e.Digital Corporation (fka EDIG)

[cksla]

friday afternoon ennui setting in so please disregard:

Q: What sector is getting the bulk of e.Digital research and
development budget?

A: In addition to ongoing development of portable digital audio
players, we are focusing on video ...applications
for our technology, and various services surrounding our Broadband Entertainment business development.
======================
19 Apr 2000 Talk w/ Robert Putnam!

THE Most Significant Remark: We expect to have a full motion video reference design available later this year, with 500 meg to 1 gig capacity which will allow direct downloading to your handheld.
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02 Jan 2002, A long talk w/Robert!

Question #2- Are we actually in DP video products?
Response #2- That is a big part of what we are doing.
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let me ask a silly question--if you can Drag 'N Rip audio to your portable audio player why can't they do a Drag 'N Rip video to your portable video player-- a bit is a bit is a bit
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NOTE the "Built-in MP3 and video players' reference below:
[courtesy Bill MacKinnon from edig group]
Aug 16, 2002 (TELECOMWORLDWIRE via COMTEX) -- A new web site has been
launched by wireless technology company QUALCOMM Inc that is aimed at
showcasing 3G wireless technologies.

The 3G Today web site focuses on code division multiple access (CDMA)
wireless technologies. Included on the site is a wireless device database
that can be searched by brand, country, technology, operator, device type
and date of introduction. QUALCOMM has also included information on CDMA
wireless services and service providers on the site.

The web site can be found at http://www.3GToday.com.

____________________________________________

Over 14 Million 3G CDMA Reported* Subscribers Today
(As of July 31, 2002)

Welcome to the new world of wireless, where the vision of third-generation
(3G) technology is now a reality. The waiting is over. Commercial 3G
products and services are here today - and even better than you've
imagined. Get ready for high-speed wireless data. Phones with color
displays and camera attachments. Built-in MP3 and video players.
Downloadable games and graphics. New location-based safety and security
services. 3G delivers all of this, and more.

Millions of users worldwide

In October 2000, South Korea launched the world's first commercial IMT-2000
3G network using CDMA2000 1X and on January 28, 2002 it launched the
world's first commercial CDMA2000 1xEV-DO service. In October 2001, Japan's
NTT DoCoMo also launched commercial 3G service based WCDMA. And dozens of
other 3G CDMA networks are scheduled to be launched during 2002 by leading
wireless carriers around the world.
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Concerning the PacketVideo PVPlayer: " We are very familiar with them...it's a good company. This is just another product that is indicating the growth in this area."

Putnam] Regarding Packet Video, ? We are aware of who they are and their technology and we are glad they are local. ? (4-6-00)

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Rich Media Without Wires
The browser was just a start
Sasha Pave, Dir. of Technical Design/Founder of Lot21

Ready or not, wireless portable devices are hitting the streets in a big way. Already, the Phone.com browser is installed on millions of cell phones in America, and in other parts of the world the penetration is even more pervasive. The statistics are astounding:

There will be 21.3 million mobile data users in the U.S. by the end of 2001 says industry analyst firm the Yankee Group.

By 2003, industry analysts expect there will be more than 1 billion mobile phones in use across the globe according to a recent article in CNET News.com.

By 2004, a full 40 percent of e-commerce transactions outside the U.S. will be done via portable, cellular-enabled devices claims the GartnerGroup.

Smart advertisers are looking at wireless devices as marketing vehicles and are beginning to develop strategies for reaching customers today. Once the industry matures and richer media formats begin to appear, new advertising and marketing opportunities will quickly take shape. Advertisers familiar with the space will be in a unique position to capture more customers and speak to them effectively.

Not ready for prime time
Currently, the method for communicating with customers on portable wireless devices is relatively crude. Text is the primary format for communication on phone-style devices mainly because of the small screen sizes. PDA devices are beginning to outgrow a primarily text interface because of higher screen resolution and color, although the delivery is still rough.

Bigger, faster, with pictures
More and more companies are developing the future of portable wireless communication. Existing PC formats are finding their way onto smaller screens through digital streaming video, interactive animation, and advanced interfaces. Companies such as PacketVideo are porting MPEG-4 standard video players to PDA devices, along with Macromedia and Flash.

Streaming formats will most likely have to adapt to the bandwidth characteristics of wireless devices. Pre-caching techniques might offer wireless devices the ability to download while the device is not being used. Rich ad delivery on wireless devices would be possible through pre-caching technologies like Unicast's Superstitial™, which silently pre-caches while the user is not active. This allows for larger, richer delivery without latency.

Is Web technology enough?
Tremendous development efforts are going into richer media formats on portable wireless devices, and while these new developments will change the way people interact, they will also converge with device specific technologies. The most alluring technology to hit wireless devices is the Bluetooth standard, which allows devices to communicate with each other based on proximity. For instance, a movie theater could, in theory, send movie preview video clips to your cell phone as you wait in line at the theater. Airlines could provide flight information for those waiting at the gate for their flight. Restaurants could display images of their cuisine to users in a specific area. The list goes on.

A Brand with a Thousand Faces
As the digital world continues to grow out in just about every direction, the opportunities for advertisers to reach customers are going to skyrocket. Understanding how to speak with these customers in the right atmosphere, with the right tone and in the right format is going to be the key to the success of this new messaging. Brand extension over portable wireless devices is going to be an important first step in the future of digital marketing.
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Qualcomm licenses MP3 patents for
upcoming chips, software
http://www.eetimes.com/story/OEG20010309S0005

It's not clear yet what kinds of music services and applications will be developed for third-generation (3G) handsets in the United States,but it's conceivable they will resemble wireless music services already launched in Japan. Last year, NTT Docomo Inc. and Matsushita Communication Industrial Co. Ltd. introduced a wireless music distribution network which allowed users to download songs onto Secure Digital flash memory card-compatible phones and audio players.

This scenario of wireless music services being tied to secure devices seems more likely now, given the legal battles raging between the major record labels and Napster Inc. (Redwood City, Calif.), signaling the demise of the music file-swapping service that lets consumers download music for free.
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Qualcomm Demos Real-Time Wireless Video Streaming
By Dan McDonough, Jr.
Wireless NewsFactor
September 20, 2001

Last Thursday, Qualcomm was able to stream real-time video using a 3G CDMA2000 1X mobile phone connected through a laptop via a Bluetooth dial-up network. For those who thirst for details, the mobile phone was equipped with a MSM5100 Mobile Station Modem chipset and related system software.

The phone's chip transmitted video at speeds faster than 144 kilobits per second (kbps) over the wide area network. Qualcomm said the Bluetooth connection offered comparable data rates.

Qualcomm's MSM5100 chipset also offers a bunch of other applications, bundled under the umbrella of the Wireless Internet Launchpad suite. Those applications include GPS (global positioning system), MP3 player software and MIDI (musical instrument digital interface)-based multimedia software, among others.

3G makes it relatively easy to access real-time video and other media on a wireless phone or other mobile device. Bluetooth allows users to easily send that streaming media to any other Bluetooth-enabled device -- without any wires or adapters. Combined, this is a pretty impressive and useful set-up.

It is so impressive that San Diego, California-based Qualcomm is not the only outfit plugged in to this dual-tech trend. Just yesterday, Toshiba started hyping its new Tecra and Portege laptop PCs, which are equipped with both Bluetooth and its local networking competitor, Wi-Fi, also known as 802.11b. Toshiba was quick to point out that its new notebook computers are the world's first such devices to offer both wireless networking technologies.
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Power hogs are handheld woes
By Stephen Ohr
EE Times
(12/27/01, 11:56 a.m. EST)

Authorities on analog and mixed-signal technology believe that handheld electronics will soon incorporate an unprecedented number of features. Cellular telephones will likely have a color screen, a wireless Internet browser, the address book and calendar functions of a PDA, even an FM radio and MP3 music player. The big issue, technologists say, is how to pack all these features together without using a battery the size of a brick, or reducing battery life to 30 seconds.

http://www.investorshub.com/boards/read_msg.asp?message_id=233401
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Qualcomm (www.qualcomm.com) has teamed up with MP3.com to
develop on-demand access to digital music. MP3.com, an Internet music service provider, will work to create an application compatible withQualcomm's new Binary Runtime Environment for Wireless (BREW) applications platform. The BREW plat-form
supports Qualcomm's code-divi-sion-multiple-access (CDMA) format.

http://www.investorshub.com/boards/read_msg.asp?message_id=250288
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and then there is reality:

http://www.cnn.com/2002/TECH/ptech/05/01/mpeg.standard.idg/.