MurrayHill is a poster on the EDIG boards. He went to the Plug-In Expo today in NY. Fred Falk is there behind the scenes meeting with different OEMs. EDIG's player design as the Merit Player (Maycom) was there.
Mark
Subject: Jupiter PLUG-IN expo
From: murrayhill
Date: Tuesday, July 25, 2000
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I went to the plug-in expo, today. I'll be organizing my thoughts for posting later tonight.
In brief, I saw and listened to the MERIT (MAYCOM) 2000 with the latest TI chip. I talked at length with reps from QDESIGN, TI, LUCENT and RIOPORT. Outstanding quote came from Joyce Eastman ''...that raging bull and (silicon investor) board is scary!'' Lotta damn techies. MH
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Subject: Joyce Eastman
From: murrayhill
Date: Tuesday, July 25, 2000
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Mary: She is a very professional, intelligent and attractive person. Her card says that she is Vice President/Audio Initiatives, Lucent Technologies, and Mark, I'm disappointed to tell you that she works in Middletown, NJ and not Murray Hill! Does every state have a Middletown?
We discussed the ''leg-up'' that Lucent afforded EDIG a year ago, and how their company benefitted from the exposure that their affiliation with Lucent provided. Obviously good feelings between the two are still mutual. I asked another Lucent representative about EDIG separating from Lucent, specifically at the SDMI, and he volunteered that to be truly agnostic, and to properly offer their design reference services and mOS license to ALL, it was/is important that EDIG stand independent of Lucent in their dealings in the SDMI and elsewhere. We discussed the ePAC, and this same gentleman (to remain anonymous) offered his take on the subject of the labels use/abandonment of it since the Madison project. I feel, and the conversation, with this Lucent representative supports this, that Digital Radio will probably be the domain wherein ePAC has a major role. It was his feeling that Universal, depending on the influence of Vivendi, might still be encoding in ePAC as well as AAC and ATRAC3. MH
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Subject: RE: Murrayhill
From: murrayhill
Date: Tuesday, July 25, 2000
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I honestly did not attempt to dwell on any EDIGITAL/Lucent relatioship. I can say this however. I was greatly surprised to hear that Fred Falk was in NY, had been in their booth last evening, and I assume from the way that this fellow and Joyce Eastman referred to him (very positively) that they are still very closely associated. Professionally or Socially? I didn't pursue it, and hearing that he was at the show was quite a surprise, as I said. They both contrasted in a positive way how the company (EDIG) was being run since FF assumed the reins from Mr. Norris. Lucent had a very serious display and demo for ePAC, but it was crowded in their booth, and my conversations were on its periphery with their rep and MS. Eastman. I think there is more from the Lucent meeting, but I'm unable to put it into words at this moment. MH
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Subject: TI/EDIG - Plug In expo
From: murrayhill
Date: Tuesday, July 25, 2000
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First, I didn't snap any Joyce Flicks, Tobago! BUT.....
The TI booth at the plug-in expo featured an arrayed display of digital players that featured the earlier TI DSP; the???10. Pardon my lack of immediate familiarity with the complete name/number, but the distinguishing factor seems to be 10 or 16 (as found in the previously mentioned Merit prototype in the Qdesign booth.)
These players included two generations of Sony sound clips, an RCA Lyra, an IMPULSE, and a couple of others that are not memorable by name. They all had headphones (cheesy) and the visitors were invited to sample their sound quality and
functionaity. They all, obviously, were products utilizing TI technology. I listened to none, for the same reason as previously stated regarding the Qdesign codec challenge. I did get into an in depth discussion with the two VERY knowledgeable TI reps, about SONY, EDIG, and what seemed to be the future of secure downloading.
Most important to EDIG shareholders was their mention that EDIG is one of only two third party relationships that TI currently has. They often REFER OEMs to EDIG for design work and have relied on them to port codecs, because they have the skill, and TI doesn't have the time, to paraphrase as accurately as I can. The mOS is NOT embedded in their DSP. I shan't embarrass myself by trying to explain what they told me regarding its location in a player. They have ported ten codecs to their current DSP and a large number of DRMs as well. Maybe five? The gentleman (they were a man and a woman) described HIS relationship with FF as very positive as were his feelings about EDIG in general, and said that he personally spoke with Fred atleast twice a week.
Regarding SONY, they were of the opinion that the transcoding time lag was a bigger negative than any benefit gained from being the first SDMI compliant player on the market.
I'm running out of gas, it seems, so I'll keep watching and try to answer any questions before I comment on my visit with Rioport which provided the only negative, or better put, SOBERING piece of info from my day at the expo. MH
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Subject: KCRQ/ this is for you!
From: murrayhill
Date: Wednesday, July 26, 2000
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CKSLA, yes,ARM controller was mentioned but did not register in any particular way to me.
To clear up some miscellany before I go on, TI and RIO reps both said that there is NO DRM that cannot be hacked. Also it was everyones thought that the price of singles for custom compilation is unreasonably high, at the present time. Subscription services with advertising seem the logical way to lower that cost. And for whatever this might be worth, while several people (and I've already mentioned them) had working relationships with FF, none and I believe JE is included, knew of, or had ever met Mr. Putnam. This actually meant little to me, because seeing how preoccupied he is with the emails, faxes and phone calls from nervous and distraught investors, I can appreciate that he rarely gets any opportunity, or does his job title require him, to meet the professionals in the industry personally!
This brings me to my visit with Rioport. They were on another floor, and when I finally got to their booth I was quite full of thoughts from my previous encounters. Two very official looking representatives were there from the company. They had two portable players hooked up in matrix with a PC(s). They are far less a solution/EDIG partner from the consumers vantage point. They provide solutions for manufacturers. ALL types of solutions to digital/internet information transmission. We chatted for a few moments about the state of the industry and what role EDIG played in their scheme as a partner, but the thing that was most striking about my conversation with the LEAD representative from Rioport was his reply to my last question. I asked him when he thought full and complete availability of ''singles'' content would be a reality and he replied ''.....Christmas.....2001!'' Please be advised that this was his, albeit informed, opinion. I asked him if he had meant this Christmas, and not the Christmas following and he said ''No. Some is trickling out now, but by the time it all shakes out, DRMs, Codecs, lawsuits, relinquishing of the control by hard product distributors, it would be atleast a year and a half for full content release as reasonably priced singles.'' I have put quotes around these words because they are not mine, and obviously not his EXACTLY, either, since I was neither taking notes or recording the conversation. I must say it made some of my gloomy predictions over the past three or four months seem optimistic.
I came away from the day at the Plug-In expo feeling very good about the Company. They seem well positioned and well thought of in the industry. I am not personally disheartened by the sobriety of the answer provided by the gentleman from Rioport. If there is one thing that I DO know about, it is the nature of the music industry, and while I personally pray that things happen sooner than this guys prediction, I don't discount anything! MH
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Subject: MERIT/MAYCOM player
From: murrayhill
Date: Tuesday, July 25, 2000
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Hi Moxa! The Merit/Maycom 2000 was in the Qdesigns booth. It was, as in the pictures we've seen from their website, palm size, rectangular and business-like in its features. The ''Q'' rep, who was their product manager, described it as being the EDIGITAL reference design. It featured the latest TI chip (???16), and was set up, specifically to a/b mp3 and qdesign codecs. There were several music selections loaded: among them - Bizet's Carmen (I passed), some fusion jazz (passed) and the everpresent Dire Straits tune that every damn codec creator uses! (i chose it, since I'd already listened to four other codecs play that selection in another location.
Frankly, even though they had a fully enclosed (studio type) set of headphones, the ambient drone of the crowd at the expo permeated the sound of the music, and I made no attempt to judge the quality of the two codecs. Actually, the bit rate was very low, and the ''Q'' codec seemed to have a built in advantage because when I selected it, it was a lot louder than the mp3. I hope this company from Vancouver is successful with their marketing plan, because as an EDIG ''partner, what's good for QDESIGN is good for us.''
The player was described as a prototype, and the product manager said that he felt it still had some bugs to be worked out, and in his opinion would be marketed by late September. Apparently, he has a relationship with Maycom people. More about that player, later, when I discuss the rather lengthy conversations that I had with TI representatives. cheers? MH |
