station an annual use fee on top of the fees you will already pay to Harris etc. that will be built into their digital equipment if and when you decide to buy their transmitter."
One noncommercial manager said, "This is going to kill noncommercial stations." He added that public radio stations, which typically vie with public TV for grant funds for equipment purchases, face added pressure from TV's mandated digital conversion.
'The most sense'
Some commercial station sources pointed out that not all noncoms have the same resources and felt those stations also should be charged a sliding scale. Other commercial sources did not begrudge the noncoms getting the lowest fee.
When asked about the concept, Jury said Ibiquity decided the model it developed "made the most sense."
Ibiquity has been discussing the fee plan with its investor broadcasters and other station owners, distributing "Memorandums of Understanding," precursors to contracts.
Several broadcasters who spoke to Radio World suspect the Ibiquity fees are up for negotiation and hope to see them reduced or delayed. It's not clear if any have signed licensing fee contracts with Ibiquity, which considers that information confidential.
Some broadcasters think early adopters might get a break. But other broadcast sources don't believe there are deals to be had. Some feel that the biggest groups, Clear Channel or Infinity, would negotiate the terms and that all other groups and individual stations would need to fall in line.
One such source said his company lawyer termed Ibiquity's memorandum language "weasel wording that will be meaningless in negotiating."
Ibiquity says there will be no deals, not for its investor broadcast groups, nor for early adopters, and that there will be no bulk station discounts.
"What we're trying to do is put information out there that we plan to stick to," said Jury. "It doesn't make sense if we change it for each person. We think that this pricing model, which is fair, already takes that into account," said Jury.
He said the fee concept has been in its business model for several years. Executives had discussed passing through its development costs onto the equipment costs, as suggested by some broadcasters, but decided the licensing fee system was more equitable.
Manufacturers close to IBOC development disagreed on whether licensing fees could impede the rollout.
Data fees
Another part of the fee plan concerns revenues stations would make from ancillary data services potentially possible using IBOC technology. Ibiquity wants 3 percent annually from station revenues generated from the IBOC data services.
How Ibiquity intends to police this is unclear. The situation invites stations to hide such revenue, sources said. Others said it might be difficult for commercial stations even to calculate their data revenue if, for example, they had given data services to advertisers as a value-added item.
Sources said Ibiquity's memorandum states that it has the right to audit station books twice a year to determine the real revenue from the data services, something some companies strongly oppose.
Although Jury would not confirm or deny this language, he said it would not be unusual for such a software fee license contract.
"We're not trying to get into people's books, we're trying to get into the data business." He said the process of calculating revenue from data is a "gray area" that would have to evolve.
Observers said Ibiquity may demand the right to audit a station's books but that doesn't mean the company would actually do it, and termed the language standard contract boilerplate.
Another gray area is how a station would pay for upgrades.
Theoretically, the fee only gives the station the right to use the software in the gear at the time of purchase. An upgrade could require another licensing fee.
This situation is still under discussion at the company. Ibiquity doesn't want to alienate purchasers by charging for software upgrades immediately.
Another question is what happens when a station is sold. Would the terms of the licensing agreement remain with the facility? It's pertinent, as the FCC processes 3,000 to 4,000 radio transaction applications each year.
Several sources hoped the FCC would question Ibiquity about the licensing fee issue, but a source close to the commission said he doubted the agency would "put a wet blanket on this transition by getting into the fees."
Similarly, the NAB and NRSC do not have a position on the fees.
IBOC DAB 03.27.02 Ibiquity: Time to Roll Out
by Leslie Stimson
Is in-band, on-channel digital audio broadcasting finally going to happen this year after more than a decade of promise and tests?
Several companies with a stake in the outcome hope so. IBOC technology developer Ibiquity Digital Corp. believes the upcoming NAB2002 convention marks an important point of passage for IBOC — the event at which its transmission manufacturing partners begin a hardware rollout.
Three transmission manufacturers, Harris, Broadcast Electronics and Nautel, plan to show IBOC transmitters and exciters at the April show in Las Vegas. Though Ibiquity is working with other transmitter and transmission-related manufacturers to develop equipment, Harris, BE and Nautel are the only transmission companies so far that are licensed to make IBOC gear.
Ibiquity officials prefer to start their rollout with a few select companies and increase the number of manufacturers licensed to make equipment as the rollout progresses.
Will IBOC demand the attention of radio owners and managers in coming months, leading to a sweeping technology change?
Comments to the FCC indicate that radio groups are indeed paying attention, although several sources said the poor economy and ad sales have caused managers to focus on getting money in the door rather than a possible digital conversion.
Booth traffickers
One measure of radio's belief in IBOC could come from traffic at NAB booths.
"I think what we'll see is people who are starting to configure their systems now," said Tim Bealor, vice president of RF Systems for Broadcast Electronics.
"We'll see people who are starting to figure out which stations to convert. While they may not actually write out a P.O. (purchase order) at this show, they'll figure out what they need to buy … which is the next step down the road from where we are today."
Bealor said it's a big step that Ibiquity has released sufficient technology to the licensed manufacturers to enable them to build the base IBOC gear and get standard products in the field.
"We're done demonstrating technology. We're going to start demonstrating products."
DAB experts said this is what broadcasters want to see — that IBOC is ready. Yet no one knows how quickly or willingly broadcasters will lay their money on the counter for IBOC conversion, with costs ranging generally from $27,000 to $215,000.
Trained ears believe Ibiquity's FM IBOC system is better than FM analog. In the months since the last NAB radio convention in the fall, the standards-setting National Radio Systems Committee has endorsed Ibiquity's FM IBOC system.
In a report reviewing tests results, the NRSC urged the FCC to adopt Ibiquity's FM system as the DAB standard in this country. NAB and several broadcast groups, including both investors in Ibiquity and non-investors, have since filed comments with the commission. Many agreed with the NRSC and NAB and have supported IBOC.
The NRSC was reviewing Ibiquity's AM system in March and hoped to have a report ready for release at the NAB show.
The FCC has said that once it receives the AM report, it intends to seek public comment quickly, as it did for the FM report.
Ibiquity hopes the commission will endorse its system in some fashion this summer, continue to review public comments about IBOC and then develop rules to allow station conversion.
The company and the FCC are discussing a mechanism for allowing stations to transmit both an analog and digital signal before DAB rules are finalized.
Key early markets
Just as subscription digital satellite radio initially rolled out in key markets, Ibiquity has planned a gradual rollout.
It is targeting six markets to implement the technology by the end of this year: New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, San Francisco, Miami and Seattle, chosen for their large populations and high receiver and other consumer electronics sales.
Ibiquity hopes to put IBOC on enough stations to reach at least half of the radio listeners in the initial markets.
Another unknown is how radio station managers will react to Ibiquity's plan to charge licensing fees for the technology, based roughly on station class and separate from the cost of new equipment. A fee-based approach is not widely used in radio broadcast technology sales.
Assuming IBOC is a go, with all the years and money spent on its development, will consumers hear the difference? What will spur them to purchase IBOC receivers?
The greatest benefit of digital may be to AM stations, where the promised jump in quality is substantial.
"We broadcast 10 kHz now but no one hears it. Car receivers now hear 3 kHz," said Hal Widsten, general manager and partner of a standalone AM, KWED, Seguin, Texas, near San Antonio and a member of Ibiquity's rollout advisory board.
He said in the hybrid mode, the AM analog bandwidth would be 5 kHz and the digital would be 15 kHz.
Widsten said, "Even if it reverts to analog once in a while, I know enough about receivers to know it will sound better."
Some broadcasters have expressed concern over the narrowed analog bandwidth planned for AM IBOC, down from the allowable 10 kHz to 5 kHz for the analog portion of the signal in the hybrid mode.
When the NRSC endorsed FM IBOC, members stated in their report that there could be some interference to neighboring stations in some situations when facilities begin to convert. They believe the amount would be negligible, while IBOC doubters aren't so sure.
"We won't have definitive answers until some stations go digital," said one vendor. "I think these six markets will tell us a lot about what the future of IBOC will be."
http://www.rwonline.com/reference-room/iboc/rw-iboc_rollout.shtml