Matsushita Electric to Release Portable Non-MP3 Player for Internet in U.S.
August 5, 1999 (TOKYO) -- Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd. will release a portable music player designed for Internet use in the United States in April 2000.
The company will use its distinctive recording media and file format for this player. "The product will not use the existing smart media, which does not have any copyright protection technology. It will not comply with music data in the MPEG Audio Layer-3 format," said Kunio Nakamura, senior managing director of MEI and president of MEI's AVC Company.
With regard to copyright infringements such as illegal copying of music data, Matsushita Electric is developing equipment based on the specifications that were announced in July by "SDMI" (Secure Digital Music Initiative), a U.S. non-profit organization. The company, thereby, "will use equipment specifications that will be free from the copyright protection requirements," said Fumio Otsubo, director and member of the board of MEI and vice president of AVC.
Matsushita Electric has not yet determined the schedule for starting a music data distribution service and for release of the terminal equipment in Japan.
Matsushita Electric agreed to collaborate with three U.S.-based businesses, AT&T, Universal Music Group and BMG Entertainment, in May 1999, and it has been examining the feasibility of starting a music data distribution service over the Internet. Matsushita is in charge of developing the player along with the recording media. Matsushita Electric will start demonstrations for a distribution service of music and music scores on the Internet jointly with three other companies during 1999, and it will start a commercial service in April 2000.
Among major manufacturers, Toshiba Corp. is planning to release a portable player for the pre-Christmas sales season in 1999. Matsushita is likely to start selling it in Japan in the summer of 2000 at the earliest.
(BizTech News Dept.)
|
