To those of you bandying about the idea of a portable audio player
of music downloaded from the net, Norris Communications(NCII)
demoed such a device earlier this year, and also at Sandisk's booth
at COMDEX. The "Flash Audio " player used Sandisk's CF, and one
impressive portion of the demo was when Woody Norris reached over
and yanked the cartridge out of the player. Of course the music
stopped, but the screech or other evidence of destruction DID NOT
occur. Try that with a CD player! Cartidge re-inserted, music restarted.
I did not witness this demo, read about it on the NCII thread.
The security issue on downloaded music is being addressed by
another outfit.
By coincidence, NCI issued a press release today, regarding their
attempt to market this technology to the Japanese. (see below).
Hope Sony likes it!
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SAN DIEGO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Dec. 16, 1997--Norris Communications, Inc. (OTC: NCII) reported today that it has signed a business development agreement with TEKSEL Co. Ltd. of Tokyo, Japan.
TEKSEL will be representing the Norris MicroOS(TM) operating system and contract development services for products based on Norris proprietary technology, including the new Flashback Audio(TM), a patent pending device designed to play back near CD-quality music using CompactFlash(TM) cartridges as the storage media.
TEKSEL is the leading Japanese distributor of advanced U.S. technology products, representing premier companies such as Advanced Micro Devices, Raytheon, Zilog, Applied Micro Circuits, Omni Vision and Digital Semiconductor. Founded in 1975, TEKSEL's customer base includes NEC, Sony, Pioneer, Panasonic, Hitachi, Fujitsu, Sharp, Toshiba, and other major Japanese companies. TEKSEL specializes in acting as the link between major technology companies in the U.S. and manufacturers of consumer goods in Japan.
"TEKSEL has local business credibility, technical expertise and solid business relationships with major Japanese corporations," said Fred Falk, President of Norris Communications. "With these cornerstones, TEKSEL will help oversee the marketing and licensing of Norris' MicroOS and our contract development services to leading Japanese companies. We are seeing accelerated interest worldwide in flash memory solutions for traditional tape markets. Norris Communications is equipped to offer engineering partnerships that can help Japanese and other international companies shorten development time and speed products using flash memory to market."
"The proprietary technology that Norris provides will be an asset to any company developing digital cameras, voice recorders, pagers or other embedded Flash memory based products," said Atsushi Nakata, Director of Marketing of TEKSEL. "Flashback Audio alone is an amazing emerging audio technology that holds great promise for wide use in consumer products."
Norris Communications, Inc. is a San Diego-based company specializing in computer-compatible OEM products, including its MicroOS flash memory operating system, Multichip modules, private label products and custom-designed products. Norris is the innovator and recognized leader in utilizing flash memory for digital voice, audio, image, video, and data recording, storage and playback. The Company is also developing Flashback Audio(TM), a patent-pending technology designed to record and play back near CD-quality music using a matchbook-size flash memory card. -0-
Safe Harbor statement under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995: This press release contains forward-looking statements relating to technology and product development that may impact on future results and the future viability of the company. Actual results could 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, pricing pressures and the uncertainty of market acceptance of new products by distributors and end-user customers.
CONTACT:
Norris Communications
Robert Putnam, 619/679-1504
KEYWORD: CALIFORNIA
BW1167 DEC 16,1997
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