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"Now investors want proof that edig management can perform"
IMO, not much different from last year. You have more or less the same mix of investors and investor attitudes as from last year.
Not a bad attempt at convergence, although IMO the real goal they should shoot for is having the ability to order and download digital songs via your tv remote as you are watching the music videos. That would be the ultimate impulse buying system and pretty much fulfills the purpose of music videos and MTV since they were launched way back when.
Interesting, but the way I understand it, though, this would not allow a user to download content bought from the itunes music store onto an EDIG player (unless they converted it to mp3 first), because the Fairplay DRM Apple is using remains proprietary.
You're right, I wish he would be more rude when he responds to us, isn't that the job of an IR person? He should also tell us in explicit detail all of the company's plans before they become common knowledge.
I'm sure there's a legitimate complaint in there, I just can't find it. You're upset because he gave a polite response?
This is just the tip of iceberg (spear?). A friend of mine is doing research in this area and what they are working on doing is distilling each song to its essence (as far as I understand) based on a few set parameters such as rhythm, etc. and developing a code to represent it. In this way, if presented with the original "night and day" and U2's remake of the same, the database would be able to understand that they are the same song and code them identically, even though they sound quite different.
This opens up all sorts of possibilities particularly for music customization. Imagine searching a database using one of your favorite songs as the search term. It would be coded in the way mentioned above and then all the songs with a similar coding would be shown to you, under the assumption that there is something in the basic rhythm of the song that corresponds to your musical taste. Of course, musical preference is much more complicated and this and it might turn out that you hate all of the "hits" turned up by such a search, but its an interesting line of research.
acrazjo, are you putting your money where your mouth is? I notice a little price/volume spike. Don't go shooting all your powder at once, lol!
The mother of all convergence?
http://appleinsider.com/article.php?id=426
Interesting about the xpod rumor. While I doubt top MS execs regularly go off spouting about big product plans while drunk, the idea has some merit.
The xbox is a well-established gaming platform and already has broadband internet connectivity. If they developed a decent portable music player that could dock on the xbox and serve as the repository for games and songs that would simplify things for those interested in both. All they would need would be an online music store front end with an interface that would work on a tv and that could be navigated with the xbox controller (can you buy a keyboard for the xbox?)
Interesting idea, but that's about as likely as a reverse split to get a Nasdaq listing at this juncture.
There's someone who knows how to run a business. He made a nice profit for himself but didn't get too greedy. The execs got a pretty big piece of the bonus pie, but as far as I can figure that's still an average of 60k a piece for the other workers. They only have to hope that doesn't cause any friction between the emachines employees and the emptyhanded gateway workers.
That all depends. There are a lot of solutions out there. We seem to be there first, but that's not always best. And remember, tech is only one piece of the puzzle, the best tech does not always win the marketing battle.
"Fwiw I dont think the "convergent" deals are going to materialize, if they ever existed to begin with"
That goes in the the bin labeled "idle speculation"
Perhaps, although I see them playing in slightly different fields.
One inmotion is a separate company, therefore no profits for the airlines unless they arrange some sort of partnership. Also, there's the matter of convenience. The number of inmotion airport locations is limited to the major cities. Even if the airport has a location you still have to go through the hassle of picking up the player and dropping it off at the store (and you know how big some airports are, its hard enough just having enough time to make a connection). Otherwise, you could mail back the player, but still much less convenient than an in-flight rented player.
That being said, since they're using DVDs the selection will always be better (although there won't be the potential for customized content, such as tourist info).
I don't see why inmotion couldn't just rent out digeplayers, although there's not much advantage for the customer in it.
ipod killer w/o itunes music store = also-ran
LOL, at least someone is profiting from the digital music revolution
http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/040414/earns_apple_18.html
Goes to show what all the pundits know. They were predicting the ipod mini would flop because it was too expensive for the amount of capacity it offered.
Women are right! Size matters!
As with music, the technology is there, we just have to wait for the powers that be to decide which is the most profitable way for them to rip us off with it is.
Cinemanow? LOL
I suggest you go to cinemanow.com and do a search for any big time hit movie, you know the kind you watch over and over again ("terminator", "titanic", etc. - hey you can't watch 'Aliens' but you can watch Alien Conspiracy and Alien Terminator!)
I guess if you consider direct-to-video flops and recent Molly Ringwald releases 'premium content' then cinemanow fits the bill.
This seems to me like the listen.com (before they got legitimate content from the majors in the last year) of the video world -- thousands of titles that noones ever heard of.
Trust me, in its current form, this isn't going to sell any portable media center devices.
Don't kid yourself about the pace at which secure video content will become available and widely adopted. People on this board were pretty confident digital music content would take off back in 2000 only to find out that they needed to wait 2 years before the entire infrastructure came to fruition (and its still not there yet).
You'll be in the minority of passengers I'm afraid for a few years to come at least.
Oh I don't know. If the price is right some people might prefer to shell out a few bucks for an onboard unit rather than have to lug their own around on their entire trip.
And you always have to have the option available onboard for those who might not own their own, no matter how popular such devices become.
For instance, the popularity of the walkman and portable CD players didn't prevent airlines from continuing to provide onboard music to listen to.
You should come to agora, I'm a having a very heated discussion with another one my of alias'. Of course, I'm winning the the argument, LOL!!!!
Easy now, nobody's trying to usurp your authority, just stay calm, okay...calm. Relax, lower your weapon, okay, that's it, better, BETTER, okay. Quick! Grab him! LOL
OT- One wonders how happy the majority of the Iraqi people would be if the U.S. withdrew all their forces tomorrow. Self-determination and governance are laudable goals, but then there is the real situation on the ground. Are they ready to govern themselves?
"edigital through TGE will produce about a million mp3 players using edigital's micro Os this year. That is yet to be materialized."
Perhaps your expectations are a bit unrealistic. They just announced that a few months ago. We're only four months into the year, and yet you expect them to have reached this goal already?
"- the Fujitsu Ten project kept pushing and pushing to the following quarter after another quarter before it finally put on HOLD indefinitely. This sounds as good as dead project. I hope I'm wrong."
Agreed, disappointment there. Looks like F10 might have given EDIG the same 'ole same 'ole. We will have to see how it pans out.
"- APS thing, we're hearing that they are in serious talks with lucky 13 airlines, and yet only one Airline that is Alaska has full commitment, others yet to be materialized."
Ted testing, Hawaiian air testing (and looks like they are pretty enthusiastic), so I believe them when they say they are in serious discussions/tests with others. From all we've heard, user end experience has been overwhelmingly positive with the product, and people in the business (trade mag airfax) can't say enough about the digE. Not bad considering APS is a small startup. The new CEO with airline experience will only help. Again, I think you may have an unrealistic expection for the pace of developments? Most companies don't invest millions without taking out a product for a test run, especially from a new supplier.
...But you are? LOL
Not only that, Gateway has announced that they are closing all of their private retail stores, they are going completely to reseller distribution.
Speaking of alter egos, I'm expecting the three faces of Cass to show up sometime soon on this board.
Agreed, but a heavyweight might open up accounts that might be reluctant to go with a small startup like APS. Plus they could offer the digE as part of a comprehensive IFE package. I still find it odd that APS would allow EDIG to circumvent them. I also think that it wouldn't be a bad idea for EDIG to shop the player around to some of the big players if they have a freehand to do so.
"I just ran the question by Robert. His response was that outside of Alaska Airlines, each DigEplayer application is a seperate negotiation. APS is the preferred vendor for the airline application but is not exclusive. Sharing arrangement is also dictated by who brings the deal to the table.
As far as non-airline applications, the same rules apply. It is certainly easier for other entities (APS for example) to market the video player and leave e.Digital do what they do best. It would also require another entity to service the equipment since Rockwell is limited to the airline industry."
Do you could clear this part up for me? Was it your impression that RP was saying that EDIG was free to market the digEplayer (or some variant) through another IFE vendor to an airline. If so that would be great news and opens up the possibility for a heavyweight to pick up the product. It seems a bit hard to believe because despite EDIG having designed the player, the concept appears to have been APS' brainchild. Was it your understanding that regardless of who markets the player or arranges the deal, EDIG owns the design and will get a cut?
That wasn't what you asked though. You asked how APS can make EDIG profitable. I answered. You didn't say how profitable.
The thing about a big float is that they could post a profit from $1 to >$1 million and still state they have a 1 cent/share profit.
Its easy really:
The airlines write a check to APS -> APS writes a smaller check to EDIG -> EDIG writes checks to its suppliers and employees -> When the amount on the checks coming into EDIG exceeds the amount on those going out, the company is profitable
Technically, the number of shares outstanding has no bearing on this, since they will be "profitable" whether the excess amount is $1 or $10000000.
I wouldn't be surprised if it was APS or both, given that the concept was B.Boyers. I wouldn't worry too much, though, it sounds like the arrangement we have with APS gives us at least some ownership over the design and we are already working with them on the next generation player so it looks like we have a mutual commitment.
Hmmm, I know the IFE portion is only part of that $20,000,000 but you've got to figure that at <$500,000 (300-500 digeplayer units), APS is very cost competitive. The only problem as pointed out by others is where to put them all on board.
I suppose they could yank out a few seats and retrofit them with storage cabinets for that many units. That would mean lost revenue from those seats for each flight and that would be a recurring loss over the expected life of the plane, but the fuel savings and savings in retrofit costs might make it an attractive proposition.
Thanks for the find. IMO, very good news.
As the new CEO says, "It gives our company additional credibility. It gives us market reach that we didn't have before. "
This guy is a ringer and a heavyweight. He has the experience and past credentials to convince the big carriers who might have been hesitant to entrust big deals to a small startup.
Great news also about the patents, it would be interesting to see what they center on (the security features). Certainly a PVP is nothing so new, but perhaps the fact that it has been adopted for airline use is novel enough to be patentable (WTFDIK?).
LOL--you (plural) are getting worked up for nothing. Cass will be back, whether under her own name, or another alias, soon enough. EDIG is an addiction!
See you soon under your new username, LOL!!!!
LOL, maybe they are saving some pink slips for the summer. You will know if your employer sends a survey asking your political affiliation.
Very informative article about what is driving the airline industry
http://www.economist.com/business/displayStory.cfm?story_id=2535961
Southwest and British air (B.Boyer said we were talking to european carriers, no?) would be big ones for EDIG/APS.
IMO Southwest has the most to gain from using digeplayer.
They are tops among the newstyle carriers, but risk being left behind by smaller upstarts offering more perks.
They also have the largest and oldest fleet of these carriers which means a retrofit to add IFE fleetwide, and that is where the digeplayer provides the greatest value.
Tell me about it, the truth is in the revisions!
And just in time for elections! Guess Republican CEOs saved up their hiring needs to help GW
OT-Market crisis averted (for now). Jobs number for March came in very strong (300000 vs. expected 100000 jobs created)
Rally caps on!
" Is anyone aware of the status of this relationship?"
RP, FF, maybe JoJo I'd think