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Personal Media Center: Neither Dumb nor Dirty
By Dave Salvator
August 12, 2004
Never one to pull punches, our own Jim Louderback has had some pretty blunt opin-ions about Microsoft's Personal Media Center ini-tiative and the forthcoming portable video players from Creative and Samsung based around it. Jim's right that there's going to be a lot of initial stumbling blocks for these products, but that doesn't mean they won't eventually find a market.
The problem for these devices will be the same as it ever was: fair use, copyright, and digital rights management. Any content delivery device has to face down these demons, and making something useful that won't attract an army of lawyers is a delicate balancing act. But someone's going to find that balance. The road from here to there is going to be very bumpy, but we will eventually get there. Why? Because we love content.
Follow the Porn
This adage has been true with the tech industry for decades. Clothing-optional content drove VCRs sales in the early 1980s, as well as the adoption of MPEG-1 on PCs in the early '90s. Porn has also helped drive DVD player sales, though the device's first "killer app" was The Matrix. Smut peddlers were also some of the first webpreneurs to find their way to profitability in the 1990s. If you've ever enabled the Search Monitor feature in Kazaa Lite, you know that about every other search per-formed by Kazaa users is something porn-related.
Some purveyors of these new portable video players (PVP) believe P2P-obtained smut may help drive early adopters toward these products, but Jim raises a very good question in his musings: Are people going to watch this stuff on a bus or in the subway? Maybe, but I sure hope not. Microsoft apparently believes that users will grab copyrighted TV shows from P2P networks and transcode them to run on the PVPs. While that is certainly going to happen, I have a hard time believing that Microsoft would invest big bucks in this initia-tive based on that premise alone. Clearly, Microsoft envisions a model in which you have a subscription to legally download and view (but not copy) copyrighted TV content onto a PVP.
I am a proud member of the Church of the Holy DVR. It has forever changed the way I watch TV. Viewing is now done on my terms, not the TV's—and there ain't no go-ing back, ever. Until these PVPs can replicate the ease of use of a DVR, I don't know that they will have mass-market appeal.
Are there enough users out there who are going to mine multiple P2P networks for content, download it, transcode it, and copy it to the player, just to have a mobile version of the experience they've had in their living rooms for years? My instincts say probably not.
De-Balkanize the Content
In order for PVP to appeal to a mass audience, a service like MovieLink, or even the TV networks themselves need to develop some kind of content subscription model. But for this thing to really fly, large amounts of "the good stuff"—you know, the shows we actually want to see -- will have to be available from a few sources. If I'm forced to have five subscriptions to get all the stuff I want, the nuisance factor outweighs the benefit. The cable providers might actually have a play here, although it requires them understanding that if they completely ignore this opportunity it will eventually become a threat to their business. In fact, P2P trading of content from the likes of Showtime and HBO already eats into those companies' revenues, but the emergence of a PVP market will only make mat-ters worse.
Here's a place where cable providers have a distinct advantage over satellite provid-ers: without too much effort, a cable provider can provide a fat data pipe into your home, meaning you could readily download content onto your PVP to take with you. Satellite can't really do that, since it's much more bandwidth-constrained.
It's the classic "chicken-or-the-egg" scenario: cable providers would have to invest large dollars into such an undertaking and, unless there's a good-size base of players out there, the service won't really generate revenue. But, until there's a compelling content source, the PVP market will only grow slowly. PCs may be the missing link, since the ser-vice could let us watch (but not copy) content from any PC in the house. Now the whole thing is starting to look like…the DVR they already offer us. An interesting possibil-ity might be a cradle for a PVP that sits atop your cable/satellite DVR box, so when you setup a show to be recorded, you have an option to copy it to your PVP. Any cable pro-vider willing to step up and take this on would be rolling the dice—and snake-eyes are a real possibility.
As for me, I'd like to be able to download last night's episode of "The Daily Show," a recent half-hour segment of "CNN Headline News," and a fresh edition of "SportsCenter" to a PVP to watch on my morning/evening commutes. Ideally, it would be an additional service from my content provider, but do I simply have to have this content in a handheld player? Not really. With the amount of legwork involved with the current set of PVPs coming to market (mine illegal content, download, transcode, copy, rinse, repeat), the prospect seems that much less appealing. No, the content-to-PVP connection has to get easy, legal, and cheap before PVPs go mass market. Meanwhile, if you have to watch smut in public with one of these things, at least have the decency be discreet about it.
Wait until he sees OURS!!!!!!!!
Forgent Networks, Inc., developer of scheduling software and holder of a number of technology patents, has settled with both Adobe and Sony for JPEG patent infringement and is going after numerous others to collect their fair share of royalties. The company also plans to go after PVR companies, including TiVo Inc, and MP3 player makers for other various patents they claim to hold. Sounds like more fun in the courts for everyone!"
http://www.forbes.com/technology/feeds/general/2004/08/09/generalcoxnews_2004_08_09_eng-coxnews_eng-....
Software company sees goldmine in patent cases
ROBERT ELDER JR., 08.09.04, 5:05 PM ET
AUSTIN, Texas _ Forgent Networks Inc. has a modest software business, but lately it's been showing a swagger reminiscent of another line of work: trial lawyers.
While it tries to build its line of scheduling software, Austin-based Forgent has been hiring lawyers to extract revenue from the company's store of old patents. Already, Forgent has reaped nearly $50 million by claiming that one of its patents covers JPEG, the popular standard for digital images. Sony Corp. and Adobe Systems Inc. are among the tech giants that have settled with Forgent.
More riches may be on the way: In April, Forgent sued 31 tech companies, most of them Fortune 500 members, in U.S. District Court in Marshall, Texas for allegedly infringing on the JPEG patent.
Two of Forgent's former lawyers say the company has only scratched the surface with the patent and that the potential payoff could be in the hundreds of millions of dollars.
Now Forgent is escalating its strategy. The company is demanding payment for a patent it says underlies the digital-recorder technology behind TiVo Inc. It's also hired the 650-lawyer Baker Botts law firm to examine 40 additional patents.
You can hardly fault Forgent's strategy. In the past two years, the company has made about 90 percent of its revenue from patent negotiations, and its software has yet to get much of a foothold.
Critics contend that Forgent is typical of small companies trying to enforce patents because their core business is failing _ in the process, clogging the court system and forcing companies to spend millions in legal fees.
"This is as much the class-action kind of lawyering you mostly hear conservatives criticizing, going after cases like asbestos litigation," said Jason Schultz, a staff attorney in San Francisco with the Electronic Frontier Foundation, a digital rights advocacy group. "It's just as much an opportunistic field for lawyers because the amount of money is so great."
Companies like Forgent, Schultz contends, have turned the patent system into an entrepreneurial venture instead of using it to defend the technology behind their products.
Forgent maintains that it's legitimately making money from patents developed by the company or companies it acquired.
"Technology is technology, whether it's software or intellectual property," company spokesman Michael Noonan said.
For Forgent, the next wave could be digital recording. TiVo General Counsel Matthew Zinn said Wednesday that Forgent has contacted him "on a number of occasions over the past two years" about the video patent. He declined to say whether negotiations are ongoing.
Zinn did say he believes Forgent's patent is a "continuation" _ a patent that expands on a previous one. The patent, Zinn said, is a continuation of one granted to Forgent for a videoconferencing answering machine.
"We don't think the TiVo system is anything close" to that device, he said. "Obviously, we have a disagreement."
Forgent would say only that news about the Tivo-style patent likely will come in the next few months.
Forgent likely wouldn't be around if it was just a software company. In its fiscal 2003, for instance, software sales were just 8 percent of the company's $53.9 million in sales.
Then there's Jenkens & Gilchrist, the Dallas-based law firm handling enforcement of the JPEG patent. Under a fee agreement, Jenkens receives 50 percent of the revenue from licensing the patent, plus some expenses. The law firm's take so far is an estimated $50 million.
Forgent CEO Dick Snyder wasn't available for comment Wednesday. In a statement Tuesday, he said the company expanded its patent strategy because it's committed to "providing significant shareholder value."
Shortly after the patent strategy was announced two years ago, Forgent shares rose 48 percent to $5.54, only to quickly retreat. On Wednesday, the first trading day after Forgent said it had hired Baker Botts to expand its patent strategy, shares lost 4 cents to close at $1.09.
Intellectual property experts say there's nothing inherently wrong with enforcing patents.
"You have the right to receive a reasonable royalty for inventions and ideas," said Matt Yarbrough, an intellectual property lawyer with Fish & Richardson in Dallas.
"The bigger question is, what do we think as a society about businesses set up for the sole reason of squeezing money out of other businesses?" Yarbrough said. "We're seeing a lot more of these cases filed around the country, by either small companies that have no revenue from their own products or those that have tried to mine their intellectual property for profit."
Forgent executives don't provide estimates of the money they expect to make from enforcing patents. But a court dispute between Jenkens & Gilchrist and two of its former lawyers provides some clues about the potential goldmine in the JPEG patent.
Forgent views the JPEG data-compression standard as possibly applying to MP3 players, according to documents filed in a Dallas County state district court lawsuit. The filing notes that Forgent also holds a patent for a "personal video recorder" device that could lead to claims against companies offering video-playback options.
The disclosures came in a court filing last week against Jenkens by two of the firm's former lawyers, Stuart Dwork and Roger Maxwell. Jenkens sued the lawyers in June, claiming they had threatened to reveal confidential information about the law firm and Forgent's strategy.
The ex-Jenkens lawyers filed a counterclaim to recover millions of dollars in past and possibly future fees they say they're entitled to as the architects of Forgent's patent-licensing strategy.
In their counterclaim, the lawyers say the firm "has not even explored all of the avenues for generating revenue" from the JPEG-related patent.
The law firm's share of revenue from licensing and enforcing that patent "could be in the hundreds of millions of dollars," the lawyers claim. That means Forgent would collect an equal amount.
Dwork and Maxwell have a financial interest in Forgent and Jenkens & Gilchrist getting as much revenue as possible from the patent. If they win their claims against Jenkens, they stand to receive tens of millions of dollars in legal fees for having established the legal framework for Forgent's claims.
Nonetheless, investors who are bullish on Forgent say the company is just beginning to tap the patent gold mine.
The Jenkens lawsuit "sheds more light on the future of the (JPEG) patent as well as opening the door on the personal video recorder-Tivo patent," said Carter Mannsbach, vice president of money-management firm Concord Equity.
"I believe this is just more proof that this David and Goliath story is just getting started," said Mannsbach, who said he holds close to 5 percent of Forgent's shares on behalf of clients.
Dwork declined to comment on the Jenkens lawsuit or the potential of other Forgent patents. But "to this day, he does not understand why more effort had not been made to develop a licensing effort" for the so-called Tivo patent, said his attorney, Michael Shore of Akin, Gump, Strauss, Hauer & Feld in Dallas.
Of course, Forgent's strategy depends on the risks inherent in the legal system.
When a company loses a big court case, Yarbrough said, it has "a chilling effect" on plaintiffs' lawyers who work for a contingency fee, as Forgent's lawyers are doing.
"When people lose lawsuits like this one, it does have a large impact," he said. "It can get really hard to find a plaintiffs' lawyer to take the next case."
Robert Elder Jr. writes for the Austin American-Statesman. E-mail: relde@tatesman.com
MP3 Player Makers Gear Up for Fierce Competition
Small and medium enterprises are making good progress in the Korean MP3 player market and large corporations are trying hard to catch their market share.
LG Electronics announced that it would launch its first 5 MP3 player models called "Xfree" on Thursday. Until now, LG Electronics sold other firms' produced MP3 players by attaching its brand logo but now, it will produce its own designed players at its Pyeongtaek plant.
Samsung Electronics aims to make MP3 players their new main product and is carrying out huge scale marketing starting from the beginning of this year. The firm raised its MP3 player team's workforce up to nearly 30 percent and reshuffled distribution and service networks. Therefore, Samsung's MP3 market share was only 10 percent in the previous year but it was able to occupy up to 25 percent in the first half of this year.
The reason why large corporations strengthen MP3 marketing is because the MP3 market is noticeably growing in both domestic and foreign markets. A medium-sized enterprise called Reigncom is the winner of the present domestic MP3 market in Korea with its brand "iRiver." Reigncom's domestic market share is more than 50 percent.
The size of the domestic market will grow by nearly 50 percent, from 1.2 million units last year to 1.9 million units this year.
Director Choi Dong-jin of LG Electronics said, "The MP3 player market is rapidly increasing in both the domestic and foreign markets." He added, "We are planning to hold a variety of marketing strategies in order to enhance the brand recognition so that we can actively target foreign markets."
Foreign companies such as Apple, Sony and Philips have recently jumped into the Korean MP3 market by launching new models. The No. 1 MP3 maker, Apple, launched its "iPod mini," which enables one to hold about 2,000 songs, and Sony recently launched its first memory type MP3 model.
(Kim Ki-hong, darma99@chosun.com )
LOL Unreal........ eom
OT: SkyWay Communications Holding Corp. Announces the Appointment of an Aviation Industry Veteran as Director, Airline Operations
CLEARWATER, Fla. --(Business Wire)-- Aug. 11, 2004 -- SkyWay Communications Holding Corp. (OTCBB:SWYC) and its wholly owned subsidiary, SkyWay Aircraft Inc., an innovative provider of in-flight broadband communications, entertainment and security services to the aviation industry, announced today the appointment of Mr. Frank Delahanty as Director of Airline Operations.
Mr. Delahanty will be responsible for coordinating with the commercial airlines and establishing their requirements to their domestic and international routes. He will oversee the SkyWay product design and development as well as its sales and marketing efforts. Mr. Delahanty will focus on specific airline requirements, applications and program improvements.
Mr. Delahanty has over 25 years experience in both military aviation and commercial airline operations. A retired United States Marine Corps attack aircraft pilot, Mr. Delahanty has extensive background in maintenance material control, aircraft operations and aircrew systems training as well as experience as a senior executive in the telecommunications industry. Mr. Delahanty holds a degree in Business Administration with a focus on Transportation from the University of Maryland.
For the past 15 years Mr. Delahanty has been employed by Northwest Airlines as a Captain in its domestic and international operations. He is a "Type Rated" pilot with more than 10,000 hours of flight time, which includes experience in 727, 757, and DC-9 aircraft, on which he holds an Airline Transport Pilots License and is an FAA designated DC-9 check airman.
"We are very excited to have someone of Frank's caliber on board with SkyWay. Frank's extraordinary knowledge of both military and commercial aviation significantly enhances our product development and marketing activities," stated Brent Kovar, President of SkyWay.
SkyWay's technology is based on a substantial upgrade to the existing North American Telephone System communications infrastructure, which enables each aircraft within the coverage area to send and receive up to 15Mbps of information and video. The bandwidth may be used to provide passengers with cellular telephone services, internet access, enhanced entertainment and informational features, and, provides ground control access to real time, in-flight, aircraft surveillance, an important aspect of improved homeland security.
About SkyWay Communications Holding Corporation
SkyWay Communications Holding Corporation is a Clearwater, Florida based company that is developing a unique ground to air in-flight aircraft communication network that it anticipates will facilitate homeland security and in-flight entertainment. SkyWay is focused on bringing to the market a network supporting aircraft-related service including anti-terrorism support, real time in-flight surveillance and monitoring, WIFI access to the Internet, telephone service and enhanced entertainment service for commercial and private aircraft throughout the United States. Based on the final upgrading of a previous airborne telephone and communications network, SkyWay intends to provide broadband connectivity between the ground and in-flight aircraft throughout the U.S. using technology that provides a broadband high-speed data transmission. SkyWay intends to be the communications solution for commercial and private aircraft owners wanting real time access to on-board security systems, aircraft health and welfare monitoring, avionics operations and for passengers wanting real time high-speed access to the Internet. The network will enable applications that can personalize the in-flight entertainment experience, provide real time access to flight management avionics with long-term data storage and also support for ground monitoring of in-flight surveillance systems that are being designed with the goal of enhancing current airline security standards.
Forward-looking statements in this release are made pursuant to the "safe harbor" provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Investors are cautioned that such forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties, including without limitation, continued acceptance of the Company's products, increased levels of competition for the Company, new products and technological changes, the Company's dependence on third-party suppliers, and other risks detailed from time to time in the Company's periodic reports filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
[ Back
Roxio sells software division, focuses on Napster
Published: August 9, 2004, 3:47 PM PDT
By John Borland
Staff Writer, CNET News.com
Roxio said Monday that it will sell its consumer software division for $80 million and focus wholly on its Napster digital music business in the future.
The company plans to officially change its name to Napster, taking the brand of the onetime file-swapping revolutionary that it purchased nearly two years ago. For the last nine months it has operated Napster as a paid digital music download and subscription service, competing in part with Apple Computer's iTunes.
The decision marks a dramatic and relatively rapid change in the company's identity and strategy. Once a leading company aimed at helping consumers burn CDs, it has seen that business slowly decline as other software programs such as iTunes have added their own automatic disc-burning capacity.
The digital music business is expected to grow substantially, however. Although far behind iTunes in terms of revenue, the Napster division is now making about $7.9 million a quarter, and is on track to reach $30 million to $40 million for its fiscal year.
"With the news today, we are on a path to become a very well-funded pure play in one of the hottest sectors in the consumer technology market," Napster CEO Chris Gorog said.
The deal, in which Roxio will sell its consumer software business to Sonic Solutions, will likely leave the slimmed-down company with close to $130 million in cash to help fund the marketing and development of the digital music business.
As part of the conference call announcing the sale, executives gave some details on how the service has performed over the last nine months.
More than half of the company's digital music revenue comes from its monthly subscription services, as opposed to the kind of per-song downloads offered by Apple's iTunes, Roxio executives said. It also earned close to $1.1 million selling Napster-branded MP3 players to partners.
The company said that gross margins on per-song downloads were just 10 percent, while margins on subscription service sales were closer to 40 percent.
Roxio executives noted that they have made substantial inroads into universities in recent months, offering the Napster subscription service to more than a half-dozen campuses. However, these student services were so deeply discounted that the contribution to Napster's bottom line is "immaterial," Gorog said.
The company also announced that its total net revenue for its first fiscal 2005 quarter was $29.9 million, up from $24.2 million the previous year. That reflected a net loss of 8 cents a share, substantially better than its guidance of a loss of 26 cents per share for the quarter.
Gorog said the company was in the middle of focus-testing a new version of its service based on Microsoft's Janus digital rights management technology, which will allow subscription-based downloads to be moved to portable devices for the first time.
The company has agreements with all five major record labels to release that service on schedule this fall, he added. Pricing has not yet been determined, but will likely be in the "sub $20" per month range, Gorog said.
Nokia moves to counter Apple-Moto music alliance
By Tony Smith
Published Monday 9th August 2004 14:34 GMT
Nokia has chosen to partner with digital music distributor Loudeye to develop a music download platform for mobile phones.
The announcement of the deal, said to be a multi-year agreement, puts Loudeye head to head with Apple in the fight to dominate the next level of the legal music download market.
Last month, Apple teamed up with Motorola and will work to develop a version of its iTunes music software for the latter's handsets. While songs will initially be downloaded from the iTunes Music Store and then beamed over to the phone, straight-to-handset downloads have to be the next step of the roadmap.
Loudeye's deal with Motorola appears to be the same thing, but focusing on that second stage. Since Loudeye is a distributor of digital music rather than a retailer, it will focus on building a platform that other companies can use to sell music, just as its recent UK acquisition, On Demand Distribution (OD2), has done in the PC download arena.
Loudeye will allow mobile networks to offer own-brand music download services without having to build one themselves.
For its part, Nokia doesn't appear interested in entering such a business itself - essentially it sees the deal as a way of building demand for its handsets. With almost all phones bought by mobile networks and sold on to subscribers, Nokia's key customers are not consumers but networks. If it can put them in the way of a service that has real customer appeal and - crucially - encourages users to make use of their data-oriented networks, almost certainly 3G ones, then hopefully they'll buy more handsets from Nokia.
While Nokia's domination of the world handset business is shrinking, it remains by far the biggest player. That, plus the focus on selling through the companies that 'own' the mobile customers - the networks - means that today's deal poses a very significant challenge to Apple and Motorola.
In their favour, they have the expanding mind share that Apple has built around ITMS and the iPod, and Motorola's status as the world's second larges mobile phone maker, though it may soon be overtaken by Samsung.
Apple also has the benefit that its preferred music format, AAC, itself part of the broad MPEG 4 spec., is widely seen as the future for music on mobile phones. While many handsets support MP3 today, handset industry insiders expect that to change next year as vendors adopt music industry-friendly formats that are capable of supporting DRM systems. With MPEG 4 already seen as the future of mobile video, AAC is strongly placed to become a standard for mobile music.
Not that Loudeye will necessarily stick to the Windows Media system it currently uses for PC-oriented downloads, and Symbian-favouring Nokia may well insist that a future phone-based digital music platform use alternative formats, like MPEG 4.
If Apple is serious about being a player in the emerging mobile music market, it needs more deals like the Motorola partnership to counter both Nokia's weight and Loudeye's focus on services that promote the networks themselves rather than a third-party.
However, ITMS may yet prove a strong enough brand that networks will be willing to partner with Apple, believing they'll gain more business offering a 'known' name service than a 'me too' own-brand one. ®
Packard Bell’s PocketM@estro 5GB MP3 player
http://www.engadget.com/entry/8772457467845435/
Motorola HDD Player
http://www.engadget.com/entry/1872223798044291/
Cult Brands
August 2, 2004
Casey Neistat, 23, is a self-professed Apple junkie. Along with his brother, Van, he is building his filmmaking career with the company's iMac computers and editing software. He usually leaves his Manhattan apartment with a sleek iPod plugged into his ear. So last year, when the Neistat brothers discovered the digital music player's batteries were irreplaceable and lasted just 18 months, they made a film called iPod's Dirty Secret and launched a protest Web site. Apple Computer Inc. addressed the problem. Now Neistat insists that the protest was an act of love: "We made that film because we believe in the brand so much."
Such loyalty flies in the face of conventional marketing wisdom. A customer spurned, the logic goes, is a customer lost. But these days the relationship between brands and their customers has become much more complex. For one thing, consumers simply know more than they used to. The Internet opens up a wealth of information, allowing for instant price and quality comparisons. But consumers demand more from the brands they love than simple reliability; passionate consumers want their brands to become a form of self-expression. Increasingly, consumers are customizing products and services to achieve that -- whether it's tailoring colors on a pair of sneakers from Nike Inc. or adding items to their personal to-watch list on eBay. Instead of arms-length customers, they're beginning to act like and feel like owners or members of a community. They no longer passively consume. Through the Internet, they can talk back and talk to one another. They can ignite a groundswell of positive buzz or spawn a revolt. As Peter Weedfald, senior vice-president for strategic marketing and new media at Samsung Electronics North America, puts it: "Consumers are empowered in a way that's almost frightening."
This seismic shift in clout from companies to their customers is creating opportunities, especially for younger brands that grew up with the Internet and have become adept at building user communities. Meanwhile, some traditional brands, such as Coca-Cola and Microsoft, are struggling to retain their mammoth leads in a market where consumers increasingly resist what they see as bland ubiquity and a surfeit of power.
There have always been cult brands, mostly smaller labels unknown to the masses. But these days, building cults or at least strong communities, is a widespread strategy. No wonder companies that are able to instill a sense of ownership in near-fanatical customers showed the biggest gains in our fourth annual ranking of the 100 most valuable global brands. The loyal, if sometimes nagging, band of true believers behind No. 43 Apple -- combined with tremendous success of the iPod -- helped the dollar value of the brand jump 23.7%, to $6.9 billion, over the past year. That was the biggest increase in this year's ranking, which is compiled in partnership with leading brand consultancy Interbrand Corp. A dollar value is calculated for each brand using a mix of publicly available data, projected profits, and variables like market leadership.
Apple was hardly alone in enlisting recruits. EBay makes its debut at No. 60. Fellow hot property Samsung Electronics, No. 21, jumped 15.7% in value to $12.6 billion -- a move that Seoul-based global marketing chief Eric B. Kim attributes to "building communities around our brand." Along with honing a high-end image with its feature-packed cell phones and flat-panel TVs, it nurtures loyalty with events for users. Yahoo! and Amazon.com, Nos. 61 and 66, respectively, also made significant gains. But success isn't limited to the young. Cult icon Harley-Davidson, No. 41, climbed despite having been founded more than a century ago. While the value of those brands is a fraction of the top-ranked $67.4 billion Coca-Cola brand or No. 2 Microsoft, with $61.4 billion, those behemoths have lost brand value over the past year. And they, too, have started to recognize the need to nurture stronger ties with consumers. Witness moves by Microsoft to hold mini trade shows in airport lounges for consumers and the soda giant's creation of hip "Coke Red Lounges" for teens in suburban malls.
GROUP THINK
The goal: to foster a sense of shared experience and of belonging. Starbucks Chairman Howard D. Schultz balks at the notion that his brand, which ranks 98th in our survey and jumped 12% in value this year, is about selling various iterations of coffee. Says Schultz: "The product is the experience." His shops may sell latte, but what people really crave is the hip, relaxed ambiance, the music, even the baristas who remember the regulars' favorite concoctions. Sounds crazy? Not to student Amy Berkman. Approach her at her favorite New York City outlet and she lets forth a stream of opinions on everything from ideal chair configurations in the store to the type of mustard they should use on their ham-and-cheese sandwiches. "Something more tangy and grainy would work better," she says, sipping on her daily chai latte. She cares because this is where she hangs out with her friends. Berkman doesn't like coffee; she likes the experience of being at Starbucks.
The brands that have managed to build cultlike followings have done so by being, well, cultlike, at least in some aspects. They are self-consciously different from rivals. They're bound by a set of clearly defined and rigorously enforced values. And they fulfill a range of needs for their members -- er, customers. The fastest-growing ones often project a an aura, an attractive group identity. Conjure up an image of an Armani customer or a Porsche driver and it will evoke a set of personality characteristics as much as it evokes a product preference. They also beget proselytizers -- customers who will chat up the brands to their buddies, set up Web sites, attend events, and proudly identify themselves as adherents, according to strategist Douglas Atkin of ad agency Merkley & Partners, who recently wrote The Culting of Brands. Nobody has to pay them. They are owners as well as customers.
The classic example of a cult brand is Harley-Davidson. The 101-year-old brand gained 4% in value this year to $7.1 billion. Sure, there are new models like the sleek V-Rod line and fresh features aimed at wooing women, but the real buzz comes from the 886,000 members of the company-sponsored Harley Owners Group. They're the ones who organize rides, training courses, social events, and charity fund-raisers. They pore through motorcycle magazines and wear the Harley-branded gear to feel more like rugged individualists and outlaws when they hit the road on weekends. A quarter of a million of them descended on Milwaukee last Labor Day to celebrate the brand's centennial. No wonder more than half of new Harley sales are to current customers who are trading up. The brand is self-reinforcing.
It doesn't take a cool category like motorcycles to yield a cult brand. Some are found in far more mundane sectors -- like furniture retailing. In Shanghai, Wang Jian Shuo runs a Web blog that, among other things, delves into his likes and dislikes with No. 40 Ikea, the Swedish furniture chain that offers modestly priced, ready-to-assemble furniture with cute names. He writes about everything from the 12 cents ice cream cones in the store cafeterias to how, as a newly graduated student in 1999, he spent his first month's salary on a "Billy Bookcase." Notes Wang: "Ikea seems to know my life better than any other furniture brand." Among those posting responses to his musings are a Malaysian fan who started his own Ikea forum and another who makes jokes about Swedish meatballs.
Such exchanges underline a key aspect of brand communities in the modern age: They evolve in ways that the head office often can't control. Newly empowered consumers can appropriate and manipulate the brand in whatever way they want. The Neistat brothers' anti-iPod Web site has generated 1.4 million hits from around the world. And it's not just brand fans who can make a difference -- or inflict damage. Witness the success of Super Size Me, in which documentary filmmaker Morgan Spurlock chronicled his decline in health while eating meals at McDonald's for 30 days in a row. Although it denies any link, McDonald's Corp. recently did away with the Super Size meal option. They called it a menu simplification.
The key for brand builders is to give empowered consumers a great product and the tools to use it however they want. Jeffrey P. Bezos, chief executive of Amazon.com, whose brand value grew 22%, believes there is a distinct community built around his brand, even though it's now used by more than 30 million people worldwide. For him, community is defined as "neighbors helping neighbors make purchase decisions." That means allowing negative customer reviews, even if it sabotages a possible sale. It meant halting spending on conventional advertising last year to funnel money into cutting prices and improving service in the belief that the community itself would spread the word. What Bezos does control is the range and quality of his site's offerings. "The thing that we did early on is that we made it very easy for people to find very obscure products," notes Bezos. "If you're not doing something that people will remark on, then it's going to be hard to generate word of mouth."
MASS CUSTOMIZATION
Some companies are using mass customization to bind their customers ever more tightly to their brands. The efforts extend beyond the individualized Web pages that characterize Web sites like Amazon.com and eBay. It means allowing customers to set up fan sites on the Web or personalize items. Some companies, like No. 18 Honda Motor and Nike, offer tools to help customers put their imprint on a product -- such as choosing unique color combinations and messages for their sneakers. But relinquishing control has proved to be hard for some marketers. No. 6 Walt Disney and No. 82 AOL have famously chased down fans for unauthorized use of copyrighted material. As brand "futurist" Andrew Zolli argues: "When you get to the point where you're suing your customers over their use of your brand, it's time to change your business model."
Even brands that have largely grown through acquisitions and smart pricing understand the importance of building a distinct image and fan base. As Peter Stringham, group general manager of HSBC Holdings PLC bank in London notes: "Nobody needs a new anything anymore." Instead, what has allowed No. 33 HSBC to jump 15%, to $8.7 billion, this year is clear differentiation as "the world's local bank" with a flavor that varies by location. On Jan. 28, for example, it kicked off the rebranding of newly acquired Mexican bank GF Bital with a free live concert in Mexico City for 10,000 people by pop singer Luis Miguel. In New York, it grabbed attention by offering free taxi rides in a cab emblazoned with the bank's red and white logo to any passenger with an HSBC bank card.
In contrast, some old-line brands seem to be coasting on sheer size rather than an ability to forge a unique relationship with customers. Even brands that have enjoyed decades of success and have instant recognition with consumers can lose some sparkle. Over the past year heavyweights like Microsoft, Coca-Cola, and Walt Disney saw their brand values erode. Others, like Finnish mobile-phone giant Nokia Corp., No. 8, are struggling to regain momentum. "Nokia used to differentiate but I don't think people would know what to associate with it now," argues Jan Lindemann, Interbrand's global director of brand valuation. Nokia's head of global branding, Tapio Hedman, admits that "some young people may find Nokia too everyday, too middle of the road." But he disputes the notion that his brand could plummet 18% over 12 months, as it did this year in our ranking, arguing that brand equity takes years to win and lose. "Once you have it, it's a bit like insurance," says Hedman. "It's not likely to be eroded very fast unless you make one mistake after another."
That may be a dangerous point of view to take. Just ask Royal Philips Electronics new chief marketing officer, Andrea Ragnetti, who blames the lack of buzz around the Dutch electronics giant, which dropped 2% in the rankings, to No. 65, on years of underinvesting in the brand. "It's seen as a dull, solid, reliable brand but nothing really special, nothing sparkling," says Ragnetti, who is currently trying to narrow the brand's target demographics and recast its message.
That doesn't mean big brands can't connect with customers. Even massive players like No. 4 General Electric Co., which saw its brand value gain 4%, to $44.1 billion, can adopt a fun, flirty style. The most popular section on the company's Web site is the "GE Pen," which allows users to doodle in a variety of colors and styles before e-mailing their handiwork to a friend. Since launching last year, it has received more than 43 million impressions. When the site went down for a few days to upgrade, the company was deluged with e-mails that asked where it had gone. Does it help the company sell more ovens or advertising on NBC? Probably not. But it certainly gives users a warmer feeling about GE. These days, anything that makes fans out of fickle consumers can be priceless in building a brand.
Packard Bell FOUR NEW FLASH AND MINI-HDD MODELS
Packard Bell, a world leader in home PCs, which is expanding in the rapidly maturing Middle East market, announces in a major move an exciting range of exceptional digital technologies for everyday users.
Four impressive new digital music players, including 1 mini-HDD player and three flash memory players, one specially designed for children, have been introduced for music fans on the move, in a product range aimed at a new computer savvy Middle East generation.
Pocket M@estro: capacity to go
Designed for digital music fanatics who want the very best, the Pocket M@estro packs a gigantic 5GB of storage capacity into a sleek, compact design. It is also available in a 2.5GB version. Slightly larger than a credit card, the Pocket M@estro can hold up to 1,500 tracks (WMA format) and features intuitive music navigation. It also comes with a built-in FM tuner/recorder and voice recorder. Loading that much music is fast and easy, thanks to the Hi-Speed USB 2.0 port, while the rechargeable lithium-ion battery provides up to around 7 hours of non-stop listening pleasure. The 5GB version also comes with an easily readable OLED display and built-in real-time MP3 encoding. The Pocket M@estro will be available in September.
AudioDream: a flash of class
A musical gem, the AudioDream is a digital music player and fashion statement all rolled into one. Beneath its ultra slim, aluminum exterior resides a powerful flash memory music player capable of holding up to 8 hours of music (WMA format). Light enough to be worn around the neck and small enough to fit into any pocket or purse, its copious list of features also includes a dazzling OLED display with ID3 TAG support, 5 equalizer presets, a built-in FM tuner/recorder and voice recorder. Its rechargeable Lithium-Ion battery provides up to hours of nonstop playback.
AudioKey FM: everything, anywhere
Easy to use and featuring a backlight screen, the AudioKey FM flash memory player brings high-quality audio enjoyment to on-the-go users. First, it is a skip-free Flash Memory MP3 player that provides 12 hours of play time on a single AAA battery. Storage capacities range from 64MB to 512MB. The 512MB version can hold up to 16 hours of WMA music (8 hours of MP3). Second, it is a removable USB storage drive, perfect for toting around important computer files. Third, it comes with a built-in FM radio player and recorder with 20 presets for enjoying and recoding radio shows on the go. Finally, it features a built-in microphone for recording up to 8 hours of voice memos.
LilyBell: digital music is child’s play
For younger listeners, and highly affordable, LilyBell is a flash USB storage drive and digital music player. It offers children a convenient and trendy way of carrying around computer files and listening to digital music. Shaped like a ladybird, it is designed to fit comfortably into a child’s hand. The ladybird’s black spots are the control buttons. Available with 64 and 128MB of storage, it can hold up to 4 hours of music (WMA). Its lithium ion battery provides up to 4 hours of non-stop play time and charges off the PC’s USB port.
About Packard Bell
Packard Bell, the consumer brand of NEC Computers International, designed the first truly consumer tailored PC, and is the only PC manufacturer to continuously invest in the consumer market, driving and delivering upon home user demand through innovative technology, bold new designs and stronger partnerships, and in the coming months, Packard Bell will continue to expand its collection of digital home products as well as desktop and notebook offerings.
Packard Bell’s outstanding new range of digital music players are available from retail outlets from this month, with the exception of the Packard Bell Pocket M@estro, which will be available from Mid September.
PRODUCT REVIEW: iPod clobbers Sony's new digital Walkman
By MATTHEW FORDAHL
AP Technology Writer
A quarter century after Sony Corp. first shipped the legendary Walkman personal stereo, the electronics giant is launching a high-tech model that aims to topple Apple Computer Inc.'s iPod as today's leading digital music player and status symbol.
Sony has its work cut out: In less than three years, the simple white iPod has undergone four revisions, each time capturing more customers and acclaim with slick designs, clean interfaces and ever increasing versatility.
For now, Apple has nothing to fear.
Sony's Network Walkman NW-HD1 is as clunky as its name. The gadget looks great, but it's ruined by a bizarre insistence on a proprietary file format, a confusing navigation scheme and software that tries to be flashy but is incredibly frustrating.
And the Sony, which works only on a Windows PC and will be available later this month, costs $399. That's $100 more than an iPod which can run on either a Windows or Macintosh machine while providing the same 20-gigabyte music capacity. A 40-gigabyte iPod runs $399.
I tested the Sony and a comparable iPod. Both work in the same general way: Songs are transferred from a PC to the player's hard drive through a high-speed cable. Software enables downloads and sorting of songs, as well as access to a legal online music store.
Both players also can double as portable hard drives, but I focused entirely on their primary purpose - music. Both produce excellent sound, and neither skipped a beat as I carried them with me while driving, jogging and puttering around the house.
In a few areas, the Sony came out ahead of the iPod.
The Network Walkman played continuously for 31 hours before its battery required a recharge - that was more than twice as long as the iPod, which lasted 13 hours. (The iPod plugs directly into a computer and can be recharged through a FireWire or USB 2 connection; the Sony must plug into a dock, which connects to a PC via a USB cable and a separate power source.)
The Sony also is physically smaller than the iPod, though not by much. Both, in fact, are generally comparable to a deck of cards.
But regardless of a player's size, capacity, battery life and audio quality, it's not much fun if the supporting software - on the player and the PC - doesn't rise to the level of the hardware. That's the problem with the Network Walkman.
I have a collection of nearly 1,200 MP3 music files that take up about 6 gigabytes on my PC hard drive.
Apple's iTunes software had no trouble transferring the MP3 files to the iPod, which can also play other formats such as Apple's Advanced Audio Coding codec and others. In all, it took 12 minutes to transfer all my files.
The Network Walkman only plays Sony's own ATRAC3 and ATRAC3plus formats. Before each song transferred, it had to be converted. The process took nearly seven hours.
Sony's format does produce good sound quality while taking up less space, but users aren't given a choice. What happens if the unique ATRAC format is abandoned? Just ask anyone who bought a technically superior Betamax VCR instead of a VHS model.
The transfer to the Network Walkman also was interrupted in the beginning and the end with error messages saying a dozen or so songs couldn't be moved. They gave no reasons.
Once the players were loaded with music, I hit the road. With the Sony, it was a lot easier to fall on my face.
On the Sony, the "Mode" button on the top of the player sorts all the songs by artist, album, genre or other categories. Everything appears in a green display on the front of the player that's easy enough to read despite being smaller than the iPod's.
A menu button, also on the top of the player, provides more options, including an equalizer and the gateway to the "Play Mode," a cornucopia of baffling icons and words like "Play Unit."
The main navigation tool, located next to the display, is a dime-size collection of buttons used to scroll through lists and control playback.
The fourth-generation iPod is a much simpler, more logical affair with its touch-sensitive wheel and embedded buttons.
The Network Walkman's navigation system isn't the only problem. There's also the software that resides on the PC.
Like Apple's iTunes, Sony's SonicStage is a multipurpose program that imports, exports, organizes and plays music. It also serves as a gateway to Sony Connect, an online music store.
An annoying window-in-window layout features large blank borders, minimizing the real estate available for useful information and links. This is especially problematic at Connect, where there's little room to show off featured artists, new tunes, song rankings and other information.
ITunes Music Store manages to pack its pages with songs to sell as well as tools for exploring what others are listening to.
Sony's store also has fewer tracks, 500,000 songs to iTunes' 700,000 plus.
Finally, Connect-purchased songs have more restrictive digital-rights-management rules that allow transfers to only three computers, two fewer than iTunes. Some of the rules also change depending on the company that controls the song.
The good news is that Sony is planning to redesign its music store and, eventually, its SonicStage software.
Ultimately, though, there seems to be a lot more in need of revamping.
---
On the Net:
Sony Network Walkman:
Apple iPod:
iRiver Ships PMP-100 Media Player
Wednesday, August 04 @ 12:30:00 PDT
iRiver has announced the PMP-100 (Portable Media Player) series, a leap in the evolution of award-winning iRiver music players.
The PMP-100 series allows customers to enjoy their favorite recorded TV shows, movies, home videos, music and photos on a single, portable player.
The PMP-100 series supports widely used video, audio, and picture formats (AVI, MPEG4, MP3, WMA, WAV, ASF and JPEG) and features an intuitive video conversion application to further ensure video compatibility. Featuring a sharp 3.5-inch color display, the PMP-100 series is available in 20GB* and 40GB sizes and is compatible with both PC and Mac computers.
The largest capacity PMP-100 series player stores up to 150 hours of video and 1,200 hours of digital music.** In addition to playing media files, the PMP-100 series supports USB host transfers allowing customers to download content directly from supported digital cameras and storage devices.
The iRiver PMP-100 series features a rechargeable and replaceable lithium- ion battery, TV-out port, built-in speaker, FM tuner and integrated voice recorder. The players can also encode and store MP3 files from an array of sources using the unit's line-in jack.
"High-capacity portable hard-drive players are no longer one dimensional," said Jonathan Sasse, president of iRiver America. "iRiver Personal Media Players offer an engaging entertainment experience whether watching movies or recorded TV programming and they connect effortlessly to car and home entertainment systems for true versatility."
The iRiver PMP-100 series comes bundled with iRiver earphones, quality carrying case, installation software CD, AC adapter, USB 2.0 cable, USB host cable, line-in cable, TV-out cable and printed user manual.
iRiver PMP-100 series features***:
-- 20GB and 40GB of internal storage
-- 3.5 inch vivid color display
-- Audio-out and Video-out ports
-- Built-in FM tuner
-- Integrated voice recorder
-- Record music from any audio source (no PC required)
-- Built-in speaker
-- USB host transfers and USB 2.0 support
-- Rechargeable and replaceable Lithium-Ion battery
-- Up to 12 hours of battery life (audio)
-- Up to 4 hours of battery life (video)
-- Video, Audio and picture formats supported: AVI, MPEG4, MP3, WMA, WAV, ASF and JPEG
-- Upgradeable to future formats and features
-- Weight: 280g
-- Dimensions: 139 x 84 x 31.7 (mm)
Pricing and Availability
The PMP-100 series will be available at the iRiver eStore http://www.iriveramerica.com/estore, Best Buy retail stores and other select retail outlets in August 2004. Suggested retail price for PMP-120 is USD $499.99 and PMP-140 is USD $599.99. For information on retail availability, please visit http://www.iriveramerica.com.
Leading Technology Experts Look to Mobile Entertainment Future at ARM Developers' Conference
ARM Developers' Conference
SANTA CLARA, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Aug. 4, 2004--Leading technology analysts and editors from the industry's top technical press are set to lead a series of presentations and freewheeling panel discussions at the upcoming ARM Developers' Conference, bringing together diverse viewpoints on topics including the future of 3G devices, game consoles, offshore designs with ARM processors, and alternatives to the ubiquitous MP3 music file.
The three-day ARM Developers' Conference, produced by ARM, RTC, and ConVergence Promotions, runs Oct. 19 through 21 at the Santa Clara Convention Center and will include more than 195 classes, panel discussions, and labs.
Chris Ambrosio will set the stage on Oct. 19 as he unveils the latest best-in-class awards from Strategy Analytics for 3G converged and imaging devices. His presentation will include an evaluation of overall competitive market strategies and entertainment technology portfolios for the leading device vendors. Analyst Allen Nogee of In-Stat/MDR will continue the focus on 3G, forecasting trends for location services, music, video, and mobile television, which are expected to increase greatly demand for processing power in mobile phone handsets. Then "Am I Ready for a 32-Bit Micro?" addresses the question from a processor core perspective. Jim Turley, principal analyst at Silicon Insider, will lead this panel discussion on where, when, and whether 8-bit or 16-bit devices need to be replaced by a 32-bit ARM-based core to support next-generation applications.
On the same day, Dean Takahashi, technology columnist at the San Jose Mercury News, will give attendees "An Inside Look at Game Consoles," highlighting the perspective of console makers as they choose which chips are best to bring compact, captivating, high-performance game consoles to market as fast as possible. Later David Kerr of Strategy Analytics looks at games from the user point of view, giving insights into the end-user segments, requirements, and price issues that will drive demand for music decks, gaming decks, and advanced mobile devices.
Are MP3's days numbered? Raza Zaidi of Jadugar Consulting leads an afternoon panel discussion on Oct. 19 that looks at standards-based and proprietary alternatives to the unprotected and often-shared MP3 music file format and asks whether any of these have the potential to "knock the MP3 king off its throne." Then In-Stat/MDR's Neil Strother will peer into the future of mobile devices with a presentation that lays out technology paths, drivers, and obstacles for features like Wi-Fi, improved picture quality, dazzling displays, and longer battery life in world phones, digital multimedia broadcast, and 4G.
On Oct. 20, Electronic News Editor in Chief Ed Sperling will grill panelists on the health and prospects for growth of the third-party IP industry. Topics will include business and technical trends, IP quality, emerging standards, verification, "platforms," and the emergence of software IP. Next, power management comes under scrutiny in a no-holds-barred panel discussion led by Richard Nass, editor in chief of Portable Design magazine, who promises to throw out some of the questions the power management industry has been avoiding with respect to what help processors need to get the power levels end users now demand.
On Oct. 21, a session focused on signal processing will include a discussion led by DSP expert Jeff Bier of Berkeley Design Technology. Participants will debate the relative merits of general-purpose processors (GPPs) and DSPs in areas such as speed, energy efficiency, development tools, and third-party support -- giving attendees new ways to answer the question "Should I use a GPP, a DSP, or both?"
"The caliber of the presentations being offered at the ARM Developers' Conference is simply tremendous, and make this a must-attend event for anyone involved in mobile communications, digital entertainment, or the embedded space in general," said Markus Levy, conference chair. "The three-day program offers so much to choose from with its broad range of tracks and classes covering every aspect of ARM processor designs, attendees will likely wish they could be in several places at once."
For the complete ARM Developers' Conference schedule and to register online for the event, visit www.arm.com/developersconference.
The real reason Apple's mad about 'Harmony'
By John C. Dvorak
Last Updated: 8/4/2004 12:36:00 PM
SAN FRANCISCO (CBS.MW) -- The flap over the announcement by RealNetworks that it has hacked the iPod has some people baffled.
RealNetworks (RNWK) announced last week that its new product, dubbed Harmony, will allow iPod users to access and buy songs using its digital rights management service and file system called Helix.
This gave users a new source for downloadable music and put Apple (AAPL) in a tizzy. See related story. Despite the success of Apple's iTunes, a pay-per-tune music service, the sales of the iPods is what puts money in the bank for Apple. You'd think the Real announcement would mean more iPod sales, not less. And you'd think Apple would be happy about that. So what's wrong with this picture?
It's not about the music and the player. It's about a scheme afoot to monopolize music delivered to cell phones. Although the online music business is expected to grow to $1.7 billion by 2009, few people realize that the dopey cell phone ringtone market is already past that with $2.3 billion worldwide sales in 2003 according to the Yankee Group. And this is for an idiotic product -- a funny phone ring for your cell phone.
Apple and Motorola (MOT) are working on a deal to put iPod technology on Motorola cell phones. According to published reports, the hope is to create a cell phone/iPod sub-platform that can be licensed to other makers such as Nokia and Samsung. The idea is to develop a proprietary music delivery system with the phone carriers. This gives them a new opportunity to add additional fees to the already burgeoning cell phone bill, this one for music.
Billed as either a monthly service or pay-per-tune, everyone expects a bonanza. We already know that cell users will pay a dollar for a ring tone. They'll pay a dollar for a catchy tune, too. The potential sales could dwarf the music business if the ringtone business is any indication of potential. You could even make these songs your ringtone. Currently any pop songs selling as a ringtone go for as much as $4 each.
This grand scheme only works if the platform is secure. You can't sell an iPod phone and lock in all this easy money if people can buy from just anyone or just use bootleg music, can you? So along comes the RealNetworks hack, which screws up this scheme. Suddenly the iPod looks a lot like any other MP3 player except for its good looks, and those go away when it's in the phone.
This explains why Steve Jobs and Apple wouldn't let RealNetworks license any of its technology when asked last April. You can be certain that the Apple-Motorola scheme hatched before that and probably right after Ed Zander, Jobs' friend, took over Motorola in January. With this scheme they had to keep the iPod locked down and that meant no licenses for interlopers and potential competitors.
Now it's not even a matter of Apple changing some of its software code to prevent Harmony from running on the iPod. The damage has already been done. The iPod has been hacked and no matter how insignificant the hack, it's a bad thing by definition.
The Recording Industry Association of America music moguls and the phone moguls just see that it's been hacked and that can't be good. They're freaky that way.
I suspect that the efforts to put music streams on cell phones will go ahead with Apple just one player among many, RealNetworks included. If the ringtone business is any indication, there will still be plenty of money for everyone, just no monopolies.
© 1997-2004 MarketWatch.com, Inc.
MP3 player sales to boost profit at Creative
COMPUTER audio equipment maker Creative Technology Ltd will probably see quarterly net profits jump 39 per cent on the back of strong digital audio player sales, and could be boosted further by strong pre-holiday season demand, analysts said.
Creative, known for its Nomad range of MP3 players, is fighting to pump up its share of the high-growth digital audio player market, as its core computer sound card business declines.
It is due to unveil its fourth-quarter results today.
The first six months of its next fiscal year will rely heavily on new product launches, including its long-anticipated Zen Portable Media Center (PMC), developed in partnership with software giant Microsoft Corp, analysts said.
'The PMC should start contributing to sales in the October to December quarter,' said Daiwa Institute of Research analyst Pranab Sarmah. 'The Christmas quarter is usually very strong for them.'
The PMC pits Creative squarely against tech giants Apple Computer Inc and its popular iPod, Sony Corp, creator of the iconic Walkman - the digital version of which recently hit store shelves, and Samsung Electronics Co Ltd of South Korea, maker of the Yepp MP3 player.
The company should report a consensus net profit of S$190.7 million for the full year to June, according to analysts polled by Reuters Estimates.
Its net profit was seen by three analysts surveyed by Reuters at around US$6.4 million for the three months ended in June.
Their figures ranged from US$5.7 million to US$7.4 million and compared with a US$4.6 million net profit in the same quarter of 2003 quarter and earnings of US$57 million in the third quarter, which were inflated by a US$48.3 million investment windfall.
'Growth in the quarter will be driven by the PDE (personal digital entertainment) segment as the company continues to gain momentum in the MP3 player space,' UOB-Kay Hian Securities analyst Jonathan Koh said.
Creative, which is in the process of retiring its Nasdaq listing, forecast in April a 20-25 per cent surge in sales to US$185 million and a 20 per cent rise in earnings per share (EPS) to 7 cents for the June quarter.
The Zen Portable Media Center, which offers 20 gigabytes of storage for music, photos and video was available for pre-orders on Internet shopping siteAmazon.com Inc in early July. The device is expected to be shipped later this month.
In June, Creative also launched another iPod rival - the Zen Touch - a 20-gigabyte, 1.8-inch hard drive-based portable audio player that holds up to 10,000 songs.
The Zen Touch's battery is also billed to last three times longer than the 20-gigabyte iPod - up to 24 hours.
Creative chief executive Sim Wong Hoo told reporters last month the company was targeting monthly sales of one million digital entertainment gadgets worldwide by year-end, almost double current sales.
Apart from MP3 players, Creative also sells digital cameras and musical computer keyboards.
Its PDE category accounts for about one-third of total revenues, up from 19 per cent a year earlier, while the mainstay sound card business has fallen to 24 per cent of total sales from 30 per cent. - Reuters
Brokers' Take
Creative Technology
Aug 3 closing: $17.50
WE expect Creative Technology to report 23 per cent year-on-year growth in fiscal Q4 profit to US$5.7 million today. Revenue will increase 27 per cent to US$190 million, driven by higher sales of personal digital entertainment (PDE) devices. Gross margin will dip 1.3 percentage points to 34 per cent as the company builds MP3 players on an ODM basis for customers such as Dell.
Soundcard revenue is likely to continue to drift. We don't see any catalyst that will reverse the down trend. Indeed, Intel's June launch of its Grantsdale chipset - which promises better sound quality - may pose a competitive threat to Creative's low to mid-end soundcards. This is especially so given the new chipset is expected to sell for the same price as the previous one.
PDE devices will be the main growth driver. Creative has set its sights on sales of one million PDE products a month by the year-end - about twice the number it is shipping now. We believe it will be a huge challenge for the company to achieve this target, given stiff competition from Apple, Sony and Rio.
Creative also aims to quadruple revenue from Singapore to US$100 million annually by FY 2006. It has stepped up marketing efforts in Singapore by sponsoring a variety show and will advertise on TV for the first time. This is another major challenge, given the relatively small Singapore market.
Maintain SELL. Creative still faces declining revenue in its core soundcard business. And in trying to become a PDE company it will face consumer electronics giants such as Apple, Sony and Samsung, who have strong brand names and huge marketing muscle. Given Creative's low-teen revenue growth and declining margins, we believe the stock is fully valued at 12.4 times FY 2005 earnings.
- KIM ENG, Aug 3
Media player is nearly perfect, but...
Matthew Miller, Special Projects Editor -- EDN, 8/4/2004
The AV400, the latest portable multimedia device from Archos, handles with aplomb myriad tasks involving video, photos, and music. It's easily the best portable media player (PMP) on the market and represents a true tour de force in product development. The only thing it fails to do is allay my fears about the viability of PMPs in general.
An earlier Archos player that hit the Digital Den about a year ago impressed me (see "Digital domains," Aug. 21, 2003). And the AV400 improves upon that product in significant ways, which I'll detail in a moment. Yet for all its excellence, the device still leaves me wondering whether there's a future for such portable wonders.
I laid out my case against PMPs—mainly against the video portion of their functionality—two weeks ago (see "Playing in Peoria"), and the AV400 hasn't changed my mind. As much as I admire the product, I wouldn't want to own it because I wouldn't find it terribly useful. And that would be true even if it weren't hugely expensive ($549.95 for a 20-Gbyte model or $799.95 for an 80-Gbyte monster). More to the point, I believe the audience that's hankerin' for portable video is so limited that companies like Archos—as well as Microsoft, which is pushing its own PMP formulation—are going to be disappointed.
Omnipotent omnivore
Like its predecessor and a few other devices on the market, the AV400 does so much that it's difficult to describe succinctly. But here goes: It's a digital-audio player and recorder, a digital-video player and recorder, a device for storing and viewing digital photos, and a USB 2.0-based hard-disk drive.
That dry description, although accurate and comprehensive, doesn't really do justice to the experience of using the gadget. The gregarious AV400 plays nicely with your living-room entertainment devices (TV, stereo, VCR, etc.), your PC, and your flash-memory cards. It willingly consumes pretty much any piece of audio/video/photo content. And it adeptly shares that content with an audience of one (via its own LCD, headphones, and built-in speaker) or an audience of many (via your entertainment center or any USB-equipped PC). The device delivers lightning-quick operation, responding in a snappy manner even when opening large files. And its software is intuitive, powerful, and seemingly rock-solid.
The AV400 improves upon the earlier Archos offering, the AV300 series, in numerous ways. It's smaller and more elegant, weighing in at under 10 ounces. More importantly, it now integrates two major features that formerly required unwieldy add-on modules: video recording and the reading of flash-memory cards. For the latter feature, the device has a built-in CompactFlash slot, and the company offers an optional adapter for other card types.
Two features in particular mark the AV400 as a fully formed product rather than an interesting proof-of-concept. First, it comes with a clever cradle that makes it a breeze to dock the device with your entertainment center. Second, it functions as a DVR, complete with the ability to schedule the recording of TV shows in advance.
The cradle represents a vast improvement over the previous Archos product. Rather than tangling with audio and video cables every time you want to use the device to record or play content via the entertainment center, you tangle with audio and video cables only once when setting up the cradle. Thereafter you simply insert the player in the cradle, hook up a single omnibus connector, and get busy enjoying yourself. In addition to making all the AV connections, the connector also charges the player's battery. And the included remote control lets you assume your most comfortable perch in the living room. (Click here and here for pictures that show the player in its cradle with the connector both plugged and unplugged.)
This approach, by the way, is superior to Microsoft's Portable Media Center concept. Rather than having a PC mediate between the player and the entertainment universe, Archos lets you connect the AV400 directly. Less fuss, more gratification. Plus, you still get the ability to connect to a PC when you want or need to.
The DVR functions aren't nearly as robust as a TiVo, but they work. The device offers two ways to schedule recordings. Option one is a screen where you manually enter start and stop times (left). Thanks to years of experience programming VCRs, I found the procedure effortless.
Option two is a bit more convoluted. First, you go online and use Yahoo's "My Yahoo!" service to populate a personal calendar with your favorite shows. Then you export your calendar into an HTML-format file. Then you connect the AV400 to your PC and copy that HTML file into a specific folder on the AV400. The AV400 then reads the HTML file and sets itself to record your programs. I'm afraid I possessed neither the time nor the inclination to try this method, although I have no reason to doubt that it would work.
With either scheduling approach, you must face the thorny issue of changing channels. Here you have three options, which are really no different than they would be using a conventional VCR. The simplest but most error-prone method is to make sure you leave your tuning device (be it your TV, a cable box, a satellite receiver, or a VCR) powered on and set to the proper channel at the proper time. Alternatively, if your tuner device is programmable, you can set it to turn on and change the channel all by itself, although this means you have to manually enter each program on two machines. Finally, using an infrared emitter that Archos provides, the AV400 can impersonate the tuner device's remote control and orchestrate the tuning process when the time comes.
Fuzzy logic?
All of these approaches work, but in the end you have to ask what you get for all of your effort—not to mention money. The AV400 can record video at a variety of bit rates from 500 to 2500 kbps. Its maximum recording resolution is 512×384 pixels. I recorded a series of TV snippets, including segments from Late Night with Conan O'Brien and ESPN's SportsCenter . I recorded at all of the bit rates and watched each file on both the AV400 and my television.
Most of the clips looked fine on the LCD. At the lower bit rates, the sports highlights became blocky, but I could still follow the action. The high bit rates rendered the sports scenes in a fluid and clear fashion. Conan and his guests, who didn't move much, came off well at all bit rates.
However, as you might expect, the larger TV monitor revealed obvious evidence of compression. Even at the highest bit rates, the sports highlights proved merely tolerable—and inferior to the broadcast—on my analog Sony set. As for the lower bit rates, there was no point even trying to make sense of the baseball action; I couldn't distinguish the baseballs from the compression artifacts. As for the relatively static Conan snippets, I would classify the results as merely unpleasant at the high rates and seriously annoying at the low.
The upshot? You're really limited to watching the LCD, at least for programs that you record with the AV400 (the device can output DivX- and XviD-encoded files at resolutions as high as 780×480 pixels, but you have to prep those files on your PC). Frankly, watching the LCD is not all that comfortable. You have to expend effort holding the device, and although the display offers a fairly wide viewing angle, you still have to keep the player tilted within a certain range lest the image disappear. For someone facing a long train ride or airline flight, these demands might be acceptable. For anyone else, not so much.
I mean none of this as a knock on Archos. The AV400 does everything it promises and does it quite well. The only problem I encountered was momentary jitter in a couple of the clips I recorded; the whole video image twitched up and down just enough to be perceptible.
Overall however, the AV400 is a fully polished product, chock full of impressive finishing touches. For example, the photo- and video-browsing modes offer thumbnail previews (left). The music-playing mode displays album art if your MP3 files contain it. Available plug-ins allow the device to work directly with Windows Media Player 9 and, for Mac users, iTunes. The scheduling screen makes it easy to add a cushion of a minute or two on each end of a recording so that you won't miss anything if the onboard clock happens to be slow or fast. Bundled PC software makes it easy to transcode video clips into the player's preferred formats. The retail package includes a protective leather case and (miracle of miracles) a lucid and informative user manual made of honest-to-goodness paper. The player itself even contains a video file that provides step-by-step instructions for setting up the AV cradle.
Overall, the AV400 is one of the most impressive electronic products I've ever used. I just hope it's not a case of exquisite engineering signifying nothing.
TiVo Is at Focus of TV Showdown
The FCC decides today how copied programs can be used. Hollywood views it as a pivotal issue.
By Jon Healey, Times Staff Writer
After intense lobbying by Hollywood, the Federal Communications Commission is expected to issue a potentially far-reaching ruling today affecting what television viewers can do with the programs they record.
The stickiest question before the agency is whether people can use a new breed of digital recorders from TiVo Inc. to pipe recorded programs over the Internet from their homes to their offices, hotel rooms, friends' living rooms or beyond.
The movie studios and others are urging the FCC to reject the TiVo technology, arguing that people should not be allowed to beam programs out of the houses where they were recorded.
The tussle began after the FCC required that digital television equipment guard against the "indiscriminate redistribution" of free TV shows via the Internet. Under this so-called broadcast flag rule, issued last November, manufacturers of digital TVs and recorders must install FCC-approved anti-piracy technologies on models sold after July 1, 2005.
Today's FCC decision will determine which of 13 approaches proposed by consumer-electronics and computer companies meet the new mandate.
Seven of the proposals deal with technologies for disks or removable memory cards that could be recorded on but not duplicated. Two others offer a secure way to move shows within a home network.
The other four — by Microsoft Corp., RealNetworks Inc., consumer-electronics giant Thomson and San Jose-based TiVo — proposed ways to protect programs so they can be safely transmitted over the Internet as well as a home network.
But in response to objections by the Motion Picture Assn. of America, Microsoft, Real and Thomson agreed to limit their software in ways that effectively bar viewers from sending shows over the Internet — at least for now.
Only tiny TiVo, whose technology powers a digital video recorder, resisted the studios' demand for this kind of "proximity control."
Consequently, the studios have given at least tentative support to all of the proposed technologies except TiVo's.
The studios and their allies maintain that allowing remote access to programs would undermine free local television broadcasts, the market for syndicated shows and other important elements of their business models. Hollywood also fears that viewers with high-capacity, Internet-connected recorders will have less appetite for DVD box sets of popular TV series.
Under several of the MPAA-supported approaches, viewers would be able to move recordings to laptop computers and other devices that they could take on the road.
TiVo, which had 1.6 million subscribers at the end of April, wants to give viewers even more flexibility: They could transfer shows from their recorder at home to any Internet-connected computer equipped with a special TiVo security device. Each owner would be entitled to transfer shows to as many as nine other recorders and specially equipped computers.
TiVo has taken elaborate steps to prevent programs from being intercepted, duplicated or forwarded. Still, the MPAA, the National Assn. of Broadcasters, the National Football League and Major League Baseball oppose the technology, in part because TiVo owners could send their security devices and recordings to anyone in the world.
"We think that TiVo does permit indiscriminate redistribution, albeit to a very limited number of people," said Fritz Attaway, an MPAA lobbyist. "When you multiply that by 100,000 or 1 million or 10 million TiVo owners, what does that do to the business model of local broadcasters?"
James M. Burger, who argued TiVo's case to the FCC, said the company could easily work with the studios to prevent indiscriminate redistribution and other specific issues.
TiVo controls every recorder and security device on its service, he said, so it could respond quickly to any improper activities cited by the studios or other copyright owners.
But "if the issue is, 'We don't want anyone to transmit free over-the-air television out of their home without our permission,' we have a problem," Burger said.
"TiVo is a small company," he added. "It needs to have the space to innovate. Obviously, the company feels very strongly that this is an innovation that does not harm content in any way."
Indeed, some consumer advocates are worried that the FCC might stunt the digital evolution of home entertainment, which is being powered by large storage capacity, powerful software and devices that connect over the Internet.
"This is the test case," said Alan Davidson of the Center for Democracy and Technology. "We're concerned about a precedent being set that stops people from being able to do the new, cool things with television that they're likely to do in an always-connected world."
One thing working in TiVo's favor is that FCC Chairman Michael K. Powell is a customer. "TiVo," Powell told the International Consumer Electronics Show in January, "is God's machine."
New line of portable video players from iRiver
Portable digital entertainment products continued to roll out of production this week as iRiver announced their new PMP-100 portable media players. Priced at $499.99 for the 20GB model (PMP-120) and $599.99 for the 40GB (PMP-140), the larger unit can store up to 150 hours of video and 1,200 hours of music. A 3.5-inch color LCD provides the display for both video and menu navigation, while an audio out jack provides stereo sound for headphones or portable speakers.
Audio and video file formats supported by the PMP-100 (which is due in stores later this month) include AVI, MPEG4, MP3, WMA, WAV, ASF and JPEG. Other interesting features include a built-in FM tuner, voice recorder, line in recording, picture display and USB 2.0 transfer.
06:05 PM #
Creative revels in 'outstanding' Q4
By Tony Smith
Published Wednesday 4th August 2004 11:05 GMT
Creative Technology - aka Creative Labs - today said its Q4 results had exceeded its own expectations, with sales rising 35 per cent over the year-ago quarter to $201.8m.
The three months to 30 June 2004 saw income reach $6.6m (eight cents a share), up 43 per cent on Q4 2003's $4.6m (six cents a share).
For the whole year, Creative's sales of MP3 players and audio accessories totalled $814.9m up 16 per cent from 2003's $701.8m. Net income rose 68 per cent year on year from $29.4m (36 cents a share) to $49.4m (59 cents a share) on the back of improved margins and cost-control.
Investment gains, a tax write-back and other one-offs took 2004's income to $134.2m (161 cents a share), compared to 2003's $23.4m (29 cents a share).
Looking ahead, Creative said it expects its current quarter, Q1 2005, to yield year-on-year revenue growth of 25-30 per cent to $200-210m. With gross margins anticipated at around 32 per cent, plus $60-62m in operating expenses, Creative reckons Q1 should yield earnings of six cents a share. ®
Toshiba officially announces those 60GB hard drives
Posted Aug 4, 2004, 8:30 AM ET by Peter Rojas
Related entries: Portable Audio
Toshiba Offers World's Highest Capacity in New Line of 1.8-Inch Hard Disk Drives
IRVINE, Calif. --(Business Wire)-- Aug. 4, 2004 -- Mobile Storage Leader Achieves Industry-Leading Benchmarks for Areal Density and other Key Technology Milestones for Growing HDD Category
Toshiba Storage Device Division (SDD), the industry pioneer in small form factor storage, today announced a new family of 1.8-inch hard disk drives (HDDs) that deliver the industry's highest capacities in this category with its 30GB "MK3006GAL" and 60GB "MK6006GAH." These drives also feature improved shock tolerance, power consumption and vibration control for better performance in mobile consumer electronics devices.
To achieve this industry-leading capacity, Toshiba has set a new benchmark for areal density in the 1.8-inch HDD category at 93.5 gigabits per square inch. This has allowed Toshiba to pack 30GB of data onto a single 1.8-inch platter, an increase of 50 percent over current models, delivering drives that are ideally suited for in-demand consumer electronics products such as mobile audio players and mobile notebook PCs.
"We are delighted to announce the world's highest capacity 1.8-inch HDD," said Amy Dalphy, manager, HDD business unit, Toshiba SDD. "We made improvements to push the capacity, increase shock resistance and to lower power consumption and noise. The resulting drives are perfect for integration in audio applications, such as mobile audio players, and mini-notebook PCs. We will continue to introduce high-capacity, small form factor HDD and contribute to making a reality of ubiquitous computing."
The key to setting a new areal density benchmark of 30GB on a single platter -- and achieving a 1.8-inch drive with the largest capacity ever -- 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.
Engineered to meet the stringent requirements for mobile devices such as MP3 players, handheld video players and handheld computers, Toshiba's new 30GB (single platter) and 60GB (dual platter) HDDs offer industry-leading operating shock tolerance of 500G and non-operating shock tolerance of 1,500G through the employment of fluid dynamic bearing (FDB) motor technology. The drives' FDB motor also provides improved acoustics.
Toshiba's new 1.8-inch drives also achieve improvements in vibration resistance and power consumption. The drives are capable of withstanding 2G of vibration during operation. Power consumption of the MK6006GAH and MK3006GAL are approximately 20 percent lower on average than the company's current drive(a) due to application of pulse width modulation (PWM) to control the disk rotation speed. A DC-DC converter is also used in the power unit to reduce power consumption.
Shipping and Toshiba Product Family Information
The 1.8-inch 30GB and 60GB HDDs will begin shipping in the fourth quarter 2004. Toshiba has shipped more than 7.5 million 1.8-inch HDD units, achieving volume leadership in this form factor. Toshiba's new 1.8-inch HDD family joins the company's current mobile HDD lineup, which includes 2.5-inch HDDs available in 20GB, 30GB, 40GB, 60GB, 80GB and 100GB capacities. Toshiba's 1.8-inch HDD's are currently available in 10GB, 20GB, 30GB (currently a dual platter drive), 40GB capacities for embedded applications and in a 5GB PC-Card-type mobile HDD. Toshiba most recently announced its 0.85-inch HDD, which has planned capacities of 2GB to 4GB and is featured in this year's Guinness Book of World Records as the world's smallest multi-gigabyte HDD
ATA Airlines Business Class - a Total Commitment to the Business Traveler
Tuesday August 3, 1:14 pm ET
ATA, a Leading Low-Cost Carrier, Brings Business Class Service to Cost-Conscious Travelers Nationwide
INDIANAPOLIS, Aug. 3 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- ATA Airlines, Inc., (Nasdaq: ATAH - News), the nation's 10th largest passenger carrier, today announced that its system-wide Business Class service, beginning late November, will be available for sale as early as late August. With this move, ATA, a leading low-cost carrier, will bring Business Class service to cost-conscious business travelers.
(Logo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20030929/ATAHLOGO-a )
"Our strategic Business Class initiative is an important step in the natural evolution of our company, and we are very excited about bringing this service to our customers," said George Mikelsons, ATA Chief Executive Officer. "By providing the Business Class option, while continuing to expand our coast- to-coast network, we have created a company that is well positioned for growth in this competitive market environment."
ATA will continue its heritage of providing value-based everyday, low fares for both our business and leisure travelers.
"The introduction of Business Class service is further evidence of our commitment and transformation into an airline that is positioned to meet the needs of our customers today and for the future," said John Happ, ATA's Senior Vice President of Marketing and Sales. "ATA, in partnership with ATA Connection, is very proud as the largest passenger carrier from Chicago-Midway to not only bring this new level of value and service to Chicago but to our customers throughout our entire jet system. ATA is very focused on making the travel experience easier and more affordable for all of our customers."
ATA's Business Class will include travel elements that are valued most by frequent travelers. Each row of Business Class will feature spacious two- across, luxurious leather seating, more comfort and legroom with 38-40 inches of seat pitch. The leather seats are 21 inches wide -- more than four inches wider than typical coach seats. ATA Business Class seats feature footrests and six-way adjustable headrests for the highest level of comfort. Additionally, each seat will include an in-arm food tray, swing-out cocktail tray, shared center console and seat back that reclines further than a typical coach seat. Passengers in Business Class will also enjoy priority check-in and boarding, complimentary beverage service and digital in-flight entertainment.
ATA's fleet of Boeing 737-800, 757-300 and 757-200 aircraft will be configured with 12 Business Class seats. The entire reconfiguration will be completed by late-November 2004. ATA flies one of the youngest, most fuel- efficient fleets among the major carriers.
ATA recently announced an expanded route structure, including new nonstop service between Dallas/Ft. Worth and Indianapolis, and convenient schedules to more than 40 cities throughout the U.S., Mexico and the Caribbean. ATA provides service to key business destinations, including the New York area, Chicago, Boston, Los Angeles, Philadelphia and San Francisco and flies to primary airports such as New York LaGuardia, Boston Logan, San Francisco International and Washington Reagan National Airport.
Now in its 31st year of operation, ATA (Nasdaq: ATAH - News) is the nation's 10th largest passenger carrier (based on revenue passenger miles) and one of the nation's largest low-fare carriers. ATA has one of the youngest, most fuel- efficient fleets among the major carriers, featuring the new Boeing 737-800 and 757-300 aircraft. The airline operates significant scheduled service from Chicago-Midway, Hawaii, Indianapolis, New York and San Francisco to over 40 business and vacation destinations. Stock of parent company, ATA Holdings Corp., is traded on the Nasdaq Stock Exchange. For more information, visit the web site http://www.ata.com .
Enhanced In-flight Entertainment
ATA now offers in-flight entertainment on most flights. A combination of short-subject videos, recently released feature films and a wide variety of music makes travel on ATA fly by! Headsets are available for $2 on board. Once you've purchased a headset, just bring it back on your next flight and enjoy the complimentary service
'Video iPods' Bring Seinfeld on Subway
Tue 3 August, 2004 18:10
By Andy Sullivan
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Electronics makers are enticing consumers to take Seinfeld on the subway with portable video players that look like an iPod crossed with a digital camera.
Smaller than a Stephen King paperback thriller, these compact players have room for up to 80 hours of video -- that's all five seasons of "The Sopranos," the "Lord of the Rings" trilogy, and six hours of Thighmaster infomercials.
Built-in video screens about 3.5 inches across provide a crisp picture for personal viewing, while output jacks allow them to be plugged into a TV screen for a more panoramic experience.
Users can record TV programs off the air, download movies from the Internet or copy vacation videos from their own camcorders.
Portable media players like the Archos ARCH.PA AV420 can also store and play back hundreds of hours of music and display thousands of digital photos. And, like a TiVo, the AV420 can be programmed to automatically record certain shows.
The AV420 lists for $549.95, while Thomson's TMS.PA RCA Lyra A/V Jukebox lists for $449.99 -- about $50 more than the most expensive version of Apple's iPod, which has sold more than 2 million units since it was introduced in 2001.
With manufacturers like Samsung 000830.K and Sanyo 1614.TW readying units of their own, Christmas shoppers could find store shelves filled with media players.
"We see the video player market as a natural progression for MP3," said Archos chief operating officer Brad Wallace. "We can do everything you can with an iPod."
Analysts are less bullish about the category.
"As a mass-market device, I think it's unlikely to succeed," said Paul O'Donovan, a principal analyst at Gartner Inc. "I think it's a very neat, very clever technology, but that doesn't guarantee a market."
The price is too high to attract all but the most avid gadget hounds when laptop computers and portable DVD players offer larger screens and fewer technical headaches, said Mike McGuire, another Gartner analyst.
U.S. consumers will buy 25 million portable MP3 players in 2008, but portable-video player sales will be closer to 2 million units that year, O'Donovan said.
Unlike music, video demands much more of a user's attention and can't be viewed while driving, exercising or walking down the street.
Delunte Lewis, a salesman at Best Buy BBY.N in Washington, said the Archos and RCA units have appealed to commuters who spend a fair amount of time on the train, but they haven't been particularly hot sellers.
Like elsewhere in the high-tech world, the products have broken down into two camps: Microsoft Corp.MSFT.O and the rest.
Apple Computer Inc. AAPL.O , which accounts for 55 percent of the MP3 market when measured by revenue, has said it has no plans to offer a video player.
Microsoft last year unveiled a software platform that would link personal media players closely with its Windows XP operating system.
Movies, music and other content could be automatically copied from a user's computer onto the mobile device while computers with a built-in TV tuner could record shows automatically and copy them to the mobile player.
Samsung, Sanyo and Creative CREAF.O have announced plans to release Microsoft-compatible players, and Amazon.com Inc. AMZN.O is taking pre-orders, though the products are not yet on the market.
Archos and RCA, which run on proprietary software, say their units can sync up with personal computers, or record video directly from TV units.
But that's a labor-intensive way to get content, said Josh Martin, an associate research analyst at IDC.
Paid download services like CinemaNow that allow users to download programs in minutes could encourage adoption if they're priced right, he said.
"If you could download as many episodes of Seinfeld as you want for $10 a month and keep them on your device, that's a pretty good value proposition," Martin said.
Video-download services have been slow to get off the ground due to piracy concerns. Overly restrictive copy-control measures and conflicting file formats could dampen enthusiasm, he said.
AP Henderson Group Announces Expansion of MP3 Business and Secures Distribution Agreement
LOS ANGELES, Aug. 3 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- AP Henderson Group
(OTC Bulletin Board: APHG) subsidiary Hyundai MultiCAV Computer Shanghai, Co."HMCS") announced today that it expanded its MP3 player markets and also signed a regional distribution agreement with Fortune Telecom (FT) for distribution of its MP3 products in Northwestern part of China.
The Company anticipates benefiting from the extensive customer list and shortened distance between end users by utilizing Fortune Telecom's long-term commercial networks that reach throughout China.
Hyundai MultiCAV Computer Shanghai, Co. currently is also in negotiation with another MP3 wholesaler for distribution in Southeastern part of China.
The wholesale agreement with Fortune Telecom is estimated to generate $7.2 million (USD) in revenue on an annual basis.
The Hyundai MultiCAV Computer Shanghai, Co. MP3 player design,
"EMuse-200", recently received the CIW editor choice award in China. The "EMuse-200" design is also produced by Hyundai MultiCAV Computer in Korea.
This design has been praised as the "Royal" player in Korea due to the fact that it's often purchased by fashion-conscious consumers who purchase trendy and fashionable wares.
According to Jeffrey Co, AP Henderson Group's Chairman and CEO, "We elected to work with Fortune Telecom, because of its unblocked commercial network, and because their key target consumer group which is highly concentrated with young, modern and trendy customers. Overall, we shared the same philosophies and had identified the same target market."
Mr. Co continues, "With this agreement, AP Henderson Group, through its subsidiary Hyundai MultiCAV Computer Shanghai, Co., has once again demonstrated its capability to identify significant opportunity in the marketplace. It is news to no one that the market for music on MP3 and other
portable devices has exploded and is rapidly growing."
This agreement allows FT to distribute Hyundai MultiCAV Computer Shanghai, Co. products to its vast network of customers. Hyundai MultiCAV Computer Shanghai, Co. will also take advantage of co-marketing opportunities with Fortune Telecom.
About Fortune Telecom
Fortune Telecom, which was established in Hong Kong in 1992 and was listed on the Main Board of Hong Kong in 2000 (Number 110), is the leading company of distributor, retailer and value added service provider of mobile phones and digital products. Fortune Telecom distributes products manufactured by world- class telecommunications and technology companies such as 3Com, Alcatel, Kodak, Lucent, Motorola, NEC, Nokia, Palm, Siemens, and Sony.
Fortune Telecom possesses an extensive distribution and services network, with operations in Hong Kong, Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Chengdu and other major cities across the PRC. With 6000 terminal sales, FT has its own products sales outlets in
the sales field of nearly all core professional cell-phones, electrical home appliances and professional sales field of IT.
About AP Henderson Group
AP Henderson Group is an emerging company that utilizes its market presence in the United States and experience in the greater China region to identify and pursue available business opportunities. We intend to target valuable venture opportunities both in the high-technology and technology-
driven manufacturing industries. We made two acquisitions in 2004 in furtherance of our business plan. In January of 2004, we acquired Slide View Corp. Slide View is the sole beneficial owner of US Patent number 6,532,146 and 6,667,877, covering two versions of piggy-backed, side-by-side monitor screens in a laptop. In April of 2004, we acquired Hyundai MultiCAV Computer
Shanghai Co., Ltd., ("HMCS") a Chinese Company. HMCS is engaged in the business of design, manufacture, and marketing of computer hardware, computer peripheral equipment and consumer electronic products, including desktop computers, laptop computers, server communication equipments, LCD monitors,
LCD television, software and online gaming programs.
More MP3 players from Alba and Digitalway
August 02 2004 5:16 PM GMT by Stuart Miles
Following hot on the heels of the Rio Carbon mp3 player, Alba and Digitalway have also launched MP3 players today. Alba’s, the Alba MP364NDI, costs £30 and has 64MB of memory and is aimed at the beginner market.
Digitalway’s, called the mpio hd200, however is a 5Gb player priced at £199 and will offer 80 hours of music, in-built WOW sound support and a 5 band equalizer. It also offers support for MP3, WMA, ASF and OGG file formats and also has direct encoding straight from a stereo. With the integrated FM stereo and recording function, USB 2 downloading and 14 hours of battery life the player aims to offer plenty.
How both players fair in the market will be hard to tell against tough competition from more established brands like Apple, Rio and Creative.
MANUFACTURER WEBSITE
http://www.agbglobal.com/
ReignCom plays chips to fend off giants
Sony, Apple prompt new pricing strategy by leading maker of MP3 players
Facing mounting pressure from global giants, ReignCom Ltd., a leading producer of MP3 players, is powering up a defense plan built on sliding chip prices.
The aggressive pricing strategy, adopted just weeks ago, is aimed at protecting its home turf and is expected to trigger a price war that should benefit consumers.
"We see more opportunity to get more aggressive with pricing," said Henry Kim, the company's vice president and one of 10 founding members of six-year-old ReignCom.
"ReignCom is by far the first to pass on the benefits of lower component prices, and that is important in this intensive state of competition," said Jason Oh, senior analyst who covers the software and multimedia industry at Goodmorning Shinhan Securities.
Henry Kim, vice president of ReignCom, shows off one of the company`s MP3 player models at his office in Seoul. [The Korea Herald]
ReignCom is the world's second-largest digital music-player manufacturer with a 14 percent share of the global market. Its iRiver models account for a fifth of all flash-memory music players sold in the United States.
The global operation generates some 60 percent of sales. Kim hopes to raise the percentage to 70 percent.
But ReignCom is not conceding the Korean market, where it accounts for more half of sales in a rapidly expanding environment. The task will be formidable.
Last month, Apple released its new iPod digital music players featuring a more affordable price and huge advantage in storage capacity.
An even greater threat is Sony Corp., the Japanese giant that dominated portable music with its Walkman cassette and CD players, said Oh. The iconic Walkman was a hip item among Korean teenagers in the 1980s and 1990s.
"Young Koreans feel a strong brand loyalty to Sony which is a grave threat to the local MP3 player manufacturers," said Oh.
Sony's representative in Seoul said the company, which has lost its leadership in portable music, will try to regain that crown with a radically styled model featuring much longer battery life. "We hope to revive our once grand Walkman brand," said Keum Hye-young, product assistant manager.
Reduced profitability
ReignCom's effort to defend its domestic market share has already taken a big chunk out of financial performance. On Friday, the company said that its second-quarter operating profit dropped by 33 percent to 11.2 billion won from the previous quarter mainly because of higher marketing expenses.
"Consumers recognize our brand. Still, we're not like Sony or Panasonic," said Kim, pointing out the company's short history.
The operating margin dropped to 11.5 percent compared to 20.1 percent in the first quarter and 23.9 percent a year earlier.
Analysts expect a continued squeeze on margins. They forecast the operating margin in the third quarter will drop to 16 percent from 23.8 percent a year ago, largely due to a price reduction and increasing promotion costs.
The company's share price has almost halved to the 20,000 won level for the past month, underperforming Kosdaq's 13.7 percent decline.
"The quarterly earnings report was quite disappointing. But it's simply because the company implemented much of its marketing expenses in the first half of the year," said Lee Shi-hoon, an analyst at Hyundai Securities. The total marketing cost is around 23 billion won, taking up 6 percent of the company's total revenue, according to analysts' estimates.
Still, Lee believes the stock is undervalued and put a "buy" recommendation on it with a six-month target price of 34,000 won.
"ReignCom's price cut may spark a price war and margin contraction across the MP3 player market," wrote Shin Min-seok at CLSA, who has lowered his rating on ReignCom to "underperform" from "downgrade."
Shin expects ReignCom's operating profit margin to drop to 16.8 percent in the second quarter from 19 percent in the previous quarter. CLSA also has a target price of 34,000 won, a nearly 50 percent reduction from its previous 65,000 won projection.
Executive optimism
The company executives are more sanguine. They believe margins could expand in the mid and long-run if chip prices continue to slide. Flash memory chip costs, which account for 35 percent of total costs, have fallen 25 percent since June and are expected to decline further.
Beginning July 19, ReignCom slashed the price tag on flash memory type MP3 players an average of 20 percent. For the most expensive models the discount was about 32 percent.
As brand and price are key determinants to purchasing MP3 players, Henry Kim believes deep discounts should boost demand for iRiver's greater memory MP3 players. The reductions on 512 MB and 1GB models exceed the lower-end 256 MB players.
"A shift to higher capacity products from lower ones will boost our sales mix," said Kim.
This year, the company estimates its profit will reach 60 billion won, a whopping increase from 40 billion won last year and 6.2 billion 2001.
ReignCom plans to roll out 12 music players this year, almost double the number of its competitors. Kim said the cross-border outsourcing has enabled the company to remain more agile to the rapidly changing MP3 player market, compared to its rivals.
The company develops its innovative MP3 technologies in Korea and manufactures in China. It also outsources the exterior product design to Inno Design based in California's Silicon Valley. Unique prism-style iRiver MP3 players which ReignCom rolled out in September last year is still gaining in popularity around the world.
Established by a group of engineers in 1999, the company of 460 employees has transformed itself from a start-up to the world's largest digital music-player manufacturer. Over the past few years, it has made significant strides on the global market, setting up five sales representatives worldwide, including in the United States, Japan, the European Union and Hong Kong.
ReignCom began to produce MP3 players under its brand name iRiver in January 2002. Before then, it supplied its MP3 products to U.S.-based SonicBlue in the form of original design manufacturing under the brand name Rio.
Overseas investors own 26 percent shares of the company. Yang, who founded the company with initial capital of 300 million won, is the largest single shareholder with a 23.5 stake in the company, followed by the second-biggest shareholder AV Concept, a Hong Kong-based electronics firm.
(jungmin@heraldm.com)
By Kim Jung-min
From new United PR
http://www.prnewswire.com/cgi-bin/stories.pl?ACCT=109&STORY=/www/story/08-02-2004/0002222830&....
Premium onboard entertainment. p.s. (SM) customers have countless opportunities to pass the time:
United First and Business customers may view a variety of
entertainment choices via hand-held DVD players and noise-reduction headsets, along with ten program options. p.s. (SM) will be the only provider of noise reduction headsets to first and business class customers flying between New York and California.
Customized onboard video programming is available to customers in
all classes of service via United's overhead entertainment system.
GoVideo Re-enters MP3 Player Market With Widely Acclaimed Rave-MP Brand
New Line of Affordable, Stylish and Easy-to-Use MP3 Players Designed Especially to Appeal to Untapped 18-30 Year Old Market
SCOTTSDALE, AZ -- (MARKET WIRE) -- 08/02/2004 -- A new line of Rave-MP flash and hard disk-based MP3 digital audio players was introduced today by GoVideo, a consumer electronics pioneer with 20 years of industry experience and a commitment to great user experiences through innovation, simplicity, value, and support.
"Over the past few years, customers have chosen to purchase MP3 products that are easy-to-use and come loaded with the latest features. However, these products typically target an older age group and fall short on providing a quality user experience," said Kevin Brangan, vice president of product marketing, digital audio for GoVideo. "The key to creating an MP3 player for the mass market is to offer a great product at a great price without compromising on style, user experience or features. The new Rave-MP players we are introducing are 'no compromise' players."
The original line of Rave products was among the first MP3 players on the market in 1999. At the time, the Associated Press called the first Rave "the hands down winner for cool features, user-friendly software and performance." The players were the first to allow memory expansion and among the first to have USB connections. Rave went on to become one of the most recognized MP3 brands in the U.S.
"GoVideo has always stood for great user experiences at reasonable prices, and our upcoming line of Rave-MP MP3 players will continue this tradition and bring back a brand with a great heritage," said GoVideo CEO Ed Brachocki. "This year, as MP3 players become mainstream mass market products, a great user experience will become more critical to customers. GoVideo's commitment to designing products that customers love will ensure that the Rave-MP players will delight users from the moment they open the box, and this is really the best payoff of technology."
Great User Experience
The Rave-MP players come pre-loaded with music tracks by up-and-coming independent artists so users can start enjoying their players the moment they leave the store.
Highlighted Links
http://www.rave-mp.com/
www.govideo.com
Organizing and transferring music is simple because the players are designed to use Windows Media Player 9 as the default jukebox. Most people will simply plug the players into their PCs and already have all the necessary software installed. In addition, getting music from a PC or a Mac onto the players is lightning fast and easy because of support for industry standard USB 2.0.
In addition to allowing customers to transfer music from their CD collection, the players work with music purchased from virtually every online music store so customers are no longer limited to shopping at an online store owned by or chosen for them by the company that made their hardware. The Rave-MP products have also been designed to work with Microsoft's upcoming Windows Media Digital Rights Management system.
Accessing and playing music is simple because of the carefully engineered user interface and the sharp, multi-line, backlit, white-on-black LCD screen.
Stylish Players
The Rave-MP players come in two designs -- the stylish ARC offers extreme convenience with its large music capacity and long battery life. The AMP has the size and durability for people on the go or in the gym. Each design is offered in two capacities.
Rave-MP ARC 2.5 and ARC 5.0
The hard disk-based ARC series, available in 2.5 gigabyte and 5.0 gigabyte versions, is the ultimate in sleek sophistication. The ARC 2.5 stores up to 83 hours of music, while the ARC 5.0 stores up to 166 hours of music.* Both ARC players are powered by a rechargeable 10+ hour lithium ion battery.
Rave-MP AMP 128 and AMP 256
This flash-based AMP series, available in 128 megabyte and 256 megabyte versions, is rugged enough to go wherever sports enthusiasts and active people take it. The AMP 128 stores up to 4 hours of music, while the AMP 256 stores up to 8 hours of music.* Both AMP players are powered by one AAA alkaline battery and are expandable to one gigabyte of storage with SD or MMC memory cards.
All the Rave-MP MP3 players include a 5-band equalizer, an FM tuner, and the ability to make both FM and voice recordings.
To enhance the Rave-MP user experience, each player comes with carefully chosen accessories. High-quality earphones ensure great sound; the meticulously designed armband ensures worry-free mobility and the sleek cases offer additional protection.
Rave-MP Pricing and Availability
The rugged, flash-based Rave-MP AMP 128 and AMP 256 players are priced at $99 and $129 respectively. The sleek, high-capacity hard disk-based Rave-MP ARC 2.5 and ARC 5.0 players are priced at $199 and $229 respectively. The AMP 128 and 256 players will be on retail shelves by mid-August. The ARC 2.5 and 5.0 players will be on retail shelves by early-September. More information about the Rave-MP players can be found at www.rave-mp.com.
System Requirements
Windows 98SE/ME/2000/XP/Mac OSX
Intel Pentium III 300 MHz or above
128 MB RAM Minimum
150 MB available hard drive space
USB Port
CD-ROM Drive
Support
Support will be available on the Internet and through toll free telephone support available 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday - Friday, and Saturday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. PST.
About GoVideo
Celebrating its 20th anniversary this year, GoVideo has pioneered some of the most recognized and advanced product lines in the consumer electronics industry, including the DVD+VCR Combo, the Dual-Deck™ VCR, DVD HTiB, Networked DVD Player, and DVD Recorder+VCR. The company holds numerous patents covering Dual-Deck technology as well as other electronics products and systems. GoVideo markets its products through the largest and finest retailers in North America under the GoVideo™, CineVision, Rave-MP™, and California Audio Labs brand names. The company has been recognized for its award winning customer service and provides its retail partners and consumers with "The GoVideo Experience" of Innovation, Simplicity, Value and Support. For additional information on GoVideo on the Internet, visit www.govideo.com.
*Based on music selections and WMA encoding rates. The quoted are times measured with music encoded at 64k bps.
This press release contains forward-looking statements that involve a number of risks and uncertainties. Among the factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expected are the following: business conditions and general economic conditions; competitive factors, such as pricing and marketing efforts of rival companies; timing of product introductions; ability of contract manufacturers to meet product price objectives and delivery schedules; legislative, regulatory, and industry initiatives that may affect planned or actual product features and marketing methods; and the pace and success of product research and development. For more information on the potential factors that could affect the company's financial results, please contact GoVideo at (480) 998-3400.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Press Contact
Norine Hendricks
Eastwick Communications
(650) 480-4063
nhendricks@eastwick.com
Jonathan King
GoVideo
(480) 905-9623
jking@govideo.com
SOURCE: GoVideo
Rio Audio Expands Its Award-Winning Lineup of MP3 Players
Monday August 2, 8:06 am ET
Longer Lasting Battery Life and Distinctive Designs Truly Set These Players Apart
SANTA CLARA, Calif., Aug. 2 /PRNewswire/ -- Maintaining its tradition of creating new and innovative MP3 players, Rio® today announced four new additions to its award-winning MP3 lineup -- the Rio Carbon 5GB(1) ($249), Rio Forge 512MB ($199), Rio Forge 256MB ($169), and Rio Forge 128MB ($139).
The four new players, all with tested battery lives of up to 20 plus hours, are designed with a combination of stylish metallic sheens, bright LED backlight displays and refined ergonomic designs that provide a distinctive look and feel to fit a variety of lifestyles. This next generation of Rio MP3 players all feature a new touch sensitive directional pad for simple and intuitive navigation and playback control.
"In daily conversations with our customers, battery life is often mentioned as a key feature they appreciate about Rio players. We our proud to say that our new players, Rio Carbon and Rio Forge have been engineered to deliver up to 20 hours or more on a single charge or AAA battery," said Hugh Cooney, president of Rio Audio. "This keeps our customers focused on listening enjoyment rather than spending time recharging their device."
Rio Carbon 5GB(1)
http://www.digitalnetworksna.com/shop/_templates/item_accessories.asp?model=267
Sporting an ultra-thin and tapered design, and with 20 percent more memory than the iPod mini, this tiny MP3 player, about the size of a business card, will slide into any pocket virtually unnoticeable. The Rio Carbon is capable of holding up to 80 hours of MP3 (160 hours WMA) music(2), and with up to 20 hours of battery life on a single charge, music lovers need not worry about running out of juice. Supporting USB 2.0 and a host of file formats; users can download music efficiently and easily from most of their favorite online music sites. The Rio Carbon also includes voice recording and provides seamless integration and support of both the PC and Mac platforms.
Rio Forge 512MB, 256MB, 128MB
The Rio Forge is a newly designed sport MP3 player that builds on the company's most popular selling flash-based player, the Rio Cali. The Rio Forge was engineered with the athlete in mind as its unique design incorporates the ruggedness and durability required for indoor and outdoor activities. With features like a large, easy-to-read screen, increased onboard memory (up to 512MB), expandable memory with a SD/MMC memory card, sport armband and industry-leading battery life of up to 20 hours with a single AAA battery, this player can accommodate an easy stroll in the park, or an extreme sporting adventure. The Rio Forge supports USB 2.0 for up to 40 times faster downloading, and includes a variety of features such as FM tuner, stopwatch and FM recording on the 256MB and 512MB models. The Rio Forge also supports both PC and Mac platforms.
Availability and Pricing
The Rio Carbon and Rio Forge MP3 players are expected to begin shipping in August. The products will be available through a variety of retail outlets in both the U.S. and Europe, including www.rioaudio.com.
Estimated manufacturer's suggested retail prices are as follows:
Rio Carbon 5GB(1) $249
Rio Forge 512MB $199
Rio Forge 256MB $169
Rio Forge 128MB $139
About Rio Audio
Rio Audio, a D&M Holdings company, pioneered portable digital audio technology in 1998, with the launch of the Rio 300. Since then, Rio Audio has become a leading brand of portable MP3 players by developing a host of award- winning portables that let music lovers take their music with them wherever they go. For more information regarding Rio, or to purchase a Rio digital audio player, please visit www.rioaudio.com.
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.digitalnetworksna.com/rioaudio/default.asp?cat=35
Personal video recorder
NHJ Limited has just released its new 3.5-inch TV color monitor, featuring a mobile personal video recorder and internal memory of 30 GB/60GB. Just set the TV on a cradle, and you get a clear picture. Simply press "record" and the program is recorded directly into the built-in memory.
Even if you do not have the cradle or another VCR, the MPM can play back a crystal clear picture from its memory. Also, by connecting a cable with a video/DVD player, you can record in the MPEG4 format. Plus, you can also store and play MP3 music you've downloaded from a computer.
MPM-201/202, NHJ Limited
Open
http://www.nhjapan.co.jp/prod/mpm201/index.htm
Rio Audio Introduces 4-Gigabyte IPod Mini
MAY WONG
Associated Press
SAN JOSE, Calif. - In the world of portable music players, the spotlight has lately been on Apple Computer Inc.'s top-selling iPod, but Rio Audio, the MP3 player pioneer, isn't idling in the shadows.
Rio, now owned by Digital Networks North America, Inc., debuted a player Monday that is expected to be the first of many to squarely compete against the popular 4-gigabyte iPod Mini.
The Rio Carbon, shaped like a slim wedge and weighing 3.2 ounces, uses Seagate Technology's new 1-inch, 5-gigabyte hard drive, and touts up to 20 hours of playback time on a rechargeable battery. It will cost $249 and be available in late August, said Dan Torres, Rio's vice president of product marketing.
GoVideo, a DVD and VCR maker based in Scottsdale, Ariz., will enter the audio player market in September with a similar 5-gigabyte portable player as well as a 2.5-gigabyte model under a revived Rave-MP brand name.
Both the Rio and Rave-MP players will play songs encoded in the Windows Media Audio or MP3 formats. They will thus be locked out from songs purchased from online music providers that feature incompatible formats, such as Apple's market-leading iTunes Music Store, of which songs are transferable only to Apple iPods.
Still, the majority of consumers' digital music collections is in the generic MP3 format, and analysts say Rio and others can continue to capitalize on that market.
The new Rio and Rave-MP players will also be among the first to support Microsoft's new anti-piracy technology, dubbed Janus, that allows rented songs from online music subscription services to be used on portable devices.
"Rio has been around for a long time. They know what works and they know what customers are looking for," said Ben Bajarin, an industry analyst with Creative Strategies. "Right now in digital music, we still think it's anybody's game, and Rio has a really good chance of maintaining good market share."
Santa Clara-based Rio had lost its luster under the financial woes of its former owner and as competition from Apple and others stiffened. But the company threw itself back into the heated market last fall with a relatively successful line of players that ranged from low-capacity flash-based players to a large-capacity 20-gigabyte hard-drive player.
In May, Rio ranked second to Apple in the MP3 player market, holding a 14.6 percent share compared to Apple's 39.2 percent, according to the latest figures available from The NPD Group, which tracks sales at retail stores.
The Rio Chroma = The Rio Karma 2?
31, 2004, 1:02 PM ET by Peter Rojas
Portable Audio
Rio accidentally posted up and then removed info on their site about a couple new unannunced MP3 players. The one we’re jazzed up about is the Rio Chroma, which is listed as having space enough for 10,000 songs (so probably about 40GB).
We’re guessing this is probably the long-expected Rio Karma 2 (though it is entirely possible they’ll introduce both a 40GB Rio Karma 2 and a 40GB Rio Chroma), which is supposed to be smaller than the original Rio Karma (pictured at right) and feature an SD memory card slot for off-loading photos from a digital camera, a color LCD screen for looking at those photos (hence the name “Chroma”), and digital coax out on its docking station for hooking up to a stereo.
The other new unannounced player that turned up was the Rio Forge, a Flash-based model that comes in 128MB, 256MB, and 512MB versions. All three have integrated FM tuners, built-in stopwatch and lap timer, and 24 hours of battery life. We’ll have pics of all of these as soon as possible.
Computer applications show attracts huge crowd
Significant savings and wide varitety of choices seens as reasons for exhibit's rising popularity
2004-07-31 / Taiwan News, Staff Reporter / By Marie Feliciano
Thousands of consumer electronic bugs swooped down the Taipei World Trade Center yesterday to hunt for and haggle over fancy gadgets, computers, software products, printers, and digital cameras that were sold at discount prices.
"I think it's a good buy," said Jena Lin, pointing to her latest acquisition - a shiny personal digital assistant equipped with a camera and recorder.
The twenty-something customer, however, was obviously not done with her shopping. After making the PDA purchase, she headed for the nearest automated teller machine and joined the long queue of bargain-hunters who needed to replenish their wallets. Most of them, including Lin, were heading back to the show ground.
One of the most popular shows in Taipei, the Taipei Computer Applications Show attracted large crowds for four reasons: Fat discounts, tons of products, freebies, and loads of entertainment.
And just like previous shows, vendors - in their bid to make a sale - even employed attractive hawkers to peddle their goods. Young women wearing tiny tank tops, mini skirts, and knee-high leather boots - we even spotted one sporting a pair of wings - conducted raffle draws and contests to entice visitors. Those who did not have any "la-meis" in their camp resorted to loud music and louder vendors to attract attention.
"We expect more visitors this weekend," said Esther Lo, marketing manager of MobiNote Technology Corp.
Headquartered in Taipei County, MobiNote, a medium-sized manufacturer of entertainment-related devices, had its fair share of buyers yesterday. The company's star product was the DVX-POD 7010, a seven-inch portable video player that combined the functions of an MP3 Player, a digital recorder and a personal digital photo album. The device could also function as a personal hard drive with a capacity equivalent to 80 256MB Flash USB Pen Drives.
At the show, the portable entertainment gadget - which normally sells for NT$21,499 - carries a NT$19,900-tag.
"You can store up to 30 movies in this device," explained Lo. "The images are also very sharp and vivid because we are using only high-quality panels. It's comparable to a portable theater."
The glossy portable media player features a seven-inch color LCD (720x480), 20GB 1.8-inch HDD, and weighs 600 grams. To achieve a sleek, mess-free look, the manufacturer hid the media controls at the top of the handheld. It has no front panel buttons.
Its video playback formats included MPEG-4, DivX 3.11, 4 and 5, QuickTime 6 and WMV files. The device could also record TV video directly.
In terms of audio, it supported WMA and MP3 audio files and could record voice via its built-in microphone.
"You could create a digital photo album by downloading the images to your PC first, and then copying them into your DVX-POD," said Lo.
MobiNote's portable video player was selling like hotcakes in Europe and the U.S., she added.
OT: Reverse Split for Tiger Telematics Inc
Tiger Announces Successful 1 for 25 Reverse Split with New Symbol TGTL
JACKSONVILLE, July 30 /CNW/ - Tiger Telematics has taken a crucial step concerning its common stock (TIGR). Effective as of the opening of NASDAQ today, the reverse split takes place and has a new stock symbol (TGTL).
The company announces that it has successfully completed the reverse split approved by shareholders on July 9, 2004 shareholder meeting and it is trading as of July 30, 2004 under the new symbol TGTL.
At the July 9, 2004 special meeting, the company's shareholders approved a proposal to amend the Company's Certificate of Incorporation to authorize a reverse split of the company's stock of not less than 1 for 10 and not more than 1 for 50.
After studying the market conditions to determine the timing and rate of the reverse split the company decided that now is the right time to do so.
The timing is optimal concerning the soon to be launched, much-
anticipated, multi-entertainer, the Gizmondo.
The Gizmondo is powered by a Microsoft Windows CE.net platform and boasts a 2.8-inch TFT color screen with an ARM9 400Mhz processor and incorporates a 64-bit graphics accelerator.
It provides cutting-edge gaming, multimedia messaging, an MP3 music player, MPEG-4 movie playing capability, a digital
camera and a GPRS network link to allow wide-area network gaming.
Additionally, it contains a GPS chip for location-based services, is equipped with Bluetooth for use in multi-player gaming and accepts MMC card accessories.
About Tiger Telematics and Gizmondo
Gizmondo Europe Ltd. is an owned subsidiary of Tiger Telematics Inc (TGTL) and is the maker of Gizmondo, a next-generation mobile entertainment device. Set to launch in 2004, the gaming device includes built-in music, video, messaging and picture functions and GPS.
www.gizmondo.com
www.tigertelematics.com
Tiger is a designer, developer and marketer of mobile telematics systems and services that combine global GPS functions and voice recognition technology to locate and track vehicles and people down to street level in countries throughout the world. The systems are designed to operate on GPS and are currently being marketed to GSM current and potential subscribers,
primarily by the company's United Kingdom based subsidiaries.
My character could be a message board pest who after being scorned by "true longs" is finally proven right after all. lol
OR..having sold all his e.Digital holdings and seing the stock was now trading at 10.00 per share, hung himself with the cord of a micro OS powered Fusion pvp
LOL
Just kidding about the hanging part
Texas Instruments and ANT Limited Offer Integrated Digital Media Processor-based Platform for Advanced IPTV
July 30, 2004
ANT Limited, a provider of user interface software for TV and consumer electronics, and Texas Instruments (TI) [NYSE: TXN] today announced the availability of ANT's Fresco browser software integrated with TI's programmable DSP-based DM64x generation of digital media processors.
The port provides a hardware and software platform with advanced user interface and content control facilities. This platform allows OEMs to quickly and easily integrate a wide range of advanced content technologies such as Microsoft Windows Media Audio/Video Series 9, MPEG4 and H.264 into their consumer electronics products, including Internet protocol (IP) TV decoders, set top boxes (STBs), TVs, DVD players and video phones. In addition, service operators can easily provide a rich and cohesive set of services and products to their subscribers.
Just as importantly, manufacturers and operators can also preserve considerable investments by using this platform to migrate existing MPEG2-based designs to MPEG4, H.264 and WM9, without impacting their HTML-based content, user interface or middleware implementations.
The two companies have also announced a plug-in for the TI AV Player video/audio codec, enabling ANT Fresco to display content that combines HTML with streaming media elements for the creation of a wide range of content and presentation solutions. For example, an operator using this plug-in can embed scaled video images into their content to allow video previews as part of the selection page within a VOD (video-on-demand) service. Alternatively HTML-based content can overlay full-screen video with full control over transparency within the rendered page.
"With TI's DM64x, OEMs can easily partner with innovative software companies such as ANT, in order to enhance web based interactivity features in their products," said Arnaud Duclap, business development manager for TI's DSP group in Europe. "We are committed to offering leading edge silicon with a full suite of software building blocks to allow our customers to make advanced applications a reality today. ANT Fresco clearly brings its own added value to our proposal."
"MPEG4, H.264 and Windows Media 9 are key factors in allowing service operators to transition to lower-bandwidth technologies," explained Stephen Reeder, Executive Director, Sales and Marketing for ANT Limited. "The high performance of TI's DM64x digital media processor in combination with ANT Fresco helps ANT's OEM customers ease the transition. The programmability of a DM64x device allows OEMs to quickly adapt as standards evolve, enabling them to use the same hardware to implement different coding functions."
ANT's Fresco browser is one of the industry's most reliable and robust embedded browsers, specifically developed for user interface and content rendering requirements of TVs, STBs, DVD players and other consumer electronics and industrial appliances.
It is compact and fully featured, and enables device manufacturers to deploy support for content and applications quickly and cost-effectively across a wide range of devices, whatever their platform or operating system. It also enables service operators and OEMs to differentiate products and services with their own branding.
The DM64x offers flexibility to the customer by supporting a full range of advanced audio and video coding algorithms from MP3, AAC and Windows Media Audio Series 9 to MPEG2, MPEG4, H.264, Windows Media Video Series 9 and other codecs.
TI's digital media processors decode locally, making the content format virtually invisible to the consumer and expanding the inherent functionality of the streaming media appliance. In addition, having a programmable core at the heart of the design enables OEMs to upgrade to new or revised standards through a simple software download. All of these capabilities combine to provide OEMs flexibility to evolve their designs to keep up with ever-changing technology demands.
The data processing capabilities offered by the device allow the support of a wide range of advanced codecs and applications, including web browsing, video on demand, personal video recording features, high definition TV (720 lines) and video conferencing systems (H.323, H.263). The device also supports the Linux operating system.
The DM64x generation ranges in performance from 400MHz to 600MHz giving to customers, multiple performance, price and integration options. OEMS can benefit from a full suite of digital media processors enabling quick release to market of differentiated products. Hardware, software, video codecs and middleware for the DM64x generation are available now alongside hardware and software development kits to reduce time to market.
The DM64x pushes features innovation to the next step, thanks to its high performance, combined with integrated peripherals optimised for video and imaging applications. TI delivers real expertise in video and imaging systems to OEMs, offering leading edge silicon as well as a full suite of software blocks, making advanced streaming applications over IP a reality today.
Source: TI
Three little initials are changing electronics
By Mike Langberg
Mercury News
Posted on Fri, Jul. 30, 2004
Virgin Electronics relocated its tiny staff of 10 people from New York to downtown San Jose earlier this month in pursuit of a very big objective: challenging industry giants such as Sony, Apple, Dell and others in digital music hardware.
Virgin can do this because of a largely unnoticed but titanic shift in the electronics industry: the ODM revolution.
ODM stands for Original Design Manufacturer, and I can guarantee you'll be hearing these initials a lot more in the coming months and years.
ODMs are companies in Asia, almost all of them in Taiwan, capable of creating sophisticated electronics -- MP3 players, notebook computers, DVD players, personal digital assistants, LCD TVs and more -- for the big companies whose brand names are familiar to U.S. consumers.
The big-name companies get products at very low prices with little upfront investment.
ODM is how Dell has been able to start selling PDAs and LCD TVs. Dell presumably went shopping among ODMs until it found products it liked, then asked for modest customization to give those products a Dell-like exterior.
Not that I'm trying to single out Dell. Almost all notebook computers sold in the U.S. today are manufactured by Taiwanese ODMs, and almost nothing you buy from big consumer electronics companies such as Sony, Panasonic and Toshiba is manufactured in plants owned by those companies.
How exactly does the process work? I can't say, because the big computer and electronics companies using ODM absolutely will not discuss the details. They don't want consumers to realize more and more brand-name products contain nothing more than off-the-shelf technology.
What is clear is that ODM will cause empires to crumble, by dramatically lowering the barrier to entry in selling technology products. That's where Virgin Electronics comes into the picture.
British billionaire Richard Branson has built an eclectic collection of companies including Virgin Megastores for music, Virgin Atlantic and the soon-to-be-launched Virgin USA in air travel, and Virgin Mobile cell phones.
The Virgin Group launched the Virgin Pulse line of consumer electronics at Target stores last year, including cordless phones, CD players and a portable LCD TV/DVD player. The products came from ODMs, and were manufactured in China with exteriors and packaging in Virgin's trademark deep red.
Target and Virgin discovered products revolving around music -- CD players and MP3 players -- were the best sellers; no surprise, given the company's roots in selling records.
So Virgin Group decided to focus on music hardware and formed a new company, Virgin Electronics, to replace Virgin Pulse. All the non-music products would be dropped.
This isn't hard to do in the ODM world. Hewlett-Packard can't drop out of the PC business on a whim, no more than Sony could abandon portable CD players after a bad quarter. But Virgin can shift products almost instantly, without having to shut down factories or lay off workers.
To build Virgin Electronics, the parent company recruited two Silicon Valley veterans who had together worked at Handspring, the PDA maker acquired last year by Palm: Greg Woock and Joe Sipher.
Woock, now the chief executive of Virgin Electronics, and Sipher, now senior vice president of marketing, didn't want to just stick the Virgin label on ODM products.
They're designing a unique line of hard-disk MP3 players to compete with Apple's hugely popular iPod, as well as portable speakers, that go on sale in the fall.
With a staff expected to grow to 20 by year's end, Virgin Electronics is free to focus on what makes a difference to consumers: how the product looks and how it works. ODMs will figure out which components are required to make the vision real, and how to manufacture the finished products.
Woock told me last week that Virgin Electronics is somewhat like an architect, conceiving grand buildings and then handing blueprints to a contractor who picks the materials and how to proceed with construction.
``It's the logical progression of things,'' Woock said, noting how Asian manufacturers have progressed from simple assembly line work to more complex assignments.
``But it's very, very new that the ODMs are sophisticated enough to do this,'' Sipher added.
What does this mean for Silicon Valley?
Woock said he moved Virgin Electronics to San Jose because the valley is still ``the pinnacle of new thinking.''
At the same time, ODMs are using their own employees to do all sorts of jobs -- writing software, designing chips, creating engineering specs for hardware -- once done here.
If Virgin Electronics and dozens of other newcomers backed by ODMs succeed, it will be at the expense of established electronics companies in the United States and Japan.
Perhaps, in the end, Silicon Valley will be a service provider to the ODMs, rather than the other way around. They'll hire us for ``new thinking,'' while all the messy work of turning new ideas into products will happen elsewhere.
Sony's iPod Killer By WALTER S. MOSSBERG
July 28, 2004
http://ptech.wsj.com/archive/solution-20040728.html
Apple Computer Inc.'s iPod digital music player has fended off every rival product handily, not only remaining the most popular digital music player, but becoming a cultural icon and spawning an industry of accessories and of legal music downloads.
Next month, however, the iPod will face its most potent competitor. This latest challenger is none other than Sony Corp., the Japanese giant that revolutionized portable music with its Walkman tape players 25 years ago. Sony, which has lost its leadership in portable music to Apple, will try to regain that crown with its first iPod-type high-capacity, hard-disk-based music player.
My assistant, Katie Boehret, and I have been testing Sony's would-be iPod killer -- a sleek, slim, silvery, magnesium-clad gadget inelegantly called the "Network Walkman NW-HD1," which holds 20 gigabytes of music and is set to go on sale in mid-August for $399. Sony plans a massive ad campaign to back the new Walkman, and to try and revive the once grand, but now faded, Walkman brand.
A second Sony hard-disk player, a bulkier but more radically styled model that will sell for $499, will be introduced later this year by another division of famously Balkanized Sony -- the group that makes the company's Vaio computers. But Sony officials say they are placing their emphasis, and most of their marketing dollars, on the new Walkman entry, not the Vaio.
We've also been testing Sony's new online music service, Connect, which is designed to work hand-in-hand with both new players and to compete with Apple's wildly successful iTunes Music Store. Both the new Walkman and the Connect store, work only with Windows computers.
Our verdict: While the new Sony is smaller than the iPod and has much better battery life, it is markedly inferior overall. It has a confusing, complex user interface that makes it hard to use; weak software for the PC; an oddball music format that makes loading it with songs tedious; and a companion music download service that offers less than Apple's. The iPod wins this round, and remains champion.
For Sony, the stakes in this battle are high, especially in the crucial U.S. market.
When the online digital music revolution erupted a few years ago, Sony was missing in action, for two main reasons. First, it bet on the wrong horse, a technology called MiniDisc, or MD, which never caught on big in the U.S. Second, because it owns a music label that was initially hostile to music downloading, Sony's first memory-based digital music players were loaded with restrictions on consumers and turned off digital music enthusiasts.
Apple, acutely aware of Sony's new challenge, isn't standing still. Earlier this month, it introduced its fourth generation of the full-sized iPod, with 50% more battery life and streamlined controls and menus. And it knocked $100 off the iPod's price, which saddled the new Walkman with a $100 price premium. Sony doesn't plan a matching price cut.
In two key areas, Sony beats Apple. The new Walkman, which looks sort of like a small digital camera, is shorter than the iPod, and a bit thinner and wider. Even though it packs the same hard-disk capacity, the Sony is about 10% smaller in overall volume and it's also a third lighter, at 3.8 ounces vs. 5.6 ounces for the Apple. It's not as small or light as Apple's iPod mini, but the mini is in a different category, with much lower capacity.
And the Sony trounces the Apple in battery life, which has been the iPod's main weakness. Even though Apple boosted the battery life on the latest iPod model to 12 hours from eight hours, Sony claims anywhere from 20 to 30 hours of battery life, depending on the quality level at which the digital song files on the Walkman were stored. Higher-quality files drain the battery quicker. Like the iPod, the Walkman uses a sealed battery that can't easily be replaced by the user.
In our battery test, the Walkman got about 22 hours of play time on a single battery charge, well below the 27 hours Sony claims for the quality level of files we were using. Our iPod got a little over the 12 hours Apple claims, but the Sony still won hands down.
After that, however, the advantages are all to the iPod.
One major downside of the new Walkman is that it can't play MP3 files, or any of the other standard formats. It can play back only a proprietary Sony format called ATRAC3, or a variation called ATRAC3plus. This means that, when you transfer your MP3 files to the new Walkman, Sony's PC software must laboriously convert them first into ATRAC3 files. Sony claims it designed the player this way because ATRAC3 produces superior sound, and because it has features that extend battery life.
To transfer MP3 song files from your PC to the Walkman, you first launch the software Sony supplies to manage the Walkman, called SonicStage 2. It finds all the MP3 files on your PC, and then offers you the option of copying any or all of them to the Walkman.
That's pretty similar to other music programs. But instead of just shooting the files quickly into the player, the Sony software must grind away, converting all of them, one at a time, to the special Sony format.
For my test, I used a very modest collection of 431 standard MP3 files. SonicStage 2 refused to transfer 15 of the files, posting a nonsensical error message. After that, it took an agonizingly long two hours and 13 minutes to transfer the remaining 416 tracks to the Walkman. By contrast, Apple's iTunes software transferred all 431 songs to an iPod in about four minutes.
Also, the Sony software stores a shadow copy of your music library on your hard disk in ATRAC3 format, so the tracks don't ever have to be converted again, but this takes up much more hard-disk space than iTunes requires.
And, unlike the iPod and other hard-disk players, the new Walkman can't be recharged, or connected to a computer, directly. You have to first place it in a cradle, which has the connectors for the charging and computer cables. That means you have to carry the cradle on trips. And, even with the cradle, the Walkman can't draw power from a computer for recharging, as the iPod can. You have to plug the cradle into an electrical outlet.
But the Walkman's biggest weakness is its lousy user interface, which is dense and confusing. The SonicStage 2 software and the Connect music store are also badly designed. This is because, for all its historic brilliance in designing hardware, Sony stinks at software.
For instance, while the Walkman's tiny screen shows lists of artists, albums and genres, it can't display a list of all your songs. And neither Katie nor I could figure out how to make it shuffle through the entire song library, even after poring through the 45-page manual. Two Sony officials gave us conflicting advice on how to do this, but their advice didn't square with the manual, which is full of discussions about things like "play units."
By contrast, the iPod has always been able to display all your songs and to shuffle through the library. In fact, the newest model has a one-touch command called "Shuffle Songs" right on the main menu.
And there is no mention of the basic concept of "play lists" in either the Walkman's screens or the SonicStage software. The software has something called "compilation albums," which seem like play lists. But there's no reference to these on the player's screen. The player has something called "groups," but this concept isn't mirrored in the software. When I made a "compilation album" in SonicStage and transferred it to the player, it never showed up on the screen.
There's a button on the player called "Mode," but to set the "Play Mode," which controls the order in which songs are played back, you have to press a separate button called "Menu." By contrast the Mode button switches the screen display between artists, albums, genres and so forth. The little dial on the player for navigating all these menus is inferior to the iPod's navigation wheel, and the Walkman's screen is so small that artist names and album titles that display fine on the iPod are truncated.
The SonicStage 2 software is supposed to manage all your music, but it can't perform a basic function: burning a standard audio CD. For that function, Sony says you have to download a special version of SonicStage from the Web. Neither version, however, will allow you to convert a CD into MP3 files, only into Sony's proprietary ATRAC3 format.
As for the Connect service, which is accessed from inside the SonicStage software, it has nearly 100,000 fewer titles than Apple's iTunes Music Store, and, for about 10% of the tracks it does have, you can't preview the songs before buying. Connect also has more restrictive rules on burning CDs than Apple's iTunes store, and its user interface is bizarre, with a cramped little area for listing available titles surrounded by a huge, immutable gray border.
Sony says a greatly enhanced version of Connect, with more liberal rules and better features, will be launched in September.
On top of all that, Sony's marketing claims for the new hard-disk Walkman are over the top. The company claims the player can store up to 13,000 songs. But that's only if you use a very low-quality standard, 48 kilobits per second, which reduces audio quality. In fact, the new Walkman holds the same 5,000 songs as the 20 gigabyte iPod when you use a quality level roughly comparable to the default on the iPod.
If you love the Sony name, or the Walkman's size and design, or if you regularly take flights lasting more than 12 hours, you might be willing to pay $100 more for this new Walkman over an iPod. But, for everybody else, until Sony fixes the multitude of sins in this product, steer clear of it.
Digital Music Confusion
Competitors Promote Differing Standards and Devices
By Sebastian Rupley
PC Magazine
July 29, 2004— Due to an ever-growing array of digital rights management (DRM) strategies, incompatible file formats, and disparate portable music devices, the digital music scene has gotten complicated.
Nevertheless, digital music is selling briskly online, and innovative new strategies for distributing music and sidestepping proprietary formats are appearing.
This week, RealNetworks shook up the music scene when it announced that its new Harmony software will allow users to play digital tunes bought from the company's online music store on Apple iPods and many other kinds of music players, including the new Microsoft-compatible ones that are appearing. Apple has kept its DRM strategy for songs proprietary, and some analysts predict that legal action may result from RealNetworks' moves.
"Compatibility is key to bringing digital music to the masses," said RealNetworks' CEO Rob Glaser in announcing Harmony. "Before Harmony, consumers buying digital music got locked into a specific kind of portable player. Thanks to Harmony, consumers don't have to worry about technology when buying music. Now anyone can buy music, move it to their favorite portable device, and it will just work, just like the way DVDs and CDs work."
Songs from the RealPlayer Music Store can be played on over 70 portable digital music players, including all generations of Apple's iPod. By contrast, many other online music stores distribute music in proprietary formats. Apple's iTunes store delivers music to be played on the iPod, and Napster uses Microsoft technology that won't work with the iPod.
Microsoft's Moves
Microsoft is focusing on its own DRM strategy in the digital music wars. The company recently introduced the next version of its Windows Media DRM software, code-named Janus. Numerous online music and movie services, entertainment companies, and consumer electronics firms, including America Online, have lined up to support the software.
Click here to read more about Microsoft's Janus software.
Microsoft is firmly behind a rental model for content distribution. Janus includes a "time bomb" feature, which allows users to rent music and movies for very short periods. "You will be paying a low monthly fee to fill your portable music player with thousands of songs," said Microsoft corporate vice president Amir Majidimehr in a June interview.
The company has also announced that it will launch an MSN-branded online music store later this year, and is partnering with many hardware manufacturers that are building upcoming Portable Media Center devices to compete with MP3 players and the iPod.
Price Points
In our look at Musicmatch's online music service, we note that Musicmatch Jukebox 9.0 contains two additions that make it easier to share music online: You can now subscribe to an all-you-can-stream plan and share playlists with friends. Price competition is getting heated in the music wars too.
Click here to read a review of Musicmatch Jukebox 9.0.
Our recent look at Wal-Mart music downloads noted that its prices are lower than those at other music stores: 88 cents for a song, and $9.44 for an album. Songs from the Wal-Mart store come in WMA format, for playback on Windows devices.
Click here to read a review of Wal-Mart's online music service.
After the iPod
Digital music overall has become a full-blown social phenomenon.
In a report released by Jupiter Research this week, analysts predict that sales of digital music in the U.S. will reach $270 million by the end of the year — over twice the revenues from last year. Apple Computer recently reported very strong quarterly results, and attributed much of the success to sales of the iPod, of which there is a new, updated version.
Click here to read more about the Apple's new iPod.
Hewlett-Packard is co-branding the iPod and supporting Apple's DRM strategy. Apple's iTunes music store also has over 70 percent market share in sales of digital tunes.
Increasingly, it's looking like the biggest battles in digital music will continue to surround proprietary strategies and partnerships. The outlook for consumers? Sunny if you consider that major players like RealNetworks and Microsoft, with its anticipated online music store, are preparing to try to reslice Apple's overwhelming chunk of the digital music pie.
Apple Investigates RealNetworks' Software
Published July 29. 2004 9:11AM
The Associated Press
Apple Computer Inc. said the company is "stunned" at a move by RealNetworks Inc. to distribute software that lets customers play music from Real's song download store on Apple's iPod.
Apple said it is investigating the implications of RealNetworks' actions under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act and other laws.
The company said it was "stunned that RealNetworks has adopted the tactics and ethics of a hacker to break into the iPod."
Apple said it is highly likely that Real's Harmony technology will cease to work with current and future iPods when the company updates the music player's software.