OT -- Liquid Audio IPO
According to the press release below, Liquid Audio is a co-promoter with TI of a format for secure digital downloads of music from the Internet. Did anybody else jump on board LQID, which first started trading on Friday?
bc_mack
************* press release below ***********************************
Texas Instruments, Liquid Audio, Fraunhofer and
SanDisk Team to Offer First Interoperable
DSP-Based Solution for Secure Music Downloads
Off the Internet onto Portable Audio Players
Portable Player Manufacturers can Begin Production Today for
Christmas
HOUSTON (June 28, 1999) - Texas Instruments (NYSE:TXN),
Liquid Audio Inc., Fraunhofer and SanDisk Corp. (NASDAQ:SNDK)
today announced they have teamed to offer the first complete
solution for the secure downloading of music off the Internet
onto portable audio players. The programmable DSP-based
solution is the first to meet the newly-released Secure Digital
Music Initiative (SDMI) guidelines for digital music portable
devices, and is available today to enable manufacturers to
develop secure players in time for Christmas 1999.
TI, Liquid Audio, Fraunhofer and SanDisk provide the leading
technology for each segment of the portable audio solution.
Together, the companies are delivering an openly-licensable
security solution based on TI's programmable low-power digital
signal processors (DSPs) and Liquid Audio's secure portable
player platform (SP3) that improves the consumer experience for
digital music and enables interoperability among secure portable
music devices.
"We recognized early on that the market would need a way to
securely download music off the Internet, and that the solution
would have to offer adaptability, low-power and high
performance," said Gary Johnson, TI's DSP audio business
manager and member of the SDMI group that drafted the
specification guidelines. "TI's programmable, low-power DSPs are
ideal for portable audio, which is why so many of the
manufacturers and technology providers, such as e.Digital
Corporation (OTC: EDIG), want to use them."
The companies helped define the SDMI's inter-industry guidelines
for a secure solution for the digital music market. The guidelines,
released today, will enable a consumer-focused solution for
delivering music to portable devices. The SDMI is seeking to stop
the unauthorized copying and downloading of music off the
Internet by building security measures such as watermarking,
encryption and decryption into compact discs, electronic music
distribution (EMD), personal computer hosts and portable
players. The SDMI said it will support all audio compression
formats that offer secure download measures.
TI, the world leader in DSP, will provide DSPs and a complete
library of software decoders; Liquid Audio offers the software
and services for secure digital delivery, download and portability
of music; Fraunhofer developed the popular MP3 and AAC audio
compression formats; and SanDisk produces the flash memory
cards used in the portable players.
"Liquid Audio's goal is to enable record labels and music retailers
to safely leverage the Internet to promote and sell music to the
many consumers who want to download high-quality music and
enjoy it in secure portable music players," said Phil Wiser, Liquid
Audio Chief Technology Officer and an editor of the SDMI
specification. "Together, Liquid Audio, TI, Fraunhofer and
SanDisk are delivering the first openly-licensable security solution
that meets the requirements of the music industry, supports
leading music formats and enables a range of music devices to
thrive, as is consistent with the goals of SDMI."
With SanDisk's removable, reusable and rugged CompactFlash
(CF) memory cards, consumers can increase capacity up to 160
megabytes for more than two and a half hours of playback time.
Because SanDisk flash memory is solid-state (no moving parts),
playback is never subject to skipping during jogging or other
exercise, and will never deteriorate from multiple re-recording
and playback.
"The fact that all SanDisk products shipped-to-date offer unique
serialization ensures that any SanDisk memory card will operate
in an SDMI environment," said Dan Auclair, Senior Vice President
of Business Development and Licensing at SanDisk.
"Using TI's DSPs, we provide OEMs a quick-path to market with
our MicroOS file management system interfacing with SanDisk's
Compact Flash," said Fred Falk, President and CEO of e.Digital
Corporation. "Just as Liquid Audio supports multiple music
formats, we use TI's DSPs and our software to recognize and
play a range of secure audio formats. We are excited to work
with these industry leaders and be one of the first to adopt the
new SDMI-compliant solution for portable music devices."
The worldwide leader and pioneer in digital signal processing
solutions since 1982, Texas Instruments provides innovative DSP
and mixed signal/analog technologies to more than 30,000
customers in the computer, wireless communications,
networking, Internet, consumer, digital motor control and mass
storage markets worldwide. To help customers get to market
faster, TI offers easy-to-use development tools and extensive
software and hardware support, enhanced by its extensive
network of third party DSP solutions providers that produce more
than 1,000 products using TI technology.
Texas Instruments Incorporated is a global semiconductor
company and the world's leading designer and supplier of digital
signal processing solutions, the engines driving the digitization of
electronics. Headquartered in Dallas, Texas, the company's
businesses also include materials and controls, educational and
productivity solutions, and digital imaging. The company has
manufacturing or sales operations in more than 25 countries.
Texas Instruments is traded on the New York Stock Exchange
under the symbol TXN. More information is located on the World
Wide Web at ti.com.
Located in Redwood City, California, Liquid Audio provides
services and software for the digital delivery of music over the
Internet. The Liquid Audio solution gives musicians, record labels,
Websites and music retailers the ability to create, syndicate and
sell recorded music online. Liquid Audio enables artists and record
companies to promote and securely sell their music with copy
protection and copyright management through the Liquid Music
Network of 200 Website affiliates. Using the Liquid Player
software, available for free download at www.liquidaudio.com,
consumers visiting these Websites can preview and purchase
songs from a growing catalog of syndicated music.
SanDisk Corporation, the world's largest supplier of flash data
storage products, designs, manufactures and markets
industry-standard, solid-state data, digital imaging and audio
storage products using its patented, high density flash memory
and controller technology. SanDisk CF memory cards and
MultiMediaCards are available at more than 10,000 retail stores
worldwide and through an extensive worldwide industrial
distribution network. SanDisk is based in Sunnyvale, CA.
(www.sandisk.com).
The Secure Digital Music Initiative brings together the worldwide
recording industry and technology companies to develop an
open, interoperable architecture and specification for digital
music security. The specification will answer consumer demand
for convenient accessibility to quality digital music, enable
copyright protection for artists' work and enable technology and
music companies to build successful businesses. (www.sdmi.org).
e.Digital Corporation offers an engineering partnership for the
world's leading electronics companies to link portable digital
devices to PCs and the Internet. Engineering services range from
the licensing of e.Digital's multi-patented MicroOS file
management system to custom software and hardware
development, design and manufacturing services. For more
information on the company, visit www.edig.com.
# # #
Liquid, Liquid Audio, Inc., Liquid Audio, the Liquid Audio logo,
Liquifier and Liquid Music are trademarks of Liquid Audio, Inc.
For more information about Liquid Audio products and services
call 1-888-liquid-0 or visit liquidaudio.com.
For information about employment at Liquid Audio visit
liquidaudio.com or send resumes to
jobs@liquidaudio.com.
For more information, press only:
Erik Ryan 425-637-9097 erikr@wagged.com |
