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Alias Born 03/28/2001

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Re: None

Tuesday, 04/10/2001 6:41:01 PM

Tuesday, April 10, 2001 6:41:01 PM

Post# of 93814
My comments inserted in this excellent article found by Robert Bunning – cksla

DOS to MOS - ((ie,. = My comments.))

Audio chip makers' hopes tied to digital music rollouts

By Margaret Quan, EE Times
Apr 6, 2001 (11:10 AM)
URL: http://www.eetimes.com/story/OEG20010406S0047
MANHASSET, N.Y. — {b}Top suppliers of chips for the digital music player
market hope the rollout of online music services aimed at boosting
the availability of digital music on the Internet will have a
positive impact on portable digital music player sales this year. {/b}
They expect the added content to increase second-half 2001 sales over
what turned out to be a disappointing first quarter for chips of all
types, including those designed into portable music players,
according to anecdotal reports.

However, some believe the limited availability of digital music
content and the uncertainty over digital music copyrights is not the
only thing that prevents consumers from purchasing the devices.

Rainer Hoffmann, president of Micronas Semiconductors (San Jose,
Calif.), a subsidiary of Micronas Semiconductor Holding AG (Zurich,
Switzerland), thinks the portable music {b}player-only devices {/b} are still
too expensive at prices of $199 and up.

(( ie,. Not with advanced {u}digital {/u} VoiceRemote & FM/XM reception/record. Cost: edig affords less parts/cost more function. ))

"The major holdback [to growth of the market] is still the cost,"
said Hoffmann.

He suggested player prices "must come down to $149 and below" before
they become a mainstream consumer purchase.

Nevertheless, three top chip suppliers, Cirrus Logic Inc. (Austin,
Texas), Texas Instruments Inc. (TI; Dallas) and Micronas see as
{b}positive developments this week's launch of several new music
services: {/b} the MusicNet music subscription service platform by Real
Networks and three major record labels; Microsoft Corp.'s
introduction of a beta version of its free {b}streaming radio service on
its MSN network; and plans by MTVi Group and music application
service provider RioPort to offer paid song downloads through MTVi's
Web site. (MTVi is a unit of MTV Networks owned by Viacom Inc.) {/b}

((ie,. Edig n RioPort, partners since 1999. Viacom owns Convera.com, Intels answer to Security. You can cache-download streamed music – See: http://www.investorshub.com/beta/read_msg.asp?message_id=72668 ))



They believe the services will generate greater consumer demand for
digital audio devices.

"Anything that helps the flow of content so that it's easier to get
to is going to help," Scott MacDonald, vice president of marketing
for Cirrus Logic's Embedded Processors Division told EE Times.

Jorge Kittl, TI's Internet Audio business manager, called the
introduction of online music services] {b}"key." {/b}

Both companies are leading suppliers of chips to the MP3-type
Internet audio portable player market, according to research firm
Forward Concepts (Tempe, Ariz.). That market totaled 3.5 million
units shipped in 2000 and is forecast to reach 7 million units this
year, the firm reported. By 2004, shipments are projected to reach 42
million units.

But reports indicate first-quarter sales of chips into this market
may have been flat to disappointing. Thus there are expectations that
having more music available online, combined with new MP3 device
categories set to debut later this year, may help jump-start growth
later in the year.

(( ie,.The Major Announcements Started Last Week with AOL, Microsoft, MTVi and YAHOO.))

Cirrus Logic is the top supplier of chips into the digital audio
player market, according to Forward Concepts, but in recent weeks
retail store inventory of players that use its Maverick embedded
processors has been light. That's expected to change in the second
half of 2001, when the company expects to see new Maverick-based
players on the shelves, MacDonald said.

The players will include a new generation of {u}digital audio decoder-{/u}
equipped CD players known as "spinning media" devices that are larger
than MP3-only portables and play downloaded digital audio as well as
compressed audio files stored on CDs that hold 650 Mbytes of music.
These spinning media devices, along with {b}a new class of digital audio
streaming players that stream music and store it on a local server
network rather than locally, are expected to contribute to growth for
Cirrus Logic's Maverick chip sales this year.

(( ie,.The audio decoder could be Interactive Objects – Price & feature sets could bring CirrusSOC to e.Digital… follow this.))

Texas Instruments, the second-largest provider of chips for digital
audio players, according to Forward Concepts, reported that it
received new design wins from consumer electronics manufacturers
Sanyo, Thomson Multimedia, Digisette LLC and Richfield Innovations
Pte. Ltd. (RFI) during the first quarter. The devices represent a
range of different form factors, including the Digisette Duo player,
which functions as a stand-alone digital audio player and cassette-
emulation device, and the RFI JazPiper player, which stores music on
an Iomega PocketZip drive.

(( ie., Expect edig to try capture this title by 8-02 if not this year))

Texas Instruments' Internet Audio business manager, Jorge Kittl,
declined to reveal digital audio player-related DSP sales figures for
the first quarter and would only say that TI shipped over 2 million
units into the digital audio player segment since the beginning of
2000.

(( ie,. TI Plans to retake 1st Position from Cirrus – DSP sales are booming with the advent of dedicated design types, and the introduction of XM, iMode and Pervasive Computing.))

Hoffmann of Micronas Semiconductor, the third-largest provider of
chips for MP3-type players, believes the addition of new music
services will help drive sales of players, but said he thinks the
device price is also a barrier.

"Once you are above the $149 price point, you are getting only 10
percent of the consumer market," he said. Hoffmann called the market
small for a consumer electronics device, even if it hits 7 million
units.

Most MP3 players cost $199 and up, and though companies have been
working to get the price point down, one of the stumbling blocks, the
high cost of flash memory, is beyond their control.

As flash prices move down, the industry may see a new wave of market
potential for MP3-only devices. Until then, Micronas expects sales of
chips into stand-alone MP3 player devices to be flat this year, but
predicts growth to come from sales into MP3 combination devices such
as cell phones, said Hoffmann.

((ie,. Keep in mind e.Digital’s specialty lies in Digital Flash Voice recording. Intel/IBM know this due to our patents. Remember Samsung/Toshiba hired us to build future music players and DataPlay platforms. If MOS isn’t utilize by TI, INTC, ARM, Toshiba, MOT or Cirrus – Micronous could find its ‘key’ to #1 with MOS & Samsung.))

The company sells chips designed into a Samsung cellular phone that
Sprint deployed in field trials in San Diego and an Ericsson
accessory for the T28 cellular handset.

In addition to the launch of new music services, chip makers were
encouraged this week by efforts in Washington to hash out the
controversy over online entertainment and copyright law, which they
believe could be hurting the MP3 player market.

On Tuesday (April 3), representatives from the music and technology
industries, including InterTrust Technologies Corp. founder and chief
executive Victor Shear, whose company develops digital rights
management technologies for online content and commerce, testified
before the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee. Shear called for a remedy
to the complexity surrounding copyrights and licensing in digital
entertainment {b}and suggested the government endorse the use of digital-
rights-management (DRM) technologies. {/b}

MacDonald said Cirrus Logic remains "supportive" of secure music
initiatives, as evidenced by security features added to its Maverick
embedded processors in the form of {u}MaverickLock hardware and
MaverickKey protection technologies. {/u}The company also supports
InterTrust and Microsoft Corp.'s Windows Media Audio DRM solutions.

Likewise, TI's Kittl said the company "clearly understands the needs
of copyright owners" {b}and built support for security features into DSP
products such as the DA250, which supports major digital rights
management technologies and is set to ship in volume by midyear. {/b}

((ie,.The DA250 & MaverickLock are prime for MicroOS – Algorithmic, dedicated and programmable and firware upgradable. Could we be involved, In my opinion Yes. ))

Hoffmann agreed that clearing up uncertainty around digital music
copyrights might have a positive impact on the market for digital
audio players, but said Micronas must remain flexible about its chip-
solution offerings. He said some customers support the use of DRM
today, while others are not interested in adopting proprietary
solutions {b}until there is a DRM standard. {/b}

(( ie,.There are, from best/biggest down, imo: IBM-EMMS, RealG2, MS-WMA, Intertrust, LQID, Veda, Verance, DigiMark, Cognicity etc,. Some of these are subsidiaries of the four larger. e.Digital can do any and all of these on a handheld.- I already know of a standard used by TI,IBM, Intel, Lucent, Eastech and HandGo. The world will also – and soon.))

emit…


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