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Jetsgo plans in-flight video-on-demand
Units can carry more than 20 movies
By JOHN PARTRIDGE
Thursday, May 27, 2004 - Page B2
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/ArticleNews/TPStory/LAC/20040527/RJETSGO27/TPBusiness/Canadia....
Discount airline Jetsgo Corp. is planning to add optional in-flight entertainment on its longer routes for a charge of $10 a head, using a new, portable system for video-on-demand currently in service with two U.S. carriers.
Jetsgo said yesterday that starting in July, passengers on flights three hours or longer will be able to watch first-run movies, television shows, cartoons and other programming using a so-called digEplayer, a self-contained video player about the size of a portable DVD player that was developed by APS Inc. of Tacoma, Wash.
The units, equipped with earphones, which the passenger will get to keep, can be programmed with more than 20 movies.
Jetsgo chief executive officer Michel Leblanc said the airline is buying more than 1,000 of the units, which cost about $2,000 apiece, and, to begin with, will put 40 on each plane.
The programming on the units will be changed every 60 days by APS, which, Jetsgo said, currently has content provision deals with Warner Bros. and 20th Century Fox.
The units are powered by rechargeable batteries, which are expected to last eight to 10 hours.
This should lessen the risk of passengers stealing the units, Mr. Leblanc said. "There's a time device on the content and you cannot recharge it," he said. "It's a piece of hardware that's useless unless you're a customer of APS.
APS was launched by Bill Boyer, a former Alaska Airlines baggage handler. That carrier was APS's first customer, reportedly buying 6,000 of the units earlier this year, while Hawaiian Airlines has also signed up. A number of other carriers also are testing the system.
Jetsgo is based in Montreal. Its larger, Calgary-based competitor, WestJet Airlines Ltd., announced plans last July to install personal video screens on 40 aircraft, providing each customer with a choice of 24 live satellite channels, but the system still is not up and running.
The company originally hoped to have the system installed in its whole fleet by the start of the this year's peak summer season, but has run into numerous delays. Its most recent estimate is that it will have only five of its planes equipped by the end of June and 36 by year-end.
"We're going to be fleet-wide earlier than them," said Jetsgo's Mr. Leblanc.
Looks like they are beating the competition with the DigEplayer!
APS makes high-flying deal in movie players
Tacoma-based APS will provide its portable movie players to Jetsgo, a Montreal-based discount airline that serves 17 cities in Canada and the United States.
Jetsgo passengers will be able to rent the digEplayer device for $10 on flights of three hours or more. They can choose from more than 20 new-release movies and television programs, including "Troy," "Master and Commander" and "The Simpsons." The service will begin in July with 40 players available for rent on each plane.
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/business/175143_tbrfs27.html
A leading edge Portable Personal Video Recorder (PPVR) is just part of the exciting new ‘portable’ portfolio from Fusion. With an integrated 20/40 Gb hard drive and back-lit LCD screen, the unit offers ‘personal TV on the move’, enabling music and video content to be downloaded from a set top box.
http://www.mediacast.net/page.cfm/Action=Press/PressID=18/t=m
You call KLM a "3rd rate airline"?
What a joke...
you must be running out of material.
Great to see the WAEA supporting (pumping?) our product.
Could the "DigEplayer" become like a household(Airplane) brand name?
Why not
Yahoo link to news...
http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/040526/sfw009_1.html
JETSGO NEWS
digEplayer(TM) Provides Up to 20 Latest Release Movies for Passengers
TACOMA, Wash., May 26 /PRNewswire/ - APS of Tacoma, WA, is pleased to
announce that Jetsgo is bringing their unique, in-flight personal
entertainment product to Canadian air travelers, further enhancing the Jetsgo
customer experience. The digEplayer(TM) is the world's first completely
self-contained, portable video on demand entertainment unit preprogrammed with
over 20 movies, as well as television shows, cartoons, videos and music
choices.
(Photo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20040526/SFW009-a
http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20040526/SFW009-b )
Jetsgo will initially make the units available on flights of three hours
in length or longer. This includes routes from Toronto to Victoria,
Vancouver, Abbotsford, Edmonton, Calgary, St. John's, Los Angeles, Las Vegas
and Florida. Passengers will be able to rent a digEplayer(TM) for $10.
"Jetsgo is proud to once again be an innovator in the Canadian airline
industry," said Michel Leblanc, president of Jetsgo. "Customers can choose
from a wide range of movies, TV shows or music to entertain themselves on
longer flights."
Forty digEplayers(TM) will be available on each plane, and they will be in
service in July. Jetsgo has an exclusivity agreement with APS for Canadian
airlines.
"The digEplayer(TM) is perfect for airlines like Jetsgo and their fleet of
MD-83s and Fokker 100s," said Bill Boyer, chairman and founder of APS. "We
are excited to have Jetsgo as the first airline in Canada to acquire our
system and we look forward to its passengers using our technology and dynamic
content for many years."
Content will be refreshed every 60 days, giving even the most frequent
flyers enough programming variety to meet their needs. Warner Bros. and 20th
Century Fox currently have content provision agreements with APS, and
additional studios are to be announced. Films in both English and French are
made available one month ahead of store rentals. Initial titles available
include Troy, Master and Commander, Friends, and The Simpsons.
Each APS digEplayer(TM) VOD unit is about the same weight and size of a
typical portable DVD player. Units contain a 40-gigabyte hard drive and
utilize the latest technology licensed from e.Digital Corp (O/S and
engineering), DivX (compression) and DRM (security).
About Jetsgo
Headquartered in Montreal with 950 employees, Jetsgo offers scheduled
discount air service to 17 Canadian and seven U.S. destinations, including
Victoria, Vancouver, Abbotsford, Edmonton, Calgary, Winnipeg, Toronto, Ottawa,
Montreal, Quebec City, Fredericton, Saint John, N.B., Charlottetown, Halifax,
Sydney, Stephenville, St. John's, Nfld., Los Angeles, New York (Newark),
Las Vegas, and St. Petersburg, Fort Lauderdale, Orlando, and Fort Myers in
Florida. For full schedule and booking information, log on to jetsgo.net,
phone the call centre at 1-866-440-0441 or contact a travel agent. All
registered jetsgo.net users are eligible for Jetsmiles, Jetsgo's frequent
flier program.
About APS
APS is a privately held company based in Tacoma, Wash., which specializes
in innovative technology for the airline industry. The digEplayer 5500 (TM)
is an example of the industry-changing products developed by APS as the
company looks into the future of the transportation and leisure industries.
http://www.prnewswire.com/cgi-bin/stories.pl?ACCT=SVBIZINK8.story&STORY=/www/story/05-26-2004/00...
"...product based on our proprietary personal video technology platform"
Glasses missing Mz "What was/is e.Digital's specific role with the device?"?
Lots of trades picked up todays news...
tmcnet
http://www.tmcnet.com/usubmit/2004/May/1043044.htm
Media Workstation
http://www.mediaworkstation.com/articles/viewarticle.jsp?id=25778
Digital Producer Magazine
http://www.digitalproducer.com/articles/viewarticle.jsp?id=25778
They must think it is more than a ploy
Record industry sues 493 more U.S. music swappers
Reuters, 05.24.04, 11:30 AM ET
WASHINGTON, May 24 (Reuters) - A U.S. music industry group said Monday it had sued 493 more people for copyright infringement as part of its campaign to stop consumers from copying music over the Internet.
The Recording Industry Association of America has now sued nearly 3,000 individuals since last September in an attempt to discourage people from copying songs through "peer to peer" networks like Kazaa and LimeWire.
The trade group, which represents the five largest recording companies, has settled more than 400 of those cases for around $3,000 each.
The RIAA does not yet know the identities of those it targeted in its latest round of lawsuits but plans to discover them through court-issued subpoenas.
The trade group turned to these "John Doe" lawsuits in January after an appeals court ruled that Internet service providers like Verizon Communications (nyse: VZ - news - people) do not have to provide customers' names to recording-industry investigators.
Also on Monday, the RIAA said it had sued 24 individuals by name after discovering their identities through John Doe suits.
Those sued by name had declined offers to settle out of court, the RIAA said.
"We will continue to go the extra mile and seek to resolve these cases in a fair and reasonable manner," RIAA President Cary Sherman said.
RIAA members include Warner Music Group, Bertelsmann AG's<BERT.UL> BMG, EMI Group Plc <EMI.L>, Sony Corp.s <6758.T> Sony Music and Vivendi Universal's (nyse: V - news - people) <EAUG.PA> Universal Music Group.
About the only entertainment the DigEPlayer can’t match is watching people squeeze by the food service carts in the aisles.
imho that's just one reason everyone loves that pause button.
MicroOS Mention...
The Convergence to Consumer Electronics
http://www.bytemeonline.com/whencollide.html
When Companies Collide: The Convergence to Consumer Electronics
Copyright 2004 by Frank Catalano
(The following essay originally appeared as a Special Letter in the March 4, 2004 issue of STRATEGIC NEWS SERVICE, published by Mark R. Anderson. For more information on the SNS newsletter, please visit www.stratnews.com. For more information on the Future in Review conference held May 24-27, 2004, where Frank will be leading a panel on "The Future of Devices," visit www.futureinreview.com.)
Pop quiz: What is a computer? For extra credit: What is a consumer electronics device? What is a toy?
Or, more to the point: define what makes a firm a computer company, consumer electronics company or toy company.
This would have been an easy quiz a decade or even five years ago. Computer companies sold big, expensive ($2,000 and up) multifunction boxes with microprocessors inside. Consumer electronics companies sold single-purpose devices at sub-$200 price points. Toy companies sold stuff that was fun to play with, usually for under $100, and rarely had any advanced technology in it (unless, like me as a kid, you were fascinated with how an Easy Bake Oven could actually cook anything edible).
Those several years ago, you’d find computers at CompUSA and Computer City; CE devices at Radio Shack and Good Guys; toys at Toys R’Us and Kmart. Sure, there’d be some overlap, but when you looked at a toy, you knew it was a toy, and no one was going to confuse a PC with a Walkman.
Fast forward to today and the Alaska Airlines flight I took last month from Seattle to New York City for the 101st American International Toy Fair. On the flight were the usual business travelers, screaming babies, drunken passengers who took a bit too much advantage of a free upgrade to first class, and –- the best part –- the APS DigEPlayer 5500.
A DigEPlayer is a new, 2.4-pound device the size of a trade paperback book with a large LCD screen set in one side and a fold-out stand on the other.
When you turn the DigEPlayer on, up pops a menu of 10 movies (new and classics), three TV shows and hours of classical, pop and other music (including the intriguing selection “Alaska FM,” which turns out to be the music you hear when you board the plane). There’s also an Alaska route map and other information. Plug in your headset, play with the buttons and you’re set for several cross-country flights.
So is the DigEPlayer a PC? Must be; it runs something called MicroOS, has a hard drive and clearly has files to manage. Is it a CE device? Of course, as it’s a single-purpose “in-flight entertainment system.” How about a toy? Putting a game on it and plugging in a controller or using the four-position rocker switch on the front to play games would be, well, child’s play.
About the only entertainment the DigEPlayer can’t match is watching people squeeze by the food service carts in the aisles.
But the difficulty in classifying a device like the DigEPlayer illustrates the growing challenge in keeping clear divisions between what’s a computer, CE device or toy. Consumers themselves probably don’t care what categories a product falls into as long as it does what they want. Yet the increasing convergence of these three types of products creates headaches for companies, marketers and distribution channels.
The general trend is for personal computer companies and toy companies on the edge to migrate to the consumer electronics center. At the same time, traditional CE companies are expanding to encompass what they like in the PC and toy markets.
Motivating each firm is a desire for increasing profits and margin. (Though the PC business has razor-thin margins and sales in the $20 billion toy industry are slightly down, the CE industry is worth about $100 billion and growing, according to trade association figures.) But as these products converge, companies collide.
So let’s take a look what happens When Companies Collide
Date: 20 May 03
Fusion Agrees Partnership with Viaccess
Fusion Digital Technology Ltd, the joint venture Company created by Barry Rubery and Beko Electronik A.S., is to join forces with France Telecom Company VIACCESS to pursue digital PAY TV opportunities around the globe.
In announcing its partnership with Viaccess Fusion¹s Chief Executive Officer Barry Rubery, said, " Commercial broadcasters depend on effective conditional access systems which are key to making their operations a success. In this field Viacccess are at the forefront and I am delighted that we will be working together to offer PAY TV operators a turnkey solution to meet their commercial requirements."
"Integrated and content rich embedded receivers stimulate the growth of the DTV subscriber base. The innovation brought in the Fusion range of products is good news to the market and this partnership is a thrill for both our companies", said Jean Pierre Coustel, Chairman and CEO of Viaccess.
NOTES TO EDITORS Fusion Digital Technology Ltd is a joint venture company which brings together the experience and skills of Barry Rubery (formerly co-founder and CEO of Pace Micro Technology plc) and Turkish Company Beko Electronik A.S. one of Europe¹s largest and most respected consumer electronics manufactures. The Fusion range comprises consumer products for all digital television delivery systems.
Viaccess, a France Telecom company, delivers digital solutions for pay TV. Its mission is the development, production and marketing of Conditional Access systems and Interactive Applications for all types of content and services, every kind of broadcasting medium, satellite, cable or terrestrial. Viaccess has been successfully deployed in 25 countries world-wide, with more than 60 pay television providers and more than 7 million viewers in the world have access to advanced television services through Viaccess smart card technologies.
For further information contact: Diane Mckaye on
Tel: + 44 (0) 7771 926726
e-mail: d.mckaye@fusiondigitec.com
.27 X .28
Ask/Bid both going up...
What's up with that?
.265 X .27
Gateway is down to one MP3 player but it does not come up under the MP3 player link
http://accessories.gateway.com/AccessoryStore/Consumer+Electronics_381930/Audio_381931/MP3+Players_3...
Guess it's not just our player they are not selling.
Very odd imho
KLM on edigital.com
http://www.edigital.com/newsDetail.php?id=70
From the 10-Q
"The agreement specifies that we will manufacture and sell the customizable digital video player through APS."
http://secfilings.nasdaq.com/filingFrameset.asp?FileName=0001193125%2D04%2D022928%2Etxt&FilePath...
$1000 has been mentioned as the sale price, from
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/business/138884_airdvd10.html
But you are right, we have yet to get a firm number on the Gross Amount that will hit the e.Digital statements since as of the last 10Q no product revenue had hit the books yet (only NRE fees)for the Digeplayer.
If I spoke out of hand I am sorry.
Since we manufacture the product with the help of our 3rd party contractor you have to assume the Gross that will pass through our books will exceed the expected licensing fees and royalties. This I believe has been addressed at prior Conf. Calls.
I am pretty sure the Gross Revenue is aprox $1000 per unit
$1,000 per unit X 620 units = $620,000
I am sure if owd disagrees he wll provide us with a long ranting post to attempt to make a point.
Your ability to change the subject and provide endless clueless rambling rants is only exceed by your clouded view that keeps you from understanding the thoughts and comments you feel need your reply.
Are you saying you feel the $600K is not material for a PR
or are you saying you can't hold a coherent stock board conversation regarding a stock you lost money on?
I think the latter
Number of units does not determine the relevance of an order.
Since $600K is 23% of FYE 03 Revenue it is both relevant and material to the company.
Hope that helps.
If they buy them early for the winter season revenue should hit this summer.
The only question is how much when, and how much in the future
from what looks to be the Worlds Largest Airline
(thanks to in process merger with AirFrance)
KLM is HUGE!!!!
Plus what ever KLM does, NorthWest does!!!!
This is much bigger then anything we have had before with IFE
e.Digital expects to realize several million dollars in revenue from APS' digEplayer through product sales to airlines and other companies serving the travel and leisure industry, refurbishment fees and other services provided to APS.
Good News IMHO
It's up now, must have been a short term glitch.eom
Better check a News Release...
CONTACT:
e.Digital Corporation: Robert Putnam, (858) 679-1504,
rputnam@edigital.com
http://www.edigital.com/newsDetail.php?id=67
Another reason the CD will die...
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A16171-2004May10.html
CD and DVD Owners Finding Techno-Rot
By Peter Svensson
Associated Press
Tuesday, May 11, 2004; Page C10
Dan Koster was unpacking some of his more than 2,000 CDs after a move when he noticed something strange. Some of the discs, which he always took good care of, wouldn't play properly.
Koster, a Web and graphic designer for Queens University of Charlotte, N.C., took one that was skipping pretty badly and held it up to the light.
"I was kind of shocked to see a constellation of pinpricks, little points where the light was coming through the aluminum layer," he says.
His collection was suffering from "CD rot," a gradual deterioration of the data-carrying layer. It's not known for sure how common the blight is, but it's just one of a number of reasons that optical discs, including DVDs, may be a lot less long-lived than first thought.
"We were all told that CDs were well-nigh indestructible when they were introduced in the mid-'80s," Koster says. "Companies used that in part to justify the higher price of CDs as well."
He went through his collection and found that 15 percent to 20 percent of the discs, most of which were produced in the '80s, were "rotted" to some extent.
The rotting can be due to poor manufacturing, according to Jerry Hartke, who runs Media Sciences Inc., a Marlborough, Mass., laboratory that tests CDs.
The aluminum layer that reflects the light of the player's laser is separated from the CD label by a thin layer of lacquer. If the manufacturer applied the lacquer improperly, air can penetrate to oxidize the aluminum, eating it up much like iron rusts in air.
But in Hartke's view, it's more common that discs are rendered unreadable by poor handling by the owner.
"If people treat these discs rather harshly, or stack them, or allow them to rub against each other, this very fragile protective layer can be disturbed, allowing the atmosphere to interact with that aluminum," he says.
Part of the problem is that most people believe it's the clear underside of the CD that is fragile, when in fact it's the side with the label. Scratches on the underside have to be fairly deep to cause skipping, while scratches on the top can easily penetrate to the aluminum layer. Even the pressure of a pen on the label side can dent the aluminum, rendering the CD unreadable.
Koster has taken to copying his CDs on his computer to extend the life of the recordings. Unfortunately, it's not easy to figure out how long those recordable CDs will work.
Fred Byers, an information technology specialist at the National Institute of Standards and Technology, has looked at writeable CDs on behalf of government agencies, including the Library of Congress, that need to know how long their discs will last.
Manufacturers cite life spans up to 100 years, but without a standardized test, it's very hard to evaluate their claims, Byers says. The worst part is that manufacturers frequently change the materials and manufacturing methods without notifying users.
"When you go to a store and buy a DVD-R, and this goes for CD-R as well, you really don't know what you're getting," he says. "If you buy a particular brand of disc, and then get the same disc and brand six months later, it can be very different."
This renders the frequently heard advice to buy name-brand discs for maximum longevity fairly moot, he says.
DVDs are a bit tougher than CDs in the sense that the data layer (or layers -- some discs have two) is sandwiched in the middle of the disc between two layers of plastic. But this structure causes problems of its own, especially in early DVDs. The glue that holds the layers together can lose its grip, making the disc unreadable at least in parts.
Users that bend a DVD to remove it from a hard-gripping case are practically begging for this problem, because flexing the disc puts strain on the glue.
Rewriteable CDs and DVDs, as opposed to write-once discs, should not be used for long-term storage because they contain a heat-sensitive layer that decays much faster than the metal layers of other discs.
For maximum longevity, discs should be stored vertically and be handled only by the edges. Don't stick labels on them, and in the case of write-once CDs, don't write on them with anything but soft water-based or alcohol-based markers.
Also, like wine, discs should be stored in a cool, dry place. Koster's friend Mark Irons, of Corvallis, Ore., stored his CD collection in a cabin heated by a wood-burning stove. The temperature would range between 40 degrees and 70 degrees in the space of a few hours. Now, the data layer of some of his CDs looks as if it's being eaten from the outside.
Irons is still pretty happy with CD technology, since it beats vinyl LPs and tape for longevity. Now that he's moved his discs to an apartment with a more stable temperature, he's noticed that the decay has slowed.
"I'm hoping they'll hold out till that next medium gets popular, and everyone gets to buy everything over again," he says.
"Video on demand, where you can choose from a variety of movies from your seat, and stop and start them as you please, is the new standard for business class," Brookler said.
Rob Brookler is a spokesman for the World Airline Entertainment Association
they sell out frequently
CNN LOOKS AT DIGEPLAYER...
http://edition.cnn.com/2004/TRAVEL/ADVISOR/05/07/inflight.entertainment/
Making time fly in flight
By Chris McGinnis
Special to CNN
Friday, May 7, 2004 Posted: 1848 GMT (0248 HKT)
(CNN) -- Now that Americans can fly across the country for about $200 round trip, record numbers of travelers are sitting back, trying to relax and enjoy those four- or five-hour flights.
But the degree to which you may enjoy your next transcontinental flight can vary greatly, depending on the airline, age of the aircraft and which onboard entertainment system is installed.
Here's a rundown of what you can expect onboard your next flight:
Portable entertainment device
Now that Alaska Airlines is making transcontinental runs across the United States, it is offering a new in-flight entertainment option called a digEplayer. It's a battery-operated portable entertainment unit with a big hard drive and a 7-inch screen, made by APS Inc. of Tacoma, Washington. Each player is loaded with 30 full-length movies, hours of music, cartoons, sitcoms and destination information.
To get a digEplayer, you can pick one up at the gate. But since they sell out frequently, you may want to reserve it online before your flight. Alaska Airlines offers the player free for first-class passengers. For coach-class passengers, the fee is $10.
Hawaiian Airlines also is offering the digEplayer on flights between Hawaii and the mainland.
Live satellite TV
Low-fare carriers Frontier Airlines, JetBlue Airways and Song offer the new standard for in-flight entertainment: live satellite TV. With each seat outfitted with a video screen, passengers can choose from multiple channels for TV, news, first-run, pay-per-view movies, music and games.
Anyone who's enjoyed this luxury on a flight is immediately hooked. JetBlue and Song offer satellite TV on all aircraft. Frontier has satellite TV on 30 out of 40 of its aircraft.
Live radio
Coming this summer, AirTran Airways will offer live XM Satellite Radio. Each seat will have a dial, allowing passengers access to 100 channels of live, digital quality XM Radio, with a lineup of live news, sports, weather, talk and music programming.
The service will be free. AirTran begins installations in August, and JetBlue has announced that the service will be available on its new 50- to 100-seat Embraer regional jets, coming online in 2005. Independence Air, set to launch hundreds of flights from Washington Dulles International Airport this year, said it also will offer XM Radio on its new Airbus fleet.
Upgrades for overseas flights
With most major airlines cutting costs on all fronts, don't expect big improvements in entertainment on domestic flights any time soon. For now, you'll have to live with whatever movie or TV rerun the airline can afford for its aging tape-based system.
(I checked the movie lineups for May on several carriers, and the most frequently run flick is ''Welcome to Mooseport,'' a movie that bombed when it was released in February. On a brighter note, many also are running ''Big Fish,'' which was quite popular.)
Rob Brookler, a spokesman for the World Airline Entertainment Association, said most U.S. carriers are focusing on improvements in business and first-class entertainment on overseas flights.
''Video on demand, where you can choose from a variety of movies from your seat, and stop and start them as you please, is the new standard for business class,'' Brookler said.
High-speed Internet access
Brookler said the next wave in in-flight entertainment will be the installation of high-speed Internet onboard aircraft. ''Eventually, airlines will be able to stream audio and video content via the Internet to seatbacks as well as providing the one thing that people ask for most: access to e-mail,'' he added.
Starting this summer, Lufthansa will offer high-speed Internet access onboard using a system called Connexion by Boeing. Passengers will be able to log on for $30 per long-haul flight or opt for the metered price of $10 for the first 30 minutes, then 25 cents per minute afterward.
Unfortunately for Americans, no U.S. carriers offer the service, which can cost up to $1 million per aircraft. However, in addition to Lufthansa, Connexion by Boeing has definitive service agreements with Scandinavian Airlines Systems, Japan Airlines and All Nippon Airways for installation. Singapore and China airlines also have announced their intention to install the Connexion service on their long-haul aircraft.
Dark Side of the Tune?
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A6351-2004May6.html
By Cynthia L. Webb
washingtonpost.com Staff Writer
Thursday, May 6, 2004; 9:54 AM
Apple's iTunes music service continues to shine with the news that its enhanced service helped set a weekly sales record for downloads on the site.
The company yesterday said people downloaded 3.3 million songs since it launched a version of the site last week with new features including free song downloads, nifty CD case covers and a way for fans to mix and post their music play lists online for other people to rate.
But Associated Press writer Matthew Fordahl noted a most interesting development in iTunes 4.5: "iTunes reduces the number of times the same list of purchased songs can be burned to compact discs. Most people never hit the old limit of 10 burns and probably won't come close to the new restriction of seven. But such rules seem silly given that an audio CD can be easily duplicated. At least the new restriction doesn't apply to songs bought before last week."
And more: "ITunes still sets the standard for music organization software and the ever-increasing population of online music stores. No one has come close to iTunes' ease of use and features. ... The improvements go on: 30-second previews can be saved in playlists that serve as wish lists; users can copy links to songs to e-mail to friends; Apple is even giving away free music each week," Fordahl also wrote. "All the improvements outweigh the tighter copyright restriction, but the fact that the rules are fluid lends credence to concerns that people are losing freedom and control over what's stored on their computers. It also begs the question: What's next?"
• The Associated Press via washingtonpost.com: Review: The Good and the Bad of Apple's New iTunes Version (Registration required)
Stiffer competition might be what's next, though so far no other music download service has been able to come close to iTunes's success. The service, along with Apple's popular iPod music players, has helped breathe new life into Apple's stock with both Wall Street and consumers.
"Apple's announcement came a day after Sony Corp., the pioneer in portable music with its Walkman players, launched its own online music store, Sony Connect," Reuters reported. "That store features pricing virtually identical to Apple's and, like Apple, offers the ability to copy songs to portable players or burn them to CDs. Apple now has nearly 50 percent of the market for MP3 players and says its iTunes music store claims 70 percent of all songs sold by online music stores."
• Reuters: Apple's iTunes Breaks One-Week Sales Record
Sonic Bust
But based on some early reviews, it looks like Apple doesn't have to sweat the competition from Sony. The New York Times today blasted the service.
"Yes, kids, the train is leaving the station. It's the Online $1-a-Song Music Express, and your company had better be on it. Apple, Napster, Musicmatch, MusicNow, BuyMusic, RealNetworks, Dell, Microsoft and even Wal-Mart have either seats or reservations. You wouldn't want to be left behind. That, apparently, was the thinking behind Sony Connect, the new online music service that opened for business on Tuesday. It's an easy-to-use but, in its debut version, almost embarrassingly crude imitation of the music services that preceded it," the paper wrote. "The twist: You know how the iPod is the only portable player compatible with Apple's popular iTunes music service? In the same way, songs from Sony Connect play back only on certain Sony music players (so-called Atrac-compatible Memory Stick-based players and MiniDisc players). Sony says 2.5 million such Sony players have been sold in the United States, and predicts even greater popularity for its new Hi-MD minidisc players: at the lowest music quality, they hold up to 45 hours of music per $7 disc. For the owners of all these Sony players, to be sure, a crude copycat service is better than no service at all. But Sony Connect makes the rules of the online music game more confusing. Music fans already had to contend with two incompatible music copy-protection formats: Apple's AAC files (compatible only with iPods) and Microsoft's WMA format (used by Napster, Musicmatch, Wal-Mart and others). Sony's music service employs yet another format, called Atrac. Predictably, Atrac files don't play on any of the three million iPods or the four million WMA-compatible players in use. Unless you have a Sony player, Atrac may as well be 8-track," the paper's David Pogue seethed.
• The New York Times: From Sony, The Hits And Misses (Registration required)
Perhaps things will be brighter for Napster. Even though Napster doesn't have the same buzz as when it was part of the Wild West of the free file-swapping services, keep an eye on how the company does as it expands its services to other parts of the globe. The company will launch its services across the pond in Britain in the summer, with a promotion in a retail chain, and will also launch in Canada this summer, BBC News said. "The service, which is now owned by US firm Roxio, is in competition with iTunes in the rapidly-growing market for legally-downloadable music," article said.
• BBC News Online: Music Site Napster Eyes UK Launch
While Apple's iTunes and iPod are winning the popularity contest both within the company and with consumers, the company is expected to focus on some other things at next month's Apple developer's conference. Apple's chief Steve Jobs is going to give a preview of Mac OS X Tiger at the San Francisco event. "WWDC will host close to 200 technical sessions, including an in-depth look at the latest Mac OS X technologies, hands-on labs with the latest Mac systems, expanded tracks on Enterprise IT and a dedicated track for QuickTime developers and content creators," MacCentral reported.
• MacCentral: Jobs To Preview Mac OS X Tiger at WWDC Keynote
The 'G' Word
Yes, it's about Google, but for once, not about the company's pending stock offering.
On tap: The company's controversial mega-storage, free Gmail e-mail service. Volleys of criticism against the company's service are nothing new: People are up in arms that the service will pair ads with the content of e-mail.
Today Wall Street Journal tech columnist Walter Mossberg argues that Google has such a good image, it should come up with an alternative rather than monkey around with its reputation for honesty. Some key excerpts from Mossberg's column today : "I'm all for advertising. Advertising pays my salary, and it can be helpful and interesting to consumers. But I'm against advertising that is too easily confused with editorial content. But Google is risking its reputation for honesty, and for putting the user first, with a new e-mail service it is currently developing, called Gmail."
Despite Google's defense that computers, not people, will do the scanning, the tech scribe said the "proposed system is still a little creepy, and it has the potential for big problems if the content scanning were ever misused by Google. Google might also be forced to use such content scanning in the service of government subpoenas or court orders that might apply to years' worth of its customers' e-mails. So I'm calling on Google to preserve its sterling reputation for honesty and customer focus by offering an alternative form of the new Gmail service. The company should offer Gmail accounts without the ads, and without the scanning, for a modest annual fee. That would put the choice where Google has always placed it: in the hands of its users."
• The Wall Street Journal: Clean Image Is So Critical To Google's Success, Why Take Gmail Risk? (Subscription required)
Back to the Lovefest
The San Jose Mercury News came to what seems like an obvious conclusion: Many of the 1,900 Google worker bees "are going to get very, very rich -- at least on paper." Still, the Merc runs the numbers and they are impressive. "Even by conservative estimates, a Mercury News analysis shows the largest initial public stock offering in Silicon Valley history will create $11 billion in paper profits for the Mountain View search company's two founders, some investors and business partners and its employees. The $11 billion estimate assumes the stock hits the market at $40 a share. But it could be more. Way, way more. ... The first wave of cashing in, if it happens, probably will come about six months after the IPO, when many employees will no longer be bound by restrictions on selling their stock."
• The San Jose Mercury News: Google IPO Translates Into Multiple Billions (Registration required)
People want to know what Google will do with its riches. "What Google does with its newfound loot — it has earmarked $250 million for capital spending, according to its IPO filing — might determine its fate amid increasing competition from Microsoft and Yahoo. Analysts say Google needs to improve and expand its services to maintain its lead in the market for paid search. The market is expected to swell to $4.8 billion in 2005 from $2 billion last year, says Deutsche Bank Securities," USA Today reported.
• USA Today: What Will Google Do With Its IPO Billions?
Hunt and Woodpeck
Termites and Woody Woodpecker, take note: A Swedish company is hawking wood-framed keyboards, monitors and computer mice to give your computing experience a more, uh, natural feel. Swedx "is appealing to buyers who wants something distinguished from the plastic boxes sold in stores and online and may be concerned about the environmental dangers that tossed-out computer casings cause," The Associated Press reported. Up next: The edible computer?
• The Associated Press via washingtonpost.com: Swedish Company Making Wood Computers
Not Phishing for Compliments
So-called "phishing" identity theft scams are costing people a lot of dough and have the potential to hurt e-commerce, a Gartner Group study found. "At least 970,000 Americans have been defrauded as the result of phishing attacks at a cost of about $1.2 billion to U.S. banks and credit-card issuers, the firm said, citing its April survey of 5,000 American adults," Dow Jones Newswires reported. "Gartner warned the attacks pose a rising threat to e-commerce and online financial activity at the moment when they're reaching critical mass. According to the survey, 73% of 140.9 million Americans shop online and 45% pay bills online. But 58% of these people now say they are 'very concerned' about the security of their online information. 'This is a huge wake-up call for industry,' said Gartner analyst Avivah Litan. 'If you keep getting attacked, you lose trust.'"
• Dow Jones Newswires via The Wall Street Journal: 'Phishing' Scams Take Toll On E-Commerce, Study
Filter is designed for hard-core techies, news junkies and technology professionals alike. Have suggestions, cool links or interesting tales to share? Send your tips and feedback to cindyDOTwebbATwashingtonpost.com. (Yes, those spammers have been having a lot of fun with my e-mail address lately.)
Apple's iPod Lead Creates New Challenges, Analysts Say
31 minutes ago Add Technology - Reuters to My Yahoo!
By Duncan Martell
SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - The runaway success of the iPod poses a happy problem for Apple Computer Inc. (Nasdaq:AAPL - news) that the computer maker has not had in years: how to remain the market favorite, not just the favorite underdog.
Apple has sold more than 3 million of its sleek iPods, taking nearly 50 percent of the market for digital music players, and its iTunes online music store claims 70 percent of all songs bought online.
But now Apple faces a renewed push by Microsoft Corp. (Nasdaq:MSFT - news), which wants to shape the digital standard for music on the Internet, raising the risk that Apple could again fail to hold early gains in a fast-growing market, analysts said.
"The ultimate risk is that they do get marginalized, just like they did in the PC area," said Phil Leigh, an analyst with market research firm Inside Digital Media.
For now, Apple remains the commercial force to be reckoned with in digital music, an unaccustomed front-and-center position for a company that founder Steve Jobs (news - web sites) has compared to BMW for its reputation for engineering excellence, high sticker prices and single-digit market share.
But Leigh and other analysts said that if Apple falls behind in innovation -- one of its strongest suits -- or loses market share to cheaper MP3 players or fails to carve out a niche in digital music players for automobiles, its early lead in digital music could be imperiled.
Apple, which revolutionized the PC industry in 1984 with the introduction of the first Macintosh (news - web sites) computer, ultimately refused to license its Macintosh operating system, a move that played into the market dominance of Microsoft
DIGITAL DEJA VU?
The question now is whether the battle over digital music will play out differently.
"Apple's pretty far ahead," said Stephen Baker, an analyst at market research firm NPD Group. "Up until iTunes, the music industry had struggled with what the business model for online music would be."
Microsoft, however, is not standing still. On Monday, the company unveiled the latest version of its anti-piracy, or digital-rights-management (DRM), software for music and movies, which it said would work with more online services and devices.
Microsoft's updated DRM software is aimed at allowing subscription-based or on-demand digital music and videos to play on portable audio devices, personal digital assistants and devices that connect to home PCs to play digital content over TVs and stereos.
"This is a shot across the bow at Apple," Leigh said, noting that Monday's announcement links back to Microsoft's agreement last month to pay InterTrust Technologies Corp. $440 million to settle a lawsuit over anti-piracy technology. "Microsoft can now say we don't have to worry about lawsuits, and, more importantly, you (firms that use Microsoft's DRM) don't have to worry about InterTrust coming after you."
Said Baker: "At some point you're going to come up against Microsoft. Can you maintain your position, your dominance, as that much bigger ecosystem starts to focus on you?"
Apple must also continue to expand the number of tracks available on its music store, analysts said. Apple now has more than 700,000 tracks for sale online and has sold more than 70 million songs since the music store's introduction a year ago.
"They have the five main labels, but there's a lot of other music labels out there," said Tim Bajarin, an analyst at Creative Strategies. "Apple is in a very strong position as long as they continue to innovate and be aggressive with content."
At the same time, Apple must keep tabs on rival players, some of which sell for as little as $49 and use Flash memory rather than the hard disk drives that Apple's iPods use. Prices for iPods range from $249 to $499.
"How many people need $400 music players?" Baker said, predicting that Apple will need to look at iPod's cost relative to competitors before much longer. Since Apple can still sell just about every iPod it makes, it would be "ridiculous to cut prices now," he said.
"But I would argue that in the next 12 months, with increased competition, that would change," Bajarin said.
Record industry sues U.S. file-sharers
Wed April 28, 2004 02:37 PM ET
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - A U.S. music industry group says it has sued 477 more people for online copyright infringement as part of its effort to stop music piracy, blamed for a prolonged sales downturn.
Since January, the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), employing the "John Doe" litigation method, has sued more than 2,000 people.
The RIAA is using this method because the names of the 477 people accused of illegally distributing copyrighted sound recordings on peer-to-peer services were not yet known, said Jonathan Lamy, spokesman for RIAA.
The trade group has identified suspected song-swappers by Internet addresses only since an appeals court in December sided with Verizon Communications by ruling that Internet Service Providers did not have to respond to subpoenas, filed as a prelude to lawsuits, requesting names of users.
As in previous suits, the RIAA plans to discover swappers' names and locations through court-issued subpoenas, Lamy said.
Wednesday's action was directed at file sharers using commercial ISPs as well as 69 people at 14 universities, including Brown, Emory and Princeton.
In March, RIAA suits targeted 89 people using college networks.
"It remains as important as ever that we continue to work with the university community in a way that is respectful of the law as well as university values," said Cary Sherman, the RIAA's president.
The RIAA represents the world's big record labels like Warner Music, Bertelsmann AG's BMG, EMI Group Plc, Sony Corp.'s Sony Music and Vivendi Universal's Universal Music Group.
The RIAA has filed 2,454 lawsuits since September, including suits filed before the "John Doe" method became mandatory. It has settled about 437 cases for about $3,000 each (1,700 pounds).
SEATTLE, April 26 PRNewswire-FirstCall
http://www.prnewswire.com/cgi-bin/stories.pl?ACCT=109&STORY=/www/story/04-26-2004/0002159150&...
Alaska Airlines begins service
today between Seattle and Chicago's O'Hare International Airport.
The carrier will operate two flights daily in each direction using Boeing
737 aircraft.
Eastbound Flight 20 departs Seattle at 8:45 a.m. and arrives in Chicago at
2:42 p.m. Flight 22 departs Seattle at 4:00 p.m. and arrives in Chicago at
9:42 p.m.
Westbound Flight 21 departs Chicago at 8:15 a.m. and arrives in Seattle at
10:37 a.m. Flight 23 departs Chicago at 3:50 p.m. and arrives in Seattle at
6:23 p.m.
"Advance bookings even prior to today's first flight indicate that this
new Seattle-Chicago route is very popular with our existing customer base,"
said Gregg Saretsky, executive vice president of marketing and planning.
"Similarly, now that we're finally underway, we look forward to acquainting
Chicago-area passengers traveling to Seattle and throughout the Pacific
Northwest with Alaska's special brand of award-winning customer service."
Saretsky said that Alaska's flights to and from the Windy City are timed
for easy connections to and from Alaska Airlines and Horizon Air points
throughout the Pacific Northwest, Canada and Alaska. In addition, eastbound
travelers will have access to 68 cities beyond Chicago through Alaska's
codeshare partnership with American Airlines.
An added customer service on all flights to and from Chicago is Alaska's
digEplayer inflight entertainment system. The state-of-the-art system gives
Alaska's customers the choice of up to 20 full length features, including
first run movies, television shows, music and destination information.
The nation's ninth largest carrier, Alaska Airlines serves 53 cities in
Alaska, the Lower 48, Canada and Mexico. In a recent annual survey on
customer service, Wichita State University and the University of
Nebraska-Omaha rated Alaska Airlines as one of the nation's two best airlines
for the fourth year in a row and for the fifth time in the past six years.
Renowned as an innovator in the air and on the ground, Alaska last year was
named Technology Leader of the Year by Air Transport World Magazine. For more
information, visit the Alaska Airlines Newsroom at
http://newsroom.alaskaair.com .
SOURCE Alaska Airlines
Web Site: http://www.alaska-air.com
You give up the right to sue when you put such a clause in a contract. A judge would throw it out asap.
But in law never say never. I think fraud or some illegal action might get you to a court. (never seen it)
Maybe proof of a wire transfer to the three arbitrators into Swiss account might be a start. LOL
In typical Arbitration processes I have been involved with the following happens…
One party files for Arbitration
As set forth in the contract that is in dispute (note I don’t know how the EDIG/F10 contact is worded)
Both parties pick their own arbitrator (this can take 1-2 weeks)
Both picked arbitrators pick a third arbitrator (another 1-2 weeks)
The three (can be more) get together with the facts presented by both sides and hammer out a binding resolution (another 3-4 weeks)
The whole thing is wrapped up in 7-8 weeks.
I am not sure if we can expect the same with EDIG/F10 but it shouldn’t be to far off imho
Fed Says U.S. Growth Widespread
By Jonathan Nicholson
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Federal Reserve (news - web sites) on Wednesday gave the U.S. economy an upbeat assessment, saying economic growth and hiring had picked up in recent weeks.
"Economic activity increased across the nation from mid-February through early April. The growth was widespread as retail sales moved up noticeably, and manufacturing, mining, energy, tourism, and services all grew," the Fed said in its "beige book" report, an anecdotal summary of conditions in the central bank's 12 regional districts.
"Labor markets tightened somewhat with modest wage increases," the Fed said. However, it also noted "significant increases" in worker health benefit costs.
The report was compiled by the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis, based on information gathered before April 12. It will be reviewed by the Federal Open Market Committee (news - web sites) when it gathers in Washington on May 4 to mull short-term interest rates.
While the report's tone was brighter than the previous one, which said hiring had increased "slowly" in January and February, it gave little hint the FOMC needs to act soon.
Earlier Wednesday, Fed Chairman Alan Greenspan (news - web sites) told a congressional panel rates must rise "at some point," but noted inflation pressures did not appear to be building.
"Many districts reported modest increases in overall consumer prices, but most districts indicated significant increases in numerous commodities and input products," the beige book said.
The report also held good news for the long-suffering U.S. factory sector, noting, "Manufacturing activity increased in all districts. New orders and production were up over a year ago."