Microsoft to feature in future Diamond devices
By Bloomberg News
Special to CNET News.com
June 23, 1999, 11:50 p.m. PT
Microsoft technology will be included in future Diamond Multimedia Systems digital music software and Rio portable players.
The Rio players, which are expected to ship this year, will play songs in Microsoft's
Windows Media Audio format for downloading music from the Internet while preventing the
kind of Internet music piracy that has angered big music companies.
Diamond's new RioPort division also will produce Audio Manager software that enables
users to convert songs from their compact discs into
Microsoft's audio format, plus organize and play the songs.
That system will also handle the most popular format, MP3,
which doesn't include any of the security features offered by
Microsoft.
"Microsoft and RioPort are broadening the portable market,"
said Kevin Unangst, Microsoft's product manager for
streaming media. Microsoft's Windows Media Audio is still in
its test phase, Unangst said.
Microsoft said it will work with the company to develop
technologies for linking player devices made by other
companies into RioPort's personal computer-based system.
Diamond's Rio players, designed to allow listeners to play
MP3 songs downloaded from the Internet, have been attacked by the Recording Industry
Association of America. The RIAA, which represents the five biggest music companies,
unsuccessfully tried to block the devices in October, and later launched an initiative to
develop MP3 alternatives that prevent Internet music bootlegging. Diamond and Microsoft
have worked with the recording industry as part of that initiative.
The announcement comes as Diamond, which is being acquired by graphics chipmaker
S3, launches its new RioPort.com division in Los Angeles. The company also is shortly
expected to unveil its next Rio MP3 player, which has greater memory capacity.
Microsoft has pushed into the market for digital music. It's also announced plans with Sony
to jointly distribute music and videos over the Internet.
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