e.Digital Corp. and Liquid Audio SignLicensing
Agreement
July 20, 1999 09:29 AM
SAN DIEGO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--July 20,
1999--e.Digital Corp. EDIG announced today that it
has signed an agreement to license Liquid Audio's
LQID secure portable player platform (SP3) for use in
its secure Internet music player design which features
e.Digital's MicroOS(TM) operating system, DSP
technology from Texas Instruments TXN , and the
Lucent Technologies LU EPAC music codec.
SP3 is a comprehensive software solution for building
interoperable, secure, portable music devices.
SP3-based devices deliver an improved consumer
experience and support the playback of music in many
leading formats. The design will be provided to OEM
manufacturers as the basis of their branded, secure
music players.
Fred Falk, president and chief executive officer of
e.Digital, stated, "e.Digital and its technology partners
are developing the first non-MP3 Internet music player
and this agreement with Liquid Audio further
strengthens our position as the next-generation device
for downloadable music. The addition of Liquid
Audio's security measures help ensure that our
SDMI-compliant player will support all secure music
formats. The consumer will enjoy the entire experience
of downloading and playing music, and the artists and
retailers will enjoy adequate and thorough protection
from music piracy every step of the way." He
continued, "e.Digital and Liquid Audio, along with
Lucent and Texas Instruments, have been very closely
involved in the SDMI, and have combined products
and leveraged their strengths in various technologies to
create a complete, secure portable design."
Liquid Audio is a leading provider of services and
software for the digital delivery of music over the
Internet. Liquid Audio's software, including SP3,
enables record labels and music retailers to safely
leverage the Internet to promote and sell music to
consumers downloading high-quality music and
enjoying it in secure portable music players. Together
Liquid Audio and e.Digital are creating the first design
that meets the requirements of both consumers and the
music industry-it supports many leading music formats
and enables interoperability among a range of music
devices.
Gary Johnson, DSP Audio Manager at Texas
Instruments, and a founding member of SDMI, said,
"TI is truly excited about the collaboration between
e.Digital and Liquid Audio to create a secure portable
digital music system for use with TI's DSP. TI offers
the ideal low-power, high-performance DSP that
efficiently supports all compression and security
software of manufacturers and technology providers,
such as e.Digital and Liquid Audio."
The device design will meet all the industry standard
guidelines established by the Secure Digital Music
Initiative (SDMI) to stop the unauthorized copying and
downloading of music off the Internet by building
security measures such as encryption and decryption
into compact discs, electronic music distribution
(EMD) systems, personal computer hosts and portable
players.
Liquid Audio's SP3 software is an openly-licensable
solution that improves the consumer experience and
enables interoperability among secure portable music
devices. Users of the design will also be able to take
advantage of Liquid Audio's Liquid Player software to
manage their downloaded music collections, prepare
play lists and transfer music to CD-Rom.
e.Digital Corp. 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.
Located in Redwood City, Calif., Liquid Audio
provides services and software for the digital delivery
of music over the Internet. The Liquid Audio solution
gives musicians, record labels, Web sites 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 Web site affiliates. Using the Liquid(TM) Player
software, available for free download at
www.liquidaudio.com, consumers visiting these Web
sites can preview and purchase songs from a growing
catalog of syndicated music.
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, 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
Safe Harbor statement under the Private Securities
Litigation Reform Act of 1995: This press release
contains forward-looking statements relating to future
performance, technology and product development
that may impact on future results and the future
viability of the company. Actual results could be
affected or differ materially from those projected in
the forward-looking statements as a result of risk
factors such as: future products and results;
technological shifts; potential technical difficulties that
could delay new products; competition; general
economic conditions in the markets in which the
company operates; the ability of the company, its
customers, and suppliers to become Year 2000
compliant; pricing pressures; and the uncertainty of
market acceptance of new products by OEM's and
end-user customers.
Note to Editors: MicroOS is a trademark of e.Digital
Corp. Liquid, Liquid Audio Inc., Liquid Audio, the
Liquid Audio logo, SP3, Liquifier and Liquid Music
are trademarks of Liquid Audio Inc. Lucent
Technologies, Lucent, and EPAC are trademarks of
Lucent Technologies. All other company, product or
service names are the property of their respective
owners. |
