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Technology Stocks : e.Digital Corporation(EDIG) - Embedded Digital Technology -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Tinroad who wrote (6576)	7/19/1999 9:23:00 AM
From: bob	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 18366

Interesting PR found on RB EDIG thread. By: Flipn2it Reply To: None Monday, 19 Jul 1999 at 8:58 AM EDT Post # of 44230 Monday July 19, 8:33 am Eastern Time Company Press Release Personal Digital Audio Players Will See Over 80% Unit Growth From 1999 to 2003 Cahners In-Stat Group Predicts the SDMI Audio Specification Will Fuel Growth NEWTON, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--July 19, 1999-- Spurred by widespread Internet access, the market for personal digital music players utilizing audio compression technologies will experience a tremendous increase in growth, with nearly $800 million in sales in 2003, according to Cahners In-Stat Group, a high-tech market research firm. While products in this segment will initially focus on downloading technologies like MP3, over the next 12 months consumers should expect to see more features integrated into the players, such as FM tuners, increased storage capacity and security mechanisms like Secure Digital Music Initiative (SDMI) compatibility. SDMI is the new audio initiative being spearheaded by the top five record companies and 120 other technology companies. The record and technology companies are currently working together to define guidelines for a secure solution for the digital music market. In mid-to late-2000, the record companies will start including digital ''watermarks'' that trigger the SDMI filters, preventing playback on non-SDMI devices. Its rollout and effectiveness at curbing digital content piracy will depend on the cooperation between the recording industry and the high-technology sector. ''What is happening now in the music industry is both a radically new phenomenon and a natural evolution,'' said to Mike Paxton, industry analyst for Cahners In-Stat Group's Converging Markets & Technologies services. ''The new phenomenon is how the Internet is changing the distribution model for music. Access to broadband transmission will be vitally important to the success of digital audio. The natural evolution is taking place on the hardware side of the industry and shows how a change in content storage changes the music playback device. Just as LPs and 8-track tapes gave way to cassettes and CDs, those audio storage methods will slowly give way to digital downloads.'' Cahners In-Stat Group sees several digital audio trends emerging over the next few years: The fight over ''secure'' digital recordings and ''open access'' technologies will continue over the next two years with SDMI eventually replacing the de-facto standard MP3. The phase-in of SDMI will boost sales of portable digital music players. The most dynamic unit growth will occur between the years 2000 and 2002. Over the next two years, portable music devices will support multiple compression technologies including MP3, a2b (from AT&T Labs) and Liquid Audio until the SDMI standard is finalized. In the not-so-distant future, we will no longer need a computer to transfer digital audio content. Retail kiosks, set-top boxes or even cellular telephones could be used to download selections onto the flash memory of a portable music player. Paxton's Emerging Digital Audio Opportunities: MP3, SDMI, and Portable Music Players examines the status of the digital audio market and includes a survey of digital compression technologies and intellectual property management issues. The report also looks at key companies involved in the digital audio market and analyzes the trends likely to dominate the industry over the next five years. Cahners In-Stat Group is a high-technology market research firm covering the consumer and convergence, networking, wireless, telecommunications, Internet and semiconductor markets. Headquartered in Newton, Mass., offices are also located in Scottsdale, Ariz. and San Jose, Calif. Cahners In-Stat Group is part of Cahners Business Information, the largest publisher of specialized business publications in the United States, and a division of Reed Elsevier. Visit Cahners In-Stat Group online at cahnersinstat.com.