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Cass, if Series E CP holders make more money the lower the PPS, why would they even consider hiring promoters to pump the PPS while they are selling? Seems to me that if their biggest gains are made at the lowest PPS, they would be much more interested in hiring bashers.
I like this one better:
http://finance.yahoo.com/q/bc?s=FARO&t=1y&l=on&z=m&q=l&c=
David, you're missing the point. While in flight, they could be stored by the passenger using them. At the end of the flight, the flight attendant can collect them prior to the passengers' leaving the cabin. Once collected, give them to the Rockwell Collins folks (or their designees) for battery recharging, etc. When the next flight is ready for boarding, they can again be handed out, either by flight attendants or gate personnel. I see no need for the bulk of them to be stored in the cabin; perhaps just a few contingency spares for units that fail in service or for impulse renters. Most can be stored at the boarding area or shipped in the cargo compartments if needed elsewhere.
The problem will only be compounded by waiting for proof before buying into the dream. At that point, it's time for profit-taking.
Apology accepted and appreciated. As far as relevent topics go, I think that the logical extension of our proprietary IFE video platform to the realm of set top boxes is not fully appreciated yet. Some seem to diss the potential appeal of HD-based portable video in areas beyond the initial IFE arena (which itself was belittled by some here). But when one really looks into the situation, the convergences are impressive. A secure means of controlling "files" (movies, etc) provided via cable or satellite goes a long ways towards filling the current content gap for portable HD-based consumer video devices. And the fact that most digital cable and satellite content is distributed via MPEG4 hasn't escaped my attention. DivX compression is derived from MPEG4, so most of the technical problems of secure content transfer and control have already been addressed with the development of the DigEplayer. I fully expect to be hearing more on this front at some point. It would certainly fit the bill as far as 'putting us on the map' goes. Time will tell.
One could just as easily inquire about your "next stop 0.38" prognostication. However, IMHO, such questions (and, seemingly, your board monitor position) are spurious and irrelevant. How about steering the discussion back towards the subject company and refraining from further bickering? I thought that was the board monitor's function.
Doesn't matter whether we had a LOC or not as far as when the revenues get recognized. Presumably any funds drawn from the LOC would be applied directly against manufacturing expenses incurred. I should think that the set-top box stuff mentioned in the webcast would qualify as a convergent device. If so, that would be a very good thing. DVR/STB combos are becoming very popular; someone like Time/Warner or DishNetwork selling a portable playback device that could download from them is a very appealing thought to me.
Fred, per the 10Q fine print:
"With most of our consumer electronics retailers, we do not meet the criteria for revenue recognition upon shipment and therefore only recognize the revenue as the product is sold through our customer to the ultimate end-user." Put another way, the revenues from HD1213s might not get recognized until the units are in stores. However, as I stated previously, IMHO this isn't a great deal of revenue being tied up. Even if we earn $50-60 per unit shipped (remember, the target price for the HD1213 was only $400), we're only talking $200K-240K spread over several quarters.
I agree; there can't be much profit potential in such a low volume product. Of course, that could change if such a product made it into the option list for a high volume car. But that doesn't seem imminent. As far as payments to Orient from EDIG, we have no way of knowing what the exact contractual arrangements are; some sort of 'force majeure' clause may have kicked in.
As I see it, any accusation that mgmt lied is groundless at this point. To place something on hold implies that an ongoing process was halted. (Pretty hard to put a phone call on hold before receiving that call.)
No (EOM)
Is that Alaska the state or Alaska the airline? Gotta keep things in their proper context to avoid confusing some folks here, y' know.
Cass, is the Tacoma News Tribune also guilty of sloppy reporting for calling Alaska Airlines 'Alaska'? Will you be calling them to complain about such horrendously poor writing? Should the State of Alaska do likewise?
And here's another version from a link found on Alaska Airlines' website:
"SeaTac-based Alaska Airlines this week agreed to buy up to 6,000 of APS Inc.'s novel portable airborne entertainment systems, the digEplayer."... "The lightweight unit gives SeaTac-based Alaska low-cost airborne entertainment, and it has agreed to order as many as 6,000 units."
http://www.tribnet.com/business/story/4711519p-4661730c.html
Well, Cass - you've seen it now:
"Alaska Airlines yesterday agreed to buy as many as 6,000 digEplayers in the next five years as it expands video and audio services to its passengers."
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/business/159582_digeplayer06.html
The Gateway tablet's built-in voice recognition software is apparently provided by Microsoft; it's part of the standard features that come with the Windows XP for Tablet PC's operating system.
I seem to remember an article re the Samsung Napster player that claimed it was a reworked version of the original Bantam BA1000 design (the 10GB version, not the new lower capacity model).
All too true, Todd. But think what it would do for us if Rockwell Collins decided to go with a proven portable VOD IFE device to fill an empty niche in their product line. (I'd even be amenable to some sort of exclusive distributor deal between APS and R C.)
Fred, it's a fairly safe assumption that if passengers are lining up waving $10 bills to get a player (per the article), then they are coach passengers (no charge to 1st class passengers for the players per AA). The logistical concerns appear to have been sloughed off to Rockwell Collins, at least at AA (per the article).
"Onboard" is a relative term. Until I see the DigEplayer here http://www.rockwellcollins.com/encompass/sub-complete.htm , I won't be getting too excited about Rockwell Collins. AFAIK, they aren't paying us for the privilege of servicing the players.
Airfax Summary:
Customers love the product - they line up while boarding with $10 dollar bills on outstretched hands, vying for one of them.
Airline customers do not need installed entertainment systems with complicated and expensive entertainment solutions.
The DigEplayer story is another chronicle of IFE success and may define a new paradigm in the industry.
The positive, overwhelming acceptance should make most IFE vendors sit up and take notice of this product.
Portable IFE is here and IFE vendors better be prepared to compete in this universe.
DigEplayer Portable VOD Big Hit With Alaska Air Passengers
AIRFAX.com recently visited Dave Palmer, Alaska Marketing Director, and the man in charge of the DigEplayer development at Alaska Airlines. As an airline objective, Alaska Airlines (like many other US carriers) has been analyzing the cost and value of their airline service product. In the past, Mr. Palmer has had product brand responsibility but now has taken on an evaluation of the whole customer experience from a marketing perspective - the process and procedures - evaluating if they are in line with the corporation's goals and objectives. "We are looking at things like the meal service, ours and our competitors, to see if we can get our costs down like many of the low-cost carriers because that is where the growth in the industry is today. We have watched the major carriers who have not changed or who have not changed fast enough, and like them, we are trying to take cost out of the equation in an effort to be more competitive."
Alaska has determined that the passenger expectation has changed so much in the last 2 years that most airlines must re-evaluate their offerings. This is probably a reasonable proposition for most airlines today.
Alaska has been known as a high quality airline, but high quality, in many cases, can equate to high cost. In-flight entertainment equipment systems have no problem falling into that category and Alaska has looked at the installed hardware and come away from the experience looking for another solution. "We are placing an emphasis on the 'value' of our service offering, not just the cost," said Palmer. "What is the fair proposition between the prices paid for a ticket versus the value received for the flight experience?" Alaska is using almost every form of passenger feedback and research group to evaluate the needs and wants of passengers and how Alaska stacks up.
Alaska Airlines' Dave Palmer shows off the DigEplayer portable VOD unit
And that is where Bill Boyer and DigEplayer come in for Alaska Airlines. Life in the West involves a lot of air travel. This is one of the factors that have helped the growth of Alaska. Their single-aisle, long haul boom began, in part, with their service from Seattle to Washington DC in 2001. With the advent of the longer haul B737-700's and 900's, they quickly saw the need for entertainment. As these longer segments grew with the addition of more East coast and Mexico destinations, Alaska knew the time had come for more IFE.
"Portable DVD players were the first answer," said Palmer, "and they will be with us for some time to come." But, the problems associated with the handling and updating of media are continually a headache he told us. As a result, Alaska put a notice in their company newspaper asking for ideas and solutions to the IFE problem and Bill Boyer had a better one. "Bill brought us a simple concept, but one we thought, might be difficult in execution." Given a cautionary go-ahead, APS built a mockup and after agreement, took the concept to eDigital for the initial design of a development unit.
Meanwhile, Boyer took the idea to Harvey Applebaum at 20th Century Fox Film Corporation. "It was his guidance and help that got the content part of the equation solved early on," said Mr. Palmer. With the high level of encryption that APS designed in to the little unit, the DigEplayer portable video-on-demand unit stands alone in IFE offerings from any new or well established IFE vendor. At less than 2 pounds per unit (with battery,) Alaska has opted to pass out the units as the flight prepares to depart (no charge for First Class) and rents players to Economy as well. Mr. Palmer told AIRFAX.com that they are providing 41 units on flights from East to West but since the eastbound flights are early and passengers are less interested in entertainment because of sleep or work, fewer units are sent. "This is one of the beauties of a revenue-shared, portable product," said Palmer, "We can allocate our assets on an as-required basis." We asked if Alaska or APS was responsible for handling the units during the flight turns - meeting and greeting the plane, cleaning the units and charging batteries and storing them for the next day. "Rockwell Collins is performing that duty for us and APS," he said.
We asked about the passenger popularity because the unit differs from many of the installed systems and we were not surprised to find out that there was not one negative input from customers. The positive, overwhelming acceptance should make most IFE vendors sit up and take notice of this product. "With the acceptance of this feature, we have not "lost" one unit yet, but we have had to pry a few out of the hands of some employees; our flight crews love them." There are a few lessons here: 1. Portable IFE is here and IFE vendors better be prepared to compete in this universe. 2. Passengers love the "choice" offered by the device and we predict that this product will be passenger differentiable - they know Alaska has them and will come back for the experience. 3. Busy crews see the value in an IFE product that keeps their passengers entertained, in their seats, and happy. Win-win-win!
The DigEplayer story is another chronicle of IFE success and may define a new paradigm in the industry. As we mentioned, portable VOD players are a far cry from cargo loaders and you are probably asking yourself how a sophisticated electronic entertainment device came from a cargo loading equipment maker, not an IFE vendor or equipment maker. There are numerous answers to this question but we liked Dave Palmer's best; "Bill probably didn't know he could not develop one, so he did."
There is quite a success story brewing at APS and Alaska. Customers love the product - they line up while boarding with $10 dollar bills on outstretched hands, vying for one of them. The underlying message is that customers will pay for choice. Airline customers do not need installed entertainment systems with complicated and expensive entertainment solutions. Not only will they pay for them on the plane, they will sign up for entertainment options on the Internet before they leave on a flight. Portable equipment and the inherent battery issues can be made to work as well as the issues surrounding fulfillment. Alaska and the DigEplayer unit have broken so many stereotypes about IFE; most people in this business should be humbled by this incredible IFE experiment. Hats off to Dave Palmer, because he is living up to the grand old Alaskan tradition of self reliance and inventiveness. He and Bill Boyer should get some kind of an award from the WAEA - these guys are the Wright Brothers of our industry!
The Alaskan Airlines DigEplayer entertainment offering:
4 New Release Movies
6 Seasonal Favorites Movies
15 Other Movie Titles
4 TV Shows…and more
Music selections from: alternative, Broadway, childrens, classic rock, classical, country, jazz, pop, R&B, and "Alaska FM"
http://www.airfax.com/airfax/features/viewstory.asp?filepath=feb2004\alaskadigeplayer.htm
iPod Mini Vs. Crappy Laptop:
http://www.sophists.org/article152.html
Napster links to portable MP3 players
By Agam Shah
IDG News Service, San Francisco Bureau
30-01-2004
Roxio Inc. on Wednesday updated its Napster LLC online music service by increasing the number of portable audio players onto which users can directly drag-and-drop tracks from the Napster application, the company said.
The drag-and-drop feature, which only supported Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd.'s YP-910GS portable audio player, now supports 60 portable audio players, including Creative Labs Inc.'s NOMAD Zen line, the Dell Inc. Digital Jukebox and Rio Audio Inc.'s Cali and Nitrus, according to the company. (The list also includes the Gateway players - TR)
After plugging in the portable audio player to a computer's USB (Universal Serial Bus) port, the Napster software will recognize the portable audio player and add the device as a library, allowing users to drag and drop audio files from the main interface into the portable audio player library, according to a company spokeswoman.
Linking to a wider number of audio players will increase the portability of music downloaded from Napster's online music service, she said. Napster's online music service currently offers 500,000 songs encoded in WMA (Windows Media Audio) format.
Napster also updated pricing for its Premium service, allowing members to reduce the cost-per-track by purchasing songs in bulk, the company said in a statement. Members can now buy packs of 15, 25 or 50 tracks for US$13.95, $21.95 and $39.95, respectively. Napster's basic service allows users to download music for $0.99 cents per track or $9.95 per album. Once downloaded, the music can be burned to a CD, the spokeswoman said.
A complete list of devices compatible with Napster is available at: http://windowsmedia.com/9series/Personalization/CoolDevices.asp#musicfriendly
Pam's post answers the "largest flash-based" OEM question - it's iRiver/Reigncom: http://www.investorshub.com/boards/read_msg.asp?message_id=2256660
IRiver (Reigncom) originally sold their MP3 players through Rio; I don't know if they have continued the relationship.
Apparently Agora doesn't have a monopoly on fictional accounts; it's a trans-atlantic phenomenon:
"MPIO, Hd-100 alias Gateway - DMPX20
This walkman would have me much more but it misses the possiblity of recorded an analogical source or even the radio... VoiceNav is one of the functions present, this one makes it possible to order the walkman without touching with the button (play, pause, advance...) malheuresement Ca functions only in English, and with the American accent moreover!
The hard disk is a standard model of portable type (2,5"), it can be to replace by another until a size of 137 Go!
PS: it is distributed aillor under the name of Odyssey 1000.
ps2: Gateway also markets it under its own mark, with same the characteristics.
ps3: It would seem that Dell DJ is also an alternative of this model, but with some small improvements moreover."
http://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=fr&u=http://forum.hardware.fr/hardwarefr/Vide...
I wouldn't worry about CNET. They didn't get around to reviewing the Dell DJ until last week, even though it hit the stores in late October. These things take time to do properly.
You must be getting really old...
http://www.investorshub.com/boards/read_msg.asp?message_id=1350681
Apparently the HD-100 is still offered in Europe - MPIO's German distributor quotes a 3 week delivery time: http://www.peros.com/index_eng/index_HD100_eng.html
hmmmm...
This iPod look alike player uses a Wolfson WL8750L system on chip. I seem to remember that the MXP software listed a Wolfson device as one of the platforms it was compatible with.
Lickily, the 5 announced Media to Go developers are Creative, Samsung, ViewSonic, Reigncom and Sanyo. There is some anecdotal evidence that Sanyo, Samsung and iRiver (Reigncom) are partnering in their Media to Go efforts... http://www.designsystemsltd.com/industrypages/ces2003-1.html
Interesting tidbit re PortalPlayer and Bang & Olufsen:
"Thanks to its early lead in the hard-drive-based MP3 player market, PortalPlayer dominates the music jukebox market and claims that its chips and firmware drive 80 percent of the systems on the market. Its solution is used in models built by Alpine, Apple, Bang & Olufsen, Philips, RCA, Rio, Samsung and Yamaha. PortalPlayer now hopes to expand its base by marrying an MP3 player with a screen and adding the imaging component.
http://www.eetimes.com/sys/news/OEG20031215S0030
SEOUL, Dec. 11 Asia Pulse - Investors have chipped in 2.98 trillion won (US$2.51 billion) to buy initial share offerings by ReignCom Ltd., South Korea's biggest MP3 player maker, the lead manager said Wednesday.
The amount is 480.41 times more than the highly profitable company planned to sell its stocks to investors in a public offering.
The Korean company offered investors 1.32 million shares at 47,000 won (US$39.8) apiece, 94 times their paper value. It represented the highest offer price since an online game provider Webzen Inc. went public in May, said Hyundai Securities Co.
ReignCom plans to raise as much as 62 billion won from the initial share sales. Trading in ReignCom shares is expected to begin on Dec. 19 on the secondary Kosdaq market.
The company dominates South Korea's MP3 player market with a 51.6 percent share, far exceeding electronics giants such as Samsung Electronics Co., which has about 14 percent of the market.
In less than a year after launching its brand iRiver, which has a voice recorder attachment, can store thousands of digital music files and allows users to make schedules and lists, ReignCom has became the largest MP3 player company in the world in sales.
In a previous meeting with reporters, ReignCom chief executive Joon Yang said the company plans to use the fresh fund it expects to raise in developing new types of digital hardware that combine cameras, Internet surfing, e-mail and digital music players.
ReignCom is now testing a wallet-sized device that allows users to relay video images and facilitates services such as a videophone, under an alliance with U.S. software giant Microsoft.
Founded in 1999, ReignCom had 8.1 billion won in net profit on sales of 80 billion won last year. In the nine months ended Sept. 30, the company's net profit jumped to 32.1 billion won with sales of 210 billion won, nearly tripling last year's figure.
=============================================================================
REIGNCOM TO POST RECORD PROFITS IN 2003
SEOUL - South Korea's ReignCom Ltd. (KOSDAQ:060570 - News), the world's largest MP3 music player maker, today said it expects a record profit this year. The Seoul-based company said it expected to post 42.5 billion won (US$35.4 million) in net profit for all of 2003, up to 4 times higher than last year. Sales have probably have jumped 187 per cent to a record 230 billion won from a year earlier, the company said. It attributed its pleasing performance to exports.
=============================================================================
Mr. Yang (president and chief executive officer of ReignCom) said he expected MP3 players to evolve from the current simple audio devices to comprehensive digital content reproducers. "We will launch an MP3 player that can be used also as video and game player next year," he said. (2003.12.20)
Bingo! Also, their diagram of the s/w architecture shows eCOS as part of the ARM processor, not the TI DSP. Interesting... wonder whose code(s) are used in the media processing engine?
As this article indicates [ http://www.reed-electronics.com/ednmag/article/CA41829 ], there are lots of RTOS choices available; also, there is a trend towards specialized middleware that can be configured to work with various RTOS to produce efficient hand-held devices. Just because MicroOS is capable of acting as its own RTOS, it isn't limited to such applications. Since morphing to MicroCAM, it has much more to offer as a middleware solution, and can certainly be adapted to work with low-level RTOS cores such as eCOS, beOS, VxWorks, etc.
Digitalway Wins US$35 Million Order from BestBuy ...
From NEWeLONG
PostID 307370 On Tuesday, January 20, 2004 (EST) at 12:48:49 AM
January 20, 2004 (SEOUL) -- Digitalway Co, Ltd, a local MP3 player manufacturer, won an order to supply US$35 million worth of MP3 players to Best Buy, a US-based home electronics distributor.
Digitalway said on Jan 18 that it sealed the order at the recent Consumer Electronics Show (CES) held in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Digitalway said it is currently the biggest MP3 supplier to Best Buy, beating out Apple Computer Inc's iPOD in terms of volume.
The company also won orders worth a combined US$15 million to supply its products to Amazon.com, CompUSA and Good Guys.
(Maeil Business Newspaper, Korea)
Hmmmm - this picture of the 30 GB Yepp http://www.samsung.com/DigitAll/GlobalExhibition/Exhibition/ICES2004/ppk/YH1030/ppk_YH1030_over.htm doesn't look much like this one http://www.samsung.com/DigitAll/GlobalExhibition/Exhibition/ICES2004/ppk/photo/YH1030_1.jpg . Bigger screen, different buttons, etc.
"First with the Sanyo agreement and now with Lanier, we are quickly establishing ourselves as the technology leader in the digital voice recording industry." - Fred Falk, 1/10/97