Ah, a PVR with removeable storage. Now we're talk'in a killer app. Too bad it doesn't transcode, or edit..........
newsalert.com
November 12, 1999 14:02
Stream Machine and Castlewood Systems Make Viewing TV More Personal and Fun; New Personal Video Recorder to be Demonstrated at COMDEX
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SAN JOSE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Nov. 12, 1999--Recognizing the need for high-quality digital video recording at consumer friendly prices, Stream Machine, a provider of innovative video and audio semiconductor solutions, and Castlewood Systems, Inc., a developer of high performance removable storage solutions, have combined their expertise to provide the ideal development platform for time-shift personal video recorders (PVR). The platform will be on display next week at COMDEX at Castlewood's Booth (L6026) and Stream Machine's Demonstration Suite.
It's More Than Just "Going Digital"
The new media experience is more than just digital quality, it is the ability to interact with and gain control over the media, for example, through pause, instant replay or slow-motion of live broadcasts, and by recording and playing back at your convenience. However, digital video recording is currently expensive and comes with limited storage. The development platform offered by Stream Machine and Castlewood overcomes both of these objections.
Affordable: Stream Machine's new SM2210 single-chip MPEG-2 video encoder/decoder is the foundation of the Symphony(TM) Personal Video Recorder reference design. The SM2210, in conjunction with the Philips TriMedia processor, provides very high quality video and audio record and playback. The SM2210's high integration ensures that the total system cost is as low as possible, making MPEG-2 PVRs affordable.
Unlimited Storage: Castlewood's magnetoresistive (MR) product, named ORB, uses 3-1/2" removable media with a capacity of 5.7 GB, much more than any other product in this category and more than enough for a full-length DVD at 4.7 GB. Additionally, at an impressive 16.5 MB/second maximum sustained data transfer rate -- the fastest transfer rate of any removable media product available today -- ORB is completely "video ready."
"Stream Machine's MPEG-2 codec is enabling new classes of recordable digital video consumer electronics," said Stream Machine's president and CEO, Michael Canning. "The combination of the Symphony PVR with Castlewood's ORB removable hard drive overcomes consumers' frustration with limited storage and provides an ideal platform for developing affordable, time-shift personal video recorders."
"Symphony's flexible system architecture and the completeness of the Symphony reference design's deliverables made it straightforward to integrate the Castlewood ORB drive," said Iftakar Syed. "The combination of the ORB drive's high capacity and Symphony's high quality MPEG-2 encoding allows video and audio to be recorded at DVD-quality levels."
About The Symphony Reference Design
The Symphony reference design is a complete audio/video record and playback platform for developing PVRs, recordable DVD players and digital VCRs. Symphony features Stream Machine's highly integrated SM2210 MPEG-2 video codec, which provides high quality at low total system cost.
The architecture of the Symphony reference design is flexible and can operate with various storage technology: CD-RW, hard disk, DVD-RAM or removable storage like the Castlewood ORB. Using the ORB drive as storage, the SM2210/Symphony system achieves DVD-quality video and audio.
The Symphony reference design comes complete, including software/firmware, schematics, bill of materials (BOM), Gerber files, and user documentation to enable products based on these reference designs to be brought quickly to high volume manufacturing.
Availability
The SM 2210 single chip MPEG-2 video CODEC is in full production and available now. Pricing for SM 2210 is $49 in 4000 unit orders. The Symphony reference design is available and priced at $25,000.
About the ORB drive
Castlewood's ORB drive is the first removable media storage drive to use the most advanced magnetoresistive (MR) technology, providing users with the digital storage solution for the next millennium. The ORB drive provides a substantial increase in capacity, performance and reliability -- with 5.7 GB of storage, a maximum transfer rate of 16.5 megabytes per second, and a suggested retail price of $199, the ORB drive is a fast and cost-effective alternative to current storage options on the market today. The ORB drive is currently available in IDE internal and Parallel Port external interfaces as well as SCSI for both MAC and PC.
About Castlewood
Castlewood Systems, Inc. designs and manufactures high performance removable media drives using the latest magnetoresistive (MR) head technology, offering computer users the solution to storage for the next millennium. ORB offers consumers the largest capacity, highest reliability and lowest cost of any product in its class. Additional information about Castlewood and its products, partners, technology and distribution can be found at castlewood.com.
About Stream Machine Company
Stream Machine Company provides innovative audio and video solutions for the Internet, consumer electronics and personal computer markets. Stream Machine uses proprietary technology and techniques to bring to market cost effective semiconductors that implement industry standard audio and video algorithms, such as MPEG-2. Please visit the Stream Machine website for additional information: www.streammachine.com
CONTACT: Stream Machine
Kirby J. Kish, 408/435-7170
kkish@streammachine.com
or
Watson-International
Ray Ivatt, 415/567-6753
rivatt@watson-international.com |
