Noise

by Alan Sheckter
Winter 2001

ReplayTV is Back
One year after it stopped manufacturing personal video recorders (PVR), ReplayTV is jumping back into the hardware business with both feet.

SONICblue, which recently acquired ReplayTV, dubbed the new product line, "the world's first home video server." An announced peer-to-peer video-sharing feature would allow users to send PVR-recorded programs to other ReplayTV PVR users anywhere in the world. Broadband connectivity would give consumers access to Internet content. Also, a proprietary feature called AutoSkip will allow users to automatically bypass all commercials, the company said.

Prices for the four new models, expected to hit the streets in November, range from $699 for the ReplayTV 4040, which holds up to 40 hours of storage, to $1,499 for the ReplayTV 4320, which comes with a 320-hour program storage capacity. There are no additional monthly service fees.

Philips Offers MPEG-4 Solution
WebCine, Philip's new media player, is able to do what Real's, Microsoft's and Apple's media players can't do play MPEG-4 clips.

MPEG-4 is a media file-compression standard, designed to transmit high-quality video, audio and still images over a narrower bandwidth and file size than its MPEG-2 predecessor does. In addition to video and audio encoding, MPEG-4 includes the ability to add graphics and animations to traditional video.

With WebCine, Philips helps bring MPEG-4 to the Internet, as the MPEG-4 standard allows streaming to extend beyond computers to other broadband consumer appliances and mobile devices. For example, content that is encoded for playback on a personal computer can be played back on a set-top box or a wireless device without the need for additional re-encoding.

Philips' WebCine Encoder 1.1 is an encoding turnkey system that features the WebCine encoder and player software.

DIVA Records 1 Millionth Video-on-Demand Purchase
DIVA, a leading video-on-demand (VOD) solutions provider for the cable TV industry, announced recently that its customers have collectively surpassed 1 million video-on-demand purchases. A significant high-water mark, 1 million VOD purchases is another validation of the rapidly increasing on-demand evolution in which consumers are no longer limited to traditional broadcast schedules. VOD allows consumers to choose what programming they want to watch and when they want to watch it.

Not only has DIVA claimed the milestone millionth customer, but the company said it has captured more than 60 percent of the commercially deployed VOD markets in the United States.

Audiobook Analysis
With time management at a premium, more and more people are consuming books, in their cars or at the gym, in spoken-word CD and cassette form.

A recent Audio Publishers Association survey sent to 15,000 American homes, found that almost 22.5 percent of households listened to audio books, up from 21 percent in 1999. And of the listeners surveyed, 76% were female. The average listening age was 45 for females and 47 for males.

The survey revealed that, for those who listen to audiobooks in their cars, the average listening time is 4.4 hours per week; for home listeners 3.6 hours, for exercising listeners two hours, and for those listening while on mass transit 1.1 hours.

Audiobook consumers, particularly those who travel or commute long distances, listed multi-tasking as the primary benefit.

Xbox Delayed, Rumors Fly about Microsoft's Next Project
Microsoft announced that it was delaying the autumn Japanese rollout of its highly anticipated Xbox video game console until Feb 22, 2002. The company also said that it was delaying its North American release by one week, to Nov. 15. The company still plans to sell a million units over the holiday season.

Aside from serving as a game machine, Xbox, like its competitors Sony and Nintendo, will offer other high-tech features. The company says Xbox will have an Intel 733MHz processor, an 8GB hard drive, four USB ports and built-in Ethernet networking.

In the U.S., expect an onslaught of Xbox promotions and advertising, courtesy a $500 million marketing budget, in the next several months.

Microsoft's announcement came a few days after Nintendo stated that it was pushing back the U.S. release date of the GameCube, from Nov. 5 to Nov. 18.

While the world awaits Xbox, PC Format, a British computer gaming magazine recently reported it uncovered a top-secret Microsoft home entertainment device with a code name of "HomeStation." The unit, dubbed "son of Xbox" by the magazine, is projected to be jam-packed with a large hard drive, broadband connection and Windows Media Player 8-based compression technology. In addition, PC Format concluded that given it's big hard drive, "HomeStation" could also act as a TiVo-like personal video recorder. The magazine further speculated that the device would wirelessly communicate with PDAs, MP3 players, digital cameras and telephones. There was no confirmation from Microsoft, but sources close to the company told PC Format that Microsoft was keeping it under wraps so it wouldn't distract the public from its imminent Xbox release. Consolewire.com, an Internet news service, said Microsoft denied the "HomeStation rumors.

XM Satellite Radio Launch Delayed Due to Attacks on U.S.
As we go to press, the revolutionary, 100-channel XM Satellite Radio service was forced to delay its ballyhooed Sept. 12 launch for two weeks due to the previous day's tragedies in New York City and Washington, D.C. Not only did the Sept. 11 attacks shut down commercial air traffic, but the events also led to a temporary interruption in the Federal Communications Commission's repeater network authorization process. One week later, the FCC granted the company the terrestrial network authority to begin commercial operations of what it says will be the first U.S. digital satellite radio service.

The XM Satellite Radio service promises digital-quality sound and coast-to-coast coverage. The service will allow you to stay in tune with a single station on a car-trip from New York to California.

XM expects to offer 71 music channels, as well as 29 news, sports, talk and entertainment channels.

The service will require a special XM digital audio receiver, and a $9.99 per month service fee. A $100 million media blitz touting the slogan "Radio to the Power of X," was poised to get XM Satellite Radio off the ground.