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Yes! is standard IFE Yes! Solo is handheld eom
Don't confuse Yes, with Yes solo Two different systems
callmeal
That has been posted many moons ago. Here is their info sheet
http://www.gd-ais.com/Capabilities/aes/aircraftcabin.html#Yes
Archos Gmini 400, 5.6 Ounce MP3/Video Portable
By Richard Menta 8/28/04
Archos has been touting the new Gmini 400 as the first MP3 player with a color screen. Of course all of their digital media players (music/still photos/video) since the Archos AV100 series have a color screen, but this time the menu system for selecting tracks is in color. Nice, but no big deal.
What is much more important about the Gmini 400 is that Archos finally came out with a video/audio mediabox the size and weight of the music-only iPod. Earlier Archos units were excellent, but quite big and heavy.
For example the Archos AV320 mediabox weighed in at 12.5 oz, more than double that of the 5.6oz iPod. The Gmini on the other hand weighs in at 5.64oz. Furthermore, the Gmini 400's 4.17" x 2.37" x 0.69' dimensions square quite well with the iPod's 4.1" x 2.4" x 0.57" shape.
Since the iPod first appeared we have heard talk of iPod killers. I have always stated that for a true iPod killer to appear, competitors first have to put out a multiple GB unit that matches the size and weight of Apple's portable, the most compelling factor to its success. Other manufacturers have tried and failed, but they always seemed to focus on features rather than the fact that their products felt like a lead weight in someone's pocket.
The most recent challengers to the iPod's dominance are finally getting the hint, but the iPod has since elevated to a cultural icon. Wearing an iPod is a fashion statement now and until the fashion changes it will be extra hard to carve out market share.
But Archos already has carved out a profitable niche they invented for themselves with their MPEG-4 video/MP3 players. In my rave reviews of past units the only real flaw I saw in them was the fact they were fairly bulky and not suitable for those who wish to jog to music.
The Gmini 400 completes the circle for a manufacturer who has always made a fine player. The product set has always been compelling, but now it is small enough to qualify as a unit that truly has a shot at being an iPod killer.
Of course, the truth is there will be no iPod killer, the phrase is just marketing spin. An "iPod killer" defines a single product that would steal much of Apple's market share in one fell swoop. The iPod would have to lose favor first for that to even remotely happen.
With hundreds of digital media products aiming their crosshairs against the iPod there is no doubt Apple will lose marketshare over time, but it will lose it gradually and it will still remain number one for a long time to come.
With rumors of an iPod video still rumors, the Gmini has a good shot to be the next hot digital toy for the Christmas holidays. Especially for the mass transit commuter who can record their previous nights shows for the morning ride into work. Another feature of the Gmini 400 is that it has a Mophun game engine to play games on the unit's screen. That will also play into the favor of commuters and frequent flyers.
Selling for $399, the Archos Gmini 400 utilizes the same 20GB 1.8" Hard Disk found in the iPod. It also has a built-in CompactFlash slot for convenient uploading of files. The Gmini plays MP3, WAV, and WMA files. Sorry, Apple doens't license it's Fairplay DRM so song purchased on iTunes will not play on the Gmini. Files are uploaded via USB 2.0. An FM radio and remote control for the Gmini 400 are optional.
Specs are below:
Capacity 20GB 1.8" Hard Disk – Store up to 300 hours of music, 200,000 photos or 80 hours of MPEG-4 videos*.
Interfaces: USB 2.0 high-speed, compatible USB 1.1, PC & Mac .
Built-in CompactFlash™ Type I slot to accept CompactFlash™ memory cards or optional 4-in-1 CF adapter.
Video playback: MPEG-4 SP with MP3 or ADPCM stereo sound, near DVD quality up to 640 x 400 @ 30 f/s, AVI file format. Reads XviD and DivX"* 4.0 & 5.0. Play Music Video in MPEG-4.
Display: 2.2" LCD 220x176 pixels, 262 000 colours and TV output.
Music playback: Stereo MP3 decoding @ 30-320 kb/s CBR & VBR, WMA (Including copy protected files with Microsoft PD DRM), WAV (PCM & ADPCM).
Power Source: Internal: Rechargeable Li-Ion Batteries. External: AC charger/adaptor
Dimensions: Approx. 106 x 60,3 x 17,4 mm 4.17" x 2.37" x 0.69'
Weight: 160 g (5.64 oz)
Package Includes: Stereo headphones, AC adapter/charger, USB cable, Audio/video cable + Multi-connect adapter, user guide
HP Introduces Fall Lineup of Digital Photography, Music, TV, Home Projection and Entertainment Offerings in Time for Back-to-school and Holiday Shopping
MIAMI--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Aug. 27, 2004--
HP Offers Consumers Keys to Living Digitally -- Simple, Personalized Experiences
http://h10049.www1.hp.com/music/us/en/basics_flash.html
HP (NYSE:HPQ)(Nasdaq:HPQ) today announced its expansion into multiple new consumer digital entertainment and digital photography categories with a range of offerings aimed at making it easier than ever for people to live digitally. The offerings include new digital cameras and photo printers, home theater projectors, plasma and LCD flat-panel TVs, entertainment-based notebooks and desktop PCs, and the Apple iPod from HP -- all in time for the back-to-school and holiday shopping seasons.
HP Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Carly Fiorina unveiled the enhanced digital lineup today during a press conference in South Beach, Fla., where HP is sponsoring the 2004 MTV Video Music Awards (VMAs).
Highlights of today's announcement include:
-- New HP Vivera Inks, cartridges, media and printers that take digital photography to new levels of quality and affordability; plus new additions to HP's digital camera line with innovative features that produce professional-quality photos every time.
-- The HP Digital Entertainment Center, which allows consumers to manage music, movies and photos from a single device; a suite of new plasma and LCD flat-panel TVs; the HP Instant Cinema Digital Projector ep9010, a boom box-like device for playing and watching movies; and the HP Pavilion dv1000 series Entertainment Notebook PC -- all expressly designed to simplify the digital living room experience.
-- The Apple iPod from HP along with HP Printable Tattoos that enable music lovers to personalize their iPods with album art from the hottest bands and recording artists, or wrap their iPods in their own printable art and photos.
-- New consumer-focused partnerships, go-to-market efforts and advertising.
"At the Consumer Electronics Show in January, we said the real digital revolution was not just about gizmos and gadgets -- it was about making the whole system work better together," said Fiorina. "Our customers have told us they want to easily share, enjoy and preserve their personal experiences -- whether those experiences are photos, music or video. Today, HP is delivering on the first phase of our vision with solutions that make a consumer's digital lifestyle simple and rewarding."
HP makes it easy to create high-quality, affordable photos at home HP is taking digital photography to a whole new level by making it easy and affordable for people to click, print and share high-quality photos. HP's new digital cameras and photo printers, which are supported by a new line of branded inks and specialty papers, make it better, faster and cheaper than ever to print at home and even on the go.
Highlights from HP's enhanced digital photography lineup include:
-- HP Vivera Inks work as a system with new HP printers and specialty papers to produce up to 40 percent faster prints that resist fading for generations, offer improved print quality and are now more affordable -- 4 x 6-inch photos for as low as 29 cents.
-- The portable, lightweight HP Photosmart 375 Compact Photo Printer becomes a mobile digital photo lab for 4 x 6-inch prints when used with the optional HP Internal Battery for Compact Photo Printers. The optional HP bt300 Bluetooth Wireless Printer Adapter provides added convenience when printing photos wirelessly from a compatible Bluetooth(TM) enabled camera phone.
-- The HP Photosmart 2710 All-In-One is the ultimate photo lab that can print, copy, scan and fax, with built-in memory slots and wireless capabilities.(1) This system is specially designed to easily print color photos from camera phones or other compatible Bluetooth wireless devices.
-- The HP Photosmart 8450 Photo Printer produces stunning color and black-and-white prints (up to 72 million different color combinations and grayscale combinations) with its eight-ink color printing system. The network-enabled photo printer features a 2.5-inch color image display, easy-to-access front-panel editing buttons, digital camera video printing and panorama format printing.
-- The new 4.1-megapixel HP Photosmart R607 Digital Camera is stylishly small and features exclusive HP Real Life technologies, which include adaptive lighting and in-camera red-eye removal. These technologies can help even novice digital photographers take better pictures.
-- The introduction of HP Premium Plus Papers in 5 x 7-inch and 8 x 10- inch panorama sizes continues the expansion of HP's portfolio of creative media for consumers. HP also introduced personalized note cards, greeting cards and holiday photo cards with partners, including Disney and American Greetings.
The connected home: Simplifying the digital living room for consumers HP launched easy-to-set-up and -integrate digital living room offerings that allow people to enjoy spectacular entertainment experiences in the comfort of their own living rooms.
Highlights from HP's new line of digital living room products include:
-- The HP Digital Entertainment Center, which brings high-powered PC capabilities to the home theater system, allowing consumers to easily capture, store and enjoy all of their digital content -- TV programs, music, videos or photographs -- in a living room setting. The HP Digital Entertainment Center replaces multiple components with a single, easy- to-operate device that fits in the entertainment rack and is simple to use with a remote control.
-- The HP Media Center Extender delivers content wirelessly from any Media Center PC or the HP Digital Entertainment Center to any TV in the house -- giving users the freedom to enjoy their content when and where they want.(2)
-- New HP Flat-Panel Plasma and LCD TVs, including a 42-inch HDTV Plasma, a 42-inch EDTV Plasma, and two LCD TVs (26-inch and 30-inch). The new TVs incorporate the latest image-quality technologies and offer spectacular picture and sound quality and a premium viewing experience -- all in a sleek, piano-black design.
-- The HP Instant Cinema Digital Projector ep9010 offers an integrated, portable projector and DVD player with a 5.1-capable surround-sound system, bringing home the Hollywood sound and visual impact of a big- screen cinematic experience -- anywhere a consumer wants to watch movies.
-- The HP Pavilion dv1000 Series Entertainment Notebook, available with Intel(R) Centrino(TM) Mobile Technology, includes HP's new QuickPlay feature, which allows consumers to watch DVDs or listen to music without booting up. The notebook offers consumers on-the-move access to music, video and photos.
"Unlike other companies moving into the Consumer Electronics / Digital Entertainment space, HP is 'open' -- not only in terms of technology but more importantly in terms of content," said Rob Enderle, principal analyst for the Enderle Group. "They don't believe they need to lock in consumers to win market share, and I think more companies should follow their lead by competing on product and service excellence alone. Their partnerships reflect the widest range of consumer areas, and standards-based options in the CE/DE segment."
Apple iPod + hp: HP rocks the PC
HP also announced the availability of the Apple iPod from HP.(3) Through a strategic partnership with Apple, HP will help bring the world's most popular digital music player to an even broader base of PC users. The Apple iPod from HP will be offered in two variations -- 20 gigabytes (GB) and 40 GB -- and will be available online at hpshopping.com and at most major retailers, including Circuit City, CompUSA, Best Buy, Office Depot, Staples, Radio Shack, Fry's, Amazon.com and Costco. The estimated U.S. street price for the Apple iPod from HP 20 GB is $299 and for the Apple iPod from HP 40 GB is $399.(4)
New HP Printable Tattoos allow consumers to personalize the look of their iPod with album cover art from top bands and recording artists, as well as to create their own personalized artwork and photos printed on Tattoo media via an HP color printer.
The ultra-thin HP Printable Tattoos are easy to apply and remove from the player's exterior. They are durable and water-resistant, which helps protect the iPod from scratches and scuffs as music lovers carry it around. HP is working with industry recording studios to offer consumers access to the latest album art from the newest releases. The HP Tattoo Gallery at www.hp.com/music will be regularly updated with the hottest album art, so consumers can continually personalize their iPod.
Consumers can quickly start enjoying their iPod with the help of HP's unique user guide and an easy-to-follow setup poster. In addition, the Apple iPod from HP is backed by HP's Total Care customer support, which includes one year of phone support and a one-year warranty.
New wave of advertising to debut at VMAs
HP will debut new advertising campaigns during the MTV Video Music Awards on Sunday, Aug. 29. Award-winning music video producer Paul Hunter directed the suite of music ads that will launch the Apple iPod from HP. New digital photography ads, showcasing the latest photo printers, including the new Vivera Inks, digital cameras and printers, will feature the innovative artistry of French director Francois Vogel and the song "Picture Book" from the Kinks.
Strategic marketing partnership
Judy McGrath, chairman and chief executive officer of MTV Networks, joined Fiorina to announce a global strategic marketing partnership, with HP as an official sponsor of the 2004 MTV Video Music Awards in the United States, Latin America, Asia and Europe, and as an official sponsor of the 2004 Video Music Awards Latin America, the 2004 MTV Europe Music Awards and the 2005 MTV Asia Awards. The MTV Video Music Awards is the most watched awards show among the 12-34 year-old age group and will be available to a potential viewing audience of more than 1 billion people.
HP and MTV kicked off the first phase of this strategic marketing partnership by announcing a global promotion called "YOU Are Your Music." At the end of September, consumers in the United States will be able to enter a promotion to win a trip to the 2004 MTV Europe Music Awards in Rome by submitting a digital photo of an image representing "what music means to them." The promotion will continue in Latin America, Europe and Asia, where the contest will launch around MTV's award shows in those regions.
Detailed information regarding HP's digital photography and entertainment offerings, including fact sheets and product specifications, is available in an online press kit at www.hp.com/go/digitalexplaunch/2004. A recorded webcast of the press conference featuring Fiorina's unveiling of the new digital lineup will be available at www.hpbroadband.com/program.cfm?key=B3Launch27Aug2004EXT shortly after the conference ends, and will remain available for approximately one month.
LG Preps Handheld Audio, Video Device
Hard-drive based multimedia player will be available later this year.
Martyn Williams, IDG News Service
Thursday, August 26, 2004
LG Electronics is planning to launch later this year a hard-drive-based handheld media player that plays both audio and video, the company says.
The MF-HE700 is one of a new generation of handheld devices that adds video playback functions to the audio playback function offered by devices such as Apple Computer's IPod or Sony's NW-HD1 Network Hard Disk Walkman.
The device is expected to cost around $500.
Technical Detail
It includes a 20GB hard drive and has a 2.2-inch TFT display that covers about half of the front of the handheld player. The device supports decoding of MP3, WMA (Windows Media Audio), and Ogg audio files, JPEG still images, and MPEG4 and DiVX videos, LG says.
In addition it includes an FM radio and supports recording of FM radio broadcasts in MP3 format. There is also a voice recorder function.
Users will be able to connect the player to a PC via a USB2.0 connection and it also has a rechargeable lithium-ion battery, the company says.
The company is planning to launch the drive in South Korea, Australia, China, and other Asian markets from December this year, says Cecilia Lee, an LG spokesperson based in Seoul.
LG has yet to decide on a launch schedule for other markets such as the U.S. and Europe, Lee says.
Microsoft plans branding assault
John Borland
CNET News.com
August 26, 2004, 08:40 BST
'Plays for sure' will signify the presence of the company's software
Microsoft is planning a new branding campaign similar to "Intel Inside" for its Windows Media audio and video technology, hoping to highlight the near-ubiquity of its multimedia technology, sources familiar with the plans say.
The "Plays for sure" campaign will include a logo on devices that support Microsoft's Windows Media and will be advertised by download services that distribute files in that format, sources said. Although not specifically using the Windows Media brand name, the campaign is aimed at assuring consumers that all services and devices carrying the logo will be compatible with each other.
To qualify for the "Plays for sure" mark, a company will have to be certified that its products were compatible with other products using the logo. Some people familiar with the plan said it appeared to be aimed at highlighting the breadth of support for Windows Media, contrasting that with companies including Apple Computer and Sony, which tie their portable devices to specific music download services.
"They want to show that the Apple universe is a little one, and Microsoft is a big one," said one digital media executive familiar with the plans who asked not to be named.
A Microsoft representative declined to comment on the issue. However, a search of Network Solutions' Whois database shows that the company registered the "Playsforsure.com" domain name in June.
Microsoft is in the early stages of a broad consumer marketing push aimed in large part at capturing much of the consumer market that Apple controls with its iPod music player and iTunes music store.
The software giant has been touting new Windows-based portable devices called Personal Media Centres -- due this fall -- which will play music and videos as well as store pictures and data. Creative Labs, iRiver and others are expected to release their versions of the devices in time for the holiday shopping season.
Microsoft has also been building its own MSN-branded digital music store to compete with Apple's iTunes. Digital music executives say they expect it to be rolled out along with the release of the Windows Media 10 software next week.
The "Plays for sure" plan, which sources said was still being finalised, has been welcomed by some of the companies that produce Microsoft compatible products, even though it carries equal potential benefits for their rivals.
"I'm glad to see Microsoft is taking some steps forward to help be a mediator between the hardware and software guys," said one senior executive at a digital media hardware company. "I think it's a step forward."
Why iPod Isn't the Only Player
By Rebecca McQuillan
08/26/04 6:00 AM PT
The beauty of MP3 players is the fact that they can store hundreds of songs in a tiny space. They are portable, more so than their cassette-loading forebears, and, since the iPod was launched, have been as much style statement as gizmo.
It has become the Big Mac of digital music players: the iPod, launched three years ago by Apple (Nasdaq: AAPL) , is synonymous with dinky, slinky music boxes.
Four million have been sold. In July, Apple reported that it had shipped 860,000 iPods worldwide in the last quarter alone, an increase of 183 percent on its sales during the same period last year. Will this supergadget ever be knocked from its top spot?
Well, its position is starting to look shaky. This autumn has seen a counteroffensive by a range of rivals. The revamped Sony (NYSE: SNE) digital Walkman launches in September, while Samsung and Creative Labs are also planning to release rivals. The fight is on for the Christmas market.
So, how does the novice choose between the many on offer?
Varying Considerations
Below, The Herald compares some of the leading brands in a range of different categories.
Olly Irish, the acting editor of the gadget magazine Stuff, recommends the Rio Karma for its long battery life and "very geeky" spec; Andrew Gordon, a director of the Web site advancedmp3players.co.uk, which claims to be the largest online specialist in Britain, reports that the iRiver is very popular.
To make a meaningful judgment about a digital player, though, it helps to understand some of the mystifying jargon that surrounds them.
They are often referred to as MP3 players. MP3 is short for MPEG-1audio layer 3, a type of compression to reduce large files, such as songs, to manageable sizes. But that's not important. All you need to know is it's the most popular form of compressed audio file and therefore has become shorthand for digital music.
The beauty of MP3 players is the fact that they can store hundreds of songs in a tiny space. They are portable, more so than their cassette-loading forebears, and, since the iPod was launched, have been as much style statement as gizmo.
Different Formats
MP3 players come in different formats.
Broadly speaking, hard-disk drive versions, which include iPods and other full-sized MP3 players as well as some mini ones, store greater amounts of music. In fact, they can handle up to about 10,000 songs, depending on the type of file used.
Built-in or flash memory, which is more common in mini MP3 players, holds fewer songs. As there are no moving parts with the built-in memory format, however, it makes it ideal for jogging or going to the gym.
Minis are also smaller than their bigger siblings, sometimes preposterously so. Lose your grip on one while standing above a drain at the bus stop and you'll probably never see it again.
This is a portable music system for the technophile generation. The music has to be uploaded from a CD onto a computer or else downloaded from the Internet and then transferred to the iPod using special software.
Among the features you should consider is the fact that different players play different types of files. The iPod, for instance, will not play Windows Media Audio (WMA) files, made by Apple's great competitor, Microsoft (Nasdaq: MSFT) . Nearly all players, however, will play straight MP3 files.
Souped Down
(Apple and Sony have their own online music stores, called iTunes and Sony Connect, respectively.)
And then there is battery life. Next month, when the new Sony Walkman is launched, it will offer far greater battery life than the iPod.
So that's it: a sexier, souped-down version of the ubiquitous 1980s personal stereo that does more for your money. Not only do MP3 players allow music addicts to select a song for every mood, any time, anywhere, but, led by the sleek iPod, they look great.
Devotees include just about every celebrity you can think of, from Madonna and Gwyneth Paltrow to the Harry Potter star, Daniel Radcliffe. With that sort of exposure, demand is rampant and is set to continue to be so in the run up to Christmas. Prices may come down by then, but, for peace of mind, if you're going to buy one for a loved one, think about getting one now. Good luck.
FULL-SIZE MP3 PLAYERS:
Apple iPod, fourth generation: Look: 140g, sleek. Capacity: 20Gb or 40Gb. Compatibility: plays MP3 files and Apple audio files from iTunes, but not WMAs. Battery life: 12 hours. Cost: US$393.72 (219 pounds) for 20Gb version; $537.56 (299 pounds) for 40Gb version from Apple.
iRiver iHP-140: Look: sleek, 175g. Capacity: 40Gb. Compatability: MP3, WMA and others. Battery life: 16 hours. Cost: $441.52 (245.58 pounds) from Aria, PC Technology online, Sony Network Walkman.
NW-HD1: Look: slightly larger than a credit card; about half an inch thick. Capacity: 20Gb, up to 13,000 songs. Compatibility: it is expected that it will only play songs in the company's own format, ATRAC, available from its online music store, Sony Connect. Battery life: 30 hours. Cost: expected to undercut top Apple iPod model by $98.86 (55 pounds).
Rio Karma: Look: 140g, a squarer, thicker look than the iPod. Capacity: 20Gb, up to 10,000 songs. Compatibility: MP3, WMA and others. Battery life: 15 hours. Cost: $390.02 (216.96 pounds) from digitaldirectuk.com.
MINI HARD DISK PLAYERS:
Apple iPod Mini: Look: Stylish and sleek, available in five colors, 90g weight. Capacity: 4Gb (1000 songs). Compatibility: plays MP3s but not WMAs. Battery life: eight hours. Cost: $321.75 (179 pounds), PC World (online price).
Rio Nitrus: Look: tiny, discreet black. Capacity: 1.5Gb. Compatability: MP3, WMA. Battery life: 16 hours. Cost: $269.64 (149.99 pounds) from PC World.
Creative Technology Creative MuVo2: Look: tiny, square, 91g. Capacity: 4Gb (up to 2000 songs). Compatibility: MP3, WMA. Battery life: 14 hours. Cost: $305.60 (169.99 pounds) from iwantoneofthose.com.
(Prices are inclusive of British VAT. Battery life times are approximate.)
ARCHOS Unveils First Digital Music Player with Color Screen, Video Playback and Photo Viewer
IRVINE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Aug. 26, 2004--
Gmini400 Provides the Ultimate Portable Entertainment Experience with Music, Video, Photo and Gaming Capabilities
ARCHOS(TM), Inc., the pioneer and technology leader in pocket-sized audio and video digital media solutions for mobile consumers, today announced the launch of the Gmini400, a revolutionary new hard-drive-based digital audio player that features the industry's first 2.2-inch color LCD screen and advanced features such as video playback, photo viewing and gaming for the ultimate portable entertainment experience. The Gmini400 is available today at major U.S. retailers, or at www.archos.com.
ARCHOS is once again introducing true innovation to the portable audio player space with the launch of the Gmini400. The Gmini400 goes far beyond music to bring exciting new features such as superior video playback, color LCD display for viewing photos and videos, a built-in CompactFlash(TM) reader for transferring photos and data, and the ability to access and play games directly on the device.
The lightweight, ultra slim Gmini400 measures only 4.2 inches by 2.4 inches by .07 inches, making it one of the smallest portable music players available today, and allows users to record up to 300 hours(1) of music and play MP3, WMA and WAV music files. In addition, the Gmini400 gives consumers much more than a standard digital audio player, with the ability to store and view up to 200,000 digital photos,(1) play Mophun(TM) games(2) and play up to 80 hours(1) of MPEG-4 videos -- all on the color LCD or TV display.
"Archos continues to evolve its audio players to ensure consumers can enjoy far more than music on one compact device, and does so at an unmatched price for the general consumer," said Henri Crohas, chief executive officer of ARCHOS. "We have always been focused on providing customers with feature-rich products that allow them to take their favorite content with them, and this product is no different. The Gmini400 goes beyond the standard digital audio player by offering many compelling features on one device, providing the richest portable entertainment experience possible."
The Ultimate in Portable Entertainment
The new Gmini400 allows consumers to enjoy:
-- Pocket Music -- record, listen to and archive entire music collections (MP3, WMA, and WAV files) -- up to 300 hours(1), make a playlist directly on the device and organize music without the need for a computer.
-- Pocket Video -- play back MPEG-4 music videos and movies on the 2.2-inch color LCD screen, with 640x400 at 30 frames per second resolution. Consumers can also view video externally on a TV display or projector.
-- Pocket Photo -- store and view photos transferred from a digital camera or computer (PC or Macintosh), copy images from CompactFlash cards using the built-in CompactFlash reader, or use an optional adaptor for SmartMedia(TM), MMC, SD or Memory Stick(TM) and Memory Stick(R) Pro cards.
-- Pocket Games -- play popular Mophun video games, with one free game included with the Gmini400, and additional games available for download from the ARCHOS Web site.
-- Pocket Storage -- store all important data to take on the road on the 20GB hard drive.
Pricing and Optional Accessory Information
The Gmini400 has a suggested retail price of $399.95 and can be purchased at major U.S. retailers nationwide and at www.archos.com. Additional accessories include a 4-1 CompactFlash Adaptor, FM Radio and remote control, car charger and convenient carrying case. Product information and optional accessories are available at www.archos.com.
About ARCHOS
http://www.engadget.com/entry/1805670680278778/
China's Consumer Electronics Industry Expected to Grow by More Than 89 Percent to US$94 Billion by 2007
Global Sources Report Shows Shift to High-End Products: Digital Devices Drive Growth
HONG KONG, August 26 /Xinhua-PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Global Sources Ltd. (Nasdaq: GSOL) today released its Consumer Electronics Outlook: China annual report which indicates strong growth in the consumer electronics industry and that manufacturers are shifting output to high-end products as they move away from price-based competition.
The report is published by the company's China-based electronics
publications, Electronic Engineering Times-China (EE Times-China) and Electronics Supply & Manufacturing-China (ESM-China). It provides an in-depth analysis of China electronics manufacturing, with sections on key suppliers, eight major product sectors, semiconductor demand and supply, and the technical design challenges facing the industry.
Mark A. Saunderson, publisher of EE Times-China and ESM-China, said: "China's consumer electronics industry is expected to post $49.6 billion in sales revenue this year, growing by more than 20 percent annually to reach $94 billion in 2007. Manufacturers are shifting to high-end products to differentiate themselves from the low-end competition, and their integrated circuits (IC) consumption demonstrates this. In 2003, unit sales of ICs for
digital consumer products grew by more than 22 percent, but ICs for traditional products, such as electronic toys and watches, rose by less than 14 percent."
The Consumer Electronics Outlook: China report shows that China
manufacturers are employing more advanced technologies in eight major product segments: color TVs, DVD players, home theater systems, in-car entertainment, digital still cameras, MP3 players, personal digital assistants (PDAs) and household appliances.
Manufacturers of color TVs are beginning to export LCD and plasma display models and are reducing their emphasis on traditional cathode-ray tube TVs. Companies are investing in the design and production of DVD recorders, the advanced alternative to DVD players. In the home theater sector, manufacturers are exploring Internet connectivity and are integrating hard
disks into their product designs.
Makers of in-car entertainment are also shifting towards advanced systems that feature LCD screens, digital video playback and surround sound capability. Digital camera manufacturers are upgrading their products with higher resolution - above three million pixels, and MP3 player suppliers are developing hard disk-based designs that offer greater storage capacity. PDAs contain more entertainment functions plus wireless connections to other devices.
"In the near and medium-term, China will continue to rely on imported ICs, particularly for high-end products, as local design capability has yet to achieve this level of expertise," Saunderson said. "This year, China will import 94 percent of its IC requirements, and because of this dependence, China's dynamic electronics industry will continue to present opportunities for international technology vendors."
Strong Growth in IC Design Industry
The Consumer Electronics Outlook: China report also cites the growing strength of China's IC design industry. China now has more than 463 design houses and the trend is towards 0.25 micron and finer processing technologies.
It is expected that output of locally designed ICs will grow by 37 percent annually from 2003 to 2007.
The report is the first of a three-part series focusing on the China electronics industry. It is based on field research and in-person interviews conducted by editors and staff writers from Global Sources publications including EE-Times China, ESM-China and Market Intelligence Reports. It draws on China Customs Statistics, and data from the Ministry of Information and
Industry, and other government and industry organizations. The second and third reports examining the communications and computer products manufacturing segments, respectively, will be released in the first half of 2005.
The Consumer Electronics Outlook: China report is available for US$695 and can be ordered online at http://www.globalsources.com/CWP .
Creative beats rivals with Zen media centre
In what is a world coup, Singaporeans will be first to buy device
By Natalie Soh
HOME-GROWN Creative Technology has stolen a march on its rivals and has launched its Zen Portable Media Centre (PMC).
This makes it the first handheld gadget to play music and movies on Microsoft's 'iPod killer' software, beating the likes of South Korean brands Samsung and iRiver to launch the device on the worldwide market.
In a nod to Singapore, Creative chief executive Sim Wong Hoo will let Singaporeans have the first chance to see, touch and, yes, buy the Zen PMC at the Comex Fair, which will be held at the Singapore International Convention and Exhibition Centre, Suntec City, from today until Sunday.
Microsoft has been working with a host of manufacturing partners to develop PMC devices, but it was Creative that stole the show at the Las Vegas International Consumer Electronics Show earlier this year, where it got the vote of Microsoft chief Bill Gates as well as capturing the Best of CES Award in the portable audio and video category.
Since then, buyers have been eagerly anticipating the Zen PMC. In an interview with The Straits Times yesterday, Mr Sim said the 'tens of thousands' of devices produced for the launch will 'barely scratch the surface' of the pent-up demand.
Mr Sim has a happy problem at hand: Buyers from the United States, Europe and Asia are all putting down orders for the device - which Mr Sim fondly calls his new baby - and he has to decide who gets it first.
His enthusiasm is evident as he explains the specifications of the Zen PMC, which was designed from scratch in Singapore.
It can play and store up to 85 hours of video, 9,000 songs and tens of thousands of photos on its 20GB hard drive. It automatically converts files and supports 10 formats - so you can safely port wma, mp3, mpeg, wav and avi files.
Said Mr Sim: 'I am the sort who wants to watch the movies on the big screen, but the response has surprised even me. People want to store their music, their photos.'
Best of all, he said, even sceptics are converted.
'Once I tell my non-techie friends you can put your photos in it and take it to your mother-in-law's place, the decision to buy is made!' he chuckled.
While the launch of the Zen PMC is a coup for Creative and Singapore, the bigger picture is the PMCs herald a bigger revolution in the movie industry.
With movie players in everyone's hands, like the now ubiquitous MP3 player, the idea is you can download movies from the Net, just as has happened in the music industry.
Of course, the movie will have to be in a highly compressed form, so it doesn't take hours to download, and there has to be political will from the big boys in the movie world.
But there are positive signs. For instance, Mr Sim said he has to fill thousands of orders from the movie studios - indicating strong interest on their part as to how best to use PMCs to get more people to buy movies.
'It's a brand new way to reach consumers, and if they don't maximise it, people will find a way to rip movies and put them into the players. It will happen. We give people the convenience, and they will want the content to go with that.'
With the Zen PMC, Creative has marked its territory in the digital entertainment market. It already has a slew of personal music players, and soon 'whenever someone thinks digital entertainment, they are going to think Creative. We will be No. 1'.
And no, this is not marketing-speak, insisted Mr Sim. Putting his money where his mouth is, he is spending on both audio and graphic technologies, including a graphics card that can run at 1,000 times the computing power of a Pentium chip.
As he put it: 'The PC world, you name it - Dell, HP, Microsoft - are all aiming to bring the PC into the living room. The PC will bring digital entertainment that can be downloaded or you can make home movies. It's not going to be this work tool in the study any more. And we are the ones who will provide the ammo for these tech big boys for them to start this invasion.'
You can see the Zen PMC at the Comex Fair, which is on at the Singapore International Convention and Exhibition Centre, Suntec City, from today until Sunday. Instead of the recommended price of $999, Comex visitors can buy the Zen PMC at $899. The fair is open from 12.30pm to 9pm daily.
EU Probes Microsoft, Time Warner DRM Acquisition
By Keith Regan
E-Commerce Times
08/25/04 9:52 AM PT
"The transaction might possibly create or strengthen a dominant position by Microsoft in the market for digital rights management solutions," the Commission said in a statement. "The Commission will also investigate further competition concerns related to the vertical integration of Microsoft in other markets."
European antitrust regulators said they will conduct an in-depth review of the proposed acquisition of digital rights management company Contentguard by Microsoft (Nasdaq: MSFT) and Time Warner.
The European Commission said Wednesday it would proceed to a second-phase investigation of the deal, which was announced in April. Under that agreement, the two companies together took over the majority ownership of the firm from Xerox (NYSE: XRX) . Contentguard is a spin-off of the Xerox Parc research labs. The value of the deal was never disclosed, but is believed to be less than US$100 million.
The commission said that the two companies had offered some concessions, agreeing to some unspecified limitations on the sale, but that regulators still felt the review was necessary.
If nothing else, the inquiry will delay the deal for at least several months. The Commission has until January of 2005 to render a final decision.
The impact on the business operations of Microsoft and Time Warner is harder to determine. Microsoft has had a stake in the company for some time but has not disclosed exactly how it would deploy its digital rights technology .
DRM Markets
In fact, the weariness of European regulators might suggest concern about how much of the market for digital rights management (DRM) the companies would control, although it seemed more focused on Microsoft than its partner.
Microsoft has made little effort to conceal its belief that establishing and controlling the prevailing standard for DRM would help it become a major player in the entertainment industry as the personal computer transforms itself into a music- and movie-playing device.
"The transaction might possibly create or strengthen a dominant position by Microsoft in the market for digital rights management solutions," the Commission said in a statement. "The Commission will also investigate further competition concerns related to the vertical integration of Microsoft in other markets."
Evolving, Slowly
Others are not convinced the level of DRM adoption would change dramatically even if Microsoft and Time Warner took control of Contentguard, which already counts Sony (NYSE: SNE) as one of the biggest licensers of its technology.
Gartner analyst Ray Wagner said that because there are competing standards still vying for supremacy and because most emerging technologies do not work with one another, no single acquisition will alter the marketplace significantly.
"There is also a question of business models -- no one has yet made it clear how investing heavily in DRM makes someone money in the long run," Wagner told the E-Commerce Times. Microsoft is banking on the entertainment industry adopting its standard, which would then drive demand for Microsoft's media players, he noted.
Microsoft announced its deal for Contentguard just before it settled a long-standing lawsuits with InterTrust, another DRM firm. Microsoft also is working on its own technology for limiting the rights that a person has to digital media -- enabling it to be viewed but not copied, for instance, or viewed only a certain number of times.
Everyone from record and movie studios and software makers to companies that have sensitive data stored in digital files are likely users of the technology.
Wagner noted that most DRM available to date has proven relatively easy for hackers to break, a fact that has further delayed adoption of a single standard.
The Race is On
Both companies had hailed their partnerships on the purchase as proof that the $750 million settlement the two companies reached to put old legal issues to rest had cleared the way for a new era of cooperation.
But the decision instead represents the second roadblock that European regulators have thrown up in front of Microsoft this year. Microsoft's appeal of the Commission's $600 million fine for past behavior in the browser and media player markets is scheduled to begin next month.
Yankee Group senior analyst Michael Goodman told the E-Commerce Times that Apple (Nasdaq: AAPL) , which has taken the lead in the digital music space, has not moved to assert its own digital rights platform outside its own music store, leaving the door open for Microsoft.
"Microsoft definitely has the potential to dominate DRM in the future, whether they build their own devices or have their software on other vendors' devices," Goodman said.
ADS Tech and DivXNetworks Partner to Add DivX Video Technology to Instant VideoMPX Capture Device
SAN DIEGO & CERRITOS, Calif. --(Business Wire)-- Aug. 25, 2004 -- Innovative Device Enables Consumers to Capture, Record and Create Video in DivX(R) Format Through Bundled Video Editing Software
DivXNetworks, Inc., the company that created the revolutionary, patent-pending DivX(R) video compression technology, and ADS Tech, a world leader in Universal Serial Bus and IEEE-1394/FireWire(R) solutions, today announced a licensing partnership. The agreement enables the new ADS Tech Instant VideoMPX USB 2.0 video capture device to capture, record and edit high-quality DivX video files.
Instant VideoMPX is a complete hardware/software solution that lets Windows(R) XP users capture the high quality of uncompressed video over a high-speed USB 2.0 connection. Once video is captured, the bundled VideoStudio(TM) 8 video editing software from DivX Licensed Software partner Ulead(R) enables the creation, recording, and editing of videos in the popular DivX format. Simply by setting the capture options, users can record direct to DivX to create content that can be played back on their PC and then burned to a CD, saved to flash memory media or played on a DivX Certified device.
Often called the "MP3 of video," DivX is among the world's most popular video technologies, with over 120 million global users. The superior compression and visual quality of DivX video enables users to store and distribute DVD-quality videos at 1/10th the size of MPEG-2, the DVD standard. Through the DivX Certified program for consumer electronics devices, over 20 million DVD players, portable video players and handheld devices from major manufacturers will ship in 2004 that support the full playback of DivX video files.
"By including DivX technology with Instant VideoMPX, consumers will be able to record two hours of video on a single 700MB CD without sacrificing quality," said Mike McCoy, ADS Tech President. "This is a key benefit for the millions of users who have notebooks and other portable video playback devices that support the DivX format."
"DivXNetworks is pleased to partner with ADS Technologies to bring DivX functionality to the high-performance Instant VideoMPX device," said Chester Ng, Senior Manager, OEM Sales at DivXNetworks. "By giving their users the ability to compress and record their home videos in DivX and then transfer those files throughout the full DivX Ecosystem of platforms and devices, ADS Tech is creating a complete connected video experience."
For more information on ADS Technologies, visit www.adstech.com. To learn more about DivXNetworks, visit www.divxnetworks.com.
D&M Holdings Inc. Issues Notice of Consolidated Business Results for the First Quarter of Fiscal Year 2004 Ending March 31, 2005
Wednesday August 25, 2:00 pm ET
TOKYO, Aug. 25 /PRNewswire/ -- D&M Holdings Inc. (TSE II: 6735), today filed with the Tokyo Stock Exchange results for the first quarter (April 1 -- June 30, 2004) and revised its financial forecast for the first half and full fiscal year ending March 31, 2005. D&M Holdings Inc. is based in Tokyo and owns the Denon, Marantz, McIntosh Laboratory, D&M Professional, ReplayTV®, Rio® and Escient® brands. All are established brands in premium home theater, audio-video consumer electronics, professional audio or networked digital entertainment markets.
1. Results of First Quarter of Fiscal Year 2004 (April 1, 2004 -- June 30, 2004)
As a result of strong sales performance in both the Premium A/V and Digital Network business segments, the company's consolidated revenue for the first quarter ended June 30, 2004 totaled JPY19.2 billion, an increase of 6.5 percent compared with the same quarter of the previous year. The improved performance in revenue was due in part to the successful implementation of a new global structure that organized the sales and marketing organizations into four regional trading areas: North America, Europe, Japan and Asia Pacific. Revenue was particularly strong in the North American Region driven by the continued success of both the Denon branded products and the Rio portable music player business.
For the first quarter, the company reported an operating loss of JPY713 million, ordinary loss of JPY850 million and net loss of JPY530 million. While these losses were anticipated for the quarter, results were negatively impacted by higher than anticipated manufacturing costs and operating expenses as discussed below in the company's revised forecast for the first half and full fiscal year.
2. Outlook for First Half of Fiscal Year 2004 (April 1, 2004 -- September 30, 2004)
Based on the company's current outlook for the first half of the fiscal year ending March 31, 2005, D&M Holdings is revising its forecast for consolidated revenue, operating profit and net income for the first half ending September 30, 2004. For the same period, the company forecasts consolidated revenue of JPY41.7 billion (Premium AV JPY34.4 billion, Digital Network JPY7.3 billion), an operating loss of JPY650 million (Premium AV JPY500 million, Digital Network JPY(1.15) billion), and a net loss of JPY550 million. This compares to the previous revenue forecast of JPY39.5 billion (Premium AV JPY33.5 billion, Digital Network JPY6.0 billion), an operating profit of JPY300 million (Premium AV JPY1.2 billion, Digital Network JPY(900) million) and break-even net profit for the same period.
Revenue for the premium A/V business is expected to be higher than originally forecast due to ongoing improvement from the new regional organization; growing strength in the Denon brand with new AV receivers, especially the best-selling AVR3805, and new HDMI (High Definition Multi-Media Interface) DVD players, the DVD2910 and DVD3910; and strong contributions from new products introduced this summer by Marantz, including the Super Audio CD player, SA-11S1, and Pre-main amplifier, PM-11S1.
The operating profit in the first half will be negatively impacted by manufacturing cost pressures and higher operating expenses. In the Premium A/V segment, manufacturing margins were hurt by: anticipated component price reductions that were delayed as a result of a highly competitive marketplace fueled by strong worldwide cross-industry demand; a write-down of Plasma display inventories resulting from declining marketplace prices; additional product promotions in Europe to reduce distributor inventories to take full advantage of new model introductions during the second half; and delays in introducing some new products at Denon and Marantz. Additional operating expenses included severance and other costs associated with implementing the new regional organization, higher than anticipated freight costs and general operating expense increases associated with anticipated higher revenue, particularly in Japan. In the Digital Network segment, operating profit was negatively impacted by increased operating expenses from higher than anticipated new product development expenses in Rio and Escient as well as higher warranty reserves at Rio.
3. Outlook for Fiscal Year 2004 (April 1, 2004 -- March 31, 2005)
Based on the company's current outlook for the fiscal year ending March 31, 2005, D&M Holdings is revising its forecast for consolidated revenue and operating profit for the full year ending March 31, 2005. For the period, the company forecasts consolidated revenue of JPY93.8 billion (Premium AV JPY76.5 billion, Digital Network JPY17.3 billion), operating profit of JPY3.1 billion (Premium AV JPY3.8 billion, Digital Network JPY(700) million) and net income of JPY1.65 billion or 18.3 yen per share. This compares to the previous forecast of consolidated revenue of JPY89.6 billion (Premium AV JPY74.6 billion, Digital Network JPY15.0 billion), operating profit of JPY4.25 billion (Premium AV JPY4.7 billion, Digital Network JPY(450) million) and net income of JPY2.2 billion or 24.40 yen per share.
In the second half of the year, the company expects to exceed the earlier revenue forecast due to additional positive impact from the new regional organization, continued new product introductions in the Premium AV segment and four new Rio MP3 players: the Rio Carbon 5GB, the Rio Forge 512MB, the Rio Forge 256MB and the Rio Forge 128MB.
Operating profit of the Premium A/V business in the second half is expected to be lower by JPY200 million from the previous forecast due primarily to continued cost pressure on manufacturing components. The Digital Network business operating profit expected in the second half remains unchanged. Establishment of the China manufacturing facility is on track and will begin its operation this fall, and a global IT network based on SAP technology is under construction.
In Europe, D&M Holdings named Nick Isbouts, former senior vice president of Philips Division Consumer Electronics, President of D&M Sales and Marketing, Europe. This appointment, which will be effective in early September, completes the global sales and marketing reorganization that began in North America, Japan and Asia Pacific. The implementation of the reorganization in Europe will result in a one-time SG&A expense, but the new organizational structure is expected to deliver additional revenue and profit contributions from Europe.
About D&M Holdings Inc.
D&M Holdings Inc. (TSE II: 6735) is based in Tokyo and owns the Denon, Marantz, McIntosh Laboratory, D&M Professional, ReplayTV®, Rio® and Escient® brands. Denon, Marantz, McIntosh and D&M Professional are global industry leaders in the specialist home theater, audio/video consumer electronics or professional audio markets, with a strong and long-standing heritage of manufacturing and marketing high-performance audio and video components. The ReplayTV, Rio and Escient brands represent award-winning technologies in digital home entertainment. Additional information is available at http://www.dm-holdings.com .
Statements in this news release regarding D&M Holdings, Inc. that are not statements of historical fact may include forward-looking statements regarding future events or the future financial performance of the company. We wish to caution you that such statements are just predictions and that actual events or results may differ materially. Forward-looking statements involve a number of risks and uncertainties surrounding the integration of the company's acquisitions, competitive and industry conditions, targeted cost savings programs, market acceptance for the company's products, technological changes, developing industry standards and other factors related to the company's businesses.
Digital content trend drives portable player market
25 Aug 2004
The market for portable audio-video players is expected to grow by 700 percent this year, driven primarily by people who already have a lot of music and video files stored in their own PCs, a market research firm said on August 20, 2004.
By the end of the year, the market for devices known as personal media players or personal video players is expected to reach $22.5 million, In-Stat/MDR said. Year-to-year, the market is expected to post a 160 percent compound annual growth rate through 2008.
Most users today are early adopters willing to buy the expensive devices to take their own PC-stored digital content with them, Cindy Wolf McCurley, In-Stat analyst and author of a recent report on the market, said. Most users are commuters, travelers or people who want to entertain their children on the road.
How fast the devices reach a broad consumer market will depend on the amount of downloadable video content is made available through media, entertainment and other companies, McCurley said. Prices for the devices are expected to remain in the $400 to $600 range through 2008.
MS to 'quietly launch' iTunes rival this week
By Tony Smith
Tuesday 24th August 2004 15:40 GMT
Microsoft will this week release the next major version of its Windows Media system - incorporating its 'Janus' DRM technology - along with its much-anticipated online music store.
So claims a report at SiliconValley.com, which reckons the new player looks not unlike Apple's iTunes.
Napster, for one, is known to be preparing a Janus-based update to its service. Janus will allow subscription services to better support portable players, and is seen as a key factor in making the subscription model more attractive to consumers.
Given the timing of Virgin Digital's expected US and UK launch, it's likely it too will be based on Janus. Virgin Digital is powered by digital music distributor MusicNet, which has just updated its web site, logo and such.
Certainly, Rio's upcoming Carbon portable player is Janus-compatible, and it's expected to go on sale at the end of this month - circumstantial confirmation perhaps that Windows Media 10 is due to ship this week.
Windows Media 10 was released as in beta form in June. ®
Microsoft Music Store and Window Media 10 This Week?
Fraser Lovatt
24 August 04
The new MSN Online Music Store is rumoured to appear this week, along with a new version of Windows Media Player.
Since Windows Media Player's 100 million or so users will need to update their player shortly, what better opportunity to introduce them to a new music service?
The Microsoft online store is expected to carry the industry standard one million tracks when it launches, having signed deals with the big four labels. Early screen grabs of the service, now out of date, pay homage to iTunes in look and feel. Pricing is also expected to be similar to iTunes and Napster. So expect the European and UK stores to cost more.
Microsoft claim that the service will be compatible with about 60 music players, with even better functionality promised for Janus-compatible players when they start to appear.
Needless to say, we'll be signed up and testing as soon at the store hits the web.
Taiwan market: HDD MP3 players to add to price competition
Celia Lin, Taipei; Adam Hwang, DigiTimes.com [Tuesday 24 August 2004]
In the Taiwan market of MP3 players, intense price competition is expected to shift from flash-based models currently to those with built-in hard disk drives (HDDs) in the remainder of this year, according to local retail channels.
The retail prices of flash-based MP3 players in Taiwan continue to decline as new models are introduced at ever-lower prices. Many resellers are even being forced to clear out stock of older models at very low prices.
The same price competition will hit HDD MP3 players, the retail channels point out. This is because many brands, including elio (belonging to local maker Tatung), BenQ, JNC and Samsung, have already joined – or are preparing to join – the existing brands, which include Apple’s iPod, Creative and iRiver, the retail channels indicated
TI power management ICs have increased functionality
24 Aug 2004
Promising to provide increased power management functionality in smaller ICs, the two new families of single-chip, battery charge and power management ICs from Texas Instruments Inc. (TI) offer more efficient charging capabilities for single-cell Li-ion applications.
The bqTINY III (or bq2403x) series of Li-ion linear charge and system power path management devices is the latest advancement in TI´s bqTINY line of battery management charge ICs. In addition to integrated PowerFETs, high-voltage protection, current sensor, reverse-blocking protection, thermal regulation, high accuracy current and voltage regulation, the IC also offers a dynamic power-path management (DPPM) feature.
According to the company's press release, this DPPM feature allows bqTINY III to power a smart phone, PDA, MP3 player or digital still camera while independently charging the battery. It autonomously selects the USB port or the ac adapter as the power source for the system when either input source is connected. And in the absence of input sources, the bqTINY III powers the system from the battery through an integrated low RDSon power FET. The chip ensures a continuous and uninterrupted flow of power to the system, while reducing the number of charge and discharge cycles on the battery.
The bq2501x devices also integrate a 150mA dc-dc converter that provides up to 95 percent power conversion efficiency and can operate directly from a single-cell Li-ion or Li-Poly battery. The output voltage is either adjustable (bq25010) or fixed at 3.3 V (bq25011), or at 1.8 V (bq25012).
All bqTINY III devices are housed in a 3.5-by-4.5mm QFN package, and are priced at $2.30 each in quantities of 1,000 units. The bq2501x comes in a 20-pin, MLP package (3.5-by-4.5mm) and is available for $2.05 each, also in quantities of 1,000.
SigmaTel Introduces D-Major Audio Controller for Low-Cost MP3 Players
AUSTIN, Texas--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Aug. 23, 2004--SigmaTel, Inc. (Nasdaq:SGTL) today unveiled the STMP3502 MP3 audio decoder designed specifically for low-cost MP3 player solutions with FM capability. This newest addition to the D-Major(TM) STMP35xx family is being introduced as a proactive step to target potential Chinese and Far East customers that specialize in the cost-sensitive MP3 player market space. As the MP3 player market continues to grow, much of the current and future volumes will come from devices sold at the lower end of the retail cost scale.
The STMP3502 offers an extensive feature set including support for MP3 and WMA decode, FM tuner support, USB 2.0 full speed interface, LCD/LED interface, and voice record capability. In addition, the STMP3502, as with all devices in the STMP35xx family, support SLC and MLC NAND flash and USB mass storage class. Players using the STMP3502 can expect to have 20 to 25 hours of battery life on a single AA battery.
"As the MP3 player market begins to mature, low-cost solutions are beginning to have an impact on total worldwide market volumes," says Danny Mulligan, vice president and general manager of the portable audio SoC group at SigmaTel. "This latest offering expands our already extensive support into this low-cost segment and positions SigmaTel to maintain or possibly increase market share."
"An additional benefit that this new product delivers to our customers is the superior development support that SigmaTel offers," says Mulligan. "With industry-leading software expertise, we offer the most comprehensive software development environment available for the MP3 player market. Our software development kit allows customers the flexibility to differentiate their products through custom user interfaces and enables the development of multiple platforms with the same tools."
The STMP3502 is now available for new designs. For more information on D-Major audio and the STMP35xx product family, as well as development kit information and sales support, please visit www.sigmatel.com.
About D-Major:
D-Major(TM) audio decoder solutions from SigmaTel provide high quality audio playback for portable digital audio devices such as MP3-style players. As a battery-optimized System-on-Chip design, D-Major products offer a high level of integration and quality at a lower system cost, making portable audio devices more attractive to a larger audience.
About SigmaTel:
SigmaTel, Inc. a fabless semiconductor company headquartered in Austin, Texas, designs, develops, and markets proprietary, analog intensive, mixed-signal ICs for a variety of products in the consumer electronics and computing markets, including portable compressed audio players, such as MP3 players, notebook and desktop PCs, DVD players, digital televisions, and set-top boxes. SigmaTel provides complete, system-level solutions that include highly-integrated ICs, customizable firmware and software, software development tools, reference designs, and applications support. The Company's focus is on providing system-level solutions that enable customers to rapidly introduce and offer electronic products that are small, light-weight, power-efficient, reliable, and cost-effective. SigmaTel is ISO 9001:2000 certified and is committed to providing customers with high performance, quality products along with superior customer service.
Cautionary Language:
This press release contains forward-looking statements based on current SigmaTel expectations. The words "expect," "will," "should," "would," "anticipate," "project," "outlook," "believe," "intend," and similar phrases as they relate to SigmaTel or future events are intended to identify such forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements reflect the current views and assumptions of SigmaTel, but are subject to various risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from expectations. A number of important factors could cause actual results to differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements, and there will be events in the future that SigmaTel is not able to accurately predict or control. For a discussion of factors that could impact SigmaTel's financial results and cause actual results to differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements, please refer to recent SigmaTel filings with the SEC, particularly the 424(b)(4) final prospectuses filed September 19, 2003 and February 19, 2004, the Form 10-Qs that were filed on October 29, 2003, April 20, 2004 and July 20, 2004 and the Form 10-K that was filed on February 17, 2004.
D-Major is a trademark and SigmaTel is a registered trademark of SigmaTel. All other products and brand names as they appear in this release are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective holders. All specifications may be changed without notic
Grade A gadgets: MP3 players top students' must-have lists
By LINDSEY UNTERBERGER
lunterberger@journalsentinel.com
Aug. 22, 2004
Carrying a Walkman was hip in 1985. Ten years later, so was toting a portable CD player. This year, teenagers and 20-somethings are putting MP3 players alongside pens and pencils on their back-to-school must-have lists.
Electronics store employees say the portable digital music players, which can store thousands of songs downloaded from personal computers, are flying off their shelves as teens head back to class.
A survey conducted by the National Retail Federation in early July found that spending on electronics for back-to-school shopping was up almost 15% from last year, and industry experts say the pocket-size players are one of the main reasons.
Michelle Binn knew she had to have an MP3 player before starting her sophomore year at the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul, Minn.
The 19-year-old from Oconomowoc will study in Rome this semester and said there was no way she was going to lug all of her CDs overseas.
The case in her car alone holds 12 CDs, all of which she will be able to download into an MP3 player that fits in the palm of her hand.
'A cultural staple'
Craig Peterburs, store manager for Circuit City in Brookfield, said MP3 players are ideal for students who attend campuses such as the University of Wisconsin-Madison and Marquette University, where students walk to class.
"The ease of obtaining music is huge, and now there's the need to make it portable," he said. "It's not so much a requirement (to own an MP3 player), but it's become a cultural staple."
Joe Sabatini, an agent on Best Buy's "Geek Squad," which provides 24-hour technical support, said Apple's iPod, the iconic device launched in 2001, is still the most in-demand digital music player of the season.
"That's like the hottest commodity since Tickle Me Elmo," he said. "It's almost become like a status symbol."
Other gadgets making the grade for the back-to-school crowd include: DVD burners, pen drives, camera phones, digital cameras, small LCD-TVs, Xbox and PlayStation 2 gaming systems, and of course, laptop computers.
To her mother's dismay, Jackie Staus, who will be a freshman at the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater, insisted that she needed a laptop.
But the computer shopping at an area Best Buy turned into a more than $2,000 purchase, complete with printer, Ethernet cables, blank CDs, pen drive and cool carrying case.
Staus' mother, Connie, said she had no idea that her daughter would need so many accessories.
She had a particularly hard time accepting that the $1,400 computer did not come with a floppy disk drive.
The pen drives, which act like portable hard drives that can be plugged into a computer, have largely replaced floppy disks, Peterburs said.
Sabatini put pen drives on his top three list of back-to-school necessities.
Also in the top three was a laptop with integrated wireless access and an account to legally download music.
Peterburs said he thinks sales of the relatively new gadgets have increased because they're becoming more affordable.
"You don't have to buy a $400 iPod anymore," he said.
Some MP3 players retail for less than $100, depending on how many songs they hold, and Apple has introduced lower-priced iPods.
Ellen Tolley, spokeswoman for the National Retail Federation, said the increase in electronic sales is because of the popularity of new technology but also because traditional back-to-school electronics, such as graphing calculators, are more affordable than they have been in the past.
While they might not be items parents deem as necessities, she said, "they're still items kids want."
Gadgets such as MP3 players do have a practical value, she said, but a lot of kids just think they're cool.
The retail federation survey polled students in elementary through high school. Results for college students were to be released later.
Still, among back-to-school shoppers, it's mainly the students who are buying the new electronics, Tolley said.
"Parents have a lot of other things they need to buy for back to school," she said, noting that many students use the extra money they make in the summer to buy their gadget of choice.
"There's a lot of crazy cool stuff that I didn't have when I was in college," Peterburs said.
AVerMedia Has Been Invited to Join the Microsoft Consumer Experience Partner Program
MILPITAS, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Aug. 23, 2004--
AVerMedia Adds Award Winning PC/Home Theater Technology to Microsoft's Consumer Experience Partner Program
AVerMedia(R) Technologies, Inc., the leading provider of digital multimedia video convergence technology, announced today that it has accepted an invitation from Microsoft to join the Microsoft Consumer Experience (MCX) Partner Program, one of the company's most visible consumer initiatives. The Microsoft Consumer Experience Center, open to select Microsoft industry partners worldwide, gives consumers the opportunity to see how leading technologies combine with Microsoft products and services to create a complete digital experience, combining PC multimedia and home theater applications for end users worldwide.
AVerMedia digital convergence products are bridging home entertainment platforms of the future--personal computers, televisions, and home theaters--with software- and hardware-based consumer products that support a wide range of user interests. AVerMedia solutions allow people to watch TV on their PC, turn their PC into a PVR, use an LCD monitor at a TV or with any video game console/DVD player/VCR, transfer VHS video onto DVD, share digital photos on a TV, and perform other desirable home and business tasks.
AVerMedia was chosen for the Microsoft Consumer Experience Partner Program based on its unique product set and innovative convergent media technologies. Inclusion in the program will mean exclusive exposure for AVerMedia at major international trade shows and other public events; the company will also be featured on web broadcast video segments and at the MCX Center, a permanent exhibit at Microsoft's Redmond, Wash., headquarters.
"AVerMedia views its membership in the Microsoft Consumer Experience Partner Program as a singular opportunity to extend its visibility to consumers," said Arthur Pait, president of AVerMedia Technologies/USA. "The MCX Partner Program is a wonderful affirmation of the value of AVerMedia products in the next generation of consumer digital technologies. This is an exciting opportunity to work with Microsoft, combining cutting edge multimedia technology with user-friendly and comprehensive solutions."
"To fulfill the goals of the MCX Partner Program, Microsoft has searched for those technology leaders that exhibit quality, innovation and vision in responding to consumer technology needs. AVerMedia is meeting those criteria with its range of multimedia convergence products," said Kate Carcelen, Director of the MCX Partner Program at Microsoft Corp. "The MCX, with the participation of AVerMedia and our other leading corporate industry partners, is giving individuals and families an exciting look at what Microsoft technology can do to help consumers reach the full potential of today's electronic home."
AVerMedia is also fully committed to support Microsoft's Windows XP Media Center Edition 2004 operating system with our quality TV Tuner products for both Desktop PC's and Notebooks. AVerMedia supports a range of TV Tuner product ranges from PCI, USB, PCMCIA, PCI Express, and NewCards. Our family of Media Center TV Tuner product lines will be available to OEM, Distribution, and Retail channels.
For more information about the AVerMedia Technologies and its digital multimedia convergence products, visit www.avermedia.com or call AVerMedia at 408-263-3828.
About AVerMedia Technologies:
AVerMedia is the technology leader in Digital Multimedia Video Convergence Technology. Aside from its full line of TV Tuners/ Personal Video Recorder products, AVerMedia provides Document Cameras, Digital Video Maker, TV Photo Viewer and PC-to-TV Converters for consumer and corporate/educational markets. AVerMedia also partners with OEMs for the development of AVerMedia's technologies for integration applications.
AVerMedia is a registered trademark of AVerMedia Technologies, Inc. All other trademarks or registered trademarks are the property of their respective owners.
Portable media player market set to boom: Study
By JACK KAPICA
Globe and Mail Update
The next hot toys in high technology will be portable entertainment. So says market-research company In-Stat/MDR.
According to their research, called Handheld Audio/Video Players: Audio, Video, and More, released Thursday, current market trends suggest that as entertainment — movies, music — increasingly moves to digital form, sales of handheld audio-video players are expected to grow consistently over the next five years.
Known by the general name of personal media players (PMPs) or personal video players (PVPs), most of these handheld devices include audio, video and imaging. Some also act as portable personal video recorders (PVRs), recording directly from the TV to the device.
PMPs support a variety of data formats, although they offer varying levels of support.
This segment of the market should grow as much as 700 per cent 2004, and 179 per cent through 2008, In-Stat says, and PMC devices will represent about 25 per cent of shipments this year.
The company said that the earliest devices emerged in late 2003, and by the end of that year, 30 per cent of consumers were already familiar with them.
"Recent devices have had high price tags and are most useful to consumers who already have a lot of their own content," In-Stat/MDR analyst Cindy McCurley said in a statement.
"One of the critical needs for success in this product segment is the availability of content. Today, consumers have some content of their own, but many in the industry feel that the real value of these products will emerge from widespread use of downloadable video content."
This year, In-Stat predicts these products will primarily attract those who are comfortable with computerized devices and who are known as early adopters, even though manufacturers are specifically targeting commuters, travellers, and people wanting to entertain their children.
Ms. McCurley said it might take some time before the market develops the demand that many electronics manufacturers desire.
In-Stat also predicts that the capacity of the devices will increase as access to content improves, and component prices decrease. Currently, most such devices are using a 1.8-inch or 2.5-inch 20GB drive and are based either on Microsoft's Portable Media Centre (PMC) platform or a Linux platform. Some PMP products depend heavily on a personal computer to operate, while others do not require use of a PC, and the difference may sway some users' choices.
Additionally, the firm finds that most current or upcoming products will be priced in the between $400 and $600 (U.S.). The actual sale price is not expected to decrease quickly over the forecasted period.
NS8 Partners with MidStream Technologies and Amino Communications to Provide Secure Content on-Demand Digital Distribution Network
SEATTLE --(Business Wire)-- Aug. 23, 2004 --
NS8 SDDN Eradicates Digital Piracy and Enables IP Broadband Service Providers to Compete In Content On-Demand Business
NS8 Corporation (NSEO) (OTCBB:NSEO), a leader in the secure digital delivery of on-demand content, today announced the availability of its Secure Content On-Demand Digital Distribution Network (Secure DDN), an industry breakthrough that enables any IP broadband service provider to securely deliver video, music, games, or any type of digital content on-demand to a consumer's PC, television, or personal media device.
NS8Corp has partnered with MidStream Technologies Inc. to provide video streaming servers and with Amino Communications to provide next generation IP-based set-top boxes (STBs) for its SDDN.
NS8Corp has successfully integrated NS8 Security Protocol Integration(TM) (NS8 SPI(TM)), the Company's patent pending digital rights management (DRM) system, with the MidStream MVS2000 server (which currently supports 480 simultaneous streams at 3.75 Mbps) and the Amino AmiNET110 STB in the Company's video on-demand (VOD) laboratory for its IP-to-PC and IP-to-STB-TV initiatives.
The Company streamed NS8 SPI-encoded MPEG2 files from the MidStream server cluster and decoded it successfully on an Amino AmiNET110 STB in a non-secured network environment without any additional security software or hardware. NS8Corp achieved DVD quality video in two configurations: directly through an S-Video out connection from a PC to a flat screen HDTV-ready television, and from a PC to the Amino AmiNET110 STB to a flat screen HDTV-ready television.
These tests demonstrate the Company's ability to provide a transparent PC-based entertainment network environment for the home or to personal media playback devices. The solution maintains the integrity of the on-demand content delivery, payment, management, and audit systems for both content owners and multiple system operators including cable, telecommunications, and direct broadcast satellite providers.
Bailey Shewchuk, Chief Operating Officer for MidStream Technologies, Inc., said "Encryption of digital on-demand content has always been a concern to our customers and has been a fundamental requirement of our product roadmap. We are pleased to partner with NS8 to develop and demonstrate our ability to secure digital content from the studio to the set-top box."
Mike Greenall, Vice President of Marketing of Amino Communications said "We have long recognized that content management, distribution, and protection are important to the development of the broadband video market place. The NS8 SDDN offers a new weapon to combat piracy and gives content owners more confidence in the emerging telco market."
Using NS8 SPI(TM), movie studios, television producers, advertisers, and any owner or aggregator of rich media programming such as video, music, or audio content are now enabled to safely distribute their intellectual property directly to consumers over broadband networks provided by cable, telecommunication and direct broadcast satellite companies.
In addition, content owners can easily archive secure digital rich media content files on their own servers for distribution on any IP-based network, and audit in real-time how their content and usage policies are managed. NS8 SPI enables content owners to immediately revoke permissions for use of content even if the digital file has been distributed and received by or in use by the consumer.
The encryption methodology of NS8 SPI encompasses four fundamental DRM components: content encryption, business rules, royalty management, and real-time tracking and auditing of any NS8 SPI-enabled file wherever it is located on the Internet or IP-based network.
NS8 SPI also enables content owners to establish content-specific business policies to restrict recording by personal or digital video recorders (PVR/DVR) whether the content is streamed or downloaded to the consumer's PC, television, STB, DVR, or personal media device.
"In partnering with MidStream and Amino we can offer a total and secure end-to end content on-demand infrastructure solution at a price considerably more favorable than conventional video on-demand deployments to a digital head-end, central office, or satellite teleport," said Marc Strauch, Chief Marketing Officer of NS8 Corporation. "In addition, the built-in billing capabilities of NS8 SPI integrate with existing accounts payable/receivable and other back-end business and IT systems thereby enabling simpler, quicker and more efficient deployment at an inherently lower total cost of ownership, all while enabling content owners to maintain more effective control over its distribution."
The Company will commercialize IP-based distribution of content on-demand, especially video on-demand, to cable, telecommunication, and direct broadcast satellite companies through the licensing of its NS8 SPI-SDDN Management Console. The Management Console enables content owners to manage the digital security and licensing policies that are interwoven into archived digital content for distribution to various commercial distributors.
The open architecture of NS8 SPI enables easy integration with existing video streaming server technologies and STBs, including those running Microsoft Windows, UNIX, Linux, and Apple Macintosh server operating systems, without imposing additional CPU or memory usage, thereby providing an easy-to-integrate and cost-effective solution.
The NS8 SPI-SDDN Management Console enables entertainment content aggregators and distributors to manage up to 1,000 simultaneous distribution requests from up to 10 content management or content distribution servers per license located at the content owner or telco/cable/satellite facility. Each request can be automatically customized according to distribution rights and licensing policies that can immediately terminate in the event those rights or policies are breached.
The NS8 SPI-SDDN Management Console integrates with existing payment systems of cable, telecommunications, and satellite providers enabling real-time distribution of revenue-sharing of licensed content as the content is viewed by the consumer. The NS8 SPI-DDN Management Console and NS8 SPI-enabled electronic program guide (EPG) systems enable real-time auditing of viewing audiences for direct reporting to the cable/telco/satellite company or content owner to ensure the gathering of accurate licensing, accounting, and behavioral data for advertising or dedicated broadcasts of media.
About NS8 Corporation
NS8 Corporation (http://www.ns8corp.net) is a Delaware corporation specializing in the development of leading edge digital media security architecture, smart-encryption and non-resident (server-based) software technologies. Headquartered in Seattle, Washington, NS8Corp has offices in Seattle and Minnesota with primary research and development in British Columbia, Canada.
About MidStream Technologies
Based in Bellevue, WA, MidStream Technologies (http://www.midstream.com) is a leading provider of next generation media delivery network architectures and solutions designed for CATV and telecommunication system operators deploying Video On-Demand (VOD) and Network Digital Video Recording (nDVR) services. The company develops digital video on-demand streaming, storage, and asset management infrastructure components which provide flexibility, quality, and next generation features for service providers. The company was founded in 1997 and is privately held.
About Amino Communications
Amino Communications (http://www.aminocom.com) is a designer and supplier of electronic systems, specialising in products for digital broadcast and on-demand TV, IPTV (telco triple-play applications), and in-home multimedia distribution.
The Amino range of small, low-cost, high functionality set-top boxes and gateway products is designed for consumer applications in telecom, satellite and digital terrestrial broadcast markets, as well as on-demand systems for hotels and hospitality markets, healthcare, retail and education. The company partners with world-leading companies in content aggregation, middleware, conditional access, and head-end systems.
Amino Communications is part of Amino Technologies plc listed on the London Stock Exchange AIM, symbol AMO. Amino is based near Cambridge, UK, and has offices in Atlanta, Georgia.
Where Tech Could Bubble Next Year
By Jim Kerstetter
08/23/04 8:49 AM PT
Before you write off tech as downright dreary, look around and you can spot pockets of activity that could brighten the outlook for 2005. Take video delivered to consumers over the Internet. While digital music is already a thriving business, Net-based video services that can complete the notion of a digital home are just now taking baby steps into the mainstream.
It seems techdome offers little to get excited about these days. Microsoft's (Nasdaq: MSFT) (MSFT) next Windows operating system isn't due until sometime in 2006. The next generation of video-game boxes won't be out until late 2005, at the earliest. And even the once-reliable corporate software industry dominated by the likes of Oracle (Nasdaq: ORCL) (ORCL) is stuck in a consolidation mode for the first time since, well, the corporate software industry began.
Welcome to the dog days of tech. First came a boom, then a bust, the inkling of a boom, and now it's stuck in something like purgatory. While the technology industry is clearly growing again, it's hardly the 9 percent annual rate people in the industry grew to expect, even before the dot-com boom.
Some analysts believe that, due to lackluster corporate spending and few eye-catching new ideas, the industry could be stuck in 3 percent to 5 percent growth for the foreseeable future. "The consumer is doing his job" by buying tech gear, says Bryan Lewis, a vice-president at market researcher Gartner , based in Stamford, Conn. "But corporate buyers are finding ways to hold off on their spending."
Before you write off tech as downright dreary, look around and you can spot pockets of activity that could brighten the outlook for 2005. Take video delivered to consumers over the Internet. While digital music is already a thriving business, Net-based video services that can complete the notion of a digital home are just now taking baby steps into the mainstream.
"There was a lot of talk about this stuff before it happened," says Roger Kay, vice-president for client computing research at market researcher IDC. "So people can be forgiven for thinking it already did happen."
Three years ago, Apple (Nasdaq: AAPL) Computer (AAPL) jumped headfirst into the digital music business with the iPod digital music player, but it shied away from the video market. That was telling. The tech infrastructure required to send video over the Net is far more heavy-duty and is only just now being built. The nation's four largest telecom providers have all announced plans to beef up their infrastructures to improve Internet video services. "A lot of fundamental things still have to be nourished for video," says Kay. "But that is starting to happen."
Fun at Home
In large part, because of consumer interest in multimedia, PC sales are still expected to grow better than 10 percent this year, says Kay. Next year could see a point or two less but still far healthier than the negative territory of three years ago.
Certainly, execs at Microsoft see video streaming as a growth market. This fall, the Colossus of Redmond will release the third generation of its Windows XP Media Center software, a version of the Windows operating system that turns consumer PCs into home-entertainment hubs with computer screens doubling as TV monitors. The PCs themselves can store and record programming, much like a popular TiVo (Nasdaq: TIVO) (TIVO) digital video-recording device. They also simplify listening to digital music collections and editing and viewing digital photo albums.
But it's not just the tech giants getting on board. Zen, a $499 portable digital-video player from Creative Technology (CREAF) could be a harbinger of things to come in digital entertainment . Creative was one of the first to develop an MP3 digital music player with a hard drive -- a market dominated today by Apple's iPod line.
'A Breather'?
Outside of the digital home, sales of various wireless technologies are still going strong. Cell-phone sales will grow 22 percent this year, to 651.5 million units, according to InStat/MDR. "This market remains incredible. People seem to be replacing their cell phones at a rapid clip, no doubt because carriers give them away at low cost to get customers," says Allen Nogee, a principal analyst at the Scottsdale (Ariz.) research firm.
In 2005, sales could slow, however, with growth at about 4 percent, to 677 million units. "A breather wouldn't surprise me at some point," adds Neil Strother, a senior analyst at Instat/MDR. "How long can you keep growing at 22 percent?"
Combined, the wireless and home-entertainment market could boost semiconductor sales 27.4 percent, to $226.1 million this year, according to an Aug. 19 forecast by Gartner. But don't get too comfortable. Because of bad earnings news from a host of tech bellwethers in the second quarter, Gartner lowered its growth forecast for chips next year, from 13.8 percent to 9.3 percent.
Going Digital
And since so much chipmaking capacity is coming on line, pricing pressure could shrink the market by 2.6 percent in 2006. "We'll get into a boom-or-bust cycle once again," says Lewis. "No matter how well [chip] companies plan, at some point they get overcapacity."
But not for long. Computer chips, software, and other traditional tech devices are finding their way into nontraditional tech spots, like cars and medical devices -- so much so that chip manufacturers, usually considered the harbinger of success for the rest of tech, are expected to see sales rise 10 percent by 2007 and an additional 15 percent in 2008.
Certainly, there's a lot to yawn about in tech at the moment. But boring? Never.
© 2004 Business Week Online. All rights reserved.
© 2004 ECT News Network. All rights reserved.
Box-office choice for Qantas flyers
By Steve Creedy
August 23, 2004
THE long, rewinding road will take a hi-tech detour on Qantas international planes later this year when the airline starts introducing 200 channels of on-demand video and audio selections.
The computer-based system, which will be available in all seats, replaces a cassette arrangement through which passengers had a frustrating wait for the longest film to finish before the system would rewind and allow them to view their next choice.
Travellers will now be able to start a video when they choose. They can also stop, pause, rewind or fast forward it.
Passengers will also be able to select tracks from various audio channels and set up a personal play list of their favourite songs.
The upgrade will bring Qantas into line with competitors such as Singapore Airlines and significantly expand its offerings to 100 video channels and a similar number of audio options.
The airline's new A330 aircraft will be the first to feature the system. Upgrades to the Boeing 747-400 fleet, which requires some hardware changes, are expected to begin next May.
Qantas often delays the introduction of new cabin technology while it lets other airlines grapple with the bugs that invariably accompany new systems.
The strategy lets the airline limit problems, but it also allows other carriers such as Singapore Airlines to gain a marketing edge.
Consumer expectations have risen markedly since the days when airlines showed a handful of films on long journeys and left high-flying insomniacs to count down the hours in a darkened cabin.
Many long-haul airlines now see inflight entertainment as a significant drawcard for business and leisure travellers.
Qantas will also this week introduce a revamped domestic cabin service that returns hot food to economy class and ends the reign of boxed meals.
The new system, to be introduced on Wednesday, allows passengers to select food from a range of gourmet offerings.
The Australian
OT: Medion Launching New Kids' PC with Disney
Leveraging Long-Term Success in Europe, Medion Enters US Market
SAN BRUNO, Calif., Aug. 23 /PRNewswire/ -- Medion USA, a subsidiary of Germany-based PC and consumer electronics leader Medion AG, today officially announced the successful launch of its US sales and marketing operations. The company's latest offering is a joint Medion/Disney product, the Disney Dream Desk PC(TM), a Medion-built PC recently debuted in New York City.
The new product is the most recent offering in a number of jointly created Medion/Disney consumer electronics, and is one of many new Medion products scheduled to hit the American market over the coming months. Medion's fledgling US operations draw on the company's powerful German engineering and electronics background, as well as eye-catching hardware that marry form and function in products for today's emerging digital culture.
Respected in Europe for more than two decades for quality and customer care, Medion has consistently worked to deliver leading-edge technology with exceptional value. Medion has been successful in Europe, and is now bringing that same European quality to the American consumer. Medion's products meet or exceed the rigorous environmental standards set by the European Union, and provide discerning American consumers with the same top-notch components and features they are used to, but at a better price.
"Medion's multimedia products are the ideal fit for today's digital lifestyle in America. We have been proud to work with partners such as Disney in Europe, and now to expand those relationships to the US with new products," commented Brian Firestone, CEO of Medion USA. "With all of our products, the focus is on quality, reliability and end-user functionality. We look forward to introducing a number of new consumer electronics products under the Medion name for the American market, over the coming months."
Medion products include powerful multimedia systems that feature best-of-breed multimedia components from leading suppliers such as Sony(R), Seagate(R), Intel(R) NVIDIA(R) and Microsoft(R). These systems feature Intel's latest Pentium 4 processors which support the HT Technology 5xx sequence, as well as PCI Express graphics, DVD burners, 9-in-1 media readers, SATA hard drives, and 32-bit Azalia sound. These units integrate one of the most comprehensive audio/visual connection panels available on the market today, including ports for linking the PC to devices including digital audio in and out, standard RCA audio in ports, and 7.1 audio connections. A 2.1 flat panel speaker system with powered subwoofer is also included with most units.
Medion's M3 Director series PCs also come with Microsoft Windows(R) XP Media Center Edition and WinTV PVR by Hauppage(R) for watching and recording TV.
"Here at Medion, we only sell products that we would purchase for our own families and colleagues," asserted Gerd Brachmann, Chairman and CEO of Medion AG. "We are committed to providing the best quality, at the best price, with the best customer care, and this commitment is reflected across our broad array of products."
Medion has built a solid name for itself with blue-chip retailers in Europe as one of the world's best designers and engineers of a broad swath of successful technology, appliance and houseware products. With every product made, from PCs and notebooks, to plasma TV sets, DVD recorders and MP3 players, functionality and quality are combined with inspiring designs, and provided to consumers at an affordable price.
Medion has received numerous design and technology awards from top publications in Europe, Australia and the US for its products, and stands behind every product it will sell in North America with 12 months of free support from its US-based phone and online customer service center.
SigmaTel Powers New Rio Carbon Hard Drive MP3 Player
AUSTIN, Texas--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Aug. 19, 2004--SigmaTel, Inc. (Nasdaq:SGTL), a leader in analog intensive, mixed-signal integrated circuits, announces that its D-Major(TM) MP3 audio controller was selected by Rio(R) to power its latest generation of MP3 players. The Rio Carbon, a 5GB(i) hard drive player, and three new flash-based players named Rio Forge.
The Rio Carbon offers 5GB of memory on a one-inch hard drive, up to 20 hours of battery life, a Hi-Speed USB connection and voice record capability. The player will store up to 80 hours or 1250 MP3 songs, or 160 hours or 2500 WMA songs (ii). The Rio Carbon will retail for $249 and be available in stores by the end of August. The three Rio Forge MP3 flash players, available in 128MB, 256MB and 512MB are built into a rugged design with up to 20 hours of battery life, Hi-Speed USB, FM tuner and stop watch. Each are upgradeable with SD(TM) or MMC(TM) memory cards and are capable of handling a 1GB memory card.
"By utilizing SigmaTel's MP3 controller expertise, Rio was able to deliver a mini-sized player with exceptional battery life and performance," said Hugh Cooney, president of Rio Audio. "We are able to provide a consistent user interface and feature set across the new Rio MP3 players due in part to their development platform and overall design philosophies."
"We congratulate Rio on yet another great line of products," said Ron Edgerton, SigmaTel's president and CEO. "Rio has always been a very important player in the MP3 player market. We are proud to be a part of their success."
For more information on SigmaTel solutions, please visit www.sigmatel.com. For more information on the Rio MP3 player offerings, please visit www.rioaudio.com.
About SigmaTel:
SigmaTel, Inc. a fabless semiconductor company headquartered in Austin, Texas, designs, develops, and markets proprietary, analog intensive, mixed-signal ICs for a variety of products in the consumer electronics and computing markets, including portable compressed audio players, such as MP3 players, notebook and desktop PCs, DVD players, digital televisions, and set-top boxes. SigmaTel provides complete, system-level solutions that include highly-integrated ICs, customizable firmware and software, software development tools, reference designs, and applications support. The Company's focus is on providing system-level solutions that enable customers to rapidly introduce and offer electronic products that are small, light-weight, power-efficient, reliable, and cost-effective. SigmaTel is ISO 9001:2000 certified and is committed to providing customers with high performance, quality products along with superior customer service.
Gateway DMP-X20 20GB Jukebox Player Firmware version 2.7.0.5 and Service Provider Software version 2.0.3.7
9527243.exe
Download Now How to Download How to Install
Note: This installs the updated firmware for the Gateway DMP-X20 digital jukebox.
Release Date: 8/13/2004
File Size: 3,264 KB
Download Time: 8 min @ 56K
Operating Systems: All Operating Systems
Gateway Parts Supported:
Gateway DMP-X20 20 GB Digital Jukebox Player [Part #7004768]
Flying farther for less
Low-fare airlines setting their sights on overseas routes
David Armstrong, Chronicle Staff Writer
Wednesday, August 18, 2004
Low-cost carriers, flying new planes and featuring low fares, have already grabbed about 25 percent of the U.S. domestic air travel market from established mainline carriers. Now, they are planning to offer expanded international service, hoping to grow even more -- again, largely at the expense of older, long-established airlines.
Figuring that if they can't beat 'em, they should join 'em, United Airlines' low-fare unit, Ted, will also be getting in on the act. Ted plans to launch a new flight from San Francisco International Airport to Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, on Dec. 18.
In an even more ambitious move, Virgin Blue, a low-cost carrier in Australia linked to Richard Branson, founder of Virgin Atlantic Airways, said last month that it is considering starting service between Australia and the West Coast. Branson is also the creator and minority owner of Virgin America, a low-fare startup that plans to base its operational headquarters in San Francisco when it begins flying sometime next year.
Moreover, the Indianapolis low-cost carrier ATA Airlines said it plans to begin flying to several as yet unnamed European cities from its hub at Chicago's Midway airport by next summer. ATA's senior vice president for marketing and sales, John Happ, said ATA's European flights will have both economy class and a newly created business class. If the low-cost carriers succeed beyond U.S. borders, they could offer big savings and multiple travel choices to passengers, airline experts say.
But this growth strategy may only go so far without significant upgrades in service, experts say. For one thing, the crimped food service and cramped seats that work fine on two-hour domestic flights might not be welcomed on 10- hour flights across the Pacific to Asia or over the Atlantic to Europe.
"Low-cost carriers are realizing that people want service, and not just a dried-up turkey sandwich,'' said Terry Trippler, a consumer advocate for SideStep, a travelers' search engine on the Internet. "No-frills is OK for a point-to-point domestic flight, even a transcontinental, but on a flight from San Francisco across the Pacific? I don't think it would cut it.''
Bigger planes for long-haul service, a greater need for expensive fuel, prying loose prized landing rights at major international airports and the expensive in-flight entertainment systems and full meals expected by world travelers could all raise costs significantly. Even the low-fare leader Southwest Airlines -- the most highly valued airline in the world, with a market capitalization of $11.5 billion -- has so far stayed out of international markets.
However, discounters commonly fly international routes in Europe, where nations are small and close together, and discounters are beginning to fly throughout Southeast Asia. Singapore Airlines, for instance, has taken a 49 percent stake in Tiger Air, a new, Singapore low-cost airline.
Taking note of this, U.S. discounters -- which keep fares low by flying new, fuel-efficient airplanes, using staff often paid less than workers at mainline carriers and flying one type of aircraft to hold down maintenance costs -- are increasingly looking beyond the border for new business.
So far, low-cost carriers are nibbling around the edges of the international market, concentrating on flying to sun-and-fun holiday destinations or to places with cultural, ethnic and commercial links to their home bases.
JetBlue Airways, for example, flies between its hub at New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport and several resort cities in Mexico, as well as to the Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico, home countries of many Latino New Yorkers.
ATA flies between SFO and Puerto Vallarta, a service it markets mainly to vacationers. United's low-fare unit, Ted, will compete with ATA for Bay Area passengers on that route come December.
"San Francisco is really playing a key role in Ted,'' said Sean Donohue, United vice president in charge of Ted, which began service in February and uses a fleet of 45 Airbus 320s that were reconfigured from three classes into two -- premium economy and coach -- for Ted travelers. Ted's Mexico service, he said, will be marketed to "fare-sensitive leisure travelers.''
Critics have complained that, even before the start of Ted's low-cost service on its domestic routes, the low-fare unit might cannibalize the revenue of its full-fare parent, if both fly on the same route.
That isn't the case in San Francisco. Ted's planned fall service to Puerto Vallarta isn't something United Airlines offers to full-fare passengers.
After its first six months aloft, Ted is bringing in enough passengers to fill percentages in the high 80s of its seats, as compared with the low to mid- 80s for the larger carrier. The main United division has been in Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection since 2002 and is looking for a boost in revenue.
Ted, said Donohue, is likely to fly to other international destinations, perhaps by next year. These will probably also be resorts and vacation spots. The Caribbean, Donohue said, is a possible destination.
"In terms of transpacific or transatlantic, I don't see Ted flying those routes,'' he said. For one thing, United wants to fly a single type of aircraft, to contain costs and retain fleet simplicity, and the A320, with a maximum range of 2,500 miles, can't cross the Atlantic, let alone the Pacific, nonstop.
For another, Donohue said he doesn't think long-haul passengers would like the pared-down service typically offered on LCCs in return for cheap seats.
Rightly or wrongly, the major network carriers who dominate long-haul international routes think the same thing.
"The no-frills thing is OK if you're flying just an hour or two,'' said Tom Fredo, a spokesman for All Nippon Airways, which operates a daily nine- or 10-hour flight between SFO and Tokyo. "But on a nine-hour flight, you don't want somebody saying, 'Here you go, here's a bag of peanuts.' "
Cheap overseas flights
Low-cost carriers are increasingly adding flights to sun and fun destinations, some of them international, as they consider new ways to expand.
Here are some international routes presently served or planned by low- cost carriers..
Ted (United Airlines' discount unit):
Will begin service from San Francisco International Airport to Puerto Vallarta, Mexico in mid-December. $159..
JetBlue Airways:
New York (John F. Kennedy International Airport) to Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, for $99 and to San Juan, Puerto Rico, for $69..
ATA Airlines:
From San Francisco International Airport to Cancun, Mexico, for $204..
America West Airlines:
From Oakland International Airport to Mazatlan, Mexico, for $231..
Fares are one-way, booked on airline Web sites, for travel on Sept. 18
E-mail David Armstrong at davidarmstrong@sfchronicl.com.
HAWAIIAN AIRLINES CUTS BUSINESS CLASS FARES BETWEEN AUSTRALIA AND HAWAII
SYDNEY - Hawaiian Airlines has introduced new roundtrip Business Class fares, available year-round, which start at A$2,582 plus tax of about A$145, from Sydney to Honolulu. For A$2,722 plus tax, passengers will be able to fly Business Class from Sydney to the Hawaiian neighbour islands of Maui, Kauai, Lanai, Molokai or the Big Island of Hawaii, while passengers for Seattle, San Francisco, Los Angeles, San Diego or Las Vegas can do so for A$3,956, plus tax. The airline uses Boeing 767-300 aircraft, on which 18 leather seats in a 2 x 2 x 2 configuration, each with 40 inches of legroom, are provided.
Business Class passengers will also gain free use of the new dig-E-player personal entertainment system, a portable on demand video and audio system. Hawaiian Airlines flight HA22 departs Sydney at 9.20pm every Sunday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday, arriving in Honolulu at 11.10am the same day.
Rival Targets Apple's ITunes Customers
Last updated: August 17. 2004 2:43A
By ALEX VEIGA
AP Business Writer
For more than a year, Apple Computers Inc. enjoyed singular success selling songs exclusively to users of its iPod portable music player. Now, it's got rival RealNetworks Inc. trying to lure iTunes customers away.
Last month, Seattle-based RealNetworks fired the first shot at Apple, announcing that it had developed technology that allows songs purchased through its own online music services to be played on iPods. On Monday, the company said it would temporarily slash its price for song downloads to 49 cents - 50 cents less than iTunes.
The promotion, which begins Tuesday, coincides with a series of print ads meant to show iPod users they have an alternative to Apple's iTunes Music Store.
The sale, which also features full-album downloads for $4.99, $5 dollars less than iTunes, is only slated to last a limited - though unspecified - amount of time.
Then there's the ads, featuring an iPod-as-padlock with its lock in the open position and the tag line "Half the price of Apple. Welcome to freedom of choice."
Despite all that, RealNetworks claims it's not targeting Apple specifically, only pursuing its goal of making its service compatible with as many digital players as possible.
A spokeswoman for Cupertino-based Apple said Monday that the company would have no immediate comment.
RealNetwork's campaign and price promotion are likely to add to the public acrimony between the two companies.
Apple has accused RealNetworks of using the "tactics and ethics of a hacker" to circumvent the iPod's internal copy-protection software, which had limited the market-leading music player to holding songs downloaded from iTunes or in the generic MP3 music format.
Josh Bernoff, an analyst with Forrester Research Inc., said RealNetwork's strategy had potential to pay off in the short run.
"The people who are using iTunes are going to be influenced by this, and the reason is they're locked in," Bernoff said. "Apple is in the process of solidifying and creating a monopoly in digital music and this format compatibility issue is the way they lock people in."
Any gains that RealNetworks makes on the cheaper price of its song downloads may not last, however.
"They won't be 49 cents forever," Bernoff said. "They will probably lose somewhere in the range of about $2 million between now and when the promotion is over, and that has to stop because it's no way to run a business."
Hollywood still wary of Microsoft
Monday, August 16, 2004 Posted: 10:41 AM EDT(1441 GMT)
LOS ANGELES, California (AP) -- CinemaNow Inc., the Internet-based movie service, is a rarity in Hollywood -- a company that eagerly embraces Microsoft Corp. technology and relies on it exclusively to transmit, protect and display the movies it rents to customers.
Then again, Microsoft is a major investor in the company, which is also owned by independent studio Lions Gate.
The majority of entertainment companies, unsure of Microsoft's motives and wary of its cutthroat tactics in the battle for the computer desktop, have preferred to maintain an arm's-length relationship with the software Goliath.
But these days, studios fear digital piracy more than they fear Microsoft and have slowly begun to make deals to use its software tools, albeit on a non-exclusive basis.
For its part, Microsoft has tried to calm Hollywood's anxiety, revealing a portion of its proprietary code for compressing large media files to a standards-setting group and offering longer-term deals to assuage fears it would hike the price of each new software version.
"They are being subtly aggressive, not like in the PC industry where they used strong-arm tactics," said Michael Wolf, principal analyst at research firm In-Stat.
Microsoft also is starting to see limited success in its efforts to work with Hollywood in the still nascent online movie market. Last week, Microsoft's MSN Internet division began linking to Blockbuster Inc.'s online rental service. MSN also offers a limited number of pay-per-view movies through CinemaNow.
At a time when studios are seeking to make higher-quality versions of movies and television shows available on everything from computers to cell phones, dealing with Microsoft has become almost unavoidable.
"Microsoft wants to be the sticky stuff in the middle between the studios and all the different platforms consumers will use," said American Technology Research analyst P.J. McNealy. "They have the chance to really enable business models that we have heard about over the past five years."
But at what price?
Two fears
Microsoft has long dallied with the media business, forming the MSNBC cable network with NBC and launching its own video game console to take advantage of the burgeoning game market.
It formed the online magazine Slate, which it recently said it would sell, and launched a number of other forays, not always successful. Its MSN service still lags America Online and it has closed a number of other ventures, including Mungo Park, an adventure travel Web site.
It has also amassed a huge amount of cash and a reputation as an aggressive and relentless competitor, willing to use its virtual monopoly power in computer operating systems to crush would-be competitors.
That power made studios highly suspicious when Microsoft came calling in the 1990s seeking to persuade Hollywood to make content available in digital form on computers and home networks.
"There was an assumption that we were out there to screw them," said Kurt Buecheler, a former executive in Microsoft's digital media division whose job included approaching studios for possible deals.
"There were two fears," Buecheler said. "One was that Microsoft could buy the companies. The reality of that was just silly. Microsoft knows how to do technology and software. They don't know how to tell a story.
"Second, they (studios) looked at the PC as a device that was almost the murder weapon of the music industry when, in fact, it wasn't."
Those suspicions still linger, even as Microsoft has struck deals with several studios to protect movies and TV shows from piracy.
Microsoft recently announced a number of licensees for its latest Windows Media digital rights software, dubbed "Janus," including The Walt Disney Co., AOL, Dell Inc., Samsung Electronics Co. and Movielink LLC, an online movie company owned by five of the seven major Hollywood studios. The licensing agreements are not exclusive, though. Movielink, the biggest Internet film provider, also offers films in RealNetworks Inc.'s format.
In July, Microsoft joined a cross-industry effort aimed at protecting content on different networked devices, including a new class of portable media players that are expected to be hot holiday season sellers.
That consortium includes Sony Corp., which promotes its own proprietary technology for viewing entertainment, including the movies and TV shows produced by its studio arm.
Microsoft views these deals as thawing its icy relations with Hollywood and eradicating old stereotypes about Microsoft software being buggy.
Yet Microsoft can't quite shake fears that its real intention is to use its monopoly position to charge Hollywood outrageous fees to access the computer desktop.
In March, the European Union fined Microsoft $613 million, finding the company guilty of abusing its Windows monopoly to squeeze out rivals in related markets for digital media players. The EU ordered Microsoft to sell a version of Windows without its media player. Microsoft is appealing.
While Hollywood needs tools that compress huge computer files -- especially digital files that contain next-generation, high-definition images -- small enough to put on a DVD or send over the Internet, studios say they need to encourage competition so they won't be held hostage by one company.
Microsoft says it has learned from its earlier, sometimes heavyhanded, dealings with Hollywood.
The company recently plucked a Hollywood veteran to run a new division to develop relationships with the entertainment and media industries. Blair Westlake, a former chairman of the Universal Television and Networks Group, will be responsible for bridging the gaps between Hollywood, consumer electronics companies and government regulators.
Amir Majidimehr, who runs Microsoft's Windows digital media division, said he understands that Hollywood is wary of ceding any of that power to a technology company like Microsoft. But he adds that recent agreements to work with Disney and Warner Bros. have helped allay Hollywood's fears.
He also notes that Hollywood holds the power in the relationship. He noted that Hollywood as kingmaker crowned the DVD format and MPEG-2 as the favored tool to compress large video files.
And now, he said, the content creators will lose if they are overcautious while ever-growing broadband Internet connections make swapping a two-hour movie as fast as a two-minute song.
"Our strategy is very simple -- we make money selling Windows and we want to sell more copies of it. The way we sell more is to add new applications to it," said Majidimehr.
"What we're trying to do is be very true to our intentions, which is to drive PC sales. We've got to play fair, we've got to play open and frankly, we think we're doing it better than any competitors
Archos Gmini 400 released
http://www.archos.com/products/overview/gmini_400.html
Roku: Convergence in the Making HD media player not there yet
http://www.digitalpostproduction.com/articles/viewarticle.jsp?id=25831
Airlines industry needs structural changes
By Raquib Siddiqi
Aug 14, 2004, 13:10
The problems facing the airline industry today are not merely cyclical, they are structural and, as such, demand a structural solution, say a study.
The study said the global airline industry is in crisis, and industry icons are fighting for survival. The scene is reminiscent of a decade ago, when the airline industry struggled through the last recession and the aftermath of the Gulf War.
There are too many airlines and too many hubs operating in a competitive environment where exit barriers are high. Market forces and bankruptcy protection ensure that distressed capacity does not disappear; instead it comes back, potentially at a lower cost level, threatening to trigger price wars that drive still more airlines into bankruptcy, it said. The big difference, in recent times, is the impact of low cost carriers (LCCs). Ten years ago, the LCC threat in the US was limited to a regional carrier, Southwest Airlines, and some under funded start-ups. Europe was not threatened at all. Today, LCCs, operating at half the cost levels of traditional network carriers, threaten to undermine the whole hub and spoke (H&S) system. Even the Middle East has seen LCCs starting to operate.
Clearly, a new business model is needed that eliminates the structural cost penalties of the H&S model while retaining and selectively enhancing key service and coverage attributes, the study said. The airline industry in all the regions is undergoing major change. On one hand, the pace of change in regulatory environments is expected to increase mainly driven by governments' willingness to reduce their subsidies to unprofitable flag carriers and to unleash economic development driven by a more vibrant air transport industry. On the other hand, a commitment to develop regional tourism is also spurring growth of air travel.
Airlines, however, continue to suffer from low profitability. High costs and pressure on prices are the norm. Business travellers, in particular, are no longer prepared to pay the high fares tolerated in the late 1990s. Indeed, both corporate and individual travelers are asking for lower prices, high frequencies, and simpler, more efficient service, the study said.
Part of the industry's problem is the very nature of the product it offers. An airline seat is a fixed-cost perishable product. The incentive to fill empty seats and fly underutilized aircraft is tremendous. Idle capacity inevitably comes back on the market as start-ups buy the aircraft or established airlines increase the utilization of expensive assets. Meanwhile, manufacturers continue to build and deliver new aircraft, adding new capacity to the market.
Pricing and overcapacity pressures, however, pale in comparison to the impending impact of the cost gap that exists in the airline industry.
The study has evaluated the cost gap between full service airlines and LCCs on both sides of the Atlantic, and the similarities are striking. Cost differences exist across the board: pilots, on board services, sales and reservations, maintenance, aircraft ownership, ground handling.
This is not simply a matter of LCCs paying lower salaries or using cheaper airports; rather it is a function of fundamental differences in the LCC business model. LCCs have successfully designed a focused, simple operating model around nonstop air travel to and from high-density markets.
H&S carriers, on the other hand, support a highly complex system of operations. Their business model is predicated on offering consumers a broad range of destinations, significant flexibility (ranging from last-minute seat reassignments and upgrades to complete itinerary and routing changes), and "frills" (e.g. specialty meals, lounges, in-flight entertainment, etc.). It's a model that labours under the built-in cost penalties of synchronised hub operations (e.g. long aircraft turns, slack built into schedules to increase connectivity) and that implicitly accepts a slower business pace to accommodate continuous change, legacy systems, and the added time it takes for passengers and baggage to make connections. In addition, the H&S business model relies upon highly sophisticated information systems and infrastructure to optimise its fundamental value proposition: to take anyone from anywhere to everywhere... seamlessly.
LCCs could potentially-and successfully-participate in very large segments of air travel which could reach more than 70 percent of the US domestic market, the study said.
The only sectors which provide H&S carriers appreciable protection are smaller "connect markets" that cannot be reasonably serviced on a nonstop basis (20 percent of the U.S. domestic market) and longer-haul markets, where onboard services are more prized and the cost differential is smaller (10 percent of the market).
It is the LCCs' impact on overall price levels - not the loss of traffic - that poses the real threat to traditional H&S carriers. LCCs actually stimulate significant new traffic as they enter a market. But they also bring down price levels, and those price pressures manifest themselves in a broad range of markets: in local markets to and from the hub, in shuttle markets, in connecting markets, and in adjacent markets (i.e. those not directly served by the LCC, but available via ground transportation).
The challenges facing H&S airlines are further complicated by the fact that there are too many hubs and too many airlines. The revenue base of a traditional airline is dependent on maintaining the loyalty of its most frequent business travelers and leadership in its home markets, the study said.
To be competitive, an H&S carrier needs to serve a wide range of destinations and provide frequent, comprehensive service. However, this can create much more connecting capacity than the underlying market requires, with many airlines pricing below fully allocated costs in order to fill capacity.
To continue to operate in this competitive environment, H&S carriers need to overhaul their business systems to move costs within range of the LCCs' and reduce their sensitivity to economic and competitive pressures, it said.
To effect this overhaul, carriers must urgently restructure their core operations. In some regions, such as Europe, carriers have the luxury of employing two parallel approaches, given the lower penetration of LCCs. Airlines may chose to introduce low-cost subsidiaries in order to participate immediately in growth markets that its core operations cannot access with their currently high cost structures, while simultaneously redesigning their core network operation to compete effectively with the looming threat of LCCs.
The key to effectively restructuring an H&S airline's core network is implementing a lower cost structure business model without giving up the critical service and coverage attributes prized by high-value customers. Ideally, this restructuring would increase the product differentiation between high and low priced services and would occur in conjunction with network changes designed to reduce competitive vulnerability through more direct flights and/or mergers.
In sum, the industry's major H&S carriers need to design and adopt a new business model, whose "objective function" is to eliminate the costs of complexity and provide a more differentiated service between customer/ product segments.
They can accomplish this goal by designing processes that reflect the simple needs of the vast majority of customers, while focusing discretionary expenditures on those areas where they add consumer value and contribute to the bottom line, the study said.
Such a model will almost certainly result in substantial changes in most airline product attributes and support requirements, including network structure, pricing strategies, fleet structure, and service policies. However, the benefits are substantial.
"The new operating model we are suggesting would improve the defensibility of H&S carriers as services would be more closely aligned with customer needs; cost levels would be substantially lower; and the enterprise would be more closely focused on local traffic,'' the study said.
© Copyright 2003 by The New Nation
San Diego answer for digital music (not about eDig)
By: BRADLEY J. FIKES - Staff Writer
Apple's iTunes popularized legal Internet music downloading, and more companies are jumping in. Last week, Roxio, the maker of CD-burning software, said it would take the name of its Napster unit and focus exclusively on digital music.
San Diego, where the digital music business first took off with MP3.com, provides a better solution. It's eMusic.com, which delivers music through the Internet with near-perfect ease and perfect legality.
I had heard of eMusic a while ago, but didn't sign up for it until recently. I can't believe I waited so long. Although the music selection is limited, there's more than enough to satisfy music lovers of all tastes.
Start with ease of use. The basic service costs $10 a month, and gets you 40 song downloads a month. You get 50 free downloads to start, and can cancel before your credit card is billed.
The Web site is a pleasure to navigate. Finding the music is as simple as typing in the name of an artist, album or song. Even the limited selection of 400,000 songs includes more desirable music than you'll ever have time to listen to.
Edith Piaf, the archetypical French torch singer, is represented by five albums. These include such classic songs as her burning "No Regrets," the haunting French-language "Theme de Exodus" and her signature song, "La Vie En Rose."
If that kind of music doesn't satisfy, there's Billy Bragg, Bad Religion, Bob Marley, Dead Can Dance, The Cramps, Ella Fitzgerald, Miles Davis, Sun Ra, Violent Femmes and They Might Be Giants.
Tragically, Britney Spears, Milli Vanilli and Zamfir, Master of the Pan Flute, are not included.
Downloading the music couldn't be easier. It's in standard MP3 format, meaning there's no restrictive copy protection. You are even encouraged to make backup copies and put the songs on your portable music player.
The no-hassle policy extends to Web browser and operating system. I signed up on a Linux computer, running the Mozilla browser. The company offers download manager software, but it is not mandatory. You can download just by right-clicking the song icon and saving to your hard drive, as I did.
By providing quality music, for a very low cost, without treating customers as criminals, eMusic is fair to artists, music companies and customers. This approach, not that of iTunes or the new Napster, should be digital music's future.
Contact staff writer Bradley J. Fikes at bfikes@nctimes.com or (760) 739-6641.
Digital River and Circuit City new music download service
Just a little blurb sent out by Circuit City email....
This week we're also introducing Digital River, our new software download service. Check it out and get software delivered to your PC instantly.
iPod's still the Apple of my ear, even with a Walkman in hand
August 15, 2004
The teenage nephew with the spiky, Billy Idol-ish hair arrived from Italy last month, his first visit to the United States of America, and I figured he'd be hot to meet some girls, go to a sandy beach (he's used to the rocky Adriatic) and probably visit some of New York City's notorious electronics shops.
"Wanna meet some girls?" I asked him a couple of days into his holiday.
"No," he said.
"Wanna go to the beach?"
"No."
"Want anything?"
He thought for four or five seconds.
"An iPod," he said.
The word "Sony" never crossed his lips.
This month, Sony's belated response to Apple's mini-miraculous portable audio player arrives in stores, priced at a premium of one-third over the comparable Apple iPod. We went to Sony Style on Madison Avenue, where the device called NW-HD1 had already landed, the sales tag at $399.
"How's it compare to the iPod?" I asked a salesman.
"Battery life is a lot longer, up to 30 hours," he said.
"The LCD readout is kind of dim," I said.
"Battery life is a lot longer," he said.
"I understand it can't play MP3 files," I said.
"Battery life is a lot longer," he said.
Sense a theme here?
Sony has named its svelte, brushed-silver slice of high technology the Network Walkman - the marketable Walkman name, and the tape player itself, is now 25 years old - as the company grabs at any advantage it can to beat back Apple in this potentially huge market category.
For more than two years the Japanese giant had insisted that its MiniDisc format, which uses slim digital discs that can now hold up to 45 hours of music, was its answer to the iPod. MiniDisc has a committed legion of advocates, and it will continue in Sony's U.S. line. But it became clear along the way that it was not real competition for Apple.
So we have the freshly minted NW-HD1, and in the offing a second hard-disc-based player, the Vaio Pocket, branded under Sony's computer marque, that will be about $500. In response, Apple is shipping its fourth-generation iPod and has cut the price of its 20-gigabyte model - the same capacity as the Network Walkman - to $299.
The Sony player is amazingly compact and strikingly light, and it offers a sonic clarity that's comparable to iPod when the songs are recorded at a decent kilobit rate (Sony claims 13,000 songs can be stored on the NW-HD1, and they can - and they are so compressed that they sound lousy). The battery-life round defaults readily to Sony - 30 hours is probably overstatement, but the HD-1 trounces the new iPod's 12-hour range.
Before we get to the software agita, a couple of hardware issues: The readout screen on the HD1 lacks contrast, and the readouts are small. There is something akin to Apple's navigation wheel on the front of the package; it also is too small. In fact, nothing about the machine's physical controls is particularly intuitive.
In 25 years, when I look back at the history of online music distribution and Sony's role in it, I'll Google "ATRAC." ATRAC3 is Sony's proprietary compression formula for music, and its continuing cross to bear. The new Walkman will not play MP3s, or WMAs, or WAVs; its software, SoniceStage 2, must convert all files to ATRAC before they'll work with the HD1.
Depending on the extent of one's library, this can be a grueling process. On occasion, the process is interrupted for no apparent reason. Compared with the ease of shuttling songs from a Mac's iTunes program to an iPod, ATRAC3 is medieval.
On the road, the HD1's navigation wheel is used to scroll the various menus and select among artists, genres, albums, etc. This comes up when the "Mode" button is pressed; a separate "Menu" button sends you to the Play Mode. Got that?
The new iPod has a click wheel borrowed from the iPod Mini: One-thumb operations via the wheel include selecting playlists, scrolling through songs and starting play.
The HD1 is bundled with a handsome dock that doubles as a feed to (or from) the PC via a USB connector, and it's recharged using a separate, included AC adapter (the HD1 comes with headphones and a USB cable as well). Apple sort of one-ups this scheme with a dock that funnels a charge to the iPod's battery when the player is cabled (FireWire or USB) to the computer.
The Sony player works only with Windows PCs.
While the iPod gets juicier as time passes, it seems that Sony plays catch-up. Catching up is one thing; catching up to Apple guru Steve Jobs is another.
Email: steve.williams@newsday.com
Copyright © 2004, Newsday, Inc.
Toshiba Debuts New Line of 1.8-inch HDDs
(fifth article on subject lol)
By Erika Morphy
Data Storage Today
August 12, 2004 2:55PM
"If you look at consumer-electronic devices today, there is a huge dividing wall between those that are great at utilizing hard drives and those that are not," Toshiba's Amy Dalphy says. "Hard drives are key for empowering application software to make it a point of play for consumers."
Toshiba Storage Device Division has debuted a new family of 1.8-inch hard disk drives (HDDs) that, it says, offers the highest capacity in this form factor.
With 93.5 gigabits-per-square-inch density, Toshiba is able to pack 30 GB of data onto a single 1.8-inch platter, an increase of 50 percent over current models.
Pushing the Envelope
To achieve this benchmark, the company made improvements to push the capacity, increase shock resistance and to lower power consumption and noise, said Amy Dalphy, manager, HDD business unit, Toshiba SDD. But the key enhancement, according to the company, was the replacement of the Pico Sliders with Femto Sliders.
Femto Sliders are attached to the drive's heads, and maintain the appropriate distance from the disk during read and write operations. The new Femto Sliders are 35 percent smaller and much lighter. Advances were also achieved in the thin-film technology for both the head and the platter.
The new drives also feature improved vibration resistance and are now capable of withstanding 2G of vibration during operation.
Power consumption also was reduced; power consumption of two models of this family is approximately 20 percent lower, on average, than the company's current drive, due to application of pulse-width modulation to control the disk-rotation speed. A DC-DC converter is used in the power unit to reduce power consumption.
Form Factor
The company has designed this family of drives for use in audio applications, such as mobile audio players, and mini-notebook PCs. Demand in this category of electronic components is growing, Dalphy told NewsFactor.
"If you look at consumer-electronic devices today, there is a huge dividing wall between those that are great at utilizing hard drives and those that are not," she said. "Hard drives are key for empowering application software to make it a point of play for consumers."
The 1.8-inch 30-GB and 60-GB HDDs will begin shipping in the fourth quarter of 2004. Toshiba's 1.8-inch HDDs are currently available in 10-GB, 20-GB, 30-GB (currently a dual-platter drive) and 40-GB capacities for embedded applications, and in a 5-GB PC-card-type mobile HDD.
WSJ on How the iPod Crushed Creative's Nomad: Branding
by Ricky Spero, 2:00 PM CDT, August 12th, 2004
The Wall Street Journal has published a piece reminding us that Apple isn't always the innovator when it comes to products. In an article called "When Being First Doesn't Make You No. 1," Chris Prystay explains how Singapore-based Creative's Nomad player was among the first hard drive music players to market, but that it failed to catch fire because of the firm's poor marketing tactics.
More generally, the article explores the power of marketing the name of a firm or product rather than the usefulness of the product itself. The tactic is called "branding," and it is a strategy at which Apple excels, which serves as the basis for comparison in the Journal's article. From the article:
In business, though, being first doesn't always make you No. 1. Creative is best-known for its Sound Blaster audio cards for personal computers, a product category it pioneered and continues to dominate. But it's still a niche player; annual sales are a tenth of Apple's.
[...]
And so -- as often happens with innovative Asian manufacturers -- the Creative MP3 player has been a modest hit, while the iPod became a global sensation.Apple ran marketing rings around Creative even in its own backyard. For iPod's Singapore launch in late 2001, Apple plastered the city-state's main shopping district with funky posters and ran a hip ad blitz in movie theaters. Creative's response finally came last month, when it began sponsoring a children's TV show and running its first-ever televised ad campaign. But the ads ran only in Singapore.
"There's been a big shift in our business, and right now, our biggest challenge is marketing," concedes Creative's founder and chief executive, Sim Wong Hoo. "But I'm stingy. I don't want to waste money unless I know it's going to work."
There is much more in full article, which we recommend as a good read (subscription required).
The Mac Observer Spin:
In the article Mr. Sim is quoted saying, "Marketing is important, I know that. But we've always had the best technology, and we still do." He is also quoted saying, "We were first, but Apple has more [money] to splash around." The latter comment may be true, It is important to remember that Apple had two other very, very important assets to "splash around": clever design and iTunes.
We'll be the first to admit that branding is a significant part of the iPod's success. But Apple could not have branded itself as a "cool company" if its products couldn't back it up. The iPod is cool because it's both functional and fashionable.
Equally important was the existing presence of Apple's iTunes. iTunes had been around for a while before the iPod came out; the kinks were mostly worked out, and people were satisfied with it as a jukebox program. That allowed Apple to release a hardware product tied exclusively to that piece of software. Apple gets criticized for making a "closed platform," but people still buy it because it works. If the relationship between iTunes and the iPod were not so smooth, people wouldn't even bother to criticize it -- they'd just take their dollars elsewhere.