MUST READ:By: upchuck329 $$
Reply To: None Wednesday, 23 Aug 2000 at 6:36 PM EDT
Post # of 440576
Compaq-read this and then reread todays PR then tell me we are not in Compaq's next personal jutebox.
Compaq's MP3 Player Products Have Yet to Appear under Its Own Brand
21 Jun 2000 08:55 AM PDT
Jun. 20--For months, Compaq Computer Corp. executives have talked publicly
about plans to develop and sell as many as three portable devices that can
play music using the popular but controversial MP3 file format.
So far, all three have been no-shows under the Compaq brand.
But one of them, the Personal Jukebox 100, a player that can hold 1,200
songs, or 120 CDs worth of music, has been available as an off-brand product
since late last year.
Developed by the high-profile Palo Alto research labs that Compaq acquired
when it bought Digital Equipment Corp., the device has been for sale at
several consumer electronic Web sites since late last year.
Compaq's plans to release its MP3 player under its own brand have been
delayed because the company wants to offer a device that can handle
different digital music formats, including those that would prevent music
piracy, said Trey Litel, a marketing manager in Compaq's consumer group.
''When we introduce a player, we want it to meet the popular file standards
of the day,'' Litel said. ''We are talking about additional standards that
are record-company friendly and have a security solution, with digital
rights management.'' The MP3 file format is controversial because it makes
it easy to share unlimited, near-perfect copies of songs. The recording
industry has been slow to move to digital distribution of music, but
consumers have essentially taken matters into their own hands, using often
free software to convert the songs on audio CDs to MP3 files. These files
can then be played on portable devices or via a PC's speakers.
Other, more secure standards that make it difficult to share music easily
are being developed. But some analysts believe that the simplicity of MP3,
along with its rapidly growing acceptance by consumers, will make it
difficult for those secure formats to gain ground.
The player designed by Compaq was the first to store MP3 files on a hard
drive. Most MP3 players use memory chips or memory flashcards, which can
usually hold a maximum of 64 megabytes of memory. That's about 60 minutes
worth of music.
But the Personal Jukebox 100, made by HanGo Electronics of Korea, includes a
4.8-gigabyte hard drive. Depending on the size of the music files, it can
hold an average of 81 hours of music, making it possible for someone to
store his or her entire CD collection on the device.
The device also includes Compaq-developed technology that dramatically
extends battery life up to 10 hours.
Compaq Chief Executive Michael Capellas, a classic rock buff, carries one
and showed it to a Chronicle reporter in January. At the time, he said
Compaq was working to bring the price down.
The HanGo device has a manufacturers' list price of $799, but it is for sale
online for $719. A new version, with a 6-GB hard drive that's compatible
with both Windows and Macintosh computers, was recently released and sells
for about $780, HanGo spokeswoman Christine Fullerton said.
She said Compaq licensed the technology to HanGo to build the device last
year.
Litel said Compaq has opted not to sell the jukebox model in its current
design because of its ''huge price point.'' Retailers who sell Compaq
products, he said, would balk at a $799 MP3 player when most other models
sell in the $249-$299 price range.
But the HanGo product is apparently selling well online. Willie Vadnais, who
works for ThinkGeek.com, said it's a popular product with the hard-core
techies who frequent that electronic commerce Web site.
''It's surprising that people will pay $700 for them, but they do,'' Vadnais
said P.J. McNealy, senior analyst with Gartner Group, a high-tech market
research firm, said ''all the major players'' are working on
hard-drive-based digital music devices that will begin to appear in the next
six months.
''When you have only 32 or 64 MB of space in your MP3 player, you are
constantly playing DJ, switching songs,'' McNealy said. ''With a hard drive,
you can store your entire collection in the player. You don't have to change
out the music.'' For example, Creative Labs, best known for its line of
SoundBlaster sound cards for personal computers, will begin selling later
this summer a hard-drive-based MP3 player called the Nomad Jukebox. It will
have a 6-GB drive and will sell for $499, nearly $300less than the HanGo
model.
Compaq executives also have talked publicly about two other models. One
would be a player that looks like a cassette tape. Computer owners would
transfer MP3 files into it, and could then slide it into a car or home
cassette player.
The other would be a standard portable player that would be similar to most
of the devices, such as Diamond's Rio PMP500 or Creative's Nomad II, which
use memory chips or flash cards to store songs.
Litel would not say when but indicated that the standard player would
probably be the first Compaq release as part of a ''family'' of digital
music devices. |
