Joe, put these 2 releases (this post and one to follow)together with the one u posted,and whatcha get?
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Monday June 28, 2:07 pm Eastern Time
Company Press Release
SOURCE: Texas Instruments Incorporated
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 /PRNewswire/ -- Texas Instruments (NYSE: TXN - news), Liquid Audio Inc., Fraunhofer and SanDisk Corp. (Nasdaq: SNDK - news) 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 Bulletin Board: EDIG - news), 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(TM) (CF(TM)) 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(TM) 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
Please refer all reader inquiries to:
Texas Instruments Incorporated
Semiconductor Group, SC-99044
Literature Response Center
P.O. Box 172228
Denver, CO 80217
1-800-477-8924, ext. 4500
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(TM) 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(TM) file management system to custom software and hardware development, design and manufacturing services. For more information on the company, visit www.edig.com.
Trademarks:
Liquid, Liquid Audio, Inc., Liquid Audio, the Liquid Audio logo, Liquifier
and Liquid Music are trademarks of Liquid Audio, Inc.
CompactFlash and CF are trademarks of SanDisk Corporation.
MicroOS is a trademark of e.Digital Corporation.
SOURCE: Texas Instruments Incorporated
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